#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

#WrestlePontevedra

U20 Worlds: Iran shines, U.S. surprises in Greco-Roman on Day 1

Monday, September 2, 2024 - 17:46 By Vinay Siwach

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 2) -- Seven years after it crowned a world champion at U20 level, the United States will have a chance to end that drought on Tuesday.

Two wrestlers, Isaiah CORTEZ (USA) and Otto BLACK (USA), reached the finals of 55kg and 63kg in Greco-Roman at the U20 World Championships which kicked off in Pontevedra, Spain on Monday. Kamal BEY (USA) won the gold medal in 2017 at 74kg and since then the U.S. has been looking for a world champion. It was also the last time the U.S. had two wrestlers in the final.

Cortez had three back-and-forth bouts in the morning session but was at his best in the semifinal against Aibek AITBEKOV (KAZ). He took the par terre position in the first period and finished the bout 9-0 after getting four turns over Aitbekov using the trap-arm.

In his earlier bouts, Cortez pulled off a 9-8 win against Anil MOR (IND), and defeated Peter TOTOK (HUN) 7-4 before going past Maxim SARMANOV (MDA) 9-6.

He will wrestle former U17 world champion Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) for the gold medal. Ahmadi Vafa overcame Alibek AMIROV (AIN), 6-3, in the other semifinal at 55kg.

Black took out Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM) in the semifinal at 63kg after battling hard to keep his 3-2 lead. Hoveyan tried jumping over Black to get a four-pointer but Black defended it and slammed Hoveyan on the mat for four points to win 7-2.

For the gold, he will face Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN) who had to win the semifinal twice. Zakriev pinned Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) very early in the semifinal but Georgia challenged and won as Khozrevanidze's head was outside the zone when Zakriev was trying to pin him.

Khozrevanidze used his second life in the bout to perform a headlock and got four points. However, Zakriev avoided any fall position and reversed the position and turned Khozrevanidze three times. After a challenge and consultations from referees, Zakriev led the bout 11-4.

He scored four points using a big throw and a lost challenge from Georgia gave him another point as he won 16-4.

Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) will wrestle for the 77kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran had two other finalists, taking the total to three. Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) scored a controlled 3-1 win over Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO) at 77kg and will take on Magomed IARBILOV (AIN) for the gold. Iarbilov defeated Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR), 6-4, in the other semifinal.

At 130kg, Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI) joined a long list of top Iranian super heavyweights in Greco-Roman as he reached the final after beating Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) 2-1 in the semifinal. He scored a takedown against Harutyunyan's point for forced par terre.

For the gold medal, he will face former U17 world champion Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) who won 3-1 against Aleksandr MELEKHOV (AIN) in the other semifinal.

Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) defeated returning champion Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Kyrgyzstan, a country that has grown leaps and bounds in wrestling over the last decade, sent one wrestler in the final. Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) had an epic run at 87kg to reach the final. In the semifinal, he took less than two minutes to beat Patrik GORDAN (ROU) 8-0.

Joju SAMADOV (AZE) will look to stop him from becoming Kyrgyzstan's first U20 world champion in Greco-Roman since 2018. Samadov had a close semifinal against Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ) but managed to win 4-2.

df

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Isaiah CORTEZ (USA) vs. Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)

SF 1: Isaiah CORTEZ (USA) df. Aibek AITBEKOV (KAZ), 9-0
SF 2: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Alibek AMIROV (AIN), 6-3 

63kg
GOLD: Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN) vs. Otto BLACK (USA)

SF 1: Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN) df. Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 16-4
SF 2: Otto BLACK (USA) df. Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM), 7-2

77kg
GOLD: Magomed IARBILOV (AIN) vs. Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)

SF 1: Magomed IARBILOV (AIN) df. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR), 6-4
SF 2: Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) df. Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) vs. Joju SAMADOV (AZE)

SF 1: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) df. Patrik GORDAN (ROU), 8-0
SF 2: Joju SAMADOV (AZE) df. Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ), 4-2

130kg
GOLD: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) vs. Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI)

SF 1: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Aleksandr MELEKHOV (AIN), 3-1
SF 2: Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI) df. Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 2-1