#WrestleCoralville

All-World team ready for World Cup challenge

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 - 11:11 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

CORALVILLE, Iowa (December 6) -- A world champion, five multiple times world medalists and two medalists from the 2022 World Championships.

A 10-member All-World team will descend upon Coralville for the freestyle World Cup on December 10 and 11 at the Xtreme Arena and if all works out, will be a serious threat for the title.

The 2022 World Cup is the first time that an All-World team is going to participate in the tournament. It comprises the top finishers in each weight class from Belgrade who are not part of the five teams which qualified directly.

The USA, Iran, Japan, Mongolia, and Georgia were the top five teams at the World Championships and gained automatic qualification for the World Cup. But the All-World looks a formidable unit.

Led by world champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (UWW) at 57kg, it has two-time silver medalist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (UWW) at 74kg, another Slovakian and silver medalist in Batyrbek TSAKULOV (UWW) at 97kg, two young bronze medalists from Belgrade in Ernazar AKMATALIEV (UWW) at 70kg and Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (UWW) at 92kg.

Two-time world bronze medalist Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (UWW) will be at 65kg with bronze medalists at 79kg Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (UWW) and Azamat DAULETBEKOV (UWW) at 86kg adding more firepower to the squad. Tokyo Olympian Georgi VANGELOV (UWW) at 61kg and Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UWW) at 125kg complete the team.

The All-World team is placed in Group B with Iran and Japan and is likely that it will finish at the top of the standing and wrestle in the final.

Opening its campaign against Japan, the All-World team will be a heavy favorite. Japan is missing both its world champion, Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) and Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN), from the line-up and has sent a relatively young team.

But the All-World team will bank on Abakarov, Muszukajev, Akmataliev, Salkazanov and Nurmagomedov to give the team an outright win.

Japan is also unlikely to win against Iran making the All-World vs Iran match late on Saturday a virtual semifinal.

"Our preparation is very good," Akmataliev said. "We were supposed to hold a camp in America but it did not go through. So, we are preparing in Bishkek. Saturday will show on the mat."

Akmataliev is one of the most exciting wrestlers around the world with clutch performances, especially in come-from-behind wins. He will be expected to win all his bouts in Coralville. And he hopes the team will also be able to do the same.

"I was very happy when I received the invite for the world team," he said. "Our team is very strong, and we will show our potential. We can beat all the other teams.

"Our wrestlers are best in their weight classes and if we can come together as a team, we will be champions," he added.

Akmataliev hopes to wrestle the USA in the final but is aware of the threats Iran and Japan pose in the group stage.

"I cannot say that one team is weak or strong," he said. "Every opponent is strong, and I will treat every bout as the final and try to win"

If the USA and All-World team do meet in the final, expect a neck-to-neck battle with both teams equally good enough to win.

If Abakarov can give a winning start to the All-World team, it will be Vangelov up against Seth GROSS (US) at 61kg and a fan-favorite bout between Muszukajev and John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) at 65kg. Akmataliev holds the upper hand against Tyler BERGER (USA) with Salkazanov and Jason NOLF (USA) at 74kg.

Salkazanov needs to win even if Budazhapov loses to Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) at 79kg. Dauletbekov up against Zahid VALENCIA (USA) at 86kg will be a crucial match-up for both teams as Numagomedov is expected to win against Nathan JACKSON (USA). Kyle SNYDER (USA) has the upper hand at 97kg against Tsakulov in the World Championships final rematch. The All-World team will need Khotsianivskyi to win at 125kg against Hayden ZILLMER (USA).

In all likelihood, it will end with five wins for both teams and the team with more classification points winning the World Cup.

#BeachWrestling

Zenkina, Khoma power Ukraine to top at U20 Beach Wrestling Worlds

Monday, September 29, 2025 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece (September 28) -- Riding on inspiring performances by former world U17 champion Mariia ZENKINA (UKR) and European silver medalist Yelyzaveta KHOMA (UKR), Ukraine emerged as the best country at the U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Greece.

Out of the four gold medals on offer in women's category, Ukraine won two while Romania and Serbia won one each. In the men’s division, Iran dominated its way to the top of the team rankings.

Ukraine finished at the top of the team race with 85 points while the United States was second with 50 points. Serbia managed to finish third with 39 points.

Zenkina, a U17 World Championships silver medalist in 2022, showed her skills on the beach as well and won all her bouts, including the final, without giving up a point.

Facing compatriot Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR) in the +70kg final, Zenkina got the first point when Konstantynova failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity period. Zenkina then scored via snapdown which forced Konstantynova to touch the sand with her knees.

Zenkina defended her 2-0 lead for the remaining 27 seconds to claim her second world title, the first coming at U17 level in 2021.

Khoma was equally dominant in her run to gold at 60kg but needed strong defense in the final against local favorite Evdoxia PAPADOPOULOU (GRE) to win the gold medal.

The final was off to an electric start with both wrestlers giving it a go and scoring points. It was Papadopoulou who scored the first point with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. However, Khoma fired back with a snapdown with Papadopoulou's elbow touching the sand and she took a 1-1 criteria lead.

Papdopoulou tried forcing a stepout when Khoma used double underhooks to throw the Greece wrestler who landed on her elbow, giving one more point to Khoma. In the next exchange, Khoma tried a whizzer but she touched her head on sand before Papadopoulou's which cost her one point and the lead exchanged hands. Now, the Greece wrestler led 2-2 on criteria with two minutes remaining in the match.

Khoma wasted no time in launching her next attack and pushed Papadopoulou towards the edge of the ring. As Papadopoulou tried to counter throw, Khoma kept her balance and forced her opponent to touch the sand. This gave Khoma the winning score of 3-2 as in Beach Wrestling, the first wrestler to three points wins.

Ukraine's third finalist Alevtyna LIASHENKO (UKR) was not so lucky as she lost the 50kg final to Ana ROTARU (ROU) via fall. Rotaru hit a blast double to open the scoring in the final and take a 1-0 lead. She used a similar technique to score her second point and lead 2-0 with 53 seconds left in the match.

She left nothing to chance and hit a perfect headlock throw for three points, ending the match 5-0, and victory via fall. [A three-point move in Beach Wrestling is considered fall].

Serbia won its first-ever gold medal at the U20 World Championships after European silver medalist Masa PEROVIC (SRB) scored a fall over world U17 champion Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) to claim the top medal at 70kg.

Moisei scored the first point of the final with hip toss and take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 by avoiding a trip attempt from Perovic who fell head first and lost another point. Moisei was going for the winning third point when Perovic attempted a lateral drop. While backstepping to avoid the drop, Moisei lost her balance and Perovic used that to her advantage and dropped Moisei on the back for three points and the win.

Iran's golden double

A day after winning the U17 World Championships team title in men's category, Iran continued to dominate Beach Wrestling by winning the U20 team title as well.

Like its U17 team, Iran won two golds in U20 competition to finish at the top of the team rankings with 77 points. Moldova finished second with 57 points while Ukraine was marginally behind at third with 55.

After missing out in the final in the first two weight classes, Ramtin RAVANBAKHSH (IRI) and Mersad SHAKERI (IRI) made sure Iran doesn't miss out on the finals by reaching the gold medal bouts at 90kg and +90kg respectively.

Ravanbakhsh showed impeccable defense in the final against Alexandru BORS (MDA), a former U17 World Championships silver medalist in Freestyle, at 90kg to win the gold medal. In fact, he had to beat Bors twice.

The two first met in a Group A match, which Ravanbakhsh won 1-0, before facing again in the final, where the Iranian repeated the result.

Shakeri was more active in his matches but was tested by Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR) in the final. He, however, managed to hold on to a 2-0 victory.

Shakeri hit a powerful snap which completely unbalanced Zadoianchuk who touched the sand with his knee and Shakeri got the first point. Shakeri got his second point with a stepout which Zadoianchuk had no chance to defend.

At 70kg, Eduard LENARD (ROU) dashed the hopes of local fans by beating Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) in the gold medal bout in just 44 seconds.

Karnavas was sure that he got the first point as he pushed Lenard towards the edge but Lenard managed to keep himself inside and not give up the point for stepout. As Karnavas kept pushing, Lenard hit a counter whizzer for a point to dramatically turn the advantage around and lead 1-0.

As Karnavas got on a single-leg attack in another sequence, Lenard dropped him on his back with a whizzer which was scored as three points, giving the win to the Romanian. Karnavas challenged the call but on review, the original call for three points was upheld and Lenard was announced as the winner.

Moldova earned itself a gold medal at 80kg as Gabriel OJOG (MDA) scored a victory via fall over Zurab MAMULADZE (GEO) in the final. Mamuladze tried to hit a big move on Ojog who blocked it and landed on top of Mamuladze to score three points and the victory.