#Grappling, World Grappling Championships

Crane defends as U.S. takes charge at Grapping World Championships

Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 11:19 By Vinay Siwach

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WARSAW, Poland (August 23) — It may have only won two finals out of the five its grapplers reached, but the result was good enough for the United States to win the team title over Kazakhstan for the second straight year at the Grappling World Championships in Warsaw.

Led by defending champion Kevin CRANE (USA), the U.S. accumulated 135 points to win team title while Kazakhstan finished second with 108 points. Home team Poland stepped on the podium at third with 91 points.

Crane defended his gold medal at 84kg by beating Defending champion Kevin CRANE (USA) home favorite and returning bronze medalist Mateusz MAZUR (POL), 5-4, in a thrilling final. Crane got the final underway with two points as Mazur decided to play from the bottom. Crane was called passive on the top and a point was added to Mazur’s score.

Mazur, the European champion, managed to get Crane off the top and brought him down on his back to score two points. As time passed, Mazur failed to continue his active grappling and was cautioned for stalling which gave a point to Crane who now led 3-3 on criteria.

With just over a minute left, Crane got a single leg for two while Mazur tried to match his pace. Crane was happy to concede a point for stalling but Mazur gave it one final go with 15 seconds on the clock. He got out of the bottom position and tried getting Crane down. However, Crane managed to survive a slip and kept Mazur on his back as the clock ran out.

Perhaps that win hyped up compatriot Mario GONZALEZ (USA) as he dominated the 130kg final against Lukasz OLECH (POL), winning the gold medal 12-1. In earlier rounds, Gonzalez upset returning world champion John HANSEN (USA) 6-2.

For the first two minutes of the final, both Gonzalez and Olech seemed to be playing the waiting game and it was after two minutes that Gonzalez got a point for Olech’s passivity. He scored two stepouts to make it 3-0.

With the clock ticking, Olech tried building some forward pressure but Gonzalez was quick to get out of the underhooks. As Olech fell because of his forward movement, Gonzalez scored two points by Olech on his back. With Olech’s shoulders touching the mat, Gonzalez was awarded three points and later awarded four as he continued to lock Olech. Only in the final seconds was he called for stalling, giving up a point in the 12-1 win.

Poland won a gold medal as defending champion at 100kg Andrzej IWAT (POL) won via submission against Eliot KELLY (USA), who was sporting a full-sleeve, in the final. Kelly finished fifth last year while Iwat has not lost in United World Wrestling’s Grappling competitions since the Grappling Gi loss in Pontevedra last year.

Iwat began from the bottom but never let Kelly get control from the top. As the two scrambled, Iwat got hold of Kelly’s leg and locked it despite them rolling over twice. With 3:40 left in the match, Kelly tapped out giving Iwat his second gold medal at the World Championships.

Poland could have had another world champion but Saar SHEMESH (ISR) came back to beat Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL) 5-5 in the 92kg final after the two dominated their runs to the final.

Expectedly, both did not give an inch to each other in the gold medal match which went down to the wire. Frechowicz scored the opening two points as he controlled Shemesh from the top and tried to lock Shemesh. But Shemesh took the 2-2 criteria lead by putting Frechowicz on the mat.

Shemesh was called for passivity and Frechowicz got the one point. But his lead was short lived as Shemesh went on top again and kept Frechowicz’s back on the mat with control. The referee did not award two points but Shemesh challenged and got the three points on review to lead 5-3 with 2:51 left on the clock.

Frechowicz did not give up and scored two points for control on top and took the 5-5 criteria lead and remained on top for the rest of the bout. Shemesh challenged the criteria as he had a three-point technique. Shemesh was declared the winner which left Frechowicz in complete disarray.

At 62kg, Temerlin AZIZOV (FRA), a freestyle wrestler till two years ago, won the gold medal over Gavin TEASDALE (USA), beating the U.S. grappler via submission. Azizov won three out of his four bouts before the final via criteria decisions but was a completely different force in the final against Teasdale.

Azizov used his wrestling traits in the final by putting collar ties and trying single-leg attacks. But Teasdale locked him from behind and looked to put him down. However, Azizov got a trip with headlock to control Teasdale before a headchoke got him the submission with 2:37 left in the match.

Kazakhstan crowned a world champion last year’s bronze medalist at 77kg  Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ) stepped up on the podium after beating Brady WICKLUND (USA) via submission in the final.

Wicklund remained on top for majority of the final scoring two points and Madayev got two points for Wicklund’s stalling. But Madayev got Wicklund’s arm and rolled over with his legs across Wicklund’s head, forcing the American to tap out instantly.

Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ), however, could not repeat his compatriot’s exploits and ended up with a silver medal at 66kg after Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) defeated him in the final.

Razmadze began the gold medal bout with a stepout and got another as Kapashov tried to evade one of his attacks. Kazakhstan challenged the second stepout call but lost, giving Razmadze two more points.

