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74kg Olympic Preview - Will Kyle Dake Dethrone Sidakov?

74kg Olympic Preview - Will Kyle Dake Dethrone Sidakov?

An in depth preview of the 74kg weight class at the Tokyo Olympics. See how Kyle Dake compares to the rest of the 74kg Olympic field.

Jun 24, 2021
74kg Olympic Preview - Will Kyle Dake Dethrone Sidakov?
UPDATE: We now have Kyle Dake's Olympic bracket. Check out his draw in that article, and then dive into this preview for everything you need to know about the weight.

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UPDATE: We now have Kyle Dake's Olympic bracket. Check out his draw in that article, and then dive into this preview for everything you need to know about the weight.

Kyle Dake is Team USA’s Olympian at 74kg in a field that includes 2 past world champions and 6 other world medalists. This 74kg Olympic preview will give an overview of Dake’s senior level career and explore the careers of each of his potential competitors in Tokyo. We'll also break down the competitors into tiers based on medal contenders, dark horses and long shots at the Olympic Games.

Kyle Dake Seeking His Third Straight Gold

Kyle Dake has won two straight world titles at 79kg and is on one of the best runs both in the United States and the world - he hasn’t lost since January of 2018 and has won 48 straight matches. Dake’s dominance the past three years, and defeating Jordan Burroughs in 2 straight matches, proves Dake is more than capable of winning gold in Tokyo. 

Because Dake competed primarily at 79kg since 2018, he hasn’t been tested by most of the competitors in the 74kg Olympic field. Out of the 15 potential competitors who will be in Dake’s bracket, he’s only wrestled Frank Chamizo (ITA). Dake came away with a close, 4-3 decision victory against Chamizo in July 2020.

Another byproduct of Dake’s success at 79kg is he will not be seeded in Tokyo but randomly drawn into the Olympic bracket. Seeds at the Olympics were established through athletes accumulating points by competing in “Ranking Events’ at the Olympic weight. The wrestlers at 74kg who earned the most seeding points in line with this process for the Olympics are: 1. Frank Chamizo, 2. Zaurbek Sidakov, 3. Daniyar Kaisanov, 4. Mostafa Hosseinkhani. Because of these seeds, Kyle Dake will most likely have to defeat both of the next 2 best at the weight in Frank Chamizo and Zaurbek Sidakov. We’ll dive into Sidakov and Chamizo later in the preview but first take a look at Dake’s profile:

Kyle Dake (USA)

Record Since 2018 - 50-1

Total Senior Level Record - 100-17

Accolades:

  • 2018 and 2019 World Gold
  • 2021 Pan-Am Gold

1-0 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Watch Kyle Dake defeat Frank Chamizo:

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The Favorite

Zaurbek Sidakov won the last 2 world Championships at 74kg by defeating both Jordan Burroughs and Frank Chamizo in 2018 and 2019. Sidakov should be considered the main challenger to Kyle Dake in Tokyo based on those performances and his past results against the rest of the 74kg field. Sidakov is 11-1 against the 74kg Olympic field and has defeated eight of the competitors in this field dating back to 2015.

The lone Olympian who holds a win over Sidakov is Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR). Kadimagomedov is a former Russian who transferred to Belarus in 2020. Prior to transferring, he was one of the best 70kg wrestlers in Russia. In fact, in 2017 Kadimagomedov won Russian Nationals and defeated Sidakov in the quarter-finals, 4-2. Since that loss, Sidakov has obviously gone on to have a better career than Kadimagomedov but it will be a "match to watch" should they meet in Tokyo. 

The obvious question on everyone’s mind for 74kg is “Who will win in a match between Kyle Dake and Zaurbek Sidakov?” What’s remarkable with Dake being randomly drawn into the bracket is the match could happen in the first round! Dake seems to have greater “momentum” coming into the Olympic Games with his two wins over Jordan Burroughs at the trials and his impressive winning streak. Also, Sidakov took his last loss 8 months ago and barely defeated countryman Razambek Zhamalov to make the team in March. The Sidakov-Dake match is one of the most anticipated matches of the Olympics. Should Sidakov win, he would become the first 74kg wrestler to win 3 straight golds at the world/Olympic level since Jordan Burroughs did from 2011-2013.

Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS)

Record Since 2018 - 45-2

Accolades:

  • 2018 and 2019 World Gold
  • 2019 Euro Games Gold

11-1 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Zaurbek Sidakov's win over Frank Chamizo in the 2019 World Finals:

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Contenders

Frank Chamizo is in a tier of his own behind Dake and Sidakov but clearly ahead of the rest of the 74kg Olympic field. Chamizo has won two past world Championships (2015 at 65kg and 2017 at 70kg) and is 1 of 3 men on the planet to have 2 wins over Jordan Burroughs. On top of that, Chamizo also has wins over 8 of the other 74kg Olympians and only has losses to Sidakov and Dake. With that in mind, it would be a shock if Chamizo does not bring home a medal from Tokyo. Should Dake get drawn into the bracket opposite him, Chamizo should be the favorite to make the finals. 

After the clear top 3 at the weight, a number of wrestlers are realistic threats for the final spot on the Olympic podium at 74kg. With the right draw, and peak performance, Avtandil Kentchadze, Mostafa Hosseinkhani, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, Daniyar Kaisanov, Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov and Mostafa Hosseinkhani are all capable of medaling. Kentchadze, Kaisanov, Bekzod, and Hosseinkhani all have previous world medals to their name while Kadimagomedov is just entering his athletic prime. Of that host of contenders, Kentchadze and Abdurakhmonov have experienced the best records against the Olympic field. 

Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) might be the most intriguing contender of the list based on his past win over 2-time world champion Zaurbek Sidakov. As already mentioned, Kadimagomedov transferred from Russia at the beginning of 2020. Since transferring, he's had limited and mixed results. He won the 79kg 2020 European championships by defeating Magomed Ramazanov (#5 at 86kg) but lost at the 2020 Individual World Cup to Akhmed Usmanov (#6 at 79kg). Then, it took Kadimagomedov two tries to qualify for the Olympics. He fell short at the European Qualifier where he was defeated 4-4 by #18 Ali-Pasha Umarpashaev (BUL); who is not qualified for the Olympics. Kadimagomedov ultimately qualified at the last Olympic qualifier in May by impressively defeating world and Olympic bronze medalist Soner Demirtas (TUR) and 2021 European Champion #13 Tajmuraz Salkazanov (SVK). Should Kadimagomedov be at his peak in Tokyo, he can challenge any competitor in the 74kg Olympic field.

Take a look at all of the contenders’ profiles to see past accomplishments and how they’ve fared against one another:


Frank Chamizo (ITA)

Record Since 2018 - 65-12

Accolades:

  • 2015 and 2017 World Gold
  • 2019 World Silver
  • 2016 Olympic Bronze
  • 2020 World Cup Silver
  • 2010 World bronze
  • 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 Euro Gold
  • 2018, 2021 Euro Bronze

10-5 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Frank Chamizo's Match Against Avtandil Kentchadze from 2021 Euros:

Frank Chamizo vs Avtandil Kentchadze

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Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO)

Record Since 2018 - 41-11

Accolades:

  • 2018 World Silver
  • 2019 Euro Bronze

4-5 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Avtandil Kentchade's 12-12 win over Bekzod Abdurakhmonov from 2018 Worlds:

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Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (UZB)

Record Since 2018 - 29-10

Accolades:

  • 2014 and 2018 World Bronze
  • 2014 and 2018 Asian Games Gold
  • 2015 and 2017 Asian Gold

8-2 Record Against 74kg Olympians:


Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ)

Record Since 2018 - 34-21

Accolades:

  • 2019 World Bronze
  • 2019 and 2020 Asian Gold
  • 2018 Asian Games Silver

1-6 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Daniyar Kaisanov's win over Franklin Gomez from the 2020 Matteo Pellicone:


Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI)

Record Since 2018 - 31-9

Accolades:

  • 2016 World Bronze
  • 2014 and 2016 Asian Gold
  • 2021 Asian Silver
  • 2018 and 2020 Asian Bronze

4-3 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Hosseinkhani's win over Bekzod from the 2018 Asian Championships:


Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR)

Record Since 2018 - 54-18

Accolades:

  • 2020 Euro Gold

6-4 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Watch Kadimagomedov defeat Zaurbek Sidakov before he became a 2X World Champion:


The "Dark Horses"

Vasly Mykhailov, Geandry Garzon, Keisuke Otoguro, and Franklin Gomez would all be surprise medalists at the Tokyo Olympics. That group of four has shown flashes of potential making them intriguing “dark horses'' in the 74kg bracket. Garzon and Gomez are seasoned vets who have medaled at worlds in the past - it’s been 10 years since Gomez medaled and 11 for Garzon. What’s also remarkable is this is Gomez’s 3rd straight Olympic appearance and Garzon competed at the 2008 Olympics! 

