Sept 5 World Championship Previews

Sarah Hildebrandt, a 2019 World silver medalist, highlights the second group of American wrestlers who will compete in the 2019 UWW World Championships, which take place Sept. 14-22 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, the second-lightest men’s freestyle wrestler is former Wisconsin All-American Tyler Graff, who earned his first World Team berth at 61 kilograms, while Ildar Hafizov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, qualified for his second USA Greco-Roman Team at 60 kilogram.

Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe to WIN Magazine and receive coverage of the upcoming World Championships. The next WIN, which will be printed Sept. 11, will also include WIN’s preseason NCAA Div. I rankings and Tournament Power Index.

Men’s Freestyle

61 K / 134 pounds

Tyler Graff

Competing Sept. 21-22

Tyler Graff waited five years between capturing a fourth All-American honor at Wisconsin and his first World Team berth by beating Joe Colon at Final X Lincoln. (Justin Hoch photo).

Bio: Age 30 (born June 3, 1989); native of Loveland, Colo.; resident of Princeton, N.J.; Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC; 4-time AA at Wisconsin (2010-14), 2014 NCAA runner-up.

International Experience: First Senior World Tournament; also competed in two Junior Worlds and dnp in 2007 and ‘08

2019 Final X: defeated 2018 World bronze medalist Joe Colon in best-of-three matches, 4-6, 9-2, 12-2, in Lincoln, Neb.

Projected Top 4 Seeds by UWW: 1. Yowlys Bonnie Rodriguez (Cuba), ’18 World gold; 2. Rahul Aware (India), ’19 Yasar Dogu gold; 3. Beka Lomtadze (Georgia), ’16 World silver; 4. Behnam Ehsanpoor (Iran), competed in last three Worlds.

Greco-Roman

60 K / 132 pounds

Ildar Hafizov

Competing Sept. 16-17

The 2019 Worlds in Kazakhstan will be somewhat of a homecoming for Ildar Hafizov, (left) a native of nearby Uzbekistan. (Justin Hoch photo).

Bio:Age 31 (born Jan. 30, 1988); native of Tashkent, Uzbekistan; resident of Colorado Springs, Colo.; U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program; Immigrated to USA in 2014

International Experience:competed in four Senior Worlds; overall record 3-5; three for Uzbekistan; 2007-fifth (3-2), 2009-dnp (0-1) and 2011-dnp (0-1) and once for USA in 2017-dnp (0-1); also competed in 2008 Olympics for Uzbekistan, did not place (0-2 record)

2019 Final X:defeated Leslie Fuenffinger (U.S. Army WCAP) in best-of-three matches, 7-5, pin, in Lincoln, Neb.

Projected Top 4 Seeds by UWW:1. Sergey Emelin (Russia), ’18 World gold; 2. Seunghak Kim (Korea), ’17 World bronze; 3. Victor Ciobanu (Moldova); 4. Ivan Lizatovic (Croatia), ’18 World silver.

Women’s Freestyle

53 K / 116.5 pounds

Sarah Hildebrandt

Competing Sept. 17-18

Sarah Hildebrandt (top), who beat Katherine Shai at Final X Lincoln, will be looking to improve on her silver medal performance from 2018. (Justin Hoch photo).

Bio:Age 25 (born Sept. 23, 1993); native of Granger, Ill.; resident of Colorado Springs, Colo.; New York AC/OTC; 2-time WCWA champ from King U. in 2014 and ’15.

International Experience: defending World silver medalist competed in two Senior Worlds; overall record 3-3 with one medal; did not place in 2016 (0-2); also competed in two Junior Worlds, dnp in 2012 and 10th in 2013; 2013 World Univ. Games (8th).

2019 Final X: defeated Katherine Shai (Titan Mercury WC) in best-of-three matches, 3-0, 8-0, in Lincoln, Neb.

Projected Top 4 Seeds by UWW: 1. Sarah Hildebrandt (United States); 2. Qianyu Pang (China), ’18 World bronze; 3. Diana Weicker (Canada), ’18 World bronze; 4. Luisa Melendres (Ecuador), ’18 World 7th.

Other World Championships Daily Previews by WIN (Click on date to read)