Kapashov got Razmadze in control quite a few times but was never able to control him on the mat. Razmadze reversed one of Kapashov’s attack with a toss and got the control to lead 6-0. Kapashov tried a head lock submission but failed to get it as Razmadze ran out the clock.

In one of the most entertaining weight classes, European Championships silver medalist Iker CAMARA (ESP) won gold over Euro bronze medalist Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO) in the 71kg final 7-2 decision.

Razmadze, who defeated returning champion Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ) in the semifinals, opened the scoring with an ankle pick but was called for stalling, giving Camara his first point. As the two remained in the same position, Camara tried different locks but Razmadze was happy blocking which cost him another point.

The bout had to be restarted in neutral with Razmadze on top but failed to show activity and the referees score another point for Camara who now led 3-2. Propelled by the lead, Camara reversed the positions and scored two points in the final 20 seconds to lead 5-2 as the clock expired. Razmadze challenged only to see two more points added to Camara’s score.

The grapplers will return on Thursday, the final day of the World Championships, for the Grappling Gi competition.

RESULTS

62kg
GOLD: Temirlan AZIZOV (FRA) df. Gavin TEASDALE (USA), via submission (2-0)

BRONZE: Arulan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) df. Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM), 8-3
BRONZE: Loris ZANOLINI (ITA) df. Farhad BAGIROV (AZE), 13-2

66kg
GOLD: Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Omri HAVIV (ISR) df. Wojciech PAJAK (POL), via disqualification
BRONZE; Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) df. Yeldos UALI (KAZ), via submission

71kg
GOLD:  Iker CAMARA (ESP) df. Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO), 7-2

BRONZE: Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER) df. Donat DEMETER (HUN), 2-2
BRONZE: Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ) df. Hamid HAMIDLI (AZE), 8-3

77kg
GOLD: Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ) df. Brady WICKLUND (USA), via submission (2-2)

BRONZE: Evyatar PAPERNI (ISR) df. Sergio IBARRA (USA), via submission (4-4)
BRONZE: Nahman BITON (ISR) df. Djabrail DJABRAILOV (FRA), via forfeit

84kg
GOLD:  Kevin CRANE (USA) df. Mateusz MAZUR (POL), 5-4

BRONZE: Pawel JAWORSKI (POL) df. Dmitrii TKACHENKO (UKR), via cautions (4-2)
BRONZE: Aurel PIRTEA (ROU) df. Manuel PILATO (ITA), via submission (5-2)

92kg
GOLD:  Saar SHEMESH (ISR) df. Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL), 5-5

BRONZE: Pawel NEDZI (POL) df. Roman KIZIUK (UKR), 4-4
BRONZE: Paul ARDILA (USA) df. Levente LAKY (HUN), via submission (0-3)

100kg
GOLD:  Andrzej IWAT (POL) df. Eliot KELLY (USA), via submission (0-2)

BRONZE: Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO) df. Mourad BENGHOUNE (FRA), via submission (2-0)
BRONZE: Kamil WOJCIECHOWSKI (POL) df. Ramazan ABDRAKHIMOV (KAZ), 5-3

130kg
GOLD: Mario GONZALEZ (USA) df. Lukasz OLECH (POL), 12-1

BRONZE: John HANSEN (USA) df. Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE), via submission (6-0)
BRONZE: Talgat ZHIYENTAYEV (KAZ) df. Wojciech WILK (POL), 8-1

#WrestlePontevedra

Begenjov wins Turkmenistan's historic world title in Freestyle

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - 23:12 By Vinay Siwach

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 7) -- After falling agonizingly short of a World Championship medal two years in a row, Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) made amends in the most impressive way possible -- winning Turkmenistan's first-ever world title in Freestyle.

Begenjov won the gold medal in 79kg weight class at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on Saturday, becoming the first Freestyle world champion of his country. It is only the second time Turkmenistan has won a gold medal at any World Championships. Shorat KHODAYEV (TKM) won a U17 world gold in 1994.

"It was my dream," Begenjov said. "I made my dream come true. I’ve become a world champion. It’s the first time in the history of my country [in Freestyle]."

Begenjov had competed at the U17 World Championships in 2022 and 2023, finishing 12th and fifth respectively. This year, he finished fifth at Asian Championships, 12th at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers and won bronze at the U23 Asian Championships. The loss at the Asian Championships hurt Begenjov.

"I was so disappointed after losing at the Asian Championships," he said. "I started training harder and last month I won the U20 Asian Championships and now the World Championships."

Not only did he win gold, Begenjov did so without conceding a point in the tournament. He outscored his opponents 46-0, including the 5-0 win over Jackary RYDER (USA) in the final.

He led 1-0 at the break after Ryder failed to score after being put on the activity clock. Begenjov used his fake attacks to keep Ryder on check and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 2-0.

Ryder did get on Begenjov's leg a couple of times but failed to finish those attacks. On one occasion, Ryder was trying to lift after a single-leg attack but Begejnov grabbed Ryder's leg and he fell on his back, giving up two points as Begenjov extended his lead to 4-0. A lost challenge made it 5-0.

