Blades the latest star at 76kg with Alexandria gold

Friday, February 24, 2023 - 20:16 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 24) -- Yelena MAKOYED (USA) had just won the Zagreb Open Ranking Series gold medal two weeks ago and talked about the competition she has to navigate in the USA to be a national team member at 76kg

Apart from the well-established name of Adeline GRAY (USA), Makoyed mentioned wrestlers who will be jumping from 72kg to 76kg, calling them "very good."

One of the wrestlers from that bunch is Kennedy BLADES (USA).

After wrestling at 68kg before Tokyo Olympics, Baldes has been at 72kg, winning the U20 World Championships in 2021, her last international competition for a long time.

With just over a year left for the Paris Olympics, Blades has decided to move up to 76kg and made her senior-level debut at a United World Wrestling event on Friday.

And to prove Makoyed right, she won the gold medal at 76kg at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event in Alexandria, Egypt in dominating fashion.

In the previous three Ranking Series events, Makoyed had dominated the 76kg weight class, winning all three gold medals. But her sitting out of this one meant that a new champion would be crowned. Few would have thought that it would be Blades.

The 19-year-old, who did not give up a single point in the U20 World Championships in 2021, was unfazed by the number of stars in her weight class and went on with her wrestling as if she was a seasoned campaigner, evident in her win over World bronze medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) in the semifinal.

Blades brought varied attacks with her to Egypt. If she used ankle picks to score points at the beginning of the day, she used the double-leg to great effect later in the evening.

In the final against Juan WANG (CHN), Blades displayed signs of maturity but also some inexperience. Like when Wang was not ready to engage and Blades found it difficult to score, she waited patiently. Once Wang got a little comfortable, Blades used a fake and switched to a leg attack, scoring four points.

From there, Baldes never let Wang wrestle her style. Blades' active wrestling proved to be too much for the Chinese as she gave up another takedown. Blades extended her lead to 6-5. With a five-point lead, she maintained her distance from Wang, eliminating the risk of getting countered. Blades wanted Wang to attack.

It was the last anxious moments when Blades slipped. She took her eyes off Wang who managed to score a takedown and add a gut wrench with three seconds left. Blades managed to navigate those and win 6-5 for her first senior-level gold medal.

Her performance in the morning session was far more dominant and assuring. In the semifinal against Medet Kyzy, which Blades won 12-1, she attacked with purpose and completed those low attacks to score quickly. She managed to square up Medet Kyzy on various occasions, scoring takedowns using double-leg attacks. Her quick feet made her extremely superior to the Kyrgyz wrestler.

Blades shut off attacks in the second period which worked well in Alexandria but she will have to be cautious of that approach while facing a more aggressive wrestler in the future.

Kennedy BLADES (USA) kept off a spirited Genesis REASCO (ECU) in the quarterfinal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

The first bout of the morning saw Blades run through Qian ZHOU (CHN) with a mix of double-leg attacks and ankle picks. But her quarterfinal against Genesis REASCO (ECU) was an extremely close affair.

Blades used defense as her attack and never let Reasco go behind even in the last moments of the bout. She ended up winning 5-4, thanks to a big double-leg attack she used to score four points.

The gold will also give Blades a lot of confidence after a forgetful outing in the Henri Deglane Grand Priz in January in which she finished fifth. But in less than a month's time, she has managed to turn it around.

With the World Championships in September offering quota places for the Paris Olympics, a USA wrestler winning one of the five available sports is a no-brainer. But who will actually be on the flight to Paris will depend on the outcome of the Olympic trials in the USA with Adeline GRAY (USA), Amit ELOR (USA), Makoyed, Blades, Kylie WELKER (USA), Dymond GUILFORD (USA), Precious BELL (USA) and Skylar GROTE (USA) being some of the names eyeing that coveted ticket.

Forrest MOLINARI (USA) scores four points on Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) in a heated 68kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Another USA wrestler who made a switch to an Olympic weight class and won gold was Forrest MOLINARI (USA). Wrestling against three-time world medalist Koumba LARROQUE (FRA), who won the Zagreb Open gold recently, in the final, Molinari dictated proceedings and won 13-2.

