#WrestleAlexandria

Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series day four finals set

By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 26) -- The second Ranking Series of the year enters its final day. Eight freestyle weight classes will compete today with some of the biggest names in wrestling including Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB), Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) and Zahid VALENCIA (USA) among others. 

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Here are the gold medal bouts for the evening session which will be delayed because of the insane amount of wrestling we had. No one is complaining

57kg
Suleyman ATLI (TUR) vs. Andrii YATSENKO (UKR)

61kg
Taras MARKOVYCH (UKR) vs. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)

65kg
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) vs. Joseph MC KENNA (USA)

70kg
Lucas CHITTUM (USA) vs. Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)

74kg
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU) vs. Vincenzo JOSEPH (USA)

79kg
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) vs. Amirhossein KAVOUSI (IRI)

86kg
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) vs. Zahid VALENCIA (USA) 

92kg
Kollin MOORE (USA) vs. Nathan JACKSON (USA) 

16:50: Jo MCKENNA (USA) with back-to-back semifinals at Ranking Series events. He completes dominates the semifinals against Sebastian RIVERA (PUR). Mckenna wins 10-2. He will take on Vagzen TEVANYAN (ARM).

16:45: Nick SURIANO (USA) reached the semifinal but bumped into Suleyman ATLI (TUR) who got a takedown and then gut wrenched Suriano for an 8-0 lead. Suriano tried hard but goes down 9-3. Atli will face Andri YATSENKO (UKR) in the final. 

16:25: Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU) with a takedown with 12 seconds left to beat Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) 4-3 in the 74kg semifinal. Great comeback from Shikhdzhamalov after giving up three points in the first period.

16:05: Vagzen TEVANYAN (ARM) shuts down Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) in the 65kg semifinal. Two stepouts, a point for passivity and another for a lost challenge. That is enough for Tevanyan to win 4-0

15:30: Intense bout between Patricio LUGO (USA) and Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB).at 65kg which was dominated by Jalolov for the first four minutes. He took a 5-0 lead but was clearly struggling with conditioning. Lugo tried to utilize that but Jalalov had enough in the tank to win 5-2.

15:05: Sebastian RIVERA (PUR) has turned it around with stunning counterattacks late in the bout against SUJEET (IND). After a 7-2 and under a minute left, Sujeet should have had no business losing it. But Rivera scored a takedown and then two stepout to take the criteria lead before a desperate attempt from Sujeet ended in Rivera winning 9-7

14:45: Soner DEMITRAS (TUR) proved too much for the young Sagar JAGLAN (IND). Demitras with some top defense after leading 5-0 to let Jaglan take any space back in the bout. Jaglan did get on some positions but failed to finish even a single one of them.

14:30: Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) pins Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) at 70kg! The Kyrgyz wrestler used an arm throw but also gave up a few takedowns. However, Elbakidze did not match the conditioning and Akmataliev won via fall in the second period.

14:15: In the rematch of the U23 world championships final, Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) was up against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU KGZ). Harutyunyan won the U23 world title but Zhumashbek Uulu was in no mood to give anything to Harutyunyan here. He gut wrenches his way to a 10-0 at 61kg.

13:55: Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR), a hammer at 79kg, has moved up to 86kg. He puts on a show to come back and beat Boris MAKOEV (SVK) 7-5. 

13:25: Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) countered Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) cradle with his own and got the four on a challenge while Kougioumtsidis got two. Kentchadze led 6-3. He kept the lead despite trading takedowns to win 9-6 at 79kg.

13:05: Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) got to passivity points against Anthony ASHNAULT (USA) and completely shut off in the second period to get a 2-0 win at 65kg.

12:55: SUJEET (IND) has managed to shut down Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB). Exceptional scrambling from the two but Sujeet wins 6-0

12:45: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) looks solid today. He takes out Omar MOURAD (EGY) 11-0 with a strong show. He has a very strong gut wrench in the game.

12:30: The 2-1 scoreline does not do justice to that Nicholas SURIANO (USA) vs Minghu LIU (CHN) bout. Suriano wins 2-1 after a stepout which proved decisive.

12:00: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) rocks and rolls over Arslan RAKHIMOV (UZB) to continue his exciting run at 57kg. He moves into the quarterfinal with an 11-0 win.

11:40: Sagar JAGLAN (IND) and Joseph LAVALLEE (USA) are not giving up. Lavallee ran to a 14-8 lead but was not up to the conditioning of Jaglan. A takedown and lace for Jaglan as he wins 26-14.

11:25: Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) comes back from 5-2 to beat Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB) 6-5 in a thriller at 70kg. Otakhanov used a slick duck under to lead 5-2 but Akmataliev scored a takedown and then a stepout to make it 5-5 with 16 seconds left. Otakhnov failed to stop another stepout, he challenged and lost, which gave Akmataliev the win 7-5

10:55: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) with a powerful throw for four. Great execution as he got behind and as Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO) tried running to save himself, Tevanyan used that momentum to hit a big one. He wins his first bout at 65kg 9-0.

10:25: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) is back at 57kg as the Olympics approach. He opens his day against Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO). He builds a 6-0 lead before moving into a massive suplex to win 10-0. You can watch it here.

10:00: Welcome to the final day of the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event. Eight freestyle weight classes will be on the mat. We have some advice -- don't miss any!

