Finland has two internationally tough heavyweight or 130-kilogram competitors in Greco-Roman wrestling. Olympic coach of the wrestling association Juha Lappalainen says that it is not yet known which of the athletes will be sent to the World Championships in September. Grab a seat Elias Kuosmanen or Konsta Mäenpää?
– I’m not going to start evaluating the matter yet. Wrestlers have been notified of clear demonstration matches, based on which they aim to gain clarity, Lappalainen states.
The demonstration races are the gp races held in Hungary in July and the 12th-13th. German GP races organized in August. In Hungary, Kuosmanen won Mäenpää in the bronze medal match and in August there is a race of high stakes ahead.
At this stage, Lappalainen does not want to take a position on how the World Cup representative will be chosen if the points are equal after the German competition. For example, in 2019 Kuosmanen and Arvi Savolainen decided the 97-kilogram World Championship place in the review match.
The World Cup scrimmages in mid-September have a lot of weight in terms of next summer’s Paris Olympics. In those games, the first Olympic places are awarded. There are five Olympic spots in each series.
– They are the most important competitions of this season. If you can claim a place there, you can focus on the Olympics for almost a year, says Lappalainen.
Kuosmanen in a competitive situation again
Elias Kuosmanen wrestled for years in the 97-kilogram category and, among other things, achieved two EC bronze medals. In April 2021, however, Arvi Savolainen grabbed the Olympic spot in that series.
Kuosmanen reacted immediately and permanently changed his weight class to heavyweight. Less than a month later, he got Finland a place in the Tokyo Olympics, even though Kuosmanen was clearly underweight. Now a competitor has risen alongside him again.
– Konsta Mäenpää has been in the heavyweight division much longer than I have. You can’t say that a competitor has joined, but he was already a representative in that series when I switched to it myself, says Kuosmanen.
According to him, domestic competition is really important. In those series where there is little national competition, Finland is on the way to an international top level. In tough wrestling countries, such as Cuba and Turkey, up to ten athletes fight for representative places in prestigious competitions, Kuosmanen reminds.
– The competition is really motivating. It is a guarantee for development. Definitely, I only see the fact that there is domestic competition as a positive thing.
Kuosmanen says that his season went well after the spring European Championships, where he was 11th. Small changes have been made to the exercises, which have developed endurance and mobility. Wrestling looked promising in Hungary and felt better than in the spring championships, Kuosmanen estimated.
He states that there is no additional stress about whether it is a screen competition or not. I have to give good enough performances that the representative position is sealed. He goes to the German GP race to win every match.
In the 2021 Olympics held in Tokyo, Kuosmanen suffered crushing defeats in all matches. According to his own words, he was brutal, which backfired badly. Now, however, the wounds have been healed and the places are fine, says the wrestler.
– I’ve done quite a lot of work to be more ready for the heavyweight division – and I’ve been able to increase the weight. Of course, it has had its own challenges and at first I felt that it showed a little in terms of durability and other things. Those things have then been invested in.
Kuosmanen says that the next step is to succeed in value competitions. He has to be able to show that he is in the right series. Kuosmanen wants to go to the Olympics with such readiness that he can credibly challenge anyone.
– The idea is always about next summer’s Olympics and getting there. The absolute goal would be to get an Olympic place and preferably as quickly as possible.
However, Mäenpää is a tough opponent. Kuosmanen and Mäenpää know each other well.
– The match between Hungary was a match between two familiar wrestlers. There weren’t many attempts, but Elias was better in shape, Mäenpää said.
– It will be translated into the Germany match with hard work. We stayed in Hungary for a ten-day camp, where I got back into good wrestling shape.
A few World Cup candidates in Finland
Several Finnish wrestlers are participating in the August German GP. Painiliitto’s Olympic coach Lappalainen is satisfied that there are two internationally strong Finnish wrestlers in the heavyweight division. He hopes that the competition would be tougher than it is now in other weight classes as well.
Lappalainen says that there is currently no one in the 60-kilogram category to send to the gp races. In the upper weight categories, the situation is a little better, even for the 67-kilogram ones To Elmer Mattila no domestic challengers have been found in the current season.
Three good WC candidates can be found in the 77 kg category: Mikko Peltokangas, Akseli Yli-Hannuksela and Jonni Sarkkinen. As many as four Finnish wrestlers are going to the 87-kilogram division for the German competition: Artem Shapovalov, Valtteri Latvala, Petteri Kukkola and Toni Metsomäki.
Arvi Savolainen, who dominates Finland’s 97-kilogram weight class, will also compete in Germany, but due to an injury, he did not wrestle in the WC or EC championships. In July, he struggled twice in the gp races. He won in Spain and was third in Hungary.
– If only we could keep Arvi healthy. I’m looking forward to seeing how he wrestles at the World Championships, says Lappalainen.