#WrestleZagreb

Grand Prix Zagreb Open Entries

By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 25) --  World champions Victor CIOBANU (MDA) and Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) lead the field at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open that begins January 29 in the Croatian capital.

Another big name entered in the tournament is Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Parviz NASIBOV (UKR). He is bumping up a weight class for the tournament and will wrestle at 72kg instead of 67kg.

Datunashvili will be taking a trip to his neighboring country to compete for the first time since winning the gold medal at the Oslo World Championships at 87kg. He will likely face his rival Kyril MASKEVICH (BLR) in Zagreb as well. The two met in the Oslo finals which the Serbian wrestler won.

For Serbia, twin brothers Mate and Viktor NEMES (SRB) are also entered into the field. They begin another Olympic cycle in the hope of qualifying and performing at the Olympics together. In Tokyo, only Mate was able to qualify.

While Ciobanu won the world title at 60kg, he is entered at 63kg for the tournament. He also will be in action after a three-month gap.

A host of young stars are also seeking glory. U23 world champion Tamas LEVAI (HUN), former European champion Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL), and U23 Euro champion Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) are looking for some hardware.

Victor CIOBANUVictor CIOBANU (MDA) will wrestle at 63kg in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

55kg

Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Mihai Denis FLORIN (ROU)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Mykola HAVRYCHKIN (UKR)

60kg

Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Viachaslau MAKARANKA (BLR)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Daniel BOBILLO (ESP)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Michał TRACZ (POL)
Sebastijan NAD (SRB)
Sebastijan KOLOMPAR (SRB)
Dimitar SANDOV (SUI)
Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Dmytro TSYMBALIUK (UKR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Diego ROMERO (USA)
Randon MIRANDA (USA)

63kg

Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Andy JUAN (ESP)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Krisztián KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Aleksandrs JURKJAN (LAT)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Rusu CORNELIU (MDA)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Pedro CALDAS (POR)
Arnaut RAZVAN (ROU)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Jonas MÜLLER (SUI)
Alex BICA (SWE)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Hevorh ARZUMANIAN (UKR)

67kg

Christoph BURGER (AUT)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR)
Maksim NEHODA (BLR)
Alejandro CONCEPCION (ESP)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
István VANCZA (HUN)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Konstantinas KESANIDI (LTU)
Alexei HAHLOVSCHI (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas ÖHLEN (SWE)
André JONSSON (SWE)
Oleksii MASYK (UKR)
Dmytro MIROSHNYK (UKR)
Dmytro VASYLIEV (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg

Stefan STEIGL (AUT)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ-SILVA (ESP)
Junior BENITEZ (ESP)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Róbert FRITSCH (HUN)
Attila TOSMAGI (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Håvard JORGENSEN (NOR)
Juan Sebastian AAK (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
BOTEZ IGOR ANDREI (ROU)
Aleksa ERSKI (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Olah OLIVER (SVK)
Erik PERSSON (SWE)
Christoffer DAHLEN (SWE)
Miru OLSSON (SWE)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Andrii KULYK (UKR)
Vladyslav YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Pat SMITH (USA)

77kg

Kazbek KILOU (BLR)
Tsimur BERDYIEU (BLR)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Oliver KRUGER (DEN)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Akseli YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Beka MAMUKASHVILI (GEO)
Demuri KAVTARADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Zoltán LEVAI (HUN)
Mantas SINKEVICIUS (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Per-Anders KURE (NOR)
Iwan NYLIPIUK (POL)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI ILIE (ROU)
Viktor NEMES(SRB)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Nicolas CHRISTEN (SUI)
Leos DRMOLA (SVK)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Rasmus ÅSTROM (SWE)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)
Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV (UKR)
Elmar NURALIIEV (UKR)
Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR)
Burke PADDOCK (USA)
RaVaughn PERKINS (USA)

82kg

Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Tamás LEVAI (HUN)
Móric KISMONI (HUN)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Daniel COJOC VASILE (ROU)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Anton OLSSON (SWE)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

87kg

Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NDL)
Ruben Elias BEEN (NOR)
Kułynycz ARKADIUSZ (POL)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Samuel OJOG NICI (ROU)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
Dickov ŽARKO (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Algot KALLMAN (SWE)
Artur OVSEPIAN (UKR)
Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH (UKR)
Alan VERA (USA)

