The US Nationals/Olympic Team Trials Qualifier is on the minds of most with December right around the corner but there are a few other Senior tournaments still to be contested prior to the New Year.
This coming weekend are two events — the 2023 CISM World Military Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan and the Haparanda Cup in Haparanda, Sweden. As has been reported, the US does have a team in Baku consisting of Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP, 5PM #2), ’20 Olympian Alex Sancho (67 kg, Army/WCAP, 5PM #1), Britton Holmes (77 kg, Army/WCAP, 5PM #5), and ’20 Olympian John Stefanowicz (87 kg, Navy WC, 5PM #8). Roberts and Sancho are both multiple-time US World Team members while Stefanowicz was on the US WT roster in ’19.
The other tournament on the immediate horizon is Saturday’s Haparanda Cup. At press time, ’22 World Team member Benji Peak (Sunkist/NTS, 5PM #7 at 77 kg) is the only American registered for Haparanda as he is currently in Norway training along with the delegation that competed in Kolbotn on Saturday. Among the registrants for Haparanda is also ’19 European Championships bronze Dominik Etlinger (67 kg, CRO). Etlinger, 31, has not appeared in a tournament since the ’20 Grand Prix Zagreb Open, where he finished first.
The following weekend is the Arvo Haavisto Cup in Ilmajokie, FIN. Haparanda and Haavisto have been traditional favorites for the US program this time of year given how the two events run back-to-back during a space in the calendar when competition is scarce domestically. That is not the case in ’23 due to the aforementioned Nationals sitting on the calendar for December 15-16 in Fort Worth, TX.
FRA 67 kg
There is one more event on Saturday, although it is not an open international competition. The French Wrestling Federation (Fédération Française de Lutte) is holding a special tournament for just one weight class, 67 kilograms. Top-3 from the bracket will gain entry into January’s Zagreb Open “Ranking Series” event. Though there has been no formal declaration in this regard on the part of FFL, the anticipation is that the results from Zagrab will inform their decision pertaining to who they send at 67 to the European Championships and/or continental Olympic qualifier. France’s two strongest competitors at 67 are Mamadassa Sylla and Tigran Galustyan, with Sylla having in recent years received more starts in major events including the World Championships.
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