By Seth Petarra

Day two at the Russian National Championship in Nazran, Igueshetia, was another great day of freestyle action. Three weight classes were decided, and the brackets did not disappoint, despite several of Russia top talents not entering this year's event. 

Russian Nationals Stream | Day 1 Recap | Russian Nationals Brackets

No. 4 Zaur Uguev Beats No. 6 Artem Gebekov to pick up 57kg Title

With news that fifth-ranked Nariman Israpilov and No. 8 Zelimkhan Abakarov -- who are both Yarygin bronze medalists -- would not be competing, it became clear that the Russian national title at 57kg would be decided between No. 4-ranked Zaur Uguev and No. 6 Artem Gebekov. Both guys were able to navigate their way through the bracket, and it was Uguev who replicated his win earlier this year at the Yarygin by beating Gebekov 3-1.

Uguev will surely be a heavy favorite to medal at worlds this year in Paris. His development this year is a bright sign for Russia at 57kg as he looks to be the guy to fill the spot left by the retired two-time world champion Victor Lebedev.

57kg Results

GOLD: Zaur Uguev 3-1 Artem Gebekov
BRONZE: Omak Syuryun 2*-2 Khasanhussein Badrudinov
BRONZE: Dmitriy Aksenov 9-4 Ramazan Ferzaliev

Anzor Khizriev Wins The 125kg Crown

Going into Russian Nationals, it was believed that Yarygin champion and seventh-ranked Alan Khugaev would be the one to walk away with the title, but that was not the case. Instead, it was Anzor Khizriev, who, unlike Khugaev, is unranked and failed to place at the Yarygin. Khizriev was still able to stun 2012 junior world champ Magomedgadzhi Nurasulov in the finals 3-0 to pick up his first Russian Nationals title.

125kg Results

GOLD: Anzor Khizriev 3-0 Magomedgadzhi Nurasulov
BRONZE: Tsybik Maksarov 0-0 Alan Khugaev BY FORFEIT
BRONZE: Adlan Ibragimov 3-0 Magomedamin Dibirov

No.14 Vladislav Valiev Is The New Guy At 86kg For Russia

With news that three-time world and Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev was moving up to 97kg, focus immediately turned to who's going to fill the gap he left at the weight. Two guys immediately jumped out: No. 3 Dauren Kurugliev and No. 7 Shamil Kudiyamagomedov. Somebody who flew underneath everybody's radar was this year's Yarygin bronze medalist Vladislav Valiev. 

86kg Results

GOLD: Vladislav Valiev 3-1 Shamil Kudiyamagomedov
BRONZE: Arsen-Ali Musalaliev FALL Alikhan Dzhabrailov
BRONZE: Anzor Urishev 3-2 Soslan Ktsoev

Valiev was able to pick up his first Russian Nationals title after Kurugliev suffered an early loss to Arsen Ali Musalaliev. Valiev would beat Musalaliev in the semifinals 3-0 and then notched a 3-1 win over the 2013 national champion Kudiyamagomedov in the finals. Anyone who wants Russia to do a special wrestle-off to ensure Kudiyamagomedov or Kurugliev get the spot over Valiev is really underselling Valiev. A big reason for that is people have ignored the growth Valiev has made, and they don't realize how solid he is in Russia. Their only memory they have of him might be his loss to David Taylor by tech-fall at the 2017 World Cup, but outside of that, Valiev has notched some very impressive wins this year over the likes of 2012 Olympic champ No. 9 Sharif Sharifov and Musalaliev.

No. 3 Dauren Kurugliev Doesn't Place At 86kg

Heading into Russian Nationals, no one at 86kg had more momentum than Dauren Kurugliev. The third-ranked wrestler in his weight class was coming off titles at the Yarygin, Yasar Dogu, and European championships, where he was able to notch elite wins over No. 6 Javad Ebrahim of Irani, No. 5 Selim Yasar of Turkey, and No. 8 Alexander Gostiev of Azerbaijan.

While he was in a tough field at Russian Nationals, many believed Kurugliev to be the guy to beat. Arsen Ali Musalaliev didn't pay heed to this as he handed Kurugliev a 1-1 criteria loss on his way to a bronze medal finish. This is the third straight year Kurugliev has failed to place at Russian Nationals, losing to Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Anzor Urishev in 2014 and falling to Vladislav Valiev in 2015.
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Arsen Ali Musalaliev Is The Future Of Russia At 86kg

Arsen Ali Musalaliev has shown that he can dominate at the junior level, as evidenced by his 2016 junior world championship that he teched his way through. However, he's had limited exposure at the senior level. Musalaliev beat Dauren Kurugliev in the semifinals of the 2016 Yarygin before losing to Shamil Kudiyamagomedov in the finals. Musalaliev wrestled Kurugliev again at the 2016 Ali Aliyev, this time taking a loss before wrestling back for a bronze. In 2017, Musalaliev failed to place at the Yarygin. He also won bronze at the U-23 European championships after an upset loss to eventual champion Murat Erturk of Turkey.

Even with his up-and-down results, Musalaliev knew when to turn it on at Russians Nationals, winning a clutch 1-1 match over Kurugliev in the opening round. He then continued to win up until the semifinals where he lost a close 3-0 loss to Vladislav Valiev. Musalaliev recovered well and pinned Alikhan Jabrailov in the repechage. If Musalaliev can continue to improve on his already impressive performance here, I believe he will be a consistent threat to win Russian Nationals moving forward.