U23 World C'ships

Greco Giants Pataridze and Semenov to Clash in Finals

By Taylor Miller

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – Wednesday night’s Greco-Roman finals of the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, promise to be exciting with several past Junior and Cadet World medalists in the mix.

Perhaps the most anticipated match is at 130 kg, where Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) looks for his sixth World title. Pataridze won his third-consecutive Junior World title this summer in Tampere, Finland. He also owns Cadet World gold from 2013 and 2014.

Standing in his way is 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time Junior World champion Sergey SEMENOV (RUS).

It’s a rematch of the 2015 Junior World finals, where Pataridze kept Semenov from three Junior golds, defeating him in a 3-1 battle.

Another exciting final will take place at 80 kg, where 2015 Senior World bronze medalist Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) will face Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), who took third at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.

Both wrestlers have collected World medals at the Junior level. Gobadze won bronze in 2014, while Akbudak earned silver in 2015.

The final at 59 kg will pit Junior World bronze medalists Masuto KAWANA (JPN) and Sergey EMELIN (RUS) against each other.

Recently, Kawana, a 2015 Junior World medalist, has been victorious at the 20th Annual Dave Schultz Memorial International and the Grand Prix Zagreb, claiming gold.

2014 Junior World bronze winner Emelin was the 2016 U23 European champion.

The 66 kg final features Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 2014 Junior World champion and 2013 Junior World silver medalist.

Bolkvadze will go head-to-head with 2017 Russian Championships bronze medalist Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS).

The gold and bronze-medal finals are set for 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. U.S. ET).

FINALS MATCHES
59 kg
Gold - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Masuto KAWANA (JPN)
Bronze - Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL) vs. Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Bronze - Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL) vs. Sakit GULIYEV (AZE)

66 kg
Gold - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS)
Bronze - Abylaikhan AMZEYEV (KAZ) vs. Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Bronze - Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN) vs. Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)

80 kg
Gold - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) vs. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Bronze - Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR) vs. Rosian Ognyanov DERMANSKI (BUL)
Bronze - Andrii ANTONIUK (UKR) vs. Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)

130 kg
Gold - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) vs. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO)
Bronze - Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) vs. Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Bronze - Arata SONODA (JPN) vs. Jello KRAHMER (GER)

#Grappling

Gold rush for Individual Neutral Athletes at European Grappling

By Vinay Siwach

BAKU, Azerbaijan (May 28) -- Baku was expecting a grand show of grappling at the European Grappling Championships. But it was not ready for the Individual Neutral Athlete storm that hit.

Sweeping all 10 weight classes, Individual Neutral Athletes won 10 gold medals, making up for the previous championships they missed. Not only that, out of the 10 wins in the final, six of them were via submission.

The first day of the European Championships began with Akhmednabi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) winning the 58kg gold medal over Ilia ABRAMENKO (AIN). The gold medal rush continued with Magomed SHAKHBANOV (AIN) submitting Magomedbek TEMEEV (AIN) in the 62kg final. This was his third victory by submission in three matches.

Khabiob ATLUEV (AIN) at 66kg and Apandi AMAGAEV (AIN) at 71kg also won their gold medal via submission continuing the trend of one-sided finals in Baku.

It took Jakob NAJDEK (POL) to finally stop that trend. But that’s all he did. Ivan LISOGOROV (AIN) may not have gotten the submission but he dominated the 77kg final, beating Najdek 7-0 for the gold medal.

Pawel JAWORSKI (POL) took a step closer by scoring points on Murad ABDULATIPOV (AIN) but failed to go all the way, dropping the 84kg final 4-2. Mukhamed URUSOV (AIN) found it difficult to negate Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL) but managed to hang on for a 2-2 win and claimed the 92kg gold medal.

100kg world champion Andrzej IWAT (POL) dropped a close semifinal against Shamil MAZHIDKHANOV (AIN) who went on to win the gold medal with a 6-3 win over Manuel PILATO (ITA) in the final.

In the 130kg weight, renamed from the 100+ kg, Daudgadzhi IBRAGIMOV (AIN) managed to hold off Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA) 5-3 to win the gold medal.

Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN)Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN) won all four of her bouts via submission. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

In the women’s grappling competition, Carlota PRENEDES (ESP) recovered from an early loss to Alicja STYPULKOWSKA (POL) in a round-robin to beat the Pole via submission in the 53kg final.

At 58kg, Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN) showed her class, winning four bouts via submission to win the gold with no troubles. She defeated Victoria SHERHIIENKO (UKR) twice, once in round 3 and then in the final, to finish at the top of the podium. In another AIN vs Ukraine final, Irina CHERNYSHOVA (AIN) won the 64kg gold medal over Daria CHIBISOVA (UKR) 10-2.

