Provisor, Smith receive draws for second day of Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling on Monday
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Robby Smith of the USA battles Bilyal Makhov of Russia at the 2015 World Championships. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The final two U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers, Ben Provisor (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 85 kg/187.75 lbs. and Robby Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 lbs. have weighed in and received their first-round draw for the Olympic Games, which continue on Monday in Carioca 2 Arena.
Provisor, a two-time Olympian, is in the bottom half of the bracket, in the third quarter-bracket. He opens against 2015 World silver medalist Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan. Assakalov, as the reigning World silver medalist, received the No. 2 seed, and was placed in the top spot of the bottom half-bracket. Assakalov has won two Asian Championships gold medals.
If Provisor wins his first bout, he would face the winner of the match between Ravinder Khatri of India and Maksim Manukyan of Armenia, a 2013 University World Games runner-up
In the bottom portion of Provisor’s half-bracket, Saman Tahmasebi of Azerbaijan, Victor Lorincz of Hungary, Habibolah Akhlaghi of Iran and Davit Chakvetadze of Russia are among the top contenders to reach the semifinals round. Tahmasebi is a five-time World medalist. Lorincz was a 2013 World bronze medalist, Akhlaghi was fifth in the 2015 World Championships. Chakvetadze was a 2015 European Games champion.
“It is so great to see Ben back, with a healthy body, a strong attitude and a strong mind. He has had a great camp as well. He has had some challenges in the past. There have been no injuries this year. He has been real healthy the last two weeks, just tapering down, recovering well, handling every little detail. Ben trains hard, he works hard. He is serious,” said Lindland.
The Wisconsin native Provisor made the 2012 Olympics at 74 kg the age of 21, and comes off a four-year Olympic cycle in which he dealt with a variety of serious injuries. In 2014, he was second in the World Team Trials at non-Olympic 80 kg, and made the move up to 85 kg/187.75 lbs. for the Olympic year.
Smith is in the top half of the bracket, in the first quarter-bracket. He opens against Sabah Shiarati of Azerbaijan, who was fifth in the 2015 World Championships.
If Smith wins his first bout, he would face winner of the match between two-time World champion Riza Kayaalp of Turkey and Edwin Carabello of Venezuela. Kayaalp, as the reigning World champion, received the No. 1 seed and is placed at the top of the bracket. Kayaalp has won seven World and Olympic medals.
Should Smith reach the semifinals, the bottom part of his half-bracket includes potential semifinal opponents Meng Qiang of China, Bashir Babajanzadeh of Iran, Eduard Popp of Germany and Numakhan Tinaliyev of Kazakhstan. Tinaliyev is a three-time World bronze medalist.
“We know Robby is capable. We saw that Robby was capable of last year at the World Championships. He was right there. We all thought he won that bronze-medal match against the Russian, but we didn’t get the victory. Robby’s preparation has been phenomenal. He has stuck to his plan, he has worked hard, he is ready to go, he is excited. His confidence is real high, knowing how close he was to getting that medal last year. The weight class is wide open for Robby. There are some really good young guys, some really good old guys. Robby is right in the prime of his career. If somebody grabs his head, Robby with throw him. If he is in a body lock, he is going to go with it. He is not going to hesitate. He will take some risk and go out there to compete,” said Lindland.
In the bottom bracket, an interesting first-round match is the rematch of the 2012 Olympic finals between two-time Olympic champion Mijian Lopez of Cuba and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Heiki Nabi of Estonia. Lopez is the No. 2 seed after taking second to Kayaalp at the 2015 World Championships.
Smith, a California native, has placed fifth in the world two times during this four-year Olympic cycle, in both 2013 and 2014. He has made the last three U.S. Senior World Teams.
The preliminaries are set for 10:00 a.m. Rio time, with the medal rounds set at 4:00 p.m. (This is one hour ahead of U.S. Eastern time).
Lindland is looking to finish off the U.S. performance with a big day on Monday, which is the last day that USA Greco-Roman athletes will be competing in Rio. The USA does not have any entries in Tuesday’s Greco-Roman competition.
“Tomorrow is a new day, and I am looking forward to seeing these two athletes compete. I know they have both prepared well. They are excited to get out there,” said Lindland
Fans can see every match streamed live through NBC, with television coverage expected on other NBC platforms. United World Wrestling will have live results and brackets.
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES
At Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
U.S. Greco-Roman first-match draws for Monday
85 kg/187.5 lbs. – Ben Provisor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan), 2nd in 2015 World Championships, 2013 and 2015 Asian champion, 2014 Asian Games champion
130 kg/286 lbs. – Robby Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Sabah Shiarati (Azerbaijan), 5th in 2015 World Championships, 2nd in 2015 European Games, 2015 UWW Golden Grand Prix Finals champion in Azerbaijan
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The final two U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers, Ben Provisor (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 85 kg/187.75 lbs. and Robby Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 lbs. have weighed in and received their first-round draw for the Olympic Games, which continue on Monday in Carioca 2 Arena.
