#WrestleRome

Evloev leads Russia's Dominance at Matteo Pellicone

Thursday, March 4, 2021 - 20:48 By Vinay Siwach

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OSTIA, Italy (March 4) --- Two years after his last Ranking Series event, Musa EVLOEV (RUS) captured his third gold medal of the Series with a dominant performance at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series, which got underway in Rome on Thursday.

The two-time defending world champion showed no mercy on his opponents, scoring two out of three wins by technical superiority. On the way to his gold medal, the Russian scored 22 points and did not concede a single one.

Evloev was the second of Russia's three gold medals on day one of the event. Russian national champion Viktor VEDERNIKOV (RUS) captured the 55kg gold medal while Emin Narimanovitch SEFERSHAEV (RUS), a junior world champion, claimed the top honors at 60kg weight category.

Kazakhstan captured two gold medals of its own after advancing four wrestlers to the finals in the morning session. Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) open the gold medal account for his country after his countryman Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ) forfeited the final due to injury. Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) captured his second Ranking Series gold and fourth medal overall after a technical superiority 12-2 over Mate KRASZNAI (HUN).

Hungary and Turkey were the two other countries which claimed the remaining two gold medals to close the day. Istvan TAKACS (HUN) won the 87kg gold medal while four-time world champion Riza Kayaalp (TUR) claimed the 130kg gold medal with 7-0 win in the final.

Evloev, who won the gold medal at the Individual World Cup in Belgrade, began the day with an 8-0 win over Luca SVAICARI (ITA) and gave little to no chance to Rio Olympics and world bronze medalist Cenk ILDEM (TUR) in his 6-0 win.

Less than two minutes into the final, the 27-year-old came up with a big four-point throw in the final against Erik SZILVASSY (HUN). He then scored a second-period pushout to compelete the win 8-0 and capture his first Ranking Series gold since the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov gold in March, 2019.

While Vedernikov also showed dominance throughout his round-robin to win the gold, Sefershaev had a some close bouts. In the quarter-final, the Russian survived a close 2-2 win against Zhanserik SARSENBIYEV (KAZ) before getting the gold via injury default.

Coming into the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series, Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) was the favourite to win the gold medal at 87kg category. He held an unpreecented record having won six Ranking Series gold medals and begin unbeaten in 23 bouts.

But after three years of sheer dominance at the event, Lorincz tasted his first defeat at the hands of fellow countryman Istvan Takacs (HUN).

Takacs was his country's lone gold medalist of the day but it was the semi-final that made the headlines. With three wrestlers in the 87kg category, Lorincz and Takacs met in the last-four bout. Both wrestlers exchanged points for passivity but it was the latter who took a 3-1 lead for exposure and kept it till the end, hand Lorincz his first Ranking Series defeat in 25 bouts.

Kayaalp was the final gold medal of the day. While there were some nervous moments for the multi-medalist at the Olympics as he took the bouts till the last minute, he cruised to his second Ranking Series gold, first in three years. It was a deliberate method by him.

"It's good to wrestle in Rome and prepare for the upcoming tournaments," he said. "I wanted to take the matches as long as possible from my side."

Kayaalp will now be headed back to Turkey for a training camp before heading to Poland for the European Championships. He will also be part of the second Ranking Series event, also to be held in Poland.

Action will continue on day two in Rome with remaining three Greco-Roman and four women's freestyle weight categories.

RESULTS 

55kg
GOLD - Viktor VEDERNIKOV (RUS) df Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ) 9-1
BRONZE - Arjun HALAKURKI (IND) df. Andre Ricardo CARDOSO OLIVEIRA SILVA (POR), 8-0

60kg
GOLD - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) df. Ahmet UYAR (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE - lZhanserik SARSENBIYEV (KAZ) df. Ildar HAFIZOV (USA), 7-5
BRONZE - Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN) df. Joshua Xavier MEDINA(PUR), 2-1

63kg
GOLD - Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) df Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ) via inj. def.
BRONZE -Neeraj NEERAJ (IND) df. Samuel JONES (USA), 6-4
BRONZE -Mohammad ALAJMI (KUW) df. Marat GARIPOV (RUS), via inj. def.

67kg
GOLD - Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) df Mate KRASZNAI (HUN) 12-2
BRONZE - Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) df. Enes BASAR (TUR), 3 - 2
BRONZE -Nazir Rachidovitch ABDULLAEV (RUS) df. Murat FIRAT (TUR), 1-1

87kg
GOLD - Istvan TAKACS (HUN) df David LOSONCZI (HUN) 4-1
BRONZE - Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS) df. Josef Patrick RAU (USA), 8-0 
BRONZE - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Simone FIDELBO (ITA), 8-0

97kg
GOLD - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) 8-0
BRONZE - Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ) df. Ondrej DADAK (CZE), 9-0
BRONZE - Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Luca SVAICARI (ITA), 7-1

130kg
GOLD - Riza Kayaalp (TUR) df Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) 7-0
BRONZE -  Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RUS) df. Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), 3-1 
BRONZE - Naveen NAVEEN (IND) df. Stepan DAVID (CZE), 1-1

#development

Moldova steps up, hosts coaching and referee courses

Wednesday, December 10, 2025 - 19:57 By United World Wrestling Press

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KISHINEV, Moldova (December 10) -- Moldova, a country rich with wrestling history and some good performances in recent years, continues to develop the sport.

Moldovan Wrestling Federation has taken steps to train and improve its coaches, referees and wrestlers and organized two courses [Level 3 Coaching and Level 2 National Referee] and a competition from November 23 to 29.

The two courses were organized in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity, UWW and Moldova Olympic Committee. United World Wrestling also supported their national tournament that was held at the conclusion of the courses.

"We are pleased with the successful implementation of the Level 3 coaching program and Level 2 referee program," said Ivan GHEORGHIU, President of the Moldova Wrestling Federation. "The course introduced modern international coaching and refereeing methodologies that are essential for the continued development of wrestling in Moldova. We value the collaboration with UWW and Olympic Solidarity and look forward to further educational initiatives."

The Level 3 coaching course was led by Yusup ABDUSALAMOV (UWW Educator). The course focused on performance analysis periodization and preparation, coaching philosophy training load management, and safe sport. There were 17 individuals that participated in the course.

“The course progressed smoothly and the participants showed interest, discipline, and engagement during all sessions," Abdusalamov said. "They actively participated in theoretical discussions and performed well during practical and micro-training tasks. I am confident that the skills they developed will significantly improve the effectiveness of their training work."

Anatolie GUIDEA, one of the coaches who attended the course expressed his appreciation and said, "I greatly appreciated the depth of information on periodization and training load management. The micro-training sessions were especially useful, as they provided clear practical tools that I can apply immediately in my own training environment."

Moldova

The Level 2 referee course was also held and was called Referee Foundations. This course was led by Igor LIGAY (IS Referee and UWW Educator) and included 22 participants.

During the course, the referees went through more advanced scoring situations including risk, out of bounds, takedown and control, and attack vs counter attack. They also worked on strategies for controlling the bout and being a mat chairman. Their training included theoretical and practical sessions.

"All participants actively took part in discussions, successfully handled practical exercises during the competitions, and I am confident that the skills and knowledge they acquired will enhance their effectiveness and raise the overall standard of judging at competitions," Ligay said.

In addition to the courses, Moldova hosted a national competition that was also supported by UWW. This competition featured wrestlers from 26 clubs and included 134 Freestyle wrestlers, 121 Greco-Roman wrestlers, and 27 women wrestlers.