#WrestleBudapest

Godinez, Tosun to wrestle for gold at Budapest Ranking Series

Saturday, June 8, 2024 - 08:23 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 8) -- Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling will be in action on day three of the Ranking Series with some Olympic seeds to be determined. Iran is holding an Olympic selection as well.

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13:45: Ana GODINEZ (CAN) will take a lot of confidence from this come-from-behind victory over European champion Grace BULLEN (NOR). Not only did she break Bullen, Godinez managed to complete her attacks and score with most of them. Godinez into the 62kg final with an 11-7 win

13:35: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) enters the final at 62kg with a solid win over Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL). Koliadenko was defending her lead when Purevdorj used her nails to over a lock and was penalized for the foul and asked to return in par terre with 10 seconds on the clock and a lead of 6-5. She managed to hold it and win

13:20: If Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) thought she would be able to avenge her world championships final loss to Buse TOSUN (TUR) as the two met now in Budapest, she was in for a surprise. Tosun, once again, pins her to get the win. 

13:10: Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) keeps Kayla MIRACLE's (USA) comeback short and wins the 62kg quarterfinal 14-8. She will face Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) in the semifinals.

13:00: Justina DI STASIO (CAN) gets her first victory at 76kg round robin. She catches Tatiana RENTERIA (CAN) and keeps her in danger position till the end of the time to win 5-1.

12:45: Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) with a clutch takedown to beat REETIKA (IND). The Indian wrestler led 2-1 and was happy with that lead but Renteria kept coming with those attacks and managed to break Reetika.

12:40: Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) is looking unstoppable. He posts his second 8-0 at 60kg, this time humbling Dahyun KIM (KOR) after a win over Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW) in the first bout. 

12:30: Marquee match up at 62kg with Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) and Grace BULLEN (NOR) in the quarterfinal. Dudova draws first blood to lead 2-0 but Bullen comes back with a double leg and leads 2-2 on criteria. Bullen is unstoppable after this and concludes a 8-2 win.

11:50: Riza KAYAALP (TUR) faces Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) at 130kg and the Iranian comes out all guns blazing. Hedayati scores from par terre and jumps to a 4-0 lead over Kayaalp at the break. He continues his high paced wrestling in the second period and wins 4-0

11:20: Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) with a clutch throw to pin Anna SHCHERBAKOVA (AIN) after trailing 12-4. On the other mat, Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) holds on to a 2-1 victory over Luisa NIEMESCH (GER) in the opening round of 62kg. 

11:05: Riza KAYAALP (TUR) got both par terre positions in his match against Beka KANDELAKI (AZE) and he added a stepout to win 3-0 at 130kg. Kayaalp was blocked when he was trying to turn in the first par terre and Kandelaki was awarded two points. But Kayaalp challenged and won

10:40: Two entertaining 76kg bouts to kick off the day. Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) hangs on for a 4-2 win over Genesis REASCO (ECU) while REETIKA (IND) dominates Justina DI STASIO (CAN) 8-0.

10:30: Welcome to day three of the Ranking Series with eight weight classes in action. Women's Wrestling will conclude with the five weights and three Greco-Roman weights will be in action as well

Trailblazer Epp Mae retires as Estonia's top wrestler

Tuesday, January 28, 2025 - 13:16 By Vinay Siwach

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ESTONIA (January 28) -- European champion and two-time World Championships medalist Epp MAE (EST) announced her retirement earlier in January at an emotional press conference in Tallinn. She left her shoes on the mat, symbolizing retirement from wrestling.

The 32-year-old is Estonia's most successful wrestler in Women's Wrestling, winning gold at the European Championships in 2021 and silver medals in the 2017 and 2022 editions. She also has a bronze medal from 2019.

At the World Championships, Mae became the first Estonian wrestler to win a medal, enter the final, and even have two medals. She won silver in the 76kg in 2021, plus three bronze medals in 2015, 2019, and 2022.

"The day I announced my retirement was very emotional and hard because something so big in your life came to an end," Mae told UWW. "I knew that I was about to retire because I was expecting a baby. But it was difficult to stand in front of the people and say that this part of my life has ended, so announcing was harder than deciding it inside myself."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Epp Mäe (@eppmae)

Mae is a two-time Olympian for Estonia. She made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games and finished 13th. She improved to eighth at the 2020 Tokyo Games. For the 2024 Paris Olympics, Mae tried qualifying in the 76kg weight class but failed to achieve that. Her last international competition was the World Olympic Qualifier in May in Istanbul.

"To be honest, I did not expect my career to be this long, as it is," she said. "I did not have any role models in female wrestling in Estonia when I was growing up. So I had no idea whether it was possible to earn money or live from wrestling and how far it was possible to go from my country. I dedicated my life and my career to wrestling as much as I could. An athlete should know it's time to step down. It aligned for me with a wish to start a family."

Epp MAE (EST)An emotional Epp MAE (EST) announcing her retirement in a wrestling club in Tallinn on January 9. (Photo: ERR / Siim Lõvi)

Mae took up wrestling after her father, a former wrestler, pushed her into the sport. However, there were no partners to train with and Mae did not have any national competitions. She even trained in judo and sumo just to get training.

When Estonia did start a national championship in women's wrestling, Mae dominated, winning it 12 times in her career. For other sports, she is a four-time Estonian sumo champion, a four-time Estonian beach wrestling champion, and has also been an Estonian judo champion on one occasion.

"I have always laughed that the population of Estonia is 1.3 million and I am one in a million to choose to do something like this and be successful," she said. "Coming from a small nation, it is not easy to break through to the top. Most likely you don't have training partners at home. you have to travel a lot away from your country and get to train at a level that you need to succeed."

Epp MAE (EST)Epp MAE (EST), red, wrestling at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Internationally, Mae made her debut in 2007 at the U17 European Championships, winning a bronze medal in the 70kg weight class. She began her senior career at the Yasar Dogu in 2011 and won a silver medal at 72kg at the age of 18.

In 2012, Mae clinched the U20 European Championships and remains the only Estonian wrestler to win gold at the continental event at any age group. A decade later, she reached the final of the World Championships at 76kg, marking another historic landmark in Estonian wrestling.

"As I said there was no one in front of me to lead the way, I am happy that I went through everything to get to places and results that I managed to and kind of make a path for all the girls from Estonia who will ever wish or have this doubt whether it is possible to get that far," she said. "I am happy that they have a path already in front of them. I wish that they would want to go bigger and further than I did. I will be more than excited and happy if someone did do that."

Epp MAE (EST)Epp MAE (EST) wrestling in the 2021 World Championships final at 76kg in Oslo. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Reflecting on her career two-decade-long career, Mae did share her disappointment of not winning a medal at the Olympics but was happy to have achieved what she has for Estonia.

"My father recently told a journalist that what I did [in wrestling] was against the odds because we did not have all the possibilities and facilities a bigger team would have," she said. "So I think I did good in my career by achieving the results that I did. Little sad that I did not win a medal at the Olympics. But I can leave wrestling knowing that I gave everything. There is never going to be any doubt that what if I could have done this or that."

Now off the mat, Mae will concentrate on her family and follow the sport from afar.

"I will keep following wrestling and the wrestling friends I have made during the years. I will keep following them," she said. "For Estonia wrestling, I wish all the girls in different age groups we have right now will be motivated just to go as far as possible and always try to achieve the best for you. I will try to help Estonian wrestling as I can and I hope they will not stop developing Estonian female wrestling."