#WrestleBudapest

LIVE BLOG: European Olympic Qualifier, Day Two (Session One)

Friday, March 19, 2021 - 10:00 By Eric Olanowski

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 19) --- The second day of wrestling at the #WrestleBudapest European Olympic Qualifier is underway in Hungary. 

Day One Recap: Armenia Earns Olympic Berths Through Rising Stars Tevanyan and Harutyunyan

Semifinal Matchups:
50kg
SEMIFINAL: Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) vs.Iwona Nina MATKOWSKA (POL) 
SEMIFINAL: Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) vs. Julie Martine SABATIE (FRA) 

53kg
SEMIFINAL: Sofia Magdalena MATTSSON (SWE) vs. Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS)
SEMIFINAL: Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) vs. Iulia LEORDA (MDA)

57kg 
SEMIFINAL:  Sara LINDBORG (SWE) vs. Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL: Bediha GUN (TUR) vs. Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) 

62kg
SEMIFINAL: Elif Jale YESILIRMAK (TUR) vs. Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT)
SEMIFINAL:  Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) vs. Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)

68kg
SEMIFINAL:  Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) vs. Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL: Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) vs. Dalma CANEVA (ITA) 

76kg
SEMIFINAL: Martina KUENZ (AUT) vs. Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS)
SEMIFINAL: Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) vs. Mariya ORYASHKOVA (BUL)

14:31: That'll do it for the opening session of women's wrestling. We'll see you back here at 14:00 for the freestyle medal matches.

14:26: The final match of the session is a close one.  Mariya ORYASHKOVA (BUL) leads Georgina NELTHORPE (GBR) by one point with one minute left. The winner will wrestle Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) for an Olympic berth.

14:21: The Turkish upper weight struggle continues. Martina KUENZ (AUT) just pinned world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR). Adar will have one last opportunity to qualify Turkey for the Olympic Games at 76kg.

14:17: That's back-to-back falls for Olympic champion Vorobieva. She'll wrestle for her

14:01: How about that rollercoaster of a match? Bediha GUN (TUR) led two-time European champion Grace BULLEN (NOR), 2-0, but relaxed on the edge and surrendered a takedown. She trailed, 2-2, but got to her shot with 12 seconds left and scored the match deciding takedown. Gun will wrestle the winner of Emese BARKA (HUN) and Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) in tonight's semifinals.

13:40: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) lead Rio Olympic silver medalist Maryia MAMASHUK (BLR), 2-0, over on Mat A. The first period is about to come to a close.

13:29: Kriszta INCZE (ROU) already took out one world silver medalist today (Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS)). Can she make it two? She leads Turkey's Elif Jale YESILIRMAK, 2-0, over on Mat B.

13:15: Mattsson is wrestling at another level. It doesn't make sense. This is her 14th year wrestling on the senior level (made debut in '07) and she's still improving. How is that possible?! She's outscored her first two opponents 21-0 en route to the 53kg semifinals. Mattsson will wrestle the winner of Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) and Jessica BLASZKA (NED) for an Olympic berth.

13:09: There are three matches going on right now and two of them feature world champions. Mattson is wrestling on Mat B and two-time world champion Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) is wrestling on Mat C!

13:01: We're five minutes away from rolling right into the quarterfinals!

12:47: We'll hold all quarterfinal matches until all the 1/8 matches wrap up.

12:34: Starting at Bout 97 on Mat A, world champions Natalia Vorobeva and Yasemin ADAR (TUR) will be up back-to-back.

12:08: Yaneva is absolutely furious, and I would be, too. She's yelling about Tosun's constant hair pulling. The ref looked at her and signaled to quiet down before awarding her a point. Yaneva ends Tosun's day, 5-0.

12:06:  Buse TOSUN (TUR) has been repeatedly yanking on Yuliana YANEVA's (BUL) hair and has been warned several times. Things could get chippy on Mat A!

12:04:  Natallia VARAKINA (BLR) and Emma MALMGREN (SWE) are in a tight battle on Mat C. There's a little less than 90 seconds left in the second period. Malmgren just scored a takedown to take the criteria lead. Things are about to heat up!

11:56:  I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I would have bet that Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) would go big at least once in her opening-round match against Hanna SADCHANKA (BLR). She's so fun to watch compete; she loves letting it fly.

11:50: Elif Yesilirmak is coming up in two matches on Mat B. Through her London Olympic qualification, she became the first Turkish woman to earn an Olympic berth. She then qualified for the Rio Games -- making her the first Turkish woman to qualify for back-to-back Olympic Games. Can she make it a three-peat? 

11:47: Upset of the Day Candidate: Kriszta INCZE (ROU) just demolished '19 world silver medalist Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), 11-4. She'll face the winner of Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL) and Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR). 

11:39: Hemmer tried fighting back, but ultimately gave up a last-second takedown and lost to Iulia LEORDA (MDA), 8-6.

11:38: There's been a stop in action on Mat B. Nina HEMMER (GER) suffered a leg injury but it looks like she's going to tough it out wrestle through the pain.

11:29: Although it's still a way out, Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) will wrestle on Mat A in ten matches (Bout 97). The London gold medalist and Rio silver-medal winner is the reigning world and European champion at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg. She’s moving up to 76kg with hopes of becoming the first non-Japanese woman ever to win a pair of Olympic gold medals. 

11:15: Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) is coming up next on Mat B. The six-time world medal-winner and Rio Olympic bronze medalist is coming off winning January's Henri Deglane where she defeated reigning world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) in the finals. But today, she begins her quest to become Sweden's first-ever two-time women's wrestling Olympian.

11:12: Good morning, from beautiful Budapest! Yesterday lived up to the hype. Let's keep things rolling with another great day of action. We'll kick things off with four freestyle repechage matches then roll right into women's wrestling action.

