Bracket Reactions: 85kg & 130kg
Full Olympic Brackets on FloArena here | 2016 Olympic Wrestling Schedule
- 2012 Olympian
- 2011 Pan Am Games silver medalist
Provisor’s second Olympic run starts off with a returning world silver medalist. Rustam Assakalov (UZB) had an amazing run last year in Vegas, with three pins and a tech to make the finals. Though he has only dipped to No. 4 in the world rankings, Assakalov has struggled since then. He went 1-1 at Golden Grand Prix and failed to medal at both the Ivan Poddubny and in Poland.
Down 7-0, Assakalov pins Akhlaghi
As though that draw wasn’t hard enough, being on the bottom half of this bracket means Provisor is on the same side as the wrestlers ranked 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 in the world! Composure will be key against such a stacked field, exactly the kind of calm we saw from Provisor at Olympic Trials.
A matchup to keep your eye on is Davit Chakvetadze (RUS) and Saman Tahmasebi (AZE). Both have been ranked top-five by UWW all year. Chakvetadze won Euro Games last year in June and the Golden Grand Prix in November, but sandwiched in between that was his 8-0 loss to Tahamsebi in the quarterfinals at the world championships.
130kg Greco-Roman: Robby Smith (NYAC) Danville, California
- 2x world fifth placer
- 2015 Pan Am Games bronze
Extremely rough draw for Smith here as he starts off with No. 15 Sabah Shariati (AZE). We saw these two wrestle at the Golden Grand Prix and Smith was turned three times in an 8-0 loss.
Smith vs Shariati at GGP
Should Smith avenge that loss, he will see reigning world champ Riza Kayaalp (TUR). Last time those two wrestled, Kayaalp beat Smith 7-0 in the quarters of the 2013 world championships. Taking out both of them will be a tall task, but it’s what must be done to win an Olympic gold medal.
If Smith loses to Kayaalp, his road to a bronze medal as favorable. He would have Eduard Popp (GER) in the third place match, a rematch of the round of 16 in Vegas; that match was won 6-2 by Smith.
Olympic Wrestling Previews:
Greco Roman: 59KG | 75KG | 85KG | 130KGHow To Watch Olympic Wrestling:
Day 9 (Aug. 14): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 10 (Aug. 15): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 11 (Aug. 16): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 12 (Aug. 17): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 13 (Aug. 18): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 14 (Aug. 19): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 15 (Aug. 20): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals
Day 16 (Aug. 21): Prelims : Mat A | Mat B | Mat C | Finals