#WrestleFaenza

All Ten Russian Women Reach Podium At Cadet European Championships, Six Strike Gold

By Eric Olanowski

FAENZA, Italy (June 21) – It's almost unthinkable to imagine that Russia could repeat their Day 4 output that saw all five wrestlers win a cadet European medal -- including three of which were golds. But they were able to get the Russian national anthem played on the loudspeaker three times after Valeriia KHAIDAROVA, Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA, and Viktoriia PEREVOZKINA each dominated their way to a Cadet European title. 

On Thursday, they won three golds, a silver, and a bronze, with their three gold-medal winners outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 25-2. On Friday, they also won three golds, a silver, and a bronze, but their three gold medalists one-upped their teammates and scored two falls and one technical superiority victory. 

Valeriia Khaidarova and Viktoriia Pervozkina were the two Russian wrestlers who picked up falls, while Viktoriia Khusainova forged an 11-1 victory on her way to a continental title. 

Valeriia Khaidarova cinched up Russia's first gold of the day, planting Zozan AKAR (TUR) on her back for the fall in the opening period of the 40kg finals. Up until Khaidarova scored the fall, she was trailing 6-5, but stepped over a Turkish gut wrench attempt and won her second European title and first since she won the 2017 U15 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Viktoriia PEREVOZKINA was one of two Russian women to stick their finals opponent on Day 5. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

The second Russian to stick her finals opponent was Viktoriia Perevozkina. She scored four takedowns in the first period and carried the 8-0 lead into the second period before head locking her Swiss opponent for the fall while leading 12-2. 

Pervozkina's gold-medal win on Friday night was her first European title and an improvement from her second-place finish from last year's U15 European Championships. 

Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (RUS) handed Russia their third gold medal of the day with an 11-1 technical superiority victory over Germany's Amory Olivia ANDRICH (GER)  in the 61kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Viktoriia Khusainova easily handled Amory Olivia ANDRICH (GER) in the 53kg finals. She was up 7-1 before ending the match with a pair a trapped arm gut wrenches to win the title with an 11-1 technical superiority victory. 

Russia also had a silver medalist and a bronze-medal finisher on Day 5. Tatiana KABANOVA (RUS) fell to Yuliia LESKOVETS (UKR), 2-1 in the 61kg finals, and Anastasia KOZLOVA (RUS) stuck Patrycja Monika SLOMSKA (POL) for the bronze medal at 69kg. 

With their ten Cadet European medals, Russia (220 points) finished the women's wrestling competition with the team title, 80 points ahead of second place Ukraine (140 points). Italy had 72 points and rounded out the top three in the team race. 

With Greco-Roman and women's wrestling behind us, freestyle takes over tomorrow morning. The action begins at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

RESULTS

Final Women's Wrestling Team Scores
GOLD - Russia (220 points)
SILVER - Ukraine (140 points)
BRONZE - Belarus (83 points) 
Fourth - Germany (79 points)
Fifth - Italy (74 points)

40kg 
GOLD - Valeriia KHAIDAROVA (RUS) df. Zozan AKAR (TUR), via fall 
BRONZE - Violetta SEMCHOVA (UKR) df. Alisa BORA (ROU), 6-5 
BRONZE - Michela CHESSA (ITA) df. Alina KURYLENKA (BLR), 4-1

46kg
GOLD - Viktoriia PEREVOZKINA (RUS) df. Svenja JUNGO (SUI), via fall 
BRONZE - Georgiana Lavinia ANTUCA (ROU)  df. Siria PERRONE (ITA), 4-4 
BRONZE - Tatsiana PERTSAVA (BLR) df. Daryna MATSOLA (UKR), 4-1 

53kg
GOLD - Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (RUS) df. Amory Olivia ANDRICH (GER), 11-1 
BRONZE - Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE) df. Patrycja Ewa STRZELCZYK (POL), 3-0 
BRONZE - Alesia HETMANAVA (BLR) df. Flora VIZI (HUN), 4-0 

61kg
GOLD - Yuliia LESKOVETS (UKR) df. Tatiana KABANOVA (RUS), 2-1 
BRONZE - Aurora RUSSO (ITA) df. Derya Nur KARADUMAN (TUR), 12-0
BRONZE - Iva GERIC (CRO) df. Chadia AYACHI (FRA), 4-3 

69kg
GOLD - Lili UJFALVI (HUN) df. Alina MAKSIMAVA (BLR), 4-3
BRONZE - Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER) df. Paula Aurelia Izabela ROTARU (ROU), 9-6
BRONZE - Anastasia KOZLOVA (RUS) df. Patrycja Monika SLOMSKA (POL), via fall 

#AmateurMMA

Amateur MMA: Kutzli wins gold for U.S.; Ukraine best team

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 19) -- It was only her fourth-ever bout but Natalie KUTZLI (USA) showed no lack of experience in defeating Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), and become a world champion at the UWW Amateur MMA World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Kutzli, the lone fighter from the United States, won by unanimous decision after three rounds against Stawska who has been on the circuit for a longder time.

"I'm just at a loss of words," Kutzli said. "I just feel so surreal."

In the final against Stawska, Kutzli opened the match with clear striking and controlled the round. She followed a similar strategy and never allowed Stawska to land cleanly. Kutzli won all three rounds in the final.

"She was a challenging fighter for sure," she said. "She was really tough. It's just such a amazing opportunity to be able to fight somebody who has that much experience. I loved every second of it."

Hailing from Michigan, Kutzli began her sports career with taekwondo before switching to wrestling. Her mother, Jeanie, would drive her from one practice to another and supported her when she switched sports.

"First person I talked to was my mom," she said. "She's just so proud of me and amazed by me and what I do and I just I made her proud and my family really proud. I do it for her in hopes of someday being in the UFC and be able to pay for my family and just be able to take care of my loved one, so that's my dream.

"From a young age, I was raised by a single mom. So I'm doing this for her and to be able to thank her and just sort of appreciation to my family."

At 57kg, Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) showed that she belongs to the big league she knocked out Justine TAILFER (FRA) in the 57kg final. The bout went to the second round but Dudakova dominated it throughout.

Dudakova and Tailfer went out of bounds in the second round with the former on top. The referee called it to center and when the bout restarted with Dudakova getting the back mount advantage, she kept her striking with Tailfer not able to defend which forced the referee to call it a knockout.

In other finals, Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) scored a victory via submission against Daria RAMANOVA (UWW) to win the gold medal at 50kg. However, two other Ukraine finalists failed to win.

Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) stormed back after a slow start to beat Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR) via split decision as two judges gave her the win to one who scored it in favor of Melnychuk as Sushina won the 61kg gold.

Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) did not give any chances to the judges to score differently as she defeated Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR) via unanimous decision to win at 65kg and bag the gold medal.

At 80kg, Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) had one of the most dominant wins in the final as she humbled Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), winning via unanimous decision, to claim the gold medal.

Kazakhstan also got a gold medal as Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) dominated the final against Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW) at 53kg to win via unanimous decision. Her strong start in the first two rounds gave her the advantage despite a strong show from Vykhvaten in the final round.

RESULTS

50kg Final
Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) df. Daria ROMANOVA (UWW), via submission

53kg Final
Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) df. Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW), via unanimous decision

57kg Final
Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) df. Justine TAILFER (FRA), via submission

61kg Final
Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) df. Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR), via split decision

65kg Final
Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) df. Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR), via unanimous decision

70kg Final
Natalie KUTZLI (USA) df. Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), via unanimous decision

80kg Final
Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) df. Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), via unanimous decision