Unlike Garzon and Gomez, Mykhailov and Otoguro are still looking for their breakthrough performance at the highest level. Mykhailov’s best performance was at the 2020 individual world cup where he won a bronze medal over 2021 European Champion Akhsarbek Gulaev, SVK (ranked #3 in the world at 79kg). Otoguro is the surprise entry for Japan at 74kg. He earned the spot by defeating Japan's Mao Okui who finished 5th at the 2019 World Championships. Keisuke is also the brother of Japan's 65kg rep Takuto Otoguro (2018 World Champion) and are the only brothers competing at the Olympics in men's freestyle.

Turan Bayramov is a late change at 74kg for Azerbaijan - he takes the place of the more experienced Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev. It's uncertain why Bayramov is the 74kg rep instead of Gadzhiev but a few points make his insertion to this bracket interesting. First, Bayramov is young and has experienced nothing but success at age level world championships. He was a world champion in both cadets (2018) and the U23 division (2019). He also won a junior world bronze in 2019. Though he has experienced success, he is still junior eligible and has not faced anyone in this Olympic field. On top of that, he has never wrestled 74kg but only 65kg and 70kg. As recent as February of 2021 Bayramov was wrestling 65kg and he was just defeated by American James Green at 65kg in January. In spite of his age and inexperience at the weight, Bayramov has the talent to challenge some of the medal contenders in Tokyo.


Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR)

Record Since 2018 - 41-23

Accolades:

  • 2020 World Cup Bronze
  • 2020 Euro Bronze

1-8 Record Against 74kg Olympians:


Geandry Garzon (CUB)

Record Since 2018 - 19-6

Accolades:

  • 2007 World Silver
  • 2010 World Bronze
  • 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Pan-Am Gold
  • 2019 Pan-Am Bronze

1-1 Record Against 74kg Olympians:


Keisuke Otoguro (JPN)

Record Since 2018 - 11-7

Accolades:

  • 2012 Cadet World Bronze

0-0 Record Against 74kg Olympians


Franklin Gomez (PUR)

Record Since 2018 - 38-18

Accolades:

  • 2011 World Silver
  • 2011 Pan-Am Gold
  • 2017, 2019, and 2020 Pan-Am Silver
  • 2015 and 2019 Pan-Am Bronze

0-7 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

Turan Bayramov (AZE)

Record Since 2018 - 24-6

Accolades:

  • 2021 Euro Silver
  • 2019 U23 World Gold
  • 2019 Junior World Bronze
  • 2018 Cadet World Gold

0-0 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

The Long Shots

Kamil Rybicki, Amr Reda, and Augusto Midana should not be expected to wrestle for a medal in Tokyo. These 3 don’t have any past wins over any of the other 13 wrestlers in the bracket. The best case scenario for Kyle Dake is to draw one of these wrestlers in early rounds at the Olympics as they are a step behind the rest of the group at 74kg. 


Kamil Rybicki (POL)

Record Since 2018 - 8-10

0-2 Record Against 74kg Olympians:


Amr Reda (EGY)

Record Since 2018 - 23-11

Accolades:

  • 2020 African Bronze
  • 2017 and 2019 African Bronze
  • 2018 African Silver

1-0 Record Against 74kg Olympians:

  • 10-0 win over Augusto Midana (2021 African OG Qualifier)


Augusto Midana (GBS)

Record Since 2018 - 5-7

Accolades:

  • 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 African Gold

0-3 Record Against 74kg Olympians:


74kg Olympians - Record Against the Field (sorted by winning %)

  1. Kyle Dake (USA) - 1-0
  2. Amr Reda (EGY) - 1-0
  3. Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) - 11-1
  4. Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (UZB) - 8-2
  5. Frank Chamizo (ITA) - 10-5
  6. Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) - 6-4
  7. Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI)- 4-3
  8. Geandry Garzon (CUB) - 1-1
  9. Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) - 4-5
  10. Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ) - 1-6
  11. Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR) - 1-8
  12. Kamil Rybicki (POL) - 0-3
  13. Augusto Midana (GBS) - 0-3
  14. Franklin Gomez (PUR) - 0-7
  15. Keisuke Otoguro (JPN) - 0-0
  16. Turan Bayramov (AZE) - 0-0


Check out our Olympian Rankings here to see every Olympian ranked in all 6 men's freestyle weights.