Crafty Bullen returns to top of podium in Rome

Friday, June 24, 2022 - 18:05 By Vinay Siwach

ROME, Italy (June 24) -- Grace BULLEN (NOR) won her first senior European title in 2017, and since then, she reached the medal bouts at 16 out of 22 competitions she competed in till 2020. She won another continental gold in Rome that year. A medal at Tokyo Olympics and at the home World Championships in Oslo felt like reality.

But as luck would have it, Bullen failed to qualify for Tokyo. Actually, she did not finish on the podium at five different tournaments including two shocking losses at the Olympic Qualifying tournaments in Budapest and Sofia. She returned empty-handed in Oslo as well.

Just when it seemed that the prodigy from Norway was fading away, Bullen came up with a performance for the ages at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome. Bullen captured the gold at 59kg on Friday, outscoring her opponents 25-2, including a 12-2 win in the final against Jowita WRZESIEN (POL).

Bullen's gold might have come at the right time as she prepares for the World Championships and ultimately for the Paris Olympics. The confidence-boosting win will also serve as a great catalyst to help her return to the top form that she once was known for.

The former U17 world champ displayed high-quality wrestling, not only in the final but throughout the day.

Nikolett SZABO (HUN) was the first to get a taste of Bullen's crafty wrestling, as she got launched for five with a clean pick and throw. That gave Bullen a 13-0 start to the day. Abigail NETTE (USA) kept her quiet for a few moments but Bullen won the semifinal 10-0.

A final against Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) would have given her a chance to assess herself better but Wrzesien defeated the former world silver medalist 9-3 in the other semifinal.

Against Wrzsien, Bullen launched double leg attacks and transitioned to leg lace on one of them to lead 8-0. She went for a winning takedown but in the sequence, ended up giving up an exposure as well which was two points for each wrestler. But she got that final takedown with 3:43 left in the final.

This was Bullen's first major international gold since that European title which she won, incidentally in Rome.

Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) won the gold at 65kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

After winning three gold medals on Thursday, Ukraine added two more through Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) and European champion Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) at 53kg and 65kg, respectively.

Rizhko was the star performer of the day as she dismantled her opponents en route to the gold. In the four bouts, she won via fall in two, one by technical superiority and another 6-1.

She faced Emma BRUNTIL (USA) in Round 1 of the Nordic bracket and secured a fall inside the first period. Up against her teammate Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR) in the next round, Rizhko scored two quick takedowns to open the scoring. Zelenykh kept trying to attack her senior opponent's legs but ended up giving points and eventually a fall.

In Round 4, she faced a familiar opponent in Kriszta INCZE (ROU). The bout was a virtual gold medal bout. Rizhko did not wait much and got an early exposure to lead 2-0. Incze's eyes lit up when she got behind Rizhko in a standing position and tried working a takedown but the Ukrainian tossed her for four. With a 6-1 lead, Rizhko played it safe and does not engage much in the second period.

Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) defeated Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) twice on Friday at 53kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

At 53kg, Malanchuk scored two wins over U23 European champion Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) to win the gold medal. The two first met in Round 2 in the morning session which Malanchuk won 3-2. Dragutan tried avenging that loss but a solid defensive performance from Malanchuk got her the gold with a 6-2 score.

In the final, the score was tied 2-2 when Malanchuk worked on a cradle to secure the fall. Dragutan survived the fall but gave up two exposures in the process and trailed 6-2.

The rest of the bout saw Dragutan trying to find an opening against Malanchuk who would not budge despite several attacks from the Moldova wrestler.

Ukraine could have won a third gold of the day but Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) came up short against Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) at 55kg.

Krawczyk won the gold after finishing second at the Ranking Series event in Istanbul at the beginning of the year. She turned that into gold with a 7-2 win over Vynnyk.

It was Vynnyk who got the first attack going and as she dragged Krawczyk towards the zone, the Poland wrestler used that momentum to hit a well-timed arm throw for four. Vynnyk seemed a little shocked after the throw but composed herself quickly.

She scored a takedown before the break to cut the lead to 4-2 but despite her several attempts to score more, she suffered a 7-2 loss in the final.

At 50kg, Madison PARKS (CAN) and Agata WALERZAK (POL) left everything on the mat in the gold medal bout.

Parks led 4-2 at the break before Walerzak made it 4-4 with a takedown at the restart. The lead went back to Parks with a stepout. But Walerzak scored a takedown and added two more to lead 8-5 with two minutes left. Parks, desperate to get on an attack, managed to score a takedown late in the match.

With the score reading 8-7 with just 20 seconds left, Walerzak kept her distance from Parks but in the final second of the bout, the Canadian used her strength to put down the Poland wrestler.

Walerzak was trying to escape a body lock from behind but Parks kept her hands locked and just before time expired, she managed to bring down Walerzak on her knee for a brief moment. But that was enough for her to get a takedown and the win.

