For the second time in the history of Five Point Move, two gentlemen were selected by the committee for the Athlete of the Year award — Payton Jacobson (87 kg, NYAC/NTS) and Beka Melelashvili (82 kg, NYAC). Through the fan vote, Jacobson is also being recognized for Outstanding Individual Performance on account of his stunning run at the 2024 Olympic Trials.
Jacobson and Melelashvili were among the top-5 candidates who emerged following the fan vote. Joining the pair were U20 World silver Otto Black (63 kg, CTT/Hawkeye WC), Military World silver Ildar Hafizov (63 kg, Army/WCAP), and now-two-time U20 World bronze Aden Attao (130 kg, Beaver Dam RTC). Each of the aforementioned athletes received votes from members of the 5PM AOTY Voting Committee but, in the end, Jacobson and Melelashvili wound up tied at two apiece. The first time two wrestlers were named co-Athletes of the Year was in ’19 when ’21 World bronze G’Angelo Hancock and Max Nowry shared the honor.
Melelashvili — who turns 23 on January 8 — is a native of Georgia who began competing for the United States this past season. And what a season it was for him. The U23 World Championships had not been kind to Team USA Greco-Roman since its inception in ’17. Over the course of the first six editions of the tournament, only one American had managed to advance to a medal round (Taylor LaMont, who placed 5th in ’21).
That all changed this past October. At the ’24 event in Tirana, Albania, Melelashvili soared to the 82 kg semifinal where he came back to win a tough 3-3 criteria decision at the expense of Elmin Aliyev (AZE). Melelashvili’s victory over Aliyev guaranteed that the US, at last, would depart from a U23 World Championships with a medalist.
Although Melelashvili’s run to silver at the U23 Worlds served as the primary factor which influenced his being named co-Athlete of the Year, he had other fine performances, as well. His initial march to prominence came, of course, at the U23 World Trials in May. Melelashvili had won all of his matches via stoppage (three VSU, one pin) to claim a spot on his first USA roster. Weeks later, he added a silver from the U23 Pan-Am Championships, and in August he also took second at the Druskininkai Cup (Lithuania). September saw Melelashvili fall to Tyler Eischens (Tar Heel WC) in the semifinals of the Senior World Team Trials, but he would gain a measure of revenge by downing Eischens for 3rd place. And towards the tip-end of the same month, Melelashvili earned bronze at the Valamar Cup in Croatia, which ran in concert with his conclusive training phase for the U23 World Championships.
Jacobson
Jacobson likewise enjoyed a breakout campaign in ’24. And he had bet on himself in order to accomplish it.
Originally seen as a legitimate threat to make the Olympic Team at 77 kilograms, Jacobson instead decided last winter to move up to 87 — the most competitive weight category in the US. He had also settled on 87 kg after having won the ’23 Bill Farrell Memorial and advancing to the “challenge tournament” final of the US Nationals in December, and both of those appearances for him were in the 77 kg division. In the eyes of some, Jacobson was taking a sizable risk by moving up. He was already “right there” at 77, and 87 promised an even harder-hitting landscape than the lighter Olympic weight.
But he knew what he was doing.
His 87 kg debut took place at Thor Masters (DEN) in March. Waiting for him in the bracket was a collection of top competitors, though he was up to the task. Ever the disciplined and motivated wrestler, Jacobson entered the tournament desiring to win — but it also provided an opportunity for him, as well as others, to discern how he might stack up in the heavier class. It did not take long to get an answer. Jacobson went 2-2 at Thor Masters, but that was not the important part. There is always more to the story. One of his two triumphs had come against ’21 World bronze Arkadiusz Kulynycz of Poland (which is one of this platform’s matches of the year for ’24); and despite the result being logged as a loss, Jacobson had pushed well-decorated Hungarian Istvan Takacs to the brink in his last contest, so much so that Takacs was bubbling with frustration with regards to Jacobson’s insistent pressure and aggressive, impactful tactics.
The Olympic Team Trials was where Jacobson perhaps shined the brightest in ’24, and it was also the event that elevated his profile. As had been mentioned, reported, and discussed numerous times in the lead-up, the 87 kg bracket at the Olympic Trials was the deepest for the Greco-Roman portion. Virtually every entrant sported impressive accolades, and nearly all of them were deemed potential winners of the tournament — especially Spencer Woods (Army/WCAP), who had owned a bye to the best-of-three final thanks to his securing the Olympic quota at the Pan-Am Qualifier in February. Jacobson started his trek in State College, Pennsylvania with a fire-breathing effort against recent National Team member Rich Carlson (Minnesota Storm) before defeating ’23 World rep Zac Braunagel (IRTC). A razor-thin nod over ’20 Olympian/’19 World Teamer John Stefanowicz (Navy WC) then propelled Jacobson into the best-of-three final opposite Woods. Jacobson captured the first bout of the series but Woods responded in Match 2 and came away with a 5-2 decision. With a trip to the Olympics on the line for the winner, Jacobson capitalized on his par terre opportunity in the first period to open up a 3-0 lead. Woods got a point back in the second, but could not make up the difference. At 21 years of age, Jacobson had become an Olympian as well as the first student from Northern Michigan University to do so since Spenser Thomas Mango in ’08.
Jacobson lost to Alexander Komarov (SRB, formerly of RUS) in his lone bout at the Paris Olympics — but his season wasn’t done quite yet. In September, he downed ’22 U23 World champ Exauce Mukubu (NOR) to earn bronze at the Valamar Cup. What came next might be nearly as noteworthy as his run at the Olympic Trials. Jacobson won his first two matches at the U23 World Championships and was poised to continue his tear until a close decision loss to eventual champ Aues Gonibov (AIN) deposited him into repechage. The following day, Jacobson routed Belarusian Ilya Mialeshchyk (AIN) to make the bronze round, where he was ultimately turned back by Asan Zhanyshov (KGZ).
Both Jacobson and Melelashvili will be featured in a special combined Q&A presentation coming up shortly.
5PM Athlete of the Year
2023: Kamal Bey
2022: Max Nowry
2021: G’Angelo Hancock
2020: G’Angelo Hancock
2019: G’Angelo Hancock & Max Nowry
2018: Adam Coon
2017: Kamal Bey
2016: Jesse Thielke
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
Listen to “5PM56: Rich Carlson and Spencer Woods” on Spreaker.
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