The aggression which Molinari brought to the mat complimented her snap and counter style of wrestling. Larroque could never find a way to get out of the ties and kept running out of time.

That turned the final into a heated one but Molinari wrestled with continuous pressure and kept scoring. At one point, she countered Larroque's attempt to score a takedown with a four-pointer which made the score 7-2. She added a roll in the same sequence to lead 9-2.

Larroque was cautioned for fleeing when Molinari scored a stepout and she then gave up a takedown before time to give up the gold.

Molinari's performance on Friday also included a 6-3 win over 2021 world champion Meerim ZHUMANAZAROV (KGZ). Her first two wins of the day were both via fall.

Both Blades and Molinari will take home 1500 Swiss Francs while Wang and Larroque will pocket 750 Swiss Francs each. The four bronze medalists in the two weight classes will get 500 Swiss Francs each as well.

Beginning this year, the Ranking Series awards medal winners with prize money and also a two-kilogram weight tolerance to help wrestlers remain in their preferred weight class.

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) won the 62kg final to end her gold medal drought. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In two other women's wrestling finals, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) ended her gold medal drought by winning the 62kg weight class while Alexandria TOWN (CAN) was rewarded for her exceptional run Friday with the 57kg gold after Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) injury defaulted.

Tynybekova last won a gold medal at the 2021 World Championships and has since suffered surprising losses to younger wrestlers with the latest being a first-round loss to Xiaojuan LUO (CHN) at the Zagreb Open.

But Tynybekova rolled back the years and avenged that loss to Luo in a low-scoring but tough final in Alexandria, winning 3-2 for the gold.

Her day began with a solid 7-0 win against Ameline DOUARRE (FRA) and then a 10-0 technical superiority win over Kayla MIRACLE (USA). Tynybekova had beaten Miracle in the final of the 2021 World Championships but the American secured a 9-3 win over Tynybekova at the recent World Cup in Iowa.

The semifinal against Tokyo bronze medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) tested Tynybekova, who won silver in Tokyo. However, her strong defense kept in the bout after Koliadenko's passivity, eventually winning 2-0.

Luo reached the final from the other side of the bracket by beating Ariukhan JUMABAEVA (UZB) via fall, Kriszta INCZE (ROU) 5-1, Luisa NIEMESCH (GER) 6-3 and Johanna LINDBORG (SWE) 6-4 with a last-second takedown in the semifinal.

Luo led 1-1 late into the bout but Tynybekova got a single leg for a takedown to take the lead 3-1. Luo managed to duck and get behind Tynybekova but failed to bring her down, scoring only a stepout.

It is a mere coincidence that Alexandria TOWN (CAN), center, won the gold in the town of Alexandria. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

At 57kg, Town's run included a big victory via fall over Tokyo bronze medalist Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) in the semifinals after she had defeated Luisa VALVERDE (ECU) 14-2 and Elena BRUGGER (GER) 12-4.

Akobiia did not wrestle in the final but looked good throughout the day, winning via fall against Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER), 11-0 against Giullia OLIVEIRA (BRA) and 7-1 against Qi ZHANG (CHN) in the semifinals.

Despite the silver, it would have been an emotional day for Akobiia as exactly a year ago she had to abandon the plan of reaching the Kyiv airport and fly to Istanbul for the Ranking Series event last year after Ukraine came under attack.

Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) throws Otar ABULADZE (GEO) for four points in the 72kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Georgia wins two GR golds

Three Greco-Roman gold medals were also decided as Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) captured the 72kg gold medal by beating fellow countryman Otar ABULADZE (GEO) in the final.

Abuladze had knocked out Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) 8-0 in the final. Gereaei was wrestling a weight up than his preferred 67kg in which he won an Olympic and world title.

At 77kg, Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) won the gold medal by beating Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) 1-1 after the two wrestlers exchanged passivity points in the final. Mnatsakanian defeated Yunus BASAR (TUR) 3-1 in the quarterfinal and Rui LIU (CHN) 1-1 in the semifinal.

The final gold medal in Greco-Roman went to Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) who breezed past Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) 10-0 in the final using a strong gut wrench.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

57kg
GOLD - Alexandria TOWN (CAN) df. Alina AKOBIIA (UKR), via inj. def.