97kg

Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Pavel HLINCHUK (BLR)
Mikalai STADUB (BLR)
Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU (BLR)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Dadak ONDREJ (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Jesus GASCA (ESP)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Loïc SAMEN (FRA)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO)
Azizsir RAMSIN (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Róbert ERSEK (HUN)
Dáriusz VITEK (HUN)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Martynas NEMSEVISIUS (LTU)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Arnoldas Baranovas (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NDL)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Tadeusz Michalik MICHALIK (POL)
Ionut Cristnel Florin GOSA (ROU)
Aleksandar SIMONVIC (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Micheil KADJAJA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Andrii DEHTIAROV (UKR)
Zielimkhan DZIHASOV (UKR)
YEVHENII Saveta  (UKR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Valentyn SHKLIARENKO (UKR)
Vladyslav HONCHAR  (UKR)
Tracy HANCOCK (USA)

130kg

Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Konsta MAENPAA (FIN)
Franz RIHTER (GER)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Rornas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafał KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Istvan BEREI LENARD (ROU)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Sviatoslav KALASHNIKOV (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Tanner FARMER (USA)

#WrestleAlexandria

Eight Golds Power Nigeria to Women's Team Title

By United World Wrestling Press

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (May 2) -- For a second day in a row, Nigeria was stopped from sweeping the gold medals in Women's Wrestling at the African Championships in Alexandria.

After winning four out of five golds on Friday, Nigeria was well on course to win all five remaining golds on Saturday but Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) defeated Ebi BIOGOS (NGR), 6-2, in the 72kg final to halt the march.

UWW Plus

Sghaier, wrestling for the first time since the 2024 Paris Olympics, used a rather dangerous trip to score her first takedown and then rolled Biogos for two more points. Down 4-2, Biogos tried scoring the final few seconds but Sghaier scored a go-behind for the win, her third African gold.

But the evening began with Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) winning her sixth African title after beating Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 6-0, in a controlled 50kg final.

Genesis began with a stepout before using a snapdown to go-behind takedown to lead 3-0. Ayachi was called for passivity and put on the 30-second activity clock. As Ayachi failed to score any points, Genesis got another point to lead 4-0 at the break.

A simple go-behind takedown in the second period for Genesis made it 6-0, a lead she defended for the remaining 1:24 to win the gold medal.

At 55kg, Adijat IDRIS (NGR) won all three bouts in the round-robin bracket without giving up a single point to claim the gold medal, her second straight at the African Championships.

Esther ASAOLU (NGR), making her senior debut, then added the third gold medal by winning all her bouts at 59kg in the round-robin bracket. She began with a victory via fall over Kavelishimwe ABRAHAM (NAM), then a 10-0 win over Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI) before beating Chaima DAHI (TUN) and Mariam MESBAH (EGY) by an identical 10-0 score.

Though she lost to Asaolu, Abraham went on to win her remaining three bouts to claim the silver medal, the first in the history of Namibia in Women's Wrestling. She was also the first woman wrestler from Namibia to ever medal internationally when she won the silver medal at the U20 African Championships in 2023. She repeated in 2024 and on Saturday, she made history at the senior level.

The fourth gold medal for Nigeria came at 65kg after three-time African champion Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR) swept through her three bouts, winning 10-0, 10-0 and via fall.

Photo

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) df. Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Malak AHMED (EGY), 6-3

55kg
GOLD: Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
SILVER: Hagar ELSHAKHS (EGY)
BRONZE: Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN)

59kg
GOLD: Esther ASAOLU (NGR)
SILVER: Kavelishimwe ABRAHAM (NAM)
BRONZE: Mariam MESBAH (EGY)

65kg
GOLD: Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
SILVER: Ritag ELMALTY (EGY)
BRONZE: Lec ANDE (CAF)

72kg
GOLD: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) df. Ebi BIOGOS (NGR), 6-2

BRONZE: Rosie TABORA (COD) df. Aimelda NDIFFO (CMR), 12-2
BRONZE: Heba IBRAHIM (EGY) df. Yasmine BOUREGBA (ALG), via fall (6-2)