Date of competition: Sunday, Sept. 18

Russia’s Denis Tsargush has been the king of the World in this weight class the past two seasons.

Tsargush is expected to be the Russian entry in this class even though Irbek Farniev won the Russian Nationals this year at 74 kg/163 lbs. Farniev is a past World medalist at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.

Tsargush won the European Championships this year.

Iran’s Sadegh Goudarzi won the silver last year in this event with Gabor Hatos of Hungary and Abdulkhakim Shapiev of Kazakhstan earning bronze medals.

Rashid Kurbanov of Uzbekistan won the Asian Championships this year. 

Past World medalist Ivan Fundora of Cuba placed fifth in the World last year. Fundora is a veteran who is very tough to take down.

The U.S. features a first-time World Team member in this weight class with Jordan Burroughs, a talented newcomer who could be in the mix to win a World title this year.

Burroughs won his second NCAA title in March before winning titles at the U.S. Open and U.S. World Team Trials. He looked dominant in winning his first international title at the Ukrainian Memorial in July.

Burroughs is strong and explosive, and he is going to be a tough matchup for whoever steps on the mat to face him.

The U.S. is looking for its first World-level medal in this weight class since Donny Pritzlaff won a bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China.

There have been reports that three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time World champion Bouvaisa Saitiev of Russia may be returning to the mat, but probably not until next year. He may bump up a weight class from 74 kilos to 84 kilos in 2012. No wrestler has ever won four Olympic titles.

Saitiev, 36, last competed when he won the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS

2010 World Championships
74 kg/163 lbs. – Gold – Denis Tsargush (Russia); Silver – Sadegh Goudarzi (Iran); Bronze – Gabor Hatos (Hungary); Bronze – Abdulkhakim Shapiev (Kazakhstan); 5th – Krystian Brzozowski (Poland)
5th – Ivan Fundora (Cuba); 7th – Kiril Terziev (Bulgaria); 8th – Volodymyr Syrotyn (Ukraine); 9th – Andriy Shyyka (Germany); 10th – Roman Dermenji (Moldova)

2009 World Championships
74 kg/163 lbs. – Gold - Denis Tsargush (Russia); Silver - Chamsulvara Chamsulvarayev (Azerbaijan); Bronze - Ramesh Kumar (India); Bronze - Sadegh Goudarzi (Iran); 5th - Alexandr Burca (Moldova); 5th - Murad Gaidarov (Belarus); 7th - Apostolos Taskoudis (Greece); 8th - Kiril Terziev (Bulgaria); 9th - Bi Shengfeng (China); 10th - Andrej Shyyka (Germany)

2008 Olympic Games
74 kg/163 lbs. - Gold – Bouvaisa Saitiev (Russia); Silver – Soslan Tigiev (Uzbekistan); Bronze – Murad Gaidarov (Belarus); Bronze – Kiril Terziev (Bulgaria); 5th – Gheorghita Stefan (Romania); 5th – Ivan Fundora (Cuba); 7th – Ben Askren (USA); 8th – Arsen Gitinov (Kyrgyzstan); 9th – Emzarios Bentinidis (Greece); 10th – Ahmet Gulhan (Turkey)

2007 World Championships
74 kg/163 lbs. - Gold - Makhach Murtazaliev (Russia); Silver - Ibragim Aldatov (Ukraine); Bronze - Chamsulvara Chamsulvaraev (Azerbaijan); Bronze - Ivan Fundora (Cuba); 5th - Stefan Gheorghita (Romania); 5th - Joe Heskett (United States); 7th - Gabor Hatos (Hungary); 8th - Gela Saghirashvili (Georgia); 9th – Ali Asghar Bazrighaleh (Iran); 10th - Emzarios Bentinidis (Greece)

2006 World Championships
74 kg/163 lbs. – Gold – Ibraghim Aldatov (Ukraine); Silver – Ali Asharbazrei (Iran); Bronze – Soslan Tigiev (Uzbekistan); Bronze – Donny Pritzlaff (USA); 5th – Mihail Ganev (Bulgaria); 5th – Murad Gaidarov (Belarus); 7th – Emzarios Betinidis (Greece); 8th – Bouvaisa Saitiev (Russia); 9th – Krystian Brzozowski (Poland); 10th – Stefan Gheorghita (Romania)

2005 World Championships
74 kg/163 lbs. - Gold - Bouvaisa Saitiev (Russia); Silver - Arpad Ritter (Hungary); Bronze - Joe Williams (USA); Bronze - Nikolay Paslar (Bulgaria); 5th - Alexandru Burca (Moldova); 5th - Mehdi Hajizadeh (Iran); 7th - Ivan Fundora (Cuba); 8th - Soslan Tigiev (Uzbekistan); 9th - Talant Jekshenov (Krygyzstan); 10th - Salvatore Rinella (Italy)