2015 UWW Senior World ChampionshipsSep 11, 2015 by Brock Hite
Top Five Moments of Day Four
Top Five Moments of Day Four
As the days go on the heat goes up. And there are just a few wrestlers who can stand it. Italy's Frank Chamizo and our very own Adeline Gray put their name in the history books along with Helen Maroulis, who dominated the field to claim her first title. So take a deeper look at our top storylines from the fourth day of the World Championships.
5. Business As Usual
Kaori Icho is the second most decorated athlete in our sport behind Saori Yoshida, who just added to her history just a day ago. Icho has never lost on the Olympic or World stage and is only behind in accolades because she skipped a few championships. This resume of domination brings a lot of expectations. Normally, four scoreless technical falls and a pin would rank you higher in the moments of the day, but this is just what we expected out of Icho. Her success and expectation is almost a curse. I think she is fine dealing with that curse and many athletes around the world would be happy to carry that burden.
4. Back to Championship Form
In 2010 Battsetseg Soronzonbold won a World title. Since then she has had to settle for silver, bronze, or no hardware at all. She returned to the top in Las Vegas and did it with style; two technical falls and three pins earned her the gold. Next year she will look to turn her 2012 Olympic bronze into gold as well.
3. Italian Gold
Frank Chamizo, who defected from Cuba and now proudly represents Italy, became the first Italian World gold medalist ever. Italy has an Olympic gold from 1980, but this is the first one from the World Championships. This would be a great story by itself, however he did it in electrifying fashion against an extremely talented field.
Would you pick anyone to beat Magomedmurad Gadziev, Ju Song Kim, Toghrul Asgarov, Seyed Ahmad Mohammadi and Ikhtiyor Navruzov in a row? I wouldn’t either. But Chamizo did it. The two big names in the list are Asgarov and Mohammadi who he dominated in back-to-back matches. He beat Asgarov 10-5 and followed it up by pinning Mohammadi after he trailed early on. Navruzov was a surprise finalist himself. The scrambles and scoreless exchanges were amazing to watch in the final bout between the two. However, in the end, it as Chamizo who thrilled the crowd as he scored exposure from bottom to win 4-3.
2. Making History
Adeline Gray won her second straight World Championship at 75kg. She dominated virtually the same field that she squeaked by a year ago in Tashkent. This is a historic title, as she joins Tricia Saunders as the only other female to win back-to-back World titles. Saunders, who is the World title leader from the United States with five, accomplished the feat in 1998 and 1999. Gray climbed into second place by herself after winning her third and is now riding a lot of momentum as she looks to become the first American female to win an Olympic Gold in freestyle.
1. Domination
Coming into the championships many thought Helen Maroulis could finally get her World title. And that's exactly what she did as she lived up to her number one ranking, and completed her set of medals. Maroulis blitzed the field at 55kg as she recorded a 10-0 tech fall, a pin, 5-0 decision and an 11-0 tech to win her first gold medal on the World stage.
It has been a year of decisions for Maroulis as 55kg disappeared from the Olympic program. Originally, she planned to make the move up to 58kg since she won the US Open at that weight. After consulting a dietician she decided 53kg would be a feasible weight to compete at while trying to qualify for the Olympic Games. This made the move back to 55kg the right decision for the 2015 Championships. After watching her mow down the field to collect World gold, I guess the competition better look out for Helen at 53kg in 2016.
5. Business As Usual
Kaori Icho is the second most decorated athlete in our sport behind Saori Yoshida, who just added to her history just a day ago. Icho has never lost on the Olympic or World stage and is only behind in accolades because she skipped a few championships. This resume of domination brings a lot of expectations. Normally, four scoreless technical falls and a pin would rank you higher in the moments of the day, but this is just what we expected out of Icho. Her success and expectation is almost a curse. I think she is fine dealing with that curse and many athletes around the world would be happy to carry that burden.
4. Back to Championship Form
In 2010 Battsetseg Soronzonbold won a World title. Since then she has had to settle for silver, bronze, or no hardware at all. She returned to the top in Las Vegas and did it with style; two technical falls and three pins earned her the gold. Next year she will look to turn her 2012 Olympic bronze into gold as well.
3. Italian Gold
Frank Chamizo, who defected from Cuba and now proudly represents Italy, became the first Italian World gold medalist ever. Italy has an Olympic gold from 1980, but this is the first one from the World Championships. This would be a great story by itself, however he did it in electrifying fashion against an extremely talented field.
Would you pick anyone to beat Magomedmurad Gadziev, Ju Song Kim, Toghrul Asgarov, Seyed Ahmad Mohammadi and Ikhtiyor Navruzov in a row? I wouldn’t either. But Chamizo did it. The two big names in the list are Asgarov and Mohammadi who he dominated in back-to-back matches. He beat Asgarov 10-5 and followed it up by pinning Mohammadi after he trailed early on. Navruzov was a surprise finalist himself. The scrambles and scoreless exchanges were amazing to watch in the final bout between the two. However, in the end, it as Chamizo who thrilled the crowd as he scored exposure from bottom to win 4-3.
2. Making History
Adeline Gray won her second straight World Championship at 75kg. She dominated virtually the same field that she squeaked by a year ago in Tashkent. This is a historic title, as she joins Tricia Saunders as the only other female to win back-to-back World titles. Saunders, who is the World title leader from the United States with five, accomplished the feat in 1998 and 1999. Gray climbed into second place by herself after winning her third and is now riding a lot of momentum as she looks to become the first American female to win an Olympic Gold in freestyle.
1. Domination
Coming into the championships many thought Helen Maroulis could finally get her World title. And that's exactly what she did as she lived up to her number one ranking, and completed her set of medals. Maroulis blitzed the field at 55kg as she recorded a 10-0 tech fall, a pin, 5-0 decision and an 11-0 tech to win her first gold medal on the World stage.
It has been a year of decisions for Maroulis as 55kg disappeared from the Olympic program. Originally, she planned to make the move up to 58kg since she won the US Open at that weight. After consulting a dietician she decided 53kg would be a feasible weight to compete at while trying to qualify for the Olympic Games. This made the move back to 55kg the right decision for the 2015 Championships. After watching her mow down the field to collect World gold, I guess the competition better look out for Helen at 53kg in 2016.