Alsu IANSHINA (AIN) also dominated her weight class, winning the 71kg gold medal over Alycia QUENEE (FRA) via submission, her third in four bouts.

Justyna SITKO (POL) managed to clinch the 90kg gold medal with a victory by submission over Paula MARTINEZ (ESP).

RESULTS

Men's Grappling

58kg
GOLD: Akhmednabi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) df. Ilia ABRAMENKO (AIN), via submission

BRONZE: Illia SVIATUN (UKR) df. Alejandro REYES (ESP), via submission
BRONZE: Jerzy IZDEBSKI (POL) df. Bohdan CHORNEI (UKR), 5-2

62kg
GOLD: Magomed SHAKHBANOV (AIN) df. Magomedbek TEMEEV (AIN), via submission

BRONZE: Loris ZANOLINI (ITA) df. Farhad BAGIROV (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Andrii TSVYK (UKR) df. Guillermo GUTIERREZ (ESP), 5-2

66kg
GOLD: Khabib ATLUEV (AIN) df. Artur AGASHIRINOV (AIN), via submission

BRONZE: Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Abdulla ABSHAROV (AZE), via submission
BRONZE: Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) df. Adam VERES KOVACS (HUN), via submission

71kg
GOLD: Apandi AMAGAEV (AIN) df. Ihor DMYTRASH (UKR), via submission

BRONZE: Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Arsen IBRAGIMOV (AIN), via submission (3-3)
BRONZE: Samuel CHAGNY (FRA) df. Samik RAMAZANOV (AZE), 3-2

77kg
GOLD: Ivan LISOGOROV (AIN) df. Jakub NAJDEK (POL), 7-0

BRONZE: Nikolaos POLYDOROS (GRE) df. Arthur LEROY (FRA), 3-1
BRONZE: Iker CAMARA (ESP) df. Serhii KUZMYCHOV (UKR), via submission

84kg
GOLD: Murad ABDULATIPOV (AIN) df. Pawel JAWORSKI (POL), 4-2

BRONZE: Pierre MANZO (FRA) df. Davud MAGOMEDOV (AIN), 4-4
BRONZE: Samy MEZACHE (FRA) df. Pavlo MAKSYMCHUK (UKR), via submission

92kg
GOLD: Mukhamed URUSOV (AIN) df. Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL), 2-2

BRONZE: Mateusz MAZUR (POL) df. Mantas DAUBLYS (LTU), 5-3
BRONZE: Levente LAKY (HUN) df. Wilfried EDMUND (FRA), 8-3

100kg
GOLD: Shamil MAZHIDKHANOV (AIN) df. Manuel PILATO (ITA), 6-3

BRONZE: Andrzej IWAT (POL) df. Gamzat GAMZATOV (AIN), via submission (4-4)
BRONZE: Danielius GREBLIUNAS (LTU) df. Tural AZAYEV (AZE), 2-2 in overtime

130kg
GOLD: Daudgadzhi IBRAGIMOV (AIN) df. Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA), 5-3

BRONZE: Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) df. Lukasz OLECH (POL), 8-3
BRONZE: Nizami GAFAROV (AZE) df. Mykola MATSEIKO (UKR), 5-3

Women's Grappling

53kg
GOLD: Carlota PRENDES (ESP) df. Alicja IRENA (POL), via submission

BRONZE: Zuzanna KOWALSKA (POL) df. Kristina RAU (GER), 9-7

58kg
GOLD: Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN) df. Viktoriia SERHIIENKO (UKR), via submission

BRONZE: Irina KUPRINA (AIN) df. Jazmin ARJONA (ESP), 11-6

64kg
GOLD: Irina CHERNYSHOVA (AIN) df. Daria CHIBISOVA (UKR), 10-2

BRONZE: Julija STOLIARENKO (LTU) df. Veronika KARAKHONOVA (AIN), via submission
BRONZE: Giulia RODIO (ITA) df. Laila OHLHOFF (GER), 8-2

71kg
GOLD: Alsu IANSHINA (AIN) df. Alycia QUENEE (FRA), via submission

BRONZE: Emily GUENZLER (GER) df. Daniella SANTANA FABELO (ESP), via submission

90kg
GOLD: Justyna SITKO (POL) df. Paula MARTINEZ BORREGUERO (ESP), via submission

BRONZE: Alena VLASOVA (AIN) df. Janina CZYCZYN (POL), 6-2