#BudaWrestle2018

Gray Defeats Wiebe, Canada Advances 2 to Finals

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - 15:54 By Andrew Hipps

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (October 23) -- Three-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA) is back in the finals of the World Championships for the first time in three years.

The 27-year-old American advanced to the gold-medal match at 76kg by defeating Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) 3-1 in the semifinals of the World Championships on Tuesday in Budapest, Hungary. 

After giving up a shot clock point to go down 1-0, Gray shot a double leg late in the first period to score a takedown and grab a 2-1 lead at the break. She would add a point off the shot clock in the second period and hold off Wiebe for the victory.

Gray will meet reigning world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR) on Wednesday in the gold-medal match.

Adar was dominant in her semifinal match, beating Zsanett NEMETH (HUN) 9-1. 

Canada went 2-for-3 in the semifinals, advancing Danielle LAPPAGE and Justina DI STASIO to the finals. 

LAPPAGE (CAN), a past junior world champion, rolled to a dominant 11-0 victory over Iryna NETREBA (AZE) in the semifinals at 65kg. In the first period she scored off the shot clock and with a takedown to grab a 3-0 lead at the break. She then used a takedown and lace to go up 9-0 and ended the match a short time later. 

Her finals opponent will be top-seeded Petra OLLI (FIN), a 2015 world silver medalist. Olli came from behind, scoring a takedown with three seconds remaining to defeat Ayana GEMPEI (JPN) 6-6 on criteria. 

Olli jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the match after scoring with a throw. Gempei mounted a comeback in the second period, scoring two step outs and a takedown to take a criteria lead. She then built her lead with another step out, which was challenged unsuccessfully. Trailing 6-4 late in the match, Olli took a shot and scored a takedown in the closing seconds to earn the victory.

Di Stasio shut out Samar HAMZA (EGY) 6-0 in the semifinals. She led 2-0 at the break after scoring off the shot clock and with a step out and added two takedowns in the final period. Her finals opponent will be Nasanburmaa OCHIRBAT (MGL), who advanced to the final after earning a fall over Juan WANG (CHN). The Mongolian led 2-0 at the break. Late in the match she used a counterattack to score a takedown and put Wang to her back for the fall.  

Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) will wrestle for her first senior world gold medal after edging Tamyra MENSAH (USA) 2-1 in the semifinals at 68kg. All the points scored in the match came from the shot clock. Larroque scored first off the shot clock and took a 1-0 lead into the break. Mensah took the lead in the second period off the shot. With just over 20 seconds remaining, Larroque scored the go-ahead point off the shot clock and held on for the victory. 

Larroque has won world gold medals at the U23, junior and cadet championships.

Larroque will wrestle for the gold medal against Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR), who defeated Feng ZHOU (CHN) 12-8 in a back-and-forth semifinal battle. 

Semifinal Results

Women's Wrestling

65kg
Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN) df. Ayana GEMPEI (JPN) by VPO1, 6-6
Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Iryna NETREBA (AZE) by VSU, 11-0

68kg
Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. Feng ZHOU (CHN) by VPO1, 12-8
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) df. Tamyra MENSAH (USA) by VPO1, 2-1

72kg
Justina DI STASIO (CAN) df. Samar HAMZA (EGY) by VPO, 6-0
Nasanburmaa OCHIRBAT (MGL) df. Juan WANG (CHN) by VFA, 6-0

76kg
Yasemin ADAR (TUR) df. Zsanett NEMETH (HUN) by VPO1, 9-1
Adeline GRAY (USA) df. Erica WIEBE (CAN) by VPO1, 3-1

#development

Kenyan Wrestling Federation aims to go beyond the summits 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 - 18:33 By United World Wrestling Press

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NAIROBI, Kenya (November 14) The Kenyan Wrestling Federation, in partnership with the Kenyan Olympic Committee, is working to grow and develop wrestling in their country. Today, the Kenyan Wrestling Federation is one of the leading wrestling federations participating at the world and continental levels. Based on that, the NOC and the KWF have decided to organize courses for their coaches and referees to help their training further.

The coaches and referees participated in a Level 1 Coaching Course and an Introduction to Referee Course from October 20-24. The Refereeing Course ended with a competition on October 25, intending to evaluate the referees understanding.

The Level 1 Coaching Course was conducted by Vincent AKA – UWW development officer from the Ivory Coast. The course had 25 participants (18 men and seven women). "The participants were very disciplined, excited, and asked questions. Their active participation during the course showed their willingness to learn," said Aka.

For the first time, the Kenyan Wrestling President came to the closing ceremony, sending a warm word to the participants and the trainers. "We appreciate you; thank you for coming to Kenya to train our coaches and referees," said Mr. President.

At the closing ceremony, Humphrey KAYANGE, a Kenyan IOC member representing the President of the Kenyan National Olympic Committee, sent a very encouraging word to the participants. "Continue to enjoy the sport; you have so many opportunities. There are so many opportunities where the National Olympic Committee supports you. But this is a start; you cannot stop here," said Kayange.

Kayange also mentioned there's a lot of potential in Kenya for wrestling. "There's a lot of Mahabilas in Kenya and we need to create a pathway for them. We also want to continue to support all the coaches and referees who have shown their commitment," said Kayange.

KENKenya hosted an Introduction to Referee Course in Nairobi in late October. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The Level 1 Course focused more on how to coach. The coaches participated in practical assessments to demonstrate their skills, while the theoretical part was a written examination. 

Mr. Charles VILLET – UWW Educator, IS, Olympic Referee and Rio Golden Whistle winner, conducted the Introduction to Refereeing course. This course had the same participants. 

The referee participants focused on skills that would provide a solid foundation as a referee. They focused on evaluations of holds, starting and ending matches, and referee mechanics, among many other areas. The participants learned these areas through theoretical and practical applications. Then, at the end of the course, the new candidates refereed the local U17 tournament. This allowed them to use the skills that they learned during the course. 

"All of you are winners. This sport is the best for development, respect, teaching people, and respecting your father, mother, and country," said Villet. 

"We have been fortunate in these areas, especially on technical issues. Techniques are changing, and how people execute techniques becomes different. We need to improve our technical game because that is the base of everything," said Mr. Wallucho, the Kenyan Wrestling Federation Secretary.