The Ivan Yarygin might be the toughest and the most well respected tournament on the entire planet outside of the World and Olympic championships. Held in one of the World’s most successful wrestling countries in Krasnoyarsk, Russia it draws a plethora of talent across different countries to compete for a title.
It comes to little surprise then, that the members of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club put this tournament on their calendar every year, as each individual wants their chance at winning a yellow medal, and to do it on Russian territory only makes it sweeter.
“We leave on the 23rd [of January],” Daniel Dennis told me in an interview on the Grand Amplitude podcast, “The Hawkeye Wrestling Club is actually sending myself, Ramos, Metcalf and Telford. We’re all going out there. It will be a good competition and I am excited for it.”
So that means once again the HWC alone will be sending a star studded cast, and chief among them will be two-time Yarygin silver medalist Brent Metcalf, who competes at the 65 kg international weight class.
Metcalf is attempting to join some rare company. with only ten Americans ever winning a Yarygin gold, though both of his attempts were thwarted by Russian Ilyas Bekbulatov.
Making his second straight appearance at the Yarygin is USA’s #1 ranked 57 kg wrestler Tony Ramos, who finished 0-2 a year ago. Ramos will be joined at the weight by teammate Daniel Dennis, who has climbed to #3 in the domestic rankings with his U.S. Open title in December. This will be Dennis’s first time at the Yarygin.
Also making their debut will be heavyweight Bobby Telford, who competes at 125 kg. Telford joined the wrestling club after finishing his career as a three-time All-American as an Iowa Hawkeye. The lone international competition Telford has competed in since joining the freestyle circuit was also held in Russia, and Telford took fifth there. Telford also recently finished third at the U.S. Open.