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#FreestyleFriday: Watch top Americans take on World champion Frank Chamizo of Italy

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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling

Photo from FloWrestling.

Two-time World champion Frank Chamizo (ITA) has become a fan favorite on the international scene not only because of his wrestling but also because of star power. He most recently grabbed a silver medal at this week's Individual World Cup. 

Since defecting from Cuba in 2013, Chamizo has competed at three different weight classes: 65 kg, 70 kg, 74 kg and 79 kg. As a result, he has come across several of the USA’s best freestyle wrestlers, including Frank Molinaro, James Green, Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake.

Check out some videos and descriptions of the series below:

vs. Jordan Burroughs
Chamizo has come face-to-face with 2012 Olympic champion and four-time World champion Burroughs five times…kinda. Burroughs has collected holds the edge in the series with a 4-1 record, defeating Chamizo at a super match at the 2018 Beat the Streets, the bronze-medal match at the 2018 World Championships, the 2019 Dan Kolov International and the 2019 Yasar Dogu finals, which resulted in a Chamizo forfeit.

Chamizo secured a win on criteria over Burroughs at the 2018 Yasar Dogu finals.

Below is their 2018 medal matchup.

 

vs. Kyle Dake
Earlier this year, Chamizo agreed to meet two-time World champion Kyle Dake up at 79 kg/174 pounds for an all-star match, hosted by FloWrestling. It was an exciting bout that resulted in a win for Chamizo.

 

vs. James Green
As far as I can find, two-time World medalist Green has wrestled Chamizo twice, with them splitting the matches. At the 2015 Grand Prix of Spain final, Green defeated Chamizo for the final. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that video, so below is the 2017 World finals, where Chamizo took the gold.

 

vs. Frank Molinaro
This one was a heartbreaker for USA. Molinaro, who shocked the U.S. field to make the 2016 Olympic Team, advanced to the Olympic bronze-medal match. Waiting for him on the other side of the mat was World No. 1 Chamizo. This match literally came down to seconds and inches. Check it out below.

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