#Zagreb2019

Five "Must Watch" Matches from the Zagreb Open

By Eric Olanowski

There were countless great matches that took place over the two days of wrestling at the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Zageb Open, and we took the time to compile a list of the ten best matches with the most action and biggest storylines. 

82kg FINALS - Bulgaria's Daniel ALEKSANDROV erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7 in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout. 

Aleksandrov trailed 7-0 after the first two minutes of action. He was dinged for passivity and thrown in the par terre position, where Kus grabbed four-points from a reverse lift and controlled the 5-0 advantage. Aleksandrov found himself down 7-0 after Kus grabbed another two for exposure, but got on the board with a step out point and trailed 7-1 heading into the second period. 

The Bulgarian exploded for seven unanswered points in the closing three minutes and hung on to the one-point lead, knocking off the noticeably deflated returning world runner-up, 8-7.

97kg FINALS - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) knocked off returning Budapest world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) to win the 97kg Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around the returning world finalist with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period. 

Borisov grabbed the 1-0 lead after Milov was hit for passivity, then went to work in par terre, throwing Milov for four points and used a pair of gut wrenches to close out the 97kg gold-medal match with a 9-0 technical superiority victory. 

77kg QUARTERFINALS - Croatia's Bozo STARCEVIC stunned Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR), 8-2, in the quarterfinals, before ultimately winning his fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title. 

Starcevic avenged his 6-4 2016 Olympic bronze-medal bout loss to Kim, where the Korean wrestler claimed his second overall Olympic medal.

In their quarterfinals meeting on Saturday, Starcevic built a commanding 6-0 lead before Kim used an arm-spin to pick up his lone takedown, closing the deficit to 6-2. Starcevic somehow came away from Kim's arm-spin attempt with an exposure of his own and locked up his semifinals win with an 8-2 victory. 

130kg SEMIFINALS - Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) blasted U23 world silver medalist Osman YILDIRIM (TUR), 9-0, in the semifinals, picking up his second consecutive victory over a world medalist. Abdullaev's first win over a world medalist came in the quarterfinals when he knocked off 2017 world bronze medalist Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), 2-2.

The Uzbek nearly finished the job off and captured the 130kg gold medal but lost to Norway's Oskar MARVIK in the finals, 1-0. 

87kg SEMIFINALS - This all-Hungary semifinals bout was one of the Zagreb Open's most important matches. The reason being, Viktor LORINCZ and Erik SZILVASSY are battling for Hungary's 2019 Astana World Championship spot.

In their Zagreb Open semifinal's meeting, Lorincz scored the critical 3-0 win over the U23 world champion and grabbed a leg up on his fellow Hungarian heading into the second Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Hungarian Grand Prix.  

Lorincz went on to beat Sweden's Kristoffer BERG, 3-1 in the 87kg finals.

#WrestleSofia

U20 World Championships day five semis set

By Vinay Siwach

SOFIA, Bulgaria (August 19) -- The U20 World Championships enter day five and it's time for Greco-Roman wrestling. Five weight classes in action on Friday in Sofia are 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg, and 130kg.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

Here are the semifinals for the evening session

55kg
Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU) vs. Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ)
Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM) vs. Nihad GULUZADE (AZE) 

63kg
Arman VARDANYAN (ARM) vs. Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Iman Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI) vs. Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN)

77kg​​​​​​​
Deni NAKAEV (GER) vs. Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR) vs. Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)

87kg​​​​​​​
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) vs. Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE) vs. Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI)

130kg
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) vs. Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Aden ATTAO (USA) vs. Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)

14:00: Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) with a fall over Masoud KAVOUSI GHAFI (IRI). Huge win for the returning bronze medalist. He will wrestle in the 77kg semifinals.

13:45: Arman VARDANYAN (ARM) will be thanking his stars for that win over Dinislam SAGITZHAN (KAZ) at 63kg. Sagitzhan got a headlock and secured the fall but Armenia challenged the call and won as the Kazakhstan wrestler was locking the head by holding to his own thigh. Vardanyan defended his 10-7 lead to win

13:37: 2021 U17 world champion Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ) and Emre MUTLU (TUR) on Mat A. Suirkulov with the advantage for par terre and scores one more point with an out of bounds throw. He adds two more takedowns to lead 6-0 at the break. Mutlu gets the par terre position and scores two turns before Suiorkulov gets a reversal to keep a 7-5 lead. Mutlu cannot score another takedown and will lose 7-5.

13:25: Fekry EISSA (EGY) had the U20 European champion Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) in trouble. But with 15 seconds remaining, Vyshnyvetskyi scores a takedown to win 9-7

13:00: The USA team is all for it as Aden ATTAO (USA), trailing 2-8, gets the arm throw and pins U20 European silver medalist Adolf BAZSO (HUN) at 130kg. The big upset of the day.

12:33: Here are the quarterfinals at 87kg

Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA) vs. Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR) vs. Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ) vs. Robin USPENSKI (EST)
Donghyun YUN (KOR) vs. Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI) 

12:15: Senior European bronze medalist and one of the favorites to win the gold in Sofia, Emre MUTLU (TUR) comes back from 2-0 down against Paolo MILKOV (BUL) to win 6-2 at 55kg.

11:55: U20 European champion Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) begins with a fall over Junho PARK (KOR). Second to him in Rome, Adolf BAZSO (HUN) also begins with a fall over Tsotne TSINTSADZE (GEO) at 130kg.

11:35: At 77kg, some of the big results include Khasay HASANLI (AZE) beating Henrik GEVORGYAN (ARM), via fall. U20 European champion Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) with a big 13-5 win over Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)

11:15: We are beginning with 87kg and Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) begins with a 9-0 win over Nartu ABDURAKHMANOV (KGZ), 9-0.

U20 European silver Lachin VALIYEV (AZE) played out all six minutes to beat Patrik GORDAN (ROU), 5-1.

11:00: Some of the biggest names in Greco-Roman wrestling will be on the mat on Friday. All five weight classes are stacked with young stars