USA Wrestling is excited to share the news that Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, has been awarded the Men’s and Women’s Freestyle Wrestling World Cup 2022 events for 2022 and 2023 by United World Wrestling. Competition dates for 2022 are slated for December 10-11, while for 2023, they are December 9-10.
There is an annual international dual meet championship called the World Cup. For the first time, the men’s and women’s Freestyle World Cup competitions will be held simultaneously.
The United States, Iran, Japan, Georgia, and Mongolia are the top five nations to qualify for the 2022 Men’s Freestyle World Cup. Japan, the United States, China, Mongolia, and Ukraine are the top five nations to qualify for the Women’s Freestyle World Cup in 2022. For each team, there is also an All-World Team made up of the best athletes from nations who did not cut.
Countries that cut are those whose national teams performed best at the annual Senior World Championships. The September 2022 Senior World Championships took place in Belgrade, Serbia. In 2023, Russia will play home to the world’s top athletes at the senior level at the World Championships.
How to watch Wrestling World Cup 2022 Live Stream
Live Broadcast: Wrestling World Cup 2022 Live (Try it for free).
Wrestling World Cup 2022 Preview
IOWA CITY, CORALVILLE (December 9) — There was a world champion, five other athletes who had won medals at previous worlds and two medalists from the 2022 World Championships.
On December 10 and 11, the Xtreme Arena in Coralville will host the freestyle World Cup, and if everything goes to plan, a 10-person All-World squad will compete for the crown.
It will be the first time an All-World squad competes at the World Cup (2022). It consists of Belgrade’s best competitors who didn’t make one of the five automatic qualifying squads.
The top five teams from the World Championships—the USA, Iran, Japan, Mongolia, and Georgia—received direct invitations to the World Cup. However, the All-World team appears to be a powerful force.
World champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (UWW) at 57 kilograms leads a team that includes two-time silver medalist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (UWW) at 74 kilograms, another silver medalist in Slovakia’s Batyrbek TSAKULOV (UWW) at 97 kilograms, and two young bronze medalists from Belgrade in Ernazar AKMATALIEV (UWW) at 70 kilograms and O
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (UWW) is a two-time world bronze medalist at 65 kilograms, and he’ll be joined by fellow medalists Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (UWW) at 79 kilograms and Azamat DAULETBEKOV (UWW) at 86 kg. They are joined by Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UWW) at 125 pounds and Georgi VANGELOV (UWW) at 61 pounds, both of whom competed in the Tokyo Olympics.
Group B has Iran and Japan, where the All-World team has a good chance of finishing first and advancing to the championship round of wrestling.
The All-World squad will start their season as big favourites versus Japan. While sending a very young team, Japan is missing its two world champions, Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) and Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN).
Abakarov, Muszukajev, Akmataliev, Salkazanov, and Nurmagomedov are expected to carry the All-World squad to victory.
The All-match World’s against Iran late on Saturday is essentially a semifinal because Japan is also unlikely to win against Iran.
The team is well-prepared, according to Akmataliev. “A camp in the United States was planned, but it fell through. So, here in Bishkek, we’re getting ready. The whole picture will be clear on Saturday.”
Akmataliev is one of the world’s most thrilling wrestlers, thanks to his dramatic comeback victories. Everyone in Coralville will be rooting for him to win every match. He thinks the squad has a shot of doing the same, too.
It would be a close game in the unlikely event that the USA and the All-World squad meet in the final.
Suppose Abakarov can get the All-World squad off to a winning start. In that case, the 61kg contest between Vangelov and Seth GROSS (US) and the 65kg matchup between Muszukajev and John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) will be highly anticipated. For the 74kg class, Akmataliev has the advantage against Tyler BERGER (USA) and Jason NOLF (USA).
If Budazhapov loses to Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) at 79 kg, Salkazanov still needs to win. The 86-kilogram bout between Dauletbekov and Zahid VALENCIA (USA) will be pivotal for both sides, especially as Numagomedov is favoured to defeat Nathan JACKSON (USA). American Kyle SNYDER holds the upper hand in their rematch for the World Championships final at 97 kg versus Tsakulov of Russia. At 125 kilograms, Khotsianivskyi must defeat Hayden ZILLMER for the All-World team to advance (USA).
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Both teams will probably wind up with five victories, and the team with more points in the final classification will be the World Cup champion.
Wrestling World Cup 2022 Schedule
Planned at 6:45 p.m. on December 9, 2022
The Opening Ceremony and Team Presentations for the World Cup
An Evening with American Wrestling Icons
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022
Session One — 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Match Report: Men’s Freestyle, USA vs Mongolia, MAT A
Japan vs Mongolia: Women’s Freestyle | MAT B
11:30 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.
In the men’s freestyle competition, Iran will face Japan in MAT A, and the United States will take against China in MAT B.
Second Meeting: 3:00-5:50
3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
Mongolian Men Take on Georgian Men in Freestyle Competition | MAT A
Freestyle Matchup: Mongolia vs Ukraine (Women) | MAT B
4:30 p.m. – 5:50 p.m.
Freestyle Match: All-World Team vs Japan Men | MAT A
Match B: Women’s Freestyle: China vs the Rest of the World
Evening Session 3: 6:00 – 8:50
6:00 p.m. – 7:20 p.m.
The Men’s Freestyle Match: Georgia vs the United States of America | MAT A
Match B: Women’s Freestyle, Ukraine vs Japan on MAT
7:30 pm – 8:50 pm
All-World vs Iran Men’s Freestyle | MAT A
Female Freestyle Competiton: Internationals against. Americans | MAT B
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Between 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. MAT A Women’s Freestyle Third-Place Match
Men’s Freestyle Third-Place Match | MAT A 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Women’s Freestyle Finals | MAT A | 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
First-Place Finals for Men’s Freestyle | MAT A 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Presentation of Awards: 7:30 p.m.