#WrestleParis

UWW reallocates 16 Olympic Games Paris 2024 quotas

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 27) -- United World Wrestling has reallocated 16 wrestling quotas for Paris 2024. This decision was taken after the International Olympic Committee, last week, released a list of eligible athletes in the first group of sports that have finished their qualifying process for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The IOC had approved 16 out of the 26 Individual Neutral Athletes who won the Paris Olympic spots in various qualifying tournaments of UWW. However, six wrestlers did not accept the invitation to Paris 2024 despite being deemed eligible by the IOC.

The 16 reallocations were carried out by UWW to the next highest-ranked eligible NOC, not yet qualified, at the event at which the quota place was obtained, respecting the maximum quota per gender and per NOC.

The NOCs must confirm the reallocated quotas respecting the deadlines imposed by United World Wrestling.

List of Paris 2024 quotas reallocations

Freestyle
57kg - North Macedonia (Baku)
74kg - China (Belgrade)
74kg - Italy (Baku)
97kg - Ukraine (Baku)
97kg - Moldova (Baku)
125kg - Poland (Baku)

Greco-Roman
60kg - Romania (Istanbul)
77kg - United States (Istanbul)
87kg - Georgia (Istanbul)
130kg - Bulgaria (Baku)
130kg - Estonia (Istanbul)

Women's Wrestling
50kg - Lithuania (Baku)
53kg - Greece (Belgrade)
57kg - Ukraine (Baku)
57kg - Mongolia (Istanbul)
62kg - Sweden (Istanbul)

In Freestyle, the 57kg reallocation went to North Macedonia as Vladimir EGOROV (MKD). He finished as the highest-ranked wrestler after the quota winners at the European Olympic Qualifier in Baku.

Two 74kg quotas were reallocated. The spot from the World Championships in Belgrade was awarded to China as Feng LU (CHN) was the best-ranked non-qualified wrestler. Originally, Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) finished as the best-ranked wrestler but he qualified Azerbaijan from Baku hence making him ineligible for the reallocation.

The second reallocation was for the Baku quota after an approved wrestler did not accept the invitation. The Baku spot will now go to Italy.

Similarly, there were two reallocations at 97kg, both from Baku. Ukraine and Moldova got the Paris 2024 spots from the European OG Qualifier. Ukraine got the spot despite Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) being the next best-ranked wrestler in Baku because the Polish wrestler qualified his country in Istanbul. The next best after Ukraine was Moldova which will have an Olympian in Freestyle for the first time in eight years. Moldova was the beneficiary of a declined invitation from an approved wrestler at this weight class.

At 125kg, Poland was awarded the reallocation quota from the European OG Qualifier in Baku.

Greco-Roman saw the reallocations awarded to Romania at 60kg, the United States at 77kg, Georgia at 87kg , and Bulgaria and Estonia at 130kg.

Romania, the United States and Georgia finished the best-ranked wrestlers after the qualified wrestlers at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul while the 130kg quota to Bulgaria was reallocated from Baku. Azerbaijan and Romania were the next best wrestlers in Baku but both NOCs qualified the weight class in Istanbul, leaving Bulgaria getting the spot.

The second 130kg was reallocated from Istanbul with Estonia being the next best non-qualified NOC at the event after an approved wrestler declined the invitation.

Women's Wrestling saw five Paris 2024 spots being reallocated. Lithuania, Greece, Ukraine, Mongolia and Sweden were the beneficiaries of the reallocations.

Lithuania is set to send its first-ever wrestler in Women's Wrestling after it got the allocation at 50kg from the European OG Qualifier in Baku. Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER) finished third in Baku but she qualified Germany from Istanbul, and the Baku quota was transferred to Lithuania.

The 53kg reallocation was from the Belgrade World Championships after an approved wrestler did not accept the invitation. The quota will now go to Greece as it had the next-best wrestler at the event after the quota-winning wrestlers.

Two 57kg quotas were reallocated, one each from Baku and Istanbul. Ukraine received the 57kg quota from Baku after Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) finished third at the European OG Qualifier in Baku. The second reallocated quota at 57kg went to Mongolia after an approved wrestler did not accept the invitation to participate in the Paris Games despite being deemed eligible by the IOC.

Mongolia had the best wrestler at 57kg in Istanbul and with this reallocation, it will become the third country, after Japan and the United States, to qualify in all six weight classes of Women's Wrestling for Paris 2024.

At 62kg, Sweden will now have two wrestlers in women's wrestling after it received a quota reallocated from Istanbul. Sweden was the best NOC after the qualified wrestlers at the World Olympic Qualifier. The country already has a spot at 53kg from the World Championships.

The deadline for the AINs to accept the invitation for Paris 2024 was June 20 after which UWW proceeded with the reallocations. The AINs who have accepted the invitation have agreed to the Conditions of Participation applicable to all participants that contain a commitment to respect the Olympic Charter, including “the peace mission of the Olympic Movement”.

The following are the eligible AINs who accepted the invitation to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024:

Wrestlers with a Russian passport:

Freestyle
Nachin MONGUSH
Shamil MAMEDOV
Arslan BAGAEV
Abdulla KURBANOV

Greco-Roman
Alan OSTAEV
Magomed MURTAZALIEV

Women's Wrestling
Natalya MALYSHEVA
Alina KASABIEVA
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA

Wrestlers with a Belarusian passport

Greco-Roman
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU