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Hancock not eligible for Olympic Greco-Roman repechage; Cuba’s Lopez wins historic fourth Olympic title
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Mijian Lopez (Cuba) portrait by Kadir Caliskan, UWW
MAKUHARI, Chiba, Japan –G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), who went 1-1 during Monday’s morning session, will not be eligible for Tuesday’s repechage, based upon the results of Monday night’s semifinals at 97 kg in Greco-Roman at Makuhari Messe Hall A.
No. 1 seed and two-time World champion Musa Evloev of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) defeated No. 4 seed Tadeusz Michalik of Poland in the semifinals, 7-1.
Michalik had defeated Hancock, 4-3 in Monday morning’s quarterfinals. Michalik needed to reach the gold-medal finals for Hancock to be pulled back into repechage, so Hancock’s Olympic competition has now ended. Hancock won his first match on Monday morning, a 5-1 decision over Mihail Kajaia of Serbia.
Two Greco-Roman weight classes were completed on Monday night (60 kg and 130 kg), while two others advanced through the semifinals (77 kg and 97 kg).
History was made on Monday night, as Cuba’s talented 130 kg star Mijian Lopez Nunez became the first male wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals in wrestling. Lopez defeated Iakobi Kajaia of Georgia, 5-0 in the finals. Lopez dominated the action, getting a gut wrench, a step out point and two points on Kajaia’s passivity.
The only previous four-time Olympic champion was women’s freestyle star Kaori Icho of Japan, who won titles in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Lopez has won the last four Olympic titles in Greco-Roman (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020).
Cuba scored both gold medals in Greco-Roman on Monday night, after Luis Orta Sanchez defeated 2019 World champion Kenchiro Fumita of Japan, 5-1 in the finals.
At 60 kg, U.S. entry Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) finished 12th in the 16 athlete field when the final standings were published.
OLYMPIC GAMES WRESTLING
At Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, August 2
U.S. Greco-Roman performances
60 kg – Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), 12th place
LOSS Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba), 5-0
LOSS Sergey Emelin (ROC), 7-1
97 kg – G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
WIN Mihail Kajaia (Serbia), 7-1
LOSS Tadeusz Michalik (Poland), 4-3
Group One Greco-Roman final results
60 kg
Gold - Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba)
Silver - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan)
Bronze- Salike Walihan (China)
Bronze - Sergei Emelin (ROC)
5th - Lenur Temirov (Ukraine)
5th - Victor Ciobanu (Moldova)
7th - Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan)
8th - Armen Melikyan (Armenia)
9th - Haythem Mahmoud (Egypt)
10th Ali Reza Nejati (Iran)
Gold – Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) dec. Kenchiro Fumita (Japan), 5-1
Bronze – Salike Walihan (China) dec. Lenur Temirov (Ukraine), 1-1
Bronze - Sergei Emelin (ROC) tech. fall Victor Ciobanu (Moldova), 12-1
130 kg
Gold - Mijian Lopez Nunez (Cuba)
Silver - Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia)
Bronze - Riza Kayaalp (Turkey)
Bronze - Sergei Semenov (ROC)
5th - Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile)
5th - Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran)
7th - Muminjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan)
8th - Eduard Popp (Germany)
9th - Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed (Egypt)
10th - Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania)
Gold – Mijian Lopez Nunez (Cuba) dec. Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia), 5-0
Bronze – Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) dec. Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran), 7-2
Bronze - Sergei Semenov (ROC) dec. Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile), 1-1
Group Two Gold-Medal finals pairings
77 kg - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) vs. Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan)
97 kg - Musa Evloev (ROC) vs. Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia)
Group Two Semifinals results
77 kg
Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) dec. Mohammadali Geraei (Iran), 6-5
Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) dec. Karapet Chalyan (Armenia), 6-2
97 kg
Musa Evloev (ROC) dec. Tadeusz Michalik (Poland) 7-1
Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) dec. Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran), 4-1
MAKUHARI, Chiba, Japan –G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), who went 1-1 during Monday’s morning session, will not be eligible for Tuesday’s repechage, based upon the results of Monday night’s semifinals at 97 kg in Greco-Roman at Makuhari Messe Hall A.
No. 1 seed and two-time World champion Musa Evloev of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) defeated No. 4 seed Tadeusz Michalik of Poland in the semifinals, 7-1.
Michalik had defeated Hancock, 4-3 in Monday morning’s quarterfinals. Michalik needed to reach the gold-medal finals for Hancock to be pulled back into repechage, so Hancock’s Olympic competition has now ended. Hancock won his first match on Monday morning, a 5-1 decision over Mihail Kajaia of Serbia.
Two Greco-Roman weight classes were completed on Monday night (60 kg and 130 kg), while two others advanced through the semifinals (77 kg and 97 kg).
History was made on Monday night, as Cuba’s talented 130 kg star Mijian Lopez Nunez became the first male wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals in wrestling. Lopez defeated Iakobi Kajaia of Georgia, 5-0 in the finals. Lopez dominated the action, getting a gut wrench, a step out point and two points on Kajaia’s passivity.
The only previous four-time Olympic champion was women’s freestyle star Kaori Icho of Japan, who won titles in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Lopez has won the last four Olympic titles in Greco-Roman (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020).
Cuba scored both gold medals in Greco-Roman on Monday night, after Luis Orta Sanchez defeated 2019 World champion Kenchiro Fumita of Japan, 5-1 in the finals.
At 60 kg, U.S. entry Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) finished 12th in the 16 athlete field when the final standings were published.
OLYMPIC GAMES WRESTLING
At Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, August 2
U.S. Greco-Roman performances
60 kg – Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), 12th place
LOSS Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba), 5-0
LOSS Sergey Emelin (ROC), 7-1
97 kg – G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
WIN Mihail Kajaia (Serbia), 7-1
LOSS Tadeusz Michalik (Poland), 4-3
Group One Greco-Roman final results
60 kg
Gold - Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba)
Silver - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan)
Bronze- Salike Walihan (China)
Bronze - Sergei Emelin (ROC)
5th - Lenur Temirov (Ukraine)
5th - Victor Ciobanu (Moldova)
7th - Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan)
8th - Armen Melikyan (Armenia)
9th - Haythem Mahmoud (Egypt)
10th Ali Reza Nejati (Iran)
Gold – Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) dec. Kenchiro Fumita (Japan), 5-1
Bronze – Salike Walihan (China) dec. Lenur Temirov (Ukraine), 1-1
Bronze - Sergei Emelin (ROC) tech. fall Victor Ciobanu (Moldova), 12-1
130 kg
Gold - Mijian Lopez Nunez (Cuba)
Silver - Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia)
Bronze - Riza Kayaalp (Turkey)
Bronze - Sergei Semenov (ROC)
5th - Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile)
5th - Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran)
7th - Muminjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan)
8th - Eduard Popp (Germany)
9th - Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed (Egypt)
10th - Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania)
Gold – Mijian Lopez Nunez (Cuba) dec. Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia), 5-0
Bronze – Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) dec. Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran), 7-2
Bronze - Sergei Semenov (ROC) dec. Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile), 1-1
Group Two Gold-Medal finals pairings
77 kg - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) vs. Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan)
97 kg - Musa Evloev (ROC) vs. Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia)
Group Two Semifinals results
77 kg
Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) dec. Mohammadali Geraei (Iran), 6-5
Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) dec. Karapet Chalyan (Armenia), 6-2
97 kg
Musa Evloev (ROC) dec. Tadeusz Michalik (Poland) 7-1
Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) dec. Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran), 4-1