#WrestleAthens

Turner back on top with second U17 title; India wins 2 golds

Thursday, July 31, 2025 - 20:30 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 31) -- There have been dominant runs in Women's Wrestling at the World U17 Championships history and now Morgan TURNER (USA) has joined that list as well.

After winning the world title in 2023, Turner had to be satisfied with a bronze medal in 2024. However, that bronze made Turner more determined to end her U17 age-group career on high.

Wrestling at the U17 Worlds for the third time, Turner won her second world title at this age-group. She won the 49kg gold medal in Athens, Greece on Thursday, giving United States the first gold of the tournament.

"I definitely wanted to come back harder coming from bronze last year," Turner said. So my goal was to win it. I just preparing eventually, physically and emotionally. The bronze shadowed over the gold. So I had to come back and I had to get gold. I love it."

Turner, facing Yu KATAOKA (JPN) in the 49kg final, showed how to counter those Japanese low-single attacks. Every time Kataoka tried to go for them, Tuner would sit low and block with counterattacks.

Kataoka even tried getting behind but Turner held such good positions that she was able to counter and score, eventually winning 6-1. In four bouts, the final was the only one in which did not finish with technical superiority.

Now with two golds, Turner said that Thursday's gold proved that she has evolved as a wrestler and could perform moves other than the double-legs that she has been famous for.

"Two years ago was a lot a lot more nerves. I was on cloud nine. I was 14. I was super nervous," she said. "I feel like I need to grow as a wrestler. I left the double. I don't need to do a double all the time. I can shoot sweeps. I can do little singles. I can do cradles, I can do throws, I can do different things."

With her U17 career finished, Turner will now be focused on U20 and perhaps the senior level as well.

RACHANA (IND)RACHANA (IND) won the gold medal at 43kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Mixed day for India

India, the defending team champions, had a mixed day in the field. It had four wrestlers in the finals but only two came back with gold medals.

Former world U17 silver medalist RACHNA (IND) held her own lead against Xin HUANG (CHN) and secured the gold medal at 43kg. She scored a takedown in the first period to lead 2-0 and Huang was called passive in the second to give one more point to Rachna.

Huang did get a couple of attacks going but was not able to finish. Rachana's gold was the first for India of the night.

Ashvini VISHNOI (IND)Two-time Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) is now a world U17 champion at 65kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Two-time Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) added the second as she defeated Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) at 65kg with a similar score and scoring actions. With the win, Vishnoi also denied Rakhimjonova a chance of history as she could have become the first-ever world champion for Uzbekistan in Women's Wrestling at any level.

Wenjin QIU (CHN)Wenjin QIU (CHN) defeated KAJAL (IND) in the 73kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Returning world U17 champion from 69kg KAJAL (IND), now at 73kg, suffered a loss to Wenjin QIU (CHN) in the final. This was Kajal's second loss in two months to Qiu who had defeated the Indian 10-0 in the Asian U17 Championships final in Vietnam.

Kajal began on an attacking note and raced to a 4-0 lead with two takedowns. However, in the second period, Qiu was able to counter better. Qiu scored a four-pointer and then exposure as she was looking to pin Kajal. After the sequence, Qiu led 6-5. 

Still, Kajal got Qiu locked from behind and was about to throw her for four points but the Chinese managed to block that and land Kajal in danger for two points, extending her lead to 8-5, which became the winning score for her.

The second loss for India came in the 57kg final after a bizarre sequence of events. MONI (IND), who won the Asian U17 gold over Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ), faced her again in the finals in Athens.

Moni scored the first takedown of the bout but Usmanova hit a headlock for four to lead 4-2. The scramble continued and Moni got a point for reversal. However, Usmanov got another exposure for two more points and led 6-3 as the referee asked the wrestlers to return to center.

Moni does a double arm lock throw for two points to cut the lead to 6-5 with just over a minute left in the bout. Moni, who perhaps thought that she was leading the bout, did not engage with Usmanova for the next 50 seconds. Even Usmanova, who was leading, did not bother to get into a tangle.

Ultimately, Moni went for the attack with only 10 seconds left but Usmanova was not letting her score with gold on line. With her 6-5 win, Usmanova became the first Women's Wrestling world champion for Kazakhstan in 13 years and avenged her loss to Moni from the Asian U17 Championships final.

RESULTS

43kg
GOLD: RACHANA (IND) df. Xin HUANG (CHN), 3-0

BRONZE: Madison HEALEY (USA) df. Mareim ABDELAAL (EGY), via fall
BRONZE: Inzhu BAKKOZHA (KAZ) df. Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW), via fall

49kg
GOLD: Morgan TURNER (USA) df. Yu KATAOKA (JPN), 6-1

BRONZE: Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW) df. Azema KALIDINOVA (KGZ), 6-6
BRONZE: Komal VERMA (IND) df. Anhelina BURKINA (UWW), 8-3

57kg
GOLD: Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) df. MONI (IND), 6-5

BRONZE: Sayuki TANADA (JPN) df. Sophie RITTER (ITA), 4-4
BRONZE: Alina BAROEVA (UWW) df. Marta MANKOWSKA (POL), 6-1

65kg
GOLD: Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) df. Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB), 3-0

BRONZE: Feenja HERMANN (GER) df. Alexandra MOISEI (MDA), 4-2
BRONZE: Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW) df. Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL), 9-2

73kg
GOLD: Wenjin QIU (CHN) df. KAJAL (IND), 8-5

BRONZE: Ella Jo POALILLO (USA) df. Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO), via fall
BRONZE: Eylem ENGIN (TUR) df. Deborah GARCIA (MEX), 9-1