Diakomihalis and Retherford to meet first round, Dieringer and Gwiazdowski receive Yasar Dogu draws
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
ISTANBUL, Turkey – Four men’s freestylers—Yianni Diakomihalis, Zain Retherford, Alex Dieringer and Nick Gwiazdowski—received their draws for the Yasar Dogu International on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Yasar Dogu International is the final event in the UWW Rankings Series this season. Competitors can earn placement points towards their seeds at the 2019 World Championships. The four wrestlers with the most placements points per weight class will be seeded accordingly at the World Championships in Kazakhstan in September.
The United States has two representatives at 65 kg, Diakomihalis and Retherford, who will face off against each other in the first round of the tournament. This will be the fourth time this season that they will go head-to-head.
Diakomihalis, a two-time Cadet World champion, defeated 2012 Cadet World champion and two-time Senior World Team member Retherford in the U.S. Open finals, but Retherford responded with two wins at Final X to claim the 2019 Senior World Team spot at 65 kg.
Dieringer and Gwiazdowski can potentially earn top-four seeds for the World Championships if they turn in great performances this weekend.
Four-time National Team member Alex Dieringer will begin his tournament at 79 kg against Abubakr Abakarov of Azerbaijan, who is a 2016 Cadet World champion, 2018 Junior World silver medalist and 2019 Junior European champion.
Dieringer, a 2013 Junior World silver medalist, will wrestle-off for the 2019 Senior World Team spot against 2018 World champion Kyle Dake on Aug. 17 in Austin, Texas.
A successful international season so far, Dieringer won the Dan Kolov International and earned bronze at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, both UWW Ranking Series events to put him in position to earn a seed at Worlds.
Gwiazdowski, a two-time World bronze medalist, drew freestyle veteran Fatih Cakiroglu of Turkey for his first match at 125 kg. Cakiroglu is a 2004 Olympian and 2005 World Military champion.
Gwiazdowski’s 2018 World bronze medal, 2019 Pan American gold medal and seventh-place finish at the Dan Kolov currently puts him at fifth in the world. A strong performance from him will guarantee him a top-four seed for Worlds.
The tournament begins at 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) on Friday and will be live streamed on FloWrestling.org.
Fans can also follow @USAWrestling on Twitter for live updates.
2019 YASAR DOGU INTERNATIONAL
at Istanbul, Turkey, July 11-14
U.S. Men’s freestyle draws
65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis (Rochester, N.Y./Titan Mercury WC/FLWC)
vs. Zain Retherford (USA)
65 kg: Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC)
vs. Yianni Diakomihalis (USA)
79 kg: Alex Dieringer (Stillwater, /Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)
vs. Abubakr Abakarov (Azerbaijan), 2016 Cadet World champion, 2018 Junior World silver medalist, 2019 Junior European champion
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski (Raleigh, N.C./Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC)
vs. Fatih Cakiroglu (Turkey), 2004 Olympian, 2005 World Military champion, fifth at 2007 World Championships
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