Youth Olympic Games

Greco-Roman Draws, Schedule, and How to Watch

By Tim Foley

BUENOS AIRES (October 11) – Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games start tomorrow morning with 30 athletes across five weight classes vying for their first taste at Olympic glory. Cadet-level wrestlers from all five continents were selected after an extensive qualification process with names finalized by United World Wrestling on September 4th

Wrestling will begin Friday at 10am local/11am ET with finals beginning at 5:00pm local/6:00pm ET.

Watch the action LIVE on the Olympic Channel, HERE

The match-by-match competition schedule can be found on the official Buenos Aires YOG 2018 site, HERE

Day One Pool Match-Ups

Men’s Greco-Roman, 45kg

Group A
Abdalla M. SHAABAN (EGY)
Amirreza Mohammadreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL)

Group B
Densel Jaffet DE JESUS VALERIO (HON)
Arslanbek ZAKIRBAYEV (TKM)
Jeremy Renzo PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU)

Men’s Greco-Roman, 51kg

Group A
Wataru SASAKI (JPN)
Mehdi JOUINI (TUN)
Axel Andre SALAS ESQUIVEL (MEX)

Group B
Alexander ADINIWIN (MHL)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Eduardo LOVERA (ARG)

Men’s Greco-Roman, 60kg

Group A 
Arapo Ngatuerua George KELLNER (NZL)
Elmirbek SADYROV (KGZ)
Miguel Angel UGALDE AGUILAR (MEX)

Group B 
Ahmed Abdelhakim MERIKHI (ALG)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)

Men’s Greco-Roman, 71kg

Group A 
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Brandon CALLE PEREZ (COL)
Lamjed MAAFI (TUN)

Group B 
Shu YAMADA (JPN)
Lynch Xavier Tanglao SANTOS (GUM)
Stepan STARODUBTSEV (RUS)

Men’s Greco-Roman, 92kg

Group A 
Osman AYAYDIN (TUR)
Ariston Faamalosi BARTLEY (ASA)
Shady Elkhalil Ibrahim A. WEHIB (EGY)

Group B 
Mohammad Ghorbanali NOSRATI (IRI)
Igor Fernando ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA)
Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS)

#WrestleZagreb

Blockbuster WW bouts on cards at Zagreb Open

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 5) -- Three World Championships finals rematches are on the cards in women's wrestling at the Zagreb Open next week.

World champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) can lock horns with silver medalist Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) at 50kg, Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) will look to avenge her loss in the final to Buse TOSUN (TUR) at 68kg and Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) will look to overcome a heart-wrenching loss to Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) at 62kg.

All four 62kg world medalists are entered for the January 10-14 tournament in the Croatian capital with Tynybekova returning to the mat after finishing with a bronze medal at the Asian Games. Motoki will get a chance to take on Tynybekova who handed the Japanese a 4-1 loss in Belgrade last year.

Two bronze medalists, Grace BULLEN (NOR) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), will also look to upset Motoki and Tynybekova respectively. Motoki defeated Bullen in the semifinals 2-1 while Kolidenko lost the quarterfinals 2-1.

The line-up also includes Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), Ana GODINEZ (CAN) and Kayla MIRACLE (USA). China is sending three wrestlers -- Jia LONG (CHN), Yaru WU (CHN) and LILI (CHN) -- hoping to find the best one for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in April.

At 50kg, Susaki and Dolgorjav are likely to meet in the final but Ziqi FENG (CHN), who won bronze in Belgrade, can stop that rematch. Feng troubled Susaki in the World Championships semifinal, taking two points in a 4-2 loss. A Feng vs Dolgorjav bout can prove to be a thriller.

Tosun, whose stunning run in Belgrade win the 68kg world title, will be in action in Zagreb. She would like to continue her winning run but Enkhsaikhan will look to end that. Enkhsaikhan was pinned by Tosun in the World Championships final in a shocking manner after she threw the Turkish wrestler for a four.

Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) and Forrest MOLINARI (USA) are also in the fray with three wrestlers from Bulgaria -- Yuliana YANEVA (BUL), Sofiya GEORGIEVA (BUL) and Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL).

China will send Feng ZHOU (CHN) and Qian JIANG (CHN) to find the best representation for the Paris Olympic qualifying events.

It's the same story at 76kg as it is sending Juan WANG (CHN) and Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN). But the weight class will also see Samar HAMZA (EGY), world silver medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) and world bronze medalist Adeline GRAY (USA). The United States also has Kennedy BLADES (USA) and Kylie WELKER (USA) at 76kg.

France's entries include Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA), Kendra DACHER (FRA) and Ambre CHEVREAU (FRA) while Ukraine is trying to pick between Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) and Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR).

The 53kg weight class is wide open with more than one wrestler good enough to win the gold medal. Three Chinese and three U.S. wrestlers dominate the entries. Chun LEI (CHN), Qianyu PANG (CHN) and Min ZHANG (CHN) will look to finish at the best position to lay claim to the national team's spot.

The U.S. has Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), Haley AUGELLO (USA) and Dominique PARRISH (USA). The weight class has not been qualified yet by the nation and the Pan-Am Olympic Qualifiers' represtative will be selected in February.

World bronze medalist Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) and European champion Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) are entered for the competition along with young prodigy Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR) and Karla GODINEZ (CAN).

World silver medalist Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) is the favorite to win the gold medal but will have to go through Helen MAROULIS (USA) and three Chinese walls in Qi ZHANG (CHN), Kexin HONG (CHN) and Yongxin FENG (CHN).