Wrestling World Championships: A Tactical Review
Wrestling World Championships: A Tactical Review
I break down my favorite performances from the 2023 Wrestling World Championships.
Akhmed Tazhudinov - 97kg 🥇
The biggest surprise of the tournament was the ascent of Akhmed Tazhudinov. The 20 year old made his first appearance at worlds this year, but his path to the finals went through two Olympic gold medalists in Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Kyle Snyder. Pointing out that Sadulaev is merely an Olympic gold medalist is selling him short - he’s already cemented himself as one of the most dominant Freestyle wrestlers of all time.
It took Tazhudinov only three minutes to score a 10-0 technical fall victory over Snyder and Sadulaev was dispatched 9-2, though an injury forced Sadulaev to leave the match and tournament early and prevented him from competing at his best.
This was the first time I’ve watched Tazhudinov, but it was impossible not to be impressed. The large Dagestani-born Bahraini is a methodical wrestler with brilliant counter-wrestling. He would often appear lethargic when grip fighting on the feet, but as soon as opponents shoot he’s instantly poised to spring into action.
Tazhudinov’s primary offensive sequences in the tournament came by passing his opponent’s collar tie across his body. He would let them take a collar tie and place his same-side hand over top it in a overtie, using his far hand to fight their free hand. Then he’d threaten snap-downs with his overtie and use his far arm to clutch the wrist, pulling their collar tie across while at the same time looking away to shuck the grip off his neck and circling to a dominant angle.
He hit a gorgeous pair of these in his gold medal match against Magomedkhan Magomedov, first using a cross ankle pick to setup a single leg finish, then picking the same-side ankle and stepping over the far leg to finish.
But the most impressive aspect of Tazhudinov’s run was his defensive wrestling and counters. He destroyed Kyle Snyder in minutes without even taking a shot. Snyder tried to find an underhook repeatedly, but Tazhudinov maintained his positioning and would use both hands to control Snyder’s free wrist, neutralizing it and allowing him to work out of the underhook.
At one point Snyder won the wrist control battle and used his underhook to throw Tazhudinov by into a single leg near the edge of the mat, but Tazhudinov hit a gorgeous whizzer kick counter instead.
Note how Tazhudinov uses short hops that take both feet off the ground very briefly to immediately put himself in strong defensive position. He meets the initial shot by hopping back to a more square position that allows him to meet the entry with heavy counter pressure and avoid being run out of bounds, then as Snyder looks to drive through, he hops to an angle, leaving Snyder off balance. Then he just has to reap the hip with his thigh, pressure down on the whizzer, and pull the far arm in to rotate Snyder to the mat.
In the finishing sequence against Snyder, we again see how Tazhudinov’s quick reactions to the shot put him in position to score off his opponent’s offense:
As Snyder takes an inside step on the high crotch, Tazhudinov is once again immediately off his feet, this time to split his legs and draw the leg being attacked backwards. Snyder’s goal is to get tight to the leg with good posture and cut an angle toward the back, allowing him to drive to finish, but by drawing the leg back Tazhudinov extends that angle, lengthening the distance Snyder needs to circle in order to achieve it. Snyder switches to a double leg and Tazhudinov uses his inside leg to block Snyder’s far leg.
With the double leg, Snyder’s objective is to step deep inside on Tazhudinov and force his weight to transfer to his left leg so he can explode through, while Tazhudinov wants to keep his weight moving into Snyder - the leg block prevents that step. A grip on the arse allows him to pull Snyder forward, setting up his next move. As Snyder attempts to drive inside on the double to stick Tazhudinov’s weight on his far leg, Tazhudinov hops to an angle, taking Snyder’s head off his hip and finally giving him the positioning he needs to attack. Now with his weight pushing into Snyder and Snyder’s drive taking him outside Tazhudinov’s hips, Tazhudinov sits back and uses his inside leg to elevate Snyder’s hips as he rolls through.
There’s a lot of information to take in there, but the big things are Tazhudinov’s immediate reaction to his opponent’s attack, and excellence in positioning that allows him to win the position and put his opponent off balance, before setting up his counter attack.
At only 20 years of age, the sky is the limit for Tazhudinov and I can’t wait to see where he goes next.