#GrecoMonday: Looking at the Individual World Cup medalists at 77 kg and 130 kg not currently qualified for the Olympics

Photo of two-time Olympic champion Roman Vlasov, who won the 77 kg bracket at United World Wrestling's Individual World Cup.

Last week, United World Wrestling hosted an Individual World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, many of the world’s top wrestling countries including the United States elected not to participate due to the risk posed to the athletes and delegations. Other countries notably missing included Japan, India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and Cuba, as well as many others.

In Greco-Roman, 17 out of the 24 medalists came from countries not qualified for the Olympic Games at the weight class they medaled in. Of note to Team USA fans, three non-qualified countries medaled at both 77 kg and 130 kg. These are the only two remaining weight classes in Greco the U.S. needs to qualify, and it is likely that the U.S. representatives could see these wrestlers at the Last Chance Olympic Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria this April. Only the finalists from the qualifier earn berths to the Olympic Games.

Below, let’s look at the non-qualified medalists at 77 kg and 130 kg.

77 kg
Roman Vlasov (Russia) – Gold
After a disappointing eighth-place finish at the 2019 World Championships, two-time Olympic champion Roman Vlasov bounced back with gold in Belgrade. In the finals, Vlasov downed Zoltan Levai of Hungary, 6-1. Levai represented Hungary at the 2019 World Championships at 82 kg, finishing ninth. He is a three-time Junior World bronze medalist.

To even reach the finals, Vlasov, a two-time World champion and three-time World finalist, faced stiff competition. In the second round, Vlasov downed 2017 World bronze medalist Pascal Eisele of Germany, 8-6. He followed it up with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over Karapet Chalyan of Armenia. Chalyan finished fifth at the 2019 World Championships, qualifying his nation for the Olympic Games and is a 2013 Junior World champion.

In the semifinals, Vlasov defeated Serbia’s Viktor Nemes, 2-1. Nemes is a 2017 World champion and 2018 World bronze medalist.

With this impressive slew of victories, Vlasov will almost assuredly be Russia’s representative to try to qualify the weight class. He should also be considered one of the favorites at the European Olympic qualifier. If he makes the finals there, he will punch his ticket for the Olympics. If he doesn’t, he will be forced to compete at the last chance qualifier in Sofia.

Viktor Nemes (Serbia) – Bronze
The aforementioned Viktor Nemes battled back to take bronze. In the second round, Nemes defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Akzhol Makhmudov, a Cadet World champion, two-time Junior World medalist and 2018 Asian Games silver medalist, 3-0. He followed it up with a quarterfinal win over 2014 Junior World champion Furkan Bayrak of Turkey, 4-0. For bronze, he bested Chalyan, 4-1.

Nemes finished 10th at the 2019 World Championships. Earning this medal is a strong rebound after a lackluster beginning to 2020, including a 15th-place finish at the European Championships.

Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) – Bronze
While Gutu does not have the accolades that Vlasov and Nemes claim, he is a star in the making. Gutu is a 2018 Youth Olympic Games and Cadet World champion and a 2019 Cadet World bronze medalist. The fact that he is already placing at Senior-level events is quite impressive.

Whether Gutu is Moldova’s best chance to qualify the weight class for the Olympics remains to be seen. At the 2019 World Championships, they were represented by Daniel Cataraga, who finished 13th. Cataraga is a two-time U23 World champion and 2016 World silver medalist. While Gutu’s performance is certainly noteworthy, unseating the established Cataraga will be a tall order.

130 kg

Sergey Semenov (Russia) – Gold
Similarly to Vlasov, 2018 World champion Sergey Semenov bounced back from a disappointing 17th-place finish at the 2019 World Championships. Semenov, who also holds two Junior World titles and a U23 World title, should be locked in as Russia’s best bet to qualify the weight class and will be a likely finalist at the European Championships.

Semenov rolled through the bracket, picking up back-to-back technical falls to make the finals, including one over Armenia’s David Ovasapyan, a Junior World finalist and 2019 U23 World bronze medalist. In the finals, he downed Turkey’s Osman Yildirim, 7-1. Yildirim is a two-time U23 World medalist and three-time Junior World medalist.

Mykola Kuchmii (Ukraine) – Bronze
After dropping his opening match to Semenov, Kuchmiy rebounded to finish with bronze. In the medal-match, Kuchmii, earned a big win, defeating Ovaspyan, 4-2. Kuchmii finished 19th at the 2019 World Championships. His best Worlds finish came in 2017, when he placed fifth. Kuchmii is a 2020 European Championships bronze medalist and a 2019 European Games bronze medalist.

Beka Kandelaki (Azerbaijan) – Bronze
The other bronze medalist was Beka Kandelaki of Azerbaijan. A 2012 Cadet World silver medalist, Kandelaki finished tenth at the 2019 World Championships. In the opening round, Kandelaki defeated two-time Olympian Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu of Romania, 3-1. He followed it up with a pin over 2016 Olympic fifth-place finisher Eduard Popp of Germany. Popp already qualified Germany for the 2020 Olympics with a fifth-place showing at the 2019 World Championships.

Kandelaki was teched, 9-1, by Yildirim in the semifinals. To claim bronze, he earned a technical fall over Poland’sRafal Andrzej Krajewski, 9-0.