Date of Competition: September 12

Reigning World Champion Amir Ali Akbari of Iran has only wrestled at one major international event since winning last year in Russia, and that was back in June up at 120kg. Davoud Gilnayrang represented Iran at the Asian Championships, finishing second to Uzbekistan’s Evgeny Achkolov.

Akbari was a bronze medalist in 2009.

Belarussian Timofej Dzeynichenko was last year’s silver medalist and his performances in 2011 lead one to believe he’s a threat to at least repeat last year’s performance. 

In 2011, Dzeynichenko has medaled at the Pytlasinski Cup (silver), the President’s Cup of Kazakhstan (bronze) and won the European Championship. He’s emerged as one of the world’s best since finishing 19th in 2009.

Russian bronze medalist Aslanbek Khushtov didn’t represent the country at the European Championships and its unclear if he wrestled in the Russian Nationals or not, as Nikita Melnikov won their nationals and Rustam Totrov wrestled in the Europeans, finishing 10th.

We’ll expect to see Jimmy Lidberg of Sweden in the mix, the 2009 World silver medalist and 2010 bronze medalist despite not wrestling at the European Championships. They were held in April and Lidberg wrestled in the U.S. in May. 

A World Champion in 2009, Balasz Kiss of Hungary is back on the scene. Despite finishing 9th at the European Championships, he finished a strong third in Baku. He could be a viable threat. 

Uzbekistan could be entering a new face at the weight as Achkolov, as mentioned earlier, won the Asian Championships. Last year, David Saldadze was a bronze medal winner for the former Soviet republic. 

Another past World Champion should be noted, Egypt’s Mohammed Abdel Fatah, although it’s been several years since he’s been a true threat. Abdel Fatah has spent a lot of time training in the U.S. You might have seen him wrestle Justin Ruiz at the U.S. vs. World Dual during the NCAA Division I Championships last march.

Ruiz makes yet another appearance at the World Championships. After finishing with a bronze medal in 2006, Ruiz fell in the bronze medal match in Russia last year to Lidberg.

Since, Ruiz has won the Pan Am Championships and beaten Lidberg in a three-period grind at the Curby Cup dual in suburban Chicago back in May. 

Ruiz has his sights set on London in 2012 and is one of the best American chances for a medal in Turkey. 

Others to watch: 
Arthur Aleksanyan (Armenia) – 2nd at European Championships
Shavla Gadabadze (Azerbaijan) – 3rd at European Championships
Chang-Gun An (Korea) – 3rd at Asian Championships
Yahia Mohammed Abutabeekah (Jordan) – 3rd at Asian Championships


2010 World Championships
96kg/211.5 lbs. – Gold – Amir Ali Akbari (Iran); Silver – Timofej Dzeynichenko (Belarus); Bronze – Aslanbek Khushtov (Russia); Bronze – Jimmy Lidberg (Sweden); 5th – Justin Ruiz (United States); 5th – David Saldadze (Uzbekistan); 7th – Yunior Falcon Estrada (Cuba); 8th – Daigoro Timoncini (Italy); 9th – Robert Papp (Romania); 10th – Kaloyan Dinchev (Bulgaria)

2009 World Championships
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Gold - Balazs Kiss (Hungary); Silver - Jimmy Lidberg (Sweden); Bronze - Amir Ali Akbari (Iran); Bronze - Aslanbek Khushtov (Russia); 5th - David Saldadze (Uzbekistan); 5th - Sergiy Yeroshkin (Ukraine); 7th - Serkan Ozden (Turkey); 8th - Chang-Gun An (Korea) ; 9th - Alin Alexuc (Romania); 10th - Oliver Hassler (Germany)

2008 Olympic Games
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Gold - Aslanbek Khushtov (Russia); Silver - Mirko Englich (Germany); Bronze - Adam Wheeler (USA); Bronze - Asset Mambetov (Kazakhstan); 5th - Han Tae-Young (Korea); 5th - Marek Svec (Czech Republic); 7th - Mindaugus Ezerskis (Lithuania); 8th - Elis Guri (Albania); 9th - Jiang Huachen (China); 10th - Mehmet Ozal (Turkey)

2007 World Championship
96 kg/211.5 lbs.- Gold – Ramaz Nozadze (Georgia); Silver – Mindaugas Ezerskis (Lithuania); Bronze – Marek Svec (Czech Republic); Bronze – Ghasem Rezaei (Iran); 5th – Kenzo Kato (Japan); 5th – Diagoro Timoncini (Italy); 7th - Elis Guri (Albania); 8th - Serkan Ozden (Turkey); 9th - Aset Membetov (Kazakhstan); 10th - Rami Hietaniemi (Finland)

2006 World Championships
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Gold - Heiki Nabi (Estonia); Silver - Marek Svec (Czech Republic); Bronze - Kaloyan Dinchev (Bulgaria); Bronze - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 5th - Andrei Batura (Belarus); 5th - Ramaz Nozadze (Georgia); 7th - Jimmy Lidberg (Sweden); 8th - Lajos Virag (Hungary); 9th - Theodoros Tounoysidis (Greece); 10th - Young Han-Tae (Korea)

2005 World Championships
96 kg/211.5 lbs. - Gold - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); Silver - Lajos Virag (Hungary); Bronze - Vasilliy Tepoulkhov (Russia); Bronze - Justin Ruiz (USA); 5th - Mirko Englich (Germany); 5th - Margulan Assembekov (Kazakhstan); 7th - Mikhaylo Nikolaev (Ukraine); 8th - Vladislav Metodiev (Bulgaria); 9th - Shata Narmaniya (Belarus); 10th - Marek Svec (Czech Republic)