As had been reported over the weekend, the pair of Scandinavian events that typically highlight the end-of-year calendar — Sweden’s Haparanda Cup (November 30) and the Haavisto Cup in Finland — have released their preliminary registration lists. Although the United States will not be sending substantive delegations to either tournament, there is still news to absorb when it comes to the Americans. 2024 U20 World silver medalist Otto Black and former NCAA Division I star Austin DeSanto are registered for both tournaments, which also means that the duo will soon be making their respective Senior international Greco-Roman debuts.
Black, who is the younger brother of US National Team member Max Black (60 kg, NMU/NTS), is, of course, recognized as a top prospect for the Greco-Roman program, even as he prepares to embark on a collegiate folkstyle career for the University of Iowa. Black is currently “grey-shirting” and is not yet a full-fledged member of the Iowa Hawkeyes roster — but he is still eligible to compete in college “open” tournaments and last week placed 1st at the Luther Open.
DeSanto had put the pieces in place to forge a freestyle career after finishing his college days as a four-time Division I All-American. The Pennsylvania native is without a pronounced background in Greco-Roman; but the consensus is that given his competitive pedigree as well as superb overall wrestling ability, DeSanto will likely not find himself too far behind the curve, though par terre bottom is, as always, the equalizer. That said, 63 kg (the weight category in which both Black and DeSanto will compete at Haparanda) is light on entries and their counterparts listed at press time are not top international performers.
Also released this past weekend with regards to Haparanda and Haavisto was a brief exploration into ’22 World bronze Mantas Knystautas‘ (130 kg, LTU) post-Paris Games activity. Two-time Olympian Knystautas has registered for both tournaments, which is newsworthy if only because it is rare, in this era, for decorated athletes (who are 30 and older, especially at heavyweight) just off of an Olympiad to enter multiple events in the fall. Knystautas also competed in the Valamar Cup (CRO) in September, just seven weeks after the Paris Games.
However, the Haparanda and Haavisto Cups are not the only Senior events left on the calendar until ’25 arrives.
First and foremost is the CISM Military World Championships beginning on Wednesday (November 20) in Yerevan, Armenia. USA Wrestling — the national governing body in the US — published the American roster, which is comprised entirely of wrestlers from the Army’s World Class Athletes Program. The CISM Worlds starts on Wednesday and concludes on Friday. Information on streaming is thus far unavailable.
2024 CISM World Championships – USA Roster
55 kg: Billy Sullivan (’21 U20 World Team, ’24 U23 World Team)
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (2X US World Team, ’23 Military World bronze)
63 kg: Ildar Hafizov (4X World Team, 2X Olympian)
67 kg: Xavier Johnson (’23 World Team)
72 kg: Alex Sancho (’20 Olympian, 2X World Team)
77 kg: Justus Scott (’23 National Champion, ’21 U20 World Team, 2X U23 World Team)
82 kg: Kamal Bey (’24 Olympian, 3X World Team, ’17 Junior World Champion)
87 kg: Spencer Woods (2X World Team, 3X National Champion)
97 kg: Timothy Young (’22 Final X runner-up)
130 kg: Jeremiah Imonode (’24 US Armed Forces gold)
This coming weekend is the Korea Open in Sangju, which involves all three Olympic disciplines. Entry lists and streaming information have not been released but will be published in this space should that change. 5PM has contacted the Korean Wrestling Federation for further details. December includes three more events (not counting the aforementioned Haavisto Cup), one of which is the annual Ibrahim Moustafa Memorial (EGY). The other two tournaments, Intuthuko (SAF) and the Arab Championships (TUN), respectively, are regional affairs more so than international competitions.
November
20-22 — CISM World Championships (Yerven, ARM)
22-24 — Korea Open (Sangju, KOR)
30 — Haparanda Cup (Haparanda, SWE)
December
7 — Haavisto Cup (Ilmajoki, FIN)
7-8 — Ibrahim Moustafa Memorial (Cairo, EGY)
7-8 — Intuthuko (Pretoria, South Africa)
21-22 — Arab Championships (Tunis, TUN)
Lorincz Takes Over HUN Seniors
Earlier this month, multi-time World medalist and ’20 Olympic silver Viktor Lorincz was selected as the head of Hungary’s Senior Greco-Roman national team for the LA ’28 Paris cycle. Lorincz, 34, was previously tasked with leading Hungary’s U23 group whilst also sporadically assisting the country’s top Seniors under Peter Modos (who himself was an Olympic bronze in ’12 and a World bronze the following year). Modos opted not to return to the head role and a vote was held to discern whether Lorincz or ’92 Olympic champ Attila Repka would take his place. In the end, the committee felt that Lorincz was the man for the job. As federation professional director Peter Basci put it, “Viktor’s determination was very convincing and he was open to any cooperation. For the past three years, as a coach, he helped the national team work every day, and the guys accepted him. So these were also arguments that tipped the scales in his favor.” Basci would go on to indicate that Repka might still be involved with Hungary’s national team in some capacity.
Lorincz provided to MBSZ’s official outlet what the plan for the national team entails both this season and beyond. “Of course, we have long-term goals, but first of all we always want to focus on the next task,” began Lorincz. “In this case, next year’s European Championship in Bratislava (Slovakia). We would like to place great emphasis on all segments of the preparation, among others, on fitness and mental health. We are also planning training camps in the eastern region, and even further afield, so that the guys can adapt to acclimatization as much as possible. So we are preparing for Los Angeles little by little with sub-goals.”
It is not a responsibility that Lorincz takes lightly, and he spoke to how he will approach this new, higher-profile role.
“This is a big step in my career, that’s why I want to give it my all,” said Lorincz. “I always try to act according to what serves the interests of the national wrestling team and Hungarian wrestling. I think as a team, in cooperation with the national team and club coaches, the association and the academy. I want the work to be carried out in a system that encourages the competitors to perform as well as possible. I will do everything to get the most out of myself and the guys.”
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
Listen to “5PM56: Rich Carlson and Spencer Woods” on Spreaker.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FIVE POINT MOVE PODCAST
iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music
