Earl Smith of D1 College Wrestling wins journalist Olympic champion prediction contest with 11 correct winners
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Earl Smith, from the website D1 College Wrestling based in the United States, was the top international journalist in TheMat.com’s predict the winners contest with 11 correct champions.
Every year, USA Wrestling asks international journalists to predict the winners of the World Wrestling Championships or the Olympic Games in all three styles. There were 21 journalists who submitted their picks for the Olympic Games this year.
Smith had four correct champions in Greco-Roman, four correct champions in men’s freestyle and three correct champions in women’s freestyle.
He was the only journalist to select Davor Stefanek of Serbia as the Greco-Roman champion at 66 kg. His other Greco-Roman selections were Roman Vlasov of Russia (75 kg), Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia (98 kg) and Mijian Lopez of Cuba (130 kg). In men’s freestyle, he successfully selected Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia (57 kg), Soslan Ramanov of Russia (65 kg), Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia (86 kg) and Taha Akgul of Turkey (125 kg). His women’s freestyle champion picks were Eri Tosaka of Japan (48 kg), Helen Maroulis of the USA (53 kg) and Kaori Icho of Japan (58 kg).
Three finished with 10 correct selections – Christian Pyles of Flowrestling (USA), Alex Steen of The Open Mat (USA), and super wrestling fan Sina Etemadi (USA).
Pyles had five correct men’s freestyle picks, three in Greco-Roman and two in women’s freestyle. Steen had four in men’s freestyle, three in Greco-Roman and three in women’s freestyle. Etemadi, a fan who has participated in this contest for many years, selected four correct Greco-Roman predictions, three in women’s freestyle and three in men’s freestyle.
There were eight journalists who were tied with nine correct selections.
As noted, Smith was the only journalist to select Stefanek as the Greco-Roman champion at 66 kg. Jonny Rugianno of the Titan Mercury WC was the only journalist to pick Sara Dosho of Japan as the women’s 69 kg champion.
For a tie-breaker, journalists were also asked to pick the top five teams, based upon medals won. Since Smith was the only journalist with 11 correct choices, the tiebreaker was not necessary.
This journalist prediction contest has become a regular feature on TheMat.com each year, and a fun opportunity for wrestling journalists to do their best to handicap the field.
CORRECT JOURNALIST SELECTIONS
11 – Earl Smith (D1 College Wrestling – USA)
10 – Christian Pyles (Flowrestling – USA), Alex Steen (The Open Mat – USA), Sina Etemadi (fan – USA)
9 – Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling), T.R. Foley (Intermat – USA), Ikuo Higuchi (Japan Wrestling Federation – JPN), Andrew Hipps (Intermat – USA), Richard Immel (USA Wrestling), Taylor Miller (USA Wrestling), Andy Ross (49 North Wrestling – CAN), Jonny Ruggiano (Titan Mercury WC – USA)
8 – Ali Feizasa (ISNA News Agency – IRI), Justin Hoch (JHoch.com – USA)
7 – Eric Asselin (49 North Wrestling – CAN), Dan Fickell (Wrestling USA Magazine – USA), Tony Rotundo (Wrestlers Are Warriors – USA), Willie Saylor (Flowrestling – USA)
6 – Jason Bryant (Mat Talk Online – USA)
5 – Bryan Van Kley (WIN Magazine – USA)
4 – Petr Pavlov (Respublika Sakha – RUS)
Click here to see the journalist Olympic champions predictions
Every year, USA Wrestling asks international journalists to predict the winners of the World Wrestling Championships or the Olympic Games in all three styles. There were 21 journalists who submitted their picks for the Olympic Games this year.
Smith had four correct champions in Greco-Roman, four correct champions in men’s freestyle and three correct champions in women’s freestyle.
He was the only journalist to select Davor Stefanek of Serbia as the Greco-Roman champion at 66 kg. His other Greco-Roman selections were Roman Vlasov of Russia (75 kg), Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia (98 kg) and Mijian Lopez of Cuba (130 kg). In men’s freestyle, he successfully selected Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia (57 kg), Soslan Ramanov of Russia (65 kg), Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia (86 kg) and Taha Akgul of Turkey (125 kg). His women’s freestyle champion picks were Eri Tosaka of Japan (48 kg), Helen Maroulis of the USA (53 kg) and Kaori Icho of Japan (58 kg).
Three finished with 10 correct selections – Christian Pyles of Flowrestling (USA), Alex Steen of The Open Mat (USA), and super wrestling fan Sina Etemadi (USA).
Pyles had five correct men’s freestyle picks, three in Greco-Roman and two in women’s freestyle. Steen had four in men’s freestyle, three in Greco-Roman and three in women’s freestyle. Etemadi, a fan who has participated in this contest for many years, selected four correct Greco-Roman predictions, three in women’s freestyle and three in men’s freestyle.
There were eight journalists who were tied with nine correct selections.
As noted, Smith was the only journalist to select Stefanek as the Greco-Roman champion at 66 kg. Jonny Rugianno of the Titan Mercury WC was the only journalist to pick Sara Dosho of Japan as the women’s 69 kg champion.
For a tie-breaker, journalists were also asked to pick the top five teams, based upon medals won. Since Smith was the only journalist with 11 correct choices, the tiebreaker was not necessary.
This journalist prediction contest has become a regular feature on TheMat.com each year, and a fun opportunity for wrestling journalists to do their best to handicap the field.
CORRECT JOURNALIST SELECTIONS
11 – Earl Smith (D1 College Wrestling – USA)
10 – Christian Pyles (Flowrestling – USA), Alex Steen (The Open Mat – USA), Sina Etemadi (fan – USA)
9 – Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling), T.R. Foley (Intermat – USA), Ikuo Higuchi (Japan Wrestling Federation – JPN), Andrew Hipps (Intermat – USA), Richard Immel (USA Wrestling), Taylor Miller (USA Wrestling), Andy Ross (49 North Wrestling – CAN), Jonny Ruggiano (Titan Mercury WC – USA)
8 – Ali Feizasa (ISNA News Agency – IRI), Justin Hoch (JHoch.com – USA)
7 – Eric Asselin (49 North Wrestling – CAN), Dan Fickell (Wrestling USA Magazine – USA), Tony Rotundo (Wrestlers Are Warriors – USA), Willie Saylor (Flowrestling – USA)
6 – Jason Bryant (Mat Talk Online – USA)
5 – Bryan Van Kley (WIN Magazine – USA)
4 – Petr Pavlov (Respublika Sakha – RUS)
Click here to see the journalist Olympic champions predictions
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