Kyle Dake will be Team USA’s representative at 74kg and will look to defend his world title on September 16-17 in Belgrade, Serbia. Dake will be the favorite to bring home gold but will be challenged by a deep field. Check out the full preview below to get to know the biggest threats and landmines at 74kg. 

The top 8 wrestlers will be seeded at the world championships based on rankings points accumulated over the past year. Dake will be the #1 seed with last year’s runner-up Salkazanov as the #2 seed. It’s also worth noting that Kyle Dake and Frank Chamizo will be on the same side of the bracket, likely to meet in the semi-finals. 

Projected Seeds:

1. Kyle Dake, USA
2. Tajmuraz Salkazanov, SVK
3. Frank Chamizo, ITA
4. Turan Bayramov, AZE
5. Younes Emami, IRI
6. Khetik Tsabolov, SRB
7. Soner Demirtas, TUR
8. Mitch Finesilver, ISR

Favorites

The best wrestlers in the field:

• Kyle Dake, USA
• Tajmuraz Salkazanov, SVK
• Frank Chamizo, ITA

As the defending world champion, Kyle Dake is the clear favorite to win worlds this year at 74kg. Last year, Dake had wins over both of the other favorites - Tajmuraz Salkazanov and Frank Chamizo. Dake took out Chamizo in the bronze medal match at the Olympics, 5-0, and defeated Salkazanov 7-3 in the 2021 world finals. Dake will likely have to get by those two competitors again at this year’s world championships. Of any wrestler from Team USA, Kyle Dake should be considered the biggest favorite to win a world title this year in Serbia. 

Dake’s win over Salkazanov in the 2021 World Finals:

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Tajmuraz Salkazanov put 74kg on notice at the 2021 European Championships when he won gold by defeating Avtandil Kentchadze, Razambek Zhamalov, and Frank Chamizo in successive matches. Salkazanov proved that performance wasn’t a fluke by going on to win silver at the 2021 world championships and gold at 2022 Euros. Again at this year’s Euros, Salkazanov had impressive wins over both Frank Chamizo and U23 world champ Turan Bayramov. Salkazanov has made it clear that he’s the #2 guy in this bracket and the favorite to make the finals opposite Dake. 

Salkazanov’s win over Chamizo at the 2022 European Championships:

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Despite losses to Dake and Salkazanov, Frank Chamizo should still be considered in the top tier at 74kg. Chamizo’s accolades alone prove he knows how to perform on the biggest stages - he’s a two-time world champion, world silver medalist, and Olympic bronze medalist. Beyond the accolades, Chamizo has head-to-head wins over many of the top contenders in this weight including Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev, Soner Demirtas, Fazli Eryilmaz, Khetik Tsabolov, Ali-Pasha Umarpashaev, and Nurkozha Kaipanov. Chamizo’s losses to Dake and Salkazanov were within the margins and definitely matches he could overturn in Serbia. 

Chamizo's high-flying win over Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev at the 2020 European Championships:

Contenders

The group with the most potential to medal or challenge the favorites:

• Soner Demirtas, TUR
• Younes Emami, IRI

Turkey will send Soner Demirtas as their representative at 74kg for the 8th time at a worlds/Olympics. Demirtas, nearing the end of his career at 31, won an Olympic bronze medal in 2016 followed by a world bronze in 2017, and is a 3-time European champion. It's also worth noting that Demirtas currently holds the #8 seed for worlds and will be a worthy challenger to Dake in the quarterfinals if the seeds hold.

Eryilmaz’s win over Azamat Nurykau in the bronze medal match at 2021 Worlds:

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Iran's Younes Emami is right on the edge of the category of legitimate contender and sleeper in this bracket. He failed to place at last year’s world championships after losing to Kentchadze in the quarter-finals but is a past world medalist and wrestling as good as ever this year. Emami notably won the Asian Championships in April and the Tunisian ranking series tournament in July. Emami might not be a favorite to win worlds but will definitely be a threat to medal. 

Younes Emami’s win over Nurkozha Kaipanov at the 2022 Asian Championship finals:

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Sleepers And Landmines

The group that isn't projected to medal right now but has big potential to "blow up" the bracket:

• Turan Bayramov, AZE
• Nurkozha Kaipanov, KAZ
• Ali-Pasha Umarpashaev, BUL
• Khetik Tsabolov, SRB

The above four wrestlers have shown potential to be threats in this bracket but are unpredictable for a variety of reasons. First, Turan Bayramov is one of Azerbaijan's brightest young prospects. Last year at only 20 years old, Bayramov wrestled in both the Olympics and Senior world championships, notably defeating James Green and finishing 5th. On top of that, Bayramov was a cadet world champion in 2018, U23 world champion in 2019, and a two-time junior world bronze medalist (2019 and 2021). Most recently, Bayramov won the Islamic Solidarity Games in August in a field that included Nurkozha Kaipanov, Mohammadsadegh Firouzpour, and 2021 world bronze medalist Fazil Eryilmaz. 

Bayramov's win over James Green from the 2021 World Championships:

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Bulgaria’s Ali-Pasha Umarpashaev is another wildcard in this bracket. Umarpashaev has big move potential and the ability to defeat any wrestler in this bracket. He showed that off when he beat Olympic silver medalist Magomedkhabi Kadimagomedov last summer at the European Olympic Games Qualifier. Will Umarpashaev make the finals? Probably not, but he’s a landmine none of the top guys want to see early in the tournament.

Umarpashaev’s win over Kadimagomedov:

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Nurkozha Kaipanov won a world silver medal in 2019 at 70kg and has now taken over the 74kg spot for Kazakhstan. Kaipanov won gold at the Asian Championships in 2021 and followed up that performance by winning silver at 2022 Asians this past April. In June, Kaipanov won bronze at the rankings tournament in Kazakhstan where he only lost to Salkazanov, 3-1. Kaipanov will be randomly drawn into the bracket and could be a dangerous draw for a number of wrestlers at 74kg.

Kaipanov’s win over Mostafa Hosseinkhani in the 2021 Asian Championship finals:

The final sleeper - Russian transfer Khetik Tsabolov. Now representing Serbia, Tsabolov won a world title back in 2014 at 70kg and was runner-up to Jordan Burroughs at 74kg in 2017. Tsabolov is also the last wrestler to defeat world and Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov - 9-3 at the 2020 Russian Nationals. Tsabolov might be a little past his prime but still has the ability to challenge anyone in the world at 74kg. 

Predictions

Kyle Dake is the favorite to win this bracket and my pick to defend his world title at 74kg. Dake has established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the world and is clearly the best wrestler in this weight. It won’t be an easy road for Dake - he’ll likely have to go through past world champs Tsabolov and Chamizo before a rematch with last year’s runner-up Salkazanov. 

Medal predictions for 74kg at the 2022 World Championships:

Gold: Kyle Dake, USA

Silver: Tajmuraz Salkazanov, SVK

Bronze: Frank Chamizo, ITA

Bronze: Turan Bayramov, AZE 

Get to know the 74kg field even better by looking at our World Championships Rankings - a ranking of the top 10 guys in every weight class based on head-to-head wins.