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LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Four)

Thursday, April 22, 2021 - 09:41 By Eric Olanowski

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WARSAW, Poland (April 22) -- Freestyle is in the rearview mirror, as women's wrestling takes center stage on Day Four at the '21 European Championships.

Thursday's Schedule:
11:30 - Qualification round
16: 45 - Semifinals
18:00 - Finals

WATCH: European Championships 

Finals matchups (as they come in): 
53kg 
GOLD - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
SEMIFINAL - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) df. Iulia LEORDA (MDA, 9-0 
SEMIFINAL - Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), 11-2 

57kg 
GOLD -Anhelina LYSAK (POL) vs. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
SEMIFINAL - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 11-0 
SEMIFINAL - Anhelina LYSAK (POL) df. Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR), via fall 

62kg
GOLD - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) vs. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS), 5-2
SEMIFINAL - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) df. Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL), via injury

65kg
GOLD - Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. IrIna Petrovna NETREBA (AZE), 11-1 
SEMIFINAL - Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL), 13-2 

72kg
GOLD - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
SEMIFINAL - Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS), via fall 

17:37: That's a wrap for the women's wrestling semifinals. We'll take a 25-minute break and meet back here for the Day Four finals, which start at 18:00 (local time).

17:07: Marianna SASTIN (HUN), the 37-year-old Hungarian, moved into the 62kg after Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL) injury defaulted out of the semifinals. She'll take on the winner of Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR). 

17:04: WOW! Down by SEVEN points, Lysak tossed Hrushyna to her back and records the fall to move into the 57kg finals.

16:58: Anhelina LYSAK (POL) will take the mat against European Olympic Games Qualifier champion Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR). Lysak is the first of three wrestlers from Poland who we'll see in tonight's semifinals. 

16:45: We're back with the women's wrestling semifinals. These will take around an hour or so. Once the matches wrap up, we'll roll into the Day Four finals at 18:00. 

13:11: That wraps up the morning session. We'll take a break until 16:45. Semifinal action will be up first, then we'll roll right into the Day Four medal matches. 

Semifinal matches (as they come in): 

53kg 
SEMIFINAL - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Iulia LEORDA (MDA) 
SEMIFINAL - Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) vs. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) 

57kg 
SEMIFINAL - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) vs. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
SEMIFINAL - Anhelina LYSAK (POL) vs. Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) 

62kg
SEMIFINAL - Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) vs. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) vs. Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL) 

65kg
SEMIFINAL - IrIna Petrovna NETREBA (AZE) vs. Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA) 

72kg
SEMIFINAL - Dalma CANEVA (ITA) vs. Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL)
SEMIFINAL - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) vs. Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS)

12:44: Marianna SASTIN (HUN) made her European debut in '01. She'll wrestle tonight for a spot in the 62kg finals. If he wins, she'd be guaranteed a seventh career European medal.

12:39: Prevolaraki shuts out Wendle, 6-0, and moved into the semifinals. She'll take on the winner of  Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) and Zeynep YETGIL (TUR). 

12:35: Tokyo Olympian Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) is taking on European bronze medalist Annika WENDLE (GER) on Mat B.

12:21: Kurachkina and Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA) had to wait ten minutes for their quarterfinals match but they are wrestling on Mat B.

12:14: And just like that, we're rolling into the quarterfinals.

11:57: Three-time European medalist Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) is making her return to the Russian lineup for the first time since winning gold at the '20 Individual World Cup. Although she has three European medals, Lipatova is still looking for her first continental gold. She has a pair of silver medals and a bronze. Her most recent medal came in '19, when she dropped her finals match to Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL). 

*Dudova is wrestling for gold in tonight's finals, which start at 18:00!

11:45: '18 Eurpean champion Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) starts her day of with a massive 10-0 win over Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL). The Bulgarian just won the European Olympic Qualifier and qualified her nation for the Olympic Games at 57kg.

11:43: Looking out the bout sheet, it looks like we have around 30 matches during this morning's session so it'll be a quick one.

#UWWAwards

UWW Most Dominant Wrestlers 2025: Amouzad, Motoki, Esmaeili

Thursday, December 25, 2025 - 11:08 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) -- There were several dominant performances in 2025 on the wrestling mat. But it was three wrestlers who remained at the top of their weight classes and racked up dominant wins one after another. Two were Olympic champions while one was an Olympic silver medalist. All three became world champions in Zagreb.

Freestyle Most Dominant Wrester: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)

- 14–0
- Rank 1 at 65kg 
- 58,000 RS points 
- Outscored world and Olympic medalists 42–4
- World Championships, Tirana RS and ISG golds

Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) was about as perfect as you could be in a season, returning to prominence with title-winning efforts at the World Championships, Islamic Solidarity Games and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and finishing the season as the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg with 58,000 Ranking Series points.

The Paris silver medalist, collected an unblemished 14-0 record in 2025 -- with five of those wins coming against top-level opponents who have world or Olympic medals on their resumes in Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and Real WOODS (USA). The craziest part about those five matches against the world’s best, Amouzad outscored 42-4.

But without a doubt, the highlight of Amouzad’s season came in Zagreb when he finally got his long awaited rematch, beating Kotaro KIYOOKA in a revenge match from the Paris 2024 Olympic finals.

The scariest part about Amouzad’s dominance -- he’s only 23 years old and he’s still getting better.

Women's Wrestling Dominant Wrestler: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)

- 9-0
- Five pins, two technical superiorities
- 45,000 RS points 
- 8/9 bouts finished before regulation
- Completed Golden Grand Slam (U17, U20, U23, Senior World and Olympic gold)

Coming into the 2025 season, Motoki made her goals crystal clear -- become the third wrestler in history of the sport to win wrestling’s Golden Grand Slam -- and for those who don’t know, that is gold medals at the U17, U20, U23, Senior World Championships and the Olympic Games.

The only two missing from the Olympic champ's resume were the U23 and Senior World golds.

At the 2025 U23 and senior World Championships, Motoki showed that she’s in a league of her own, as she went 9-0, with eight  matches finishing before time expired. She scored five falls and two technical superiority wins.

Her win in the final of the World Championships will be one that will be talked about for ages as the most dramatic win of the season. Motoki scored a buzzer-beating takedown against Ok Ju KIM (PRK) with a 10-second flurry that consisted of a head outside single, arm throw, over-under knee pick, before head locking Kim with four tenths of a second left to keep her history making hopes alive.

In the end, Motoki’s heart and courage under fire helped her close out the year as the third wrestler to complete the Golden Grand Slam and she did it with a level of dominance we may not see again for a very long time.

Greco-Roman Dominant Wrestler: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)

- Rank 1 at 67kg 
- 58,000 RS points  
- 11–0 Record
- World Championships, Asian Championships and  ISG golds

In a 2025 campaign that saw him become a world champion, Esmaeili's season was immaculate, as he cemented his place among the sport’s top pound-for-pound wrestler with a season full of titles, stacking gold-medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships and Islamic Solidarity Games, rounding out the season ranked No. 1 in the world at 67kg.

The Paris Olympic champion remained unbeaten in 2025, winning all 11 bouts of his bouts in dominant fashion -- scoring eight shutout wins, with seven technical falls -- including a pair of 9-0 win against world champions Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) and Sebastian NAD (SRB). The reigning Olympic gold medalist also collected two victories over Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), one in the world final and one in the Islamic Game gold-medal match, where he tossed his Azeri opponent for four as time expired to rob his rival of the title.

His opponents should not ease up because at just 22 years old, Esmaeili is still sharpening his tool set and leveling up his skills.