BRONZE - Luisa VALVERDE (ECU) df. Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), 10-5
BRONZE - Qi ZHANG (CHN) df. Giullia OLIVEIRA (BRA), 9-1

62kg
GOLD - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Xiaojuan LUO (CHN), 3-2

BRONZE - Luisa NIEMESCH (GER) df. Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), 9-0
BRONZE - Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), via fall

68kg
GOLD - Forrest MOLINARI (USA) df. Koumba LARROQUE (FRA), 13-2

BRONZE - Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) df. Alexandria GLAUDE (USA), via fall
BRONZE - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), 6-1

76kg
GOLD - Kennedy BLADES (USA) df. Juan WANG (CHN), 6-5

BRONZE - Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) df. Qian ZHOU (CHN), 3-0
BRONZE - Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) df. KIRAN (IND), 11-0

Greco-Roman

72kg
GOLD - Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) df. Otar ABULADZE (GEO), 6-0

BRONZE - Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ) df. Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN (EGY), 4-1
BRONZE - Ankit GULIA (IND) df. Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), via inj. def.

77kg
GOLD - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) df. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 1-1

BRONZE - Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Rui LIU (CHN), 8-0
BRONZE - Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) df. Per OLOFSSON (SWE), 6-4

82kg
GOLD - Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0

BRONZE - Kristoffer BERG (SWE) df. Michael WAGNER (AUT), 1-1
BRONZE - Abd OUAKALI (ALG) df. Roland SCHWARZ (GER), 4-4

#JapanWrestling

Rising star Onishi closes in on ticket to first World Championships

Thursday, June 19, 2025 - 13:28 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (June 19) -- A year after coming up just short of knocking off one of Japan's greatest stars that left her out of the senior World Championships, Sakura ONISHI is determined there will be no slip-ups this year. And certainly not another playoff.

Onishi, the reigning world U20 champion and one of Japan's top rising female wrestlers, moved one win away from securing a ticket to her first senior worlds when she advanced to the final at women's 59kg at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships on Thursday in Tokyo.

The 19-year-old Onishi chalked up a pair of 10-0 victories to make Friday's final, where she will face 2023 world U23 silver medalist Sena NAGAMOTO in a rematch of her gold-medal match victory at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships in December.

Others of note making their respective finals were unrelated namesakes and Asian champions Arash YOSHIDA at Freestyle 97kg and Taizo YOSHIDA at Greco 82kg, while four-time world medalist Miwa MORIKAWA went undefeated through four rounds of the round-robin at women's 65kg.

The two All-Japan tournaments are serving as qualifiers for the senior World Championships to be held September 13-21 in Zagreb. Victories at both tournaments automatically clinches a place on the team to Croatia; if the winners are different, a playoff will be held at the end of that day's session.

Only three of Japan's eight gold medalists at the Paris Olympics -- Sakura MOTOKI at women's 62kg, Nao KUSAKA at Greco 77kg and Kotaro KIYOOKA at Freestyle 65kg -- are entered in the four-day tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym and thus eligible for the world team. Motoki could face a showdown with Nonoka OZAKI, a Paris 68kg bronze medalist, on the final day.

Although entries are limited, the tournament is organized to replicate the World Championships with each weight class run through the semifinals on the first day, and repechage and medal matches on the following day.

Sakura ONISHI (JPN) Sakura ONISHI attempts to get behind against high schooler Sae NOGUCHI during their women's 59kg semifinal match. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

Onishi, who will defend her world U20 crown in August and has victories this year at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series tournament and Asian Championships, was a virtual unknown and just out of high school last year when she stunned two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO in the semifinals before going on to win the title.

But in the world team playoff, Kinjo fought back from a 5-0 deficit and scored a dramatic exposure in the last 10 seconds, then barely held off a near stepout in the last second to beat Onishi 6-6 on criteria. Kinjo then won her fourth world gold at the non-Olympic World Championships in Tirana.

This time, Onishi wants to avoid a playoff at all costs.

"Last year, I lost in the playoff to Kinjo, and that was really disappointing," Onishi said. "I really respect Risako. But it was hard to take that she went on to become the world champion. This time, I'm determined that I will win the title and get the ticket to the World Championships, without there being a playoff. This has been constantly on my mind for the past year."

For Onishi, it is a new challenge to go from newcomer to the one with the target on her back.