Provisor, a two-time Olympian, is in the bottom half of the bracket, in the third quarter-bracket. He opens against 2015 World silver medalist Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan. Assakalov, as the reigning World silver medalist, received the No. 2 seed, and was placed in the top spot of the bottom half-bracket. Assakalov has won two Asian Championships gold medals.
If Provisor wins his first bout, he would face the winner of the match between Ravinder Khatri of India and Maksim Manukyan of Armenia, a 2013 University World Games runner-up
In the bottom portion of Provisor’s half-bracket, Saman Tahmasebi of Azerbaijan, Victor Lorincz of Hungary, Habibolah Akhlaghi of Iran and Davit Chakvetadze of Russia are among the top contenders to reach the semifinals round. Tahmasebi is a five-time World medalist. Lorincz was a 2013 World bronze medalist, Akhlaghi was fifth in the 2015 World Championships. Chakvetadze was a 2015 European Games champion.
“It is so great to see Ben back, with a healthy body, a strong attitude and a strong mind. He has had a great camp as well. He has had some challenges in the past. There have been no injuries this year. He has been real healthy the last two weeks, just tapering down, recovering well, handling every little detail. Ben trains hard, he works hard. He is serious,” said Lindland.
The Wisconsin native Provisor made the 2012 Olympics at 74 kg the age of 21, and comes off a four-year Olympic cycle in which he dealt with a variety of serious injuries. In 2014, he was second in the World Team Trials at non-Olympic 80 kg, and made the move up to 85 kg/187.75 lbs. for the Olympic year.
Smith is in the top half of the bracket, in the first quarter-bracket. He opens against Sabah Shiarati of Azerbaijan, who was fifth in the 2015 World Championships.
If Smith wins his first bout, he would face winner of the match between two-time World champion Riza Kayaalp of Turkey and Edwin Carabello of Venezuela. Kayaalp, as the reigning World champion, received the No. 1 seed and is placed at the top of the bracket. Kayaalp has won seven World and Olympic medals.
Should Smith reach the semifinals, the bottom part of his half-bracket includes potential semifinal opponents Meng Qiang of China, Bashir Babajanzadeh of Iran, Eduard Popp of Germany and Numakhan Tinaliyev of Kazakhstan. Tinaliyev is a three-time World bronze medalist.
“We know Robby is capable. We saw that Robby was capable of last year at the World Championships. He was right there. We all thought he won that bronze-medal match against the Russian, but we didn’t get the victory. Robby’s preparation has been phenomenal. He has stuck to his plan, he has worked hard, he is ready to go, he is excited. His confidence is real high, knowing how close he was to getting that medal last year. The weight class is wide open for Robby. There are some really good young guys, some really good old guys. Robby is right in the prime of his career. If somebody grabs his head, Robby with throw him. If he is in a body lock, he is going to go with it. He is not going to hesitate. He will take some risk and go out there to compete,” said Lindland.
In the bottom bracket, an interesting first-round match is the rematch of the 2012 Olympic finals between two-time Olympic champion Mijian Lopez of Cuba and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Heiki Nabi of Estonia. Lopez is the No. 2 seed after taking second to Kayaalp at the 2015 World Championships.
Smith, a California native, has placed fifth in the world two times during this four-year Olympic cycle, in both 2013 and 2014. He has made the last three U.S. Senior World Teams.
The preliminaries are set for 10:00 a.m. Rio time, with the medal rounds set at 4:00 p.m. (This is one hour ahead of U.S. Eastern time).
Lindland is looking to finish off the U.S. performance with a big day on Monday, which is the last day that USA Greco-Roman athletes will be competing in Rio. The USA does not have any entries in Tuesday’s Greco-Roman competition.
“Tomorrow is a new day, and I am looking forward to seeing these two athletes compete. I know they have both prepared well. They are excited to get out there,” said Lindland
Fans can see every match streamed live through NBC, with television coverage expected on other NBC platforms. United World Wrestling will have live results and brackets.
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES
At Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
U.S. Greco-Roman first-match draws for Monday
85 kg/187.5 lbs. – Ben Provisor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan), 2nd in 2015 World Championships, 2013 and 2015 Asian champion, 2014 Asian Games champion
130 kg/286 lbs. – Robby Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
Vs. Sabah Shiarati (Azerbaijan), 5th in 2015 World Championships, 2nd in 2015 European Games, 2015 UWW Golden Grand Prix Finals champion in Azerbaijan
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