A Moneyball Look at Zane Richard's Georgian Opponent
THE GEORGIAN: BEKA BUJIASHVILI
So far, we've given a Moneyball look at Zane Richard's possible opponents from Iran and Mongolia. In this post, we will look at the Georgian, Beka Bujiashvili. This fellow must see a lot of his fellow countryman and former gold and silver World Championship medalist Beka Lomtadze, who won his medals at 61kg and most recently competed at 65kg.
Beka Bujiashvili has been less successful.
He is still a very good and dangerous wrestler. In terms of height and weight, he looks like a Caucasus region brother of Zane Richards. He is well-muscled, though not as well-defined as Zane, not particularly tall and has quite a head of hair.
He's been around forever, having first wrestled internationally in 2009. He won a bronze medal in 2013 in the Junior World Championships. Since then, he's won a weight class at the Henri Deglane tournament.
The Georgian finished 12th in the 2022 World Championships beating an over-matched Spaniard, but then losing to Hasagawa of Japan. He had a fifth-place finish at Matteo Pellicone, but that entailed one win and two losses, though he seemed injured in at least two of his matches (lower back). He did finish third in this year's Russia-less European Championships, which entailed two wins and one loss. Finally, he finished second at Yasar Dogu with a four-and-one record.
SPECIAL: Bujiashvili has used a head in leglace, which has been successful. At other times, even when he falls into them after a successful double, he just doesn't seem to know where to begin. He will lead with his right leg even when shaking hands. He will usually use his right leg to gain ground as well. On occasion, he will wrestle from one knee.
His arm throw is fast and dangerous. One of the best I've ever seen.
He'll roll into it without tying up first. Beka will take a two-on-one and sit through for a very interesting takedown attempt, kicking his opponent over him. He'll also go for a high crotch from the two-on-one. He will likely shoot on the whistle at least once at the World Cup.
Be ready to defend his incredible arm throw and two-on-one, and you should have success against him. Here are his Moneyball stats:
Bujiashvili converted 5 of 8 arm throws against international competition and that blows my mind. He tried more high crotches (11) but succeeded only 3 times. The Georgian scored as much with arm throws as with singles, doubles and ankle picks/grabs combined.
ReplyDeleteHe will spend as much time in a 2-on-1 as possible. In that respect, he's like the old man who orders the same soup at the diner every day for 30 years. He can score from that tie dropping to a leg, dragging, rolling through, &tc.