Skylar GROTE (USA) won four bouts on Friday to capture the 72kg gold. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

A day after Yelena MAKOYED (USA) made a surprising run to the 76kg gold, another USA wrestler capture the gold on her debut in Ranking Series.

Pan-American champion Skylar GROTE (USA) dominated the field at 72kg to capture the gold a month after winning the continental title in Mexico.

After getting past teammate Marilyn GARCIA (USA) 11-0, Grote faced tough competition from former U23 world silver medalist Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU). But a good attack and defense combination gave a 6-3 win.

Two-time world medalist Anna SCHELL (GER) was dominating the field in a similar fashion. She had only conceded only against Anghel in three of her bouts.

Grote won her third bout against Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR) to set up a Round 5 bout against Schell. With the two wrestling being the only ones to remain undefeated at that point, it became a gold-medal match.

Schell tried getting on the scoreboard quickly but it was Grote who took the 2-0 lead. She then added another takedown and make it 4-0 at the break. In the second period, Grote kept her shots going and extended her lead to 6-0 despite Schell's repeated attempt to score from double-leg.

She managed to score one with 41 seconds left but Grote gave no other openings, winning 6-2.

"She [Schell] was the toughest opponent I faced," Grote said. "I don't have much experience internationally so the girls were new to me as I have never wrestled them before. But I began dominantly and then said to myself 'let's go.'"

Grote made her first national team ever after reaching the final at World Team Trials. She lost to U17 and U20 world champ Amir ELOR (USA) but did not let that disappointment come in the way of her future tournaments.

"I was disappointed after the loss but I told myself that I wrestle in two weeks," she said. "I need to be more calculated with my attacks, I could not win the hand fights. But I had spent a lot of time preparing so I came to Italy."

The learnings from that bout held Grote in Rome as she controlled her bouts with precision.

"I changed my mindset this year," she said. "Win or lose I am still Skylar and now I am more progressive in attacks than being a counter wrestler. I try to control the bout rather than wrestling as per my opponent."

Petriashvili wins gold

World and Olympic silver medalist Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) added a second Ranking Series title of his career, four years after he won the first with a clinical display of wrestling in Rome.

In the final, he faced his semifinal opponent from European Championships Robert BARAN (POL). While the bout in Budapest ran close, Petriashvili made sure it wasn't the case Friday.

After a slow start for which Petriashvili was awarded two points for Baran's passivity on either side of the break, Petraishvili successfully got one of his attacks to work and score a takedown and lead 4-0.

In the final few moments of the bout, Petriashvili scored another to win 6-0.

In the other freestyle weight that was in action Friday, Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) collected a second straight Ranking Series gold at 97kg.

Earlier this month, he had won the gold at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in Almaty and came up with a similar performance in Rome. He defeated Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) 10-4 in a final which he controlled throughout.

The European bronze medalist led the bout 2-1 before adding a takedown late in the first period. He began with another takedown out-of-bounds to extend it to 6-1. Switching to defense, he countered a duck under attempt from Matcharashvili and scored. While the Georgian managed to score one, he lost the bout.

En route to the final, Tcakulov had defeated fellow European bronze medalist Zbigniew BARANOWSKI using a leg lace while Matcharashvili upset the European champion Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) in a minute and 10 seconds. He had earlier defeated silver medalist Vladislav BAITCAEV (HUN) 14-9 despite trailing 7-2 at the start.

Results

Women's wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Madison PARKS (CAN) df. Agata WALERZAK (POL), 10-8

BRONZE: Anna LUKASIAK (POL) df. Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR), 2-1

53kg
GOLD: Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 6-2

BRONZE: Samantha STEWART (CAN) df. Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN), 10-0

55kg
GOLD: Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), 7-2

BRONZE: Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Nina HEMMER (GER), 4-3

59kg
GOLD: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Jowita WRZESIEN (POL), 12-2

BRONZE: Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Elena BRUGGER (GER), 5-1
BRONZE: Abigail NETTE (USA) df. Nikolett SZABO (HUN), 13-2

65kg
GOLD: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)
SILVER: Emma BRUNTIL (USA)
BRONZE: Kriszta INCZE (ROU)

72kg
GOLD: Skylar GROTE (USA)
SILVER: Anna SCHELL (GER)
BRONZE: Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)

Freestyle

97kg
GOLD: Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) df. Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), 10-4

BRONZE: Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), 9-3
BRONZE: Vladislav BAITCAEV (HUN) df. Erik THIELE (GER), 4-0

125kg
GOLD: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Robert BARAN (POL), 6-0

BRONZE: Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) df. Anil KILICSALLAYAN (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR) df. Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER), 11-0

#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

Crafty Bullen returns to top of podium in Rome

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Rising star Onishi closes in on ticket to first World Championships