The 18-year-old plans to compete at the U23 World Championships but doesn't plan to compete at the senior level yet.

"I have to train harder to repeat this and win the senior world title," he said. "I am physically not strong enough yet for senior level."

Trained by his uncle in Ashgabat, Begenov graduated from school earlier this year and joined the university.

"I will start my first year," he said. "I will study stock exchange. We have this faculty in Turkmenistan."

Apart from Ryder's silver medal, the United States won gold and three bronze medals. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) upgraded his silver from last year to gold, winning the 57kg weight class by beating Lev PAVLOV (AIN) in the final.

This was Lilledahl's fourth straight age-group world final after he made two at U17 level and one at U20. He won silver in 2021 and upgraded to gold in 2022 at the U17 Worlds.

In the final against Pavlov, who he had beaten on his way to the final last year in Amman, Lilledahl got two activity points while Pavlov got one. Pavlov failed to find a perfect opening to score a point in the final seconds and dropped the final 2-1.

"When I wrestled him before, it was a lot more wide open," Lilledahl said. "With it being the finals [this year], he would kind of just wrestle to win. That's what you have to do. You're here to win. 

"That's pretty much what I figured would happen. He doesn't really like to create a lot of action, which kind of plays against me because I like the action. It was a stylistic matchup. Having wrestled him before, we kind of knew each other and knew how each other felt and stuff like that."

Aitmukhan adds U20 title

World champion at 92kg Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) gave the U20 World Championships a try and went home with a gold medal. Aitmukhan became Kazakhstan's first Freestyle world champion at the senior level last year at 92kg in Belgrade.

By winning the 97kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Aitmukhan as became only the fourth wrestler from Kazakhstan, and first in 24 years, to win a gold in Freestyle at U20 World Championships.

Aitmukhan was so dominant in the final that Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) could not stop him from winning the final 10-0.

Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) completes a takedown in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran won the gold medal at 65kg as Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) shut out Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), and won the final 10-2. Khorramdel lost his semifinal to Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN) last year but won a bronze medal in the 61kg weight class.

The U20 Asian champion had a difficult path to the final as he had to make a comeback in his opening bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), winning 12-11. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) also fought hard but lost 9-6 before Khorramdel hung on for a 6-4 win over Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) in the semifinals.

Hosokawa was displeased with his performance as Khorramdel blocked him from the right side and Hosokawa failed to score from his strong position. 

While Hosokawa lost, his Nippon Sports Science University teammate Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) won the gold medal at 70kg. Two days before his bouts, Yamashita had announced in the dining hall that he could "only see the gold medal". Yamashita made sure he took it home.

In a high-paced final, Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) failed to challenge Yamashita's speed and style and lost 6-0 in the 70kg final.

"This was my first international world tournament," Yamashita said. "I played with the intention of having fun and had a lot of fun. This is my goal for this year, but after competing, I realized that the senior world championships or the Olympics would be even more amazing. "

It was not all fun for Baitukaev on the mat as Yamashita showed his A game. Yamashita got the first point via stepout and earned a second when the 30-second activity clock against Baitukaev ended. Yamashita blasted a double in the second period to get two points and turned using head-in-middle lace to lead 6-0. Baitukaev had no energy left to attack and Yamashita won the gold medal.

Yamashita celebrated by gesturing like he was taking out the imaginary Samurai swords. 

"I came up with it when I was thinking of doing a performance based on Japanese culture," he said. "It's a Japanese tradition since ancient times. I did it because I admired it."

Yamashita trains with Olympic champions Rei HIGUCHI (JPN and Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) at NSSU and wants to replicate the success his teammates had.

"I realized that what I was doing was correct," he said. "It was a great environment to have someone close to me that I was aiming for. I was really moved by watching the matches. I was inspired by that."

For him to be at the Olympics, Yamashita will have to wait at least four years and jump to 74kg to make the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm still thinking about it, but I guess I can only be 74kg to qualify for the Olympics," he said "I would like to be at 74kg for Los Angeles."

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Lev PAVLOV (AIN), 2-1

BRONZE: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) df. Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: ANKUSH (IND) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)  df. Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), 10-2

BRONZE: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) df. Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via fall (9-0) 
BRONZE: Peter DUKE (USA) df. Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ), 18-7

79kg
GOLD: Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) df. Zackary RYDER (USA), 5-0

BRONZE: Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) df. Said SAIDULOV (AIN), 5-4
BRONZE: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. AMIT (IND), 13-2

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam JAKSIK (SVK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 2-1

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) vs. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)

SF 1: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Marcus BLAZE (USA), 7-2
SF 2: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) vs. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

SF 1: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Shingo ANDO (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-1

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) vs. Joshua BARR (USA)

SF 1: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI), 12-2
SF 2: Joshua BARR (USA) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Sali SALIEV (BUL) vs. Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Sali SALIEV (BUL) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 5-4
SF 2: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA)

SF 1: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Benjamin KUETER (USA) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 13-3