"Last year, this tournament is where I made my All-Japan debut," Onishi said. "So nobody was keeping an eye on me. Then I won the title, so from the Emperor's Cup to here, I know that I'm being targeted. Listening to those in the corners of the opponents, I get the feeling that they've been studying me.

"For my own part, I've only been watching videos of my own matches. I hardly watched any of the opponents. More than scouting my opponents, I want to exceed that with my own techniques and continue to progress. That I did that [today] to be honest is a relief."

There's also a chance Onishi might have familiar company in Zagreb. Her older brother, 2022 world U20 bronze medalist Taiga ONISHI, made the final at Greco 55kg, where he will face Sanshiro TAKAHASHI. Takahashi defeated Emperor's Cup and Asian champion Kohei YAMAGIWA in the semifinals, assuring there will be a playoff in the weight class.

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) Arash YOSHIDA has Takuma TATEOKA in trouble during their freestyle 97kg semifinal. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

In freestyle, Arash Yoshida continued his dominance as Japan's biggest hope in the men's upper weights in decades, storming into the 97kg final with an 11-0 victory over Takuma TATEOKA that he finished at the first-period buzzer. It was his third win by fall or technical fall on the day.

"I was able to wrestle as usual and came out with wins," the Emperor's Cup and two-time Asian champion said. "It was good that there was nothing particularly bad about how I won."

Noah LEIBOWITZ (JPN) High schooler Noah LEIBOWITZ earned a place in the 97kg final with a win by technical fall over collegian Yuta SASAKI. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

In the final, Yoshida will face powerful high schooler Noah LEIBOWITZ, who advanced to the gold-medal match with three technical falls.

Leibowitz is also the product of a mixed marriage, having been born to an American father and Japanese mother in the southern U.S. city of Atlanta. The family moved to Japan when he was 4.

"Just like today, I want to steadily score points, not take too much risk and notch a win without problems," Yoshida said.

Yoshida has been on a tear of sorts since finishing fifth at 92kg at the 2023 World Championships before moving up to 97kg and missing out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

The 21-year-old Nihon University student, whose Iranian father runs the kids club where he got his start in the sport, started the year with a victory at the Petko Sirakov-Ivan Iliev U23
tournament in Bulgaria, and followed that by taking the gold at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series.

He then won the Japan qualifier for the world U23 team, before striking gold at the Asian Championships in Amman in March, adding to his Asian gold from 2023.

"My objective is to compete internationally, so what I want to do here is put out on the mat what I have been working on in practice," Yoshida said. "My goal is to become the world champion."

Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) Taizo YOSHIDA scores a takedown in his Greco 82kg semifinal win over Tesshin HIGUCHI. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

The other prominent Yoshida, Taizo, has been electrifying crowds since he won the senior Asian title as a high schooler in 2024, just a year removed from winning the world U17 crown. A fifth-place finish at last year's senior worlds further boosted his stock, although he was dealt a setback in Amman when he failed to medal in his Asian title defense.

On Thursday, Yoshida made the 82kg final with a pair of 8-0 victories in a combined time of 2:38, and will face Reon KAKEGAWA with a chance to clinch his ticket to Zagreb outright.

"In today's matches, I went on the offensive and was able to score technical falls, which I feel shows that I'm at a good level," Yoshida said. "When the situation got a little messy, I was able to get the points in the end. More specifically, my body movement was good."

Yoshida, a freshman at Nippon Sports Science University, has never had to look far for a positive role model. He has been following in the footsteps of fellow Kagawa Prefecture native Kusaka since he first put on wrestling shoes.

"I have followed the same path as Nao-sempai from kids club to junior high school, high school and now college," Yoshida said, using the honorific for a respected predecessor. "He is entered for the first time since the Olympics, and I hope we can become fellow champions."

At women's 65kg, which has just five entries, Morikawa will aim to take the title in a de facto final on Friday against Nana IKEHATA. Both wrestlers won all three of their round-robin matches by 10-0 technical falls.

The 25-year-old Morikawa is aiming to regain the world title she won at 65kg in 2022. She also has a silver from 2021 and a bronze from last year, as well as a 72kg bronze from 2023 after she missed out on making Japan's Olympic team at 68kg. She won a second career Asian gold in March.

Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) Hayato ISHIGURO, left, fends off Yudai TAKAHASHI for a dramatic 5-4 victory at freestyle 86kg. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

Another sparse but highly competitive weight class is freestyle 86kg, where Paris Olympian and two-time world team member Hayato ISHIGURO went 3-0 in the five-man round robin.

Ishiguro notched a nail-biting 5-4 win over 2024 world U23 bronze medalist Yudai TAKAHASHI, who had previously defeated 2022 world U23 champion Tatsuya SHIRAI 5-0.

Ishiguro and Shirai face each other in the final round of a matches, and a win for Shirai, who is the Emperor's Cup champion, could leave the three of them with 3-1 records and the title decided by criteria.

A playoff is also on the cards at Greco 72kg, where Taishi NARIKUNI, still looking to add an elusive Greco world gold to the one he won at freestyle 70kg in 2022, knocked off Emperor's Cup champion Issei HONNA 6-0.

Narikuni will face Ryoma HOJO in the final, with the winner taking on Honna for the ticket to Zagreb.

At women's 72kg, 2022 world U20 champion Ayano MORO defeated Emperor's Cup and former world champion Masako FURUICHI by fall in their preliminary group match, and the two will go at it again after both advanced to the final.

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Day 1 Results

Freestyle

86kg (5 entries)
Standings through 4 rounds: 1. Hayato ISHIGURO, 3-0; 2. Yudai TAKAHASHI, 2-1; Tatsuya SHIRAI, 2-1; Hiroto NINOMIYA, 1-2; Satoshi MIURA, 0-4.

92kg (10 entries)
SF 1: Takashi ISHIGURO df. Shuichiro SATO by TF, 13-0, 3:40
SF 2: Takato UCHIDA df. Rintaro MOTOHASHI, 3-1

97kg (7 entries)
SF 1: Arash YOSHIDA df. Takuma TATEOKA by TF, 11-0, 3:00
SF 2: Noah LEIBOWITZ df. Yuta SASAKI by TF, 11-0, 4:22

125kg (10 entries)
SF 1: Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Hosei FUJITA, 4-4
SF 2: Hibiki ITO df. Ryusei FUJITA, 4-1

Greco-Roman

55kg (11 entries)
SF 1: Sanshiro TAKAHASHI df. Kohei YAMAGIWA, 5-3
SF 2: Taiga ONISHI df. Taketo NINOMIYA, 3-3

63kg (11 entries)
SF 1: Ayata SUZUKI df. Yuto NAGASAWA by TF, 10-1, 4:04
SF 2: Manato NAKAMURA df. Shoya ITO by TF, 9-0, 1:48

72kg (11 entries)
SF 1: Taishi NARIKUNI df. Issei HONNA, 6-0
SF 2: Ryoma HOJO df. Daigo KOBAYASHI, 4-3

82kg (9 entries)
SF 1: Taizo YOSHIDA df. Tesshin HIGUCHI by TF, 8-0, 1:58
SF 2: Reon KAKEGAWA df. Yudai KOBORI by Fall, :49 (5-0)

Women’s Wrestling

55kg (7 entries)
SF 1: Sowaka UCHIDA df. Narumi NAKAMURA by TF, 11-0, 4:28
SF 2: Umi IMAI df. Karina HONDA by TF, 11-0, 4:11

59kg (9 entries)
SF 1: Sakura ONISHI df. Sae NOGUCHI by TF, 10-0, 4:46
SF 2: Sena NAGAMOTO df. Miuna KIMURA by Fall, 5:21 (7-0)

65kg (5 entries)
Standings through 4 rounds: 1. Miwa MORIKAWA, 3-0, and Nana IKEHATA, 3-0; 3. Akari ASAI, 1-2; 4. Ayana HISHINUMA, 1-3; 5. Nana MOROHOSHI, 0-3.

72kg (7 entries)
SF 1: Ayano MORO df. Chisato YOSHIDA by TF, 16-4, 5:12
SF 2: Masako FURUICHI df. Mahiro YOSHITAKE, 5-2

Blades the latest star at 76kg with Alexandria gold

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Rising star Onishi closes in on ticket to first World Championships