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LIVE BLOG: Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France (Day One)

Friday, January 15, 2021 - 09:35 By Eric Olanowski

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The 2021 calendar is officially underway, as action at the 47th Annual Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France kicked off in Nice, France. Women's wrestling takes center stage and is highlighted by Rio Olympic champion Helena MAROULIS (USA) and reigning world champions Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) and Tamayra MENSAH-STOCK (USA).

6:10: That'll do it  for today's coverage of the  Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France. Freestyle actions kicks off on Saturday at 10:00am (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

Final Results:
50kg: Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 13-2
53kg: Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) df. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), 8-4
57kg: Helen MAROULIS (USA) df. Laura MERTENS (GER), 4-1
62kg: .Kayla MIRACLE (USA) df. Macey KILTY (USA), 8-2
68kg: Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) df. Forrest MOLINARI (USA), 6-1
76kg: Martina KUENZ (AUT) df. Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA), 8-2

6:04: What a way start her year! Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sofia Mattsson grabbed arguably her biggest win since returning to competition after have her baby. She defeated reigning world champion Jacarra Winchester, 8-4, and is leaving France with the 53kg gold.

5:57: In a battle of world medalist, Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) handled Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 13-2, in the 50kg finals. This is the American's second gold medal down at 50kg. She also claimed gold at last year's first Ranking Series event, the Matteo Pellicone. 

5:53: A five-point second period helped reigning world champion Mensah-Stock grab the 68kg gold medal over Molinari. The final score of the gold-medal match was 6-1.

5:50: World bronze medalist Martina KUENZ (AUT) claimed her first international gold at 76kg with a dominant 8-2 win over Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA).

5:49: Molinari is holding her own against the reigning world champion. She's heading into the final three minutes down by one point. 

5:45: in the second all-American final of the night, world champion Tamayra MENSAH STOCK (USA) will go toe-to-toe with Forrest MOLINARI (USA) for the 68kg gold.

5:44: In the all-American final at 62kg, Kayla MIRACLE (USA) downed Macey KILTY (USA), 8-2.

5:40: Maroulis closes out a magical day with the 57kg gold medal after cruising past Laura MERTENS (GER) , 4-1. In total, Maroulis outscored her four opponents 40-1 on her way to the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France title.

5:31: The finals are about to begin. We'll kick things off with the 57kg finals where Olympic champion Helen Maroulis will wrestle Laura MERTENS (GER).

Reigning world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) awaits her finals match against Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sofia MATTSSON (SWE). (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

4:21: The final matchups are set and I'm struggling to pick my favorite match. Here's a quick rundown of why it's difficult to pick just one!

At 50kg, it'll be world silver medalist Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) taking on world bronze medalist Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR). 

In the 53kg finals, reigning 55kg world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will square off with six-time world and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sofia MATTSSON (SWE).

Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) has outscored her three opponents 36-0 and will wrestle Laura MERTENS (GER) for the 57kg gold.

it'll be an all-American final at 62kg and 68kg. Macey KILTY (USA) will take onKayla MIRACLE (USA) in the 62kg finals, while reigning world champion Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) will go toe-to-toe with Forrest MOLINARI (USA).

Finally, we'll see world bronze medalist Martina KUENZ (AUT) wrestle Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA) in the gold-medal match at 76kg.

Final Matchups:
50kg: Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) vs. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
53kg: Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) vs. Sofia MATTSSON (SWE)
57kg: Helen MAROULIS (USA) vs. Laura MERTENS (GER)
62kg: Macey KILTY (USA) vs.Kayla MIRACLE (USA) 
68kg: Forrest MOLINARI (USA) vs. Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA)
76kg: Martina KUENZ (AUT) vs. Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)

3:41: It'll be an all-American gold-medal match at 68kg. Mensah and Forrest MOLINARI both claimed victories in their semifinal matches and will meet for gold later tonight. 

3:19: Rising star Macey KILTY (USA) scored the upset of the day thus far.  She defeated '14 world champion Yulia TKACH (UKR), 4-1.

3:01: Olympic champion Maroulis is wrestling on another level today! She moved into the semifinals with her second 13-0 victory of the day. Maroulis has now outscored her three opponents 36-0 en route to the 57kg finals. 

3:00: The semifinals are underway!


Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) will take on reigning world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) in the 53kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2:03: The semifinals are set! USA leads the way heading into the semifinals after having nine wrestlers competing for a spot in the finals. Meanwhile, Germany has eight wrestlers in the semifinals, while Argentina, Austria, France, Italy, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine all have at least one wrestler looking for a finals berth.

50kg
SEMIFINAL - Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) vs. Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
SEMIFINAL - Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) vs. Lisa ERSEL (GER)

53kg
SEMIFINAL – Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) vs. Annika WENDLE (GER)
SEMIFINAL - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) vs. Angelina PURSCHKE (GER)

57kg
SEMIFINAL - Helen MAROULIS (USA) vs. Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
SEMIFINAL - Laura MERTENS (GER) vs. Josefine PURSCHKE (GER)

62kg
SEMIFINAL - Kayla MIRACLE (USA) vs. Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
SEMIFINAL - Macey KILTY (USA) vs. Yulia TKACH (UKR)

68kg
SEMIFINAL - Forrest MOLINARI (USA) vs.  Luz Clara VAZQUEZ (ARG)
SEMIFINAL -  Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) vs. Eyleen SEWINA (GER)

76kg
SEMIFINAL - Francy RADELT (GER) vs. Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
SEMIFINAL - Enrica RINALDI (ITA) vs. Martina KUENZ (AUT)

Martina KUENZ (AUT) moved into the semifinals with a 4-3 win over fellow world bronze medalist Epp MAE (EST). (Gabor Martin)

1:24: What a win! Kuenz secured her spot in the 76kg semifinals with a one-point "upset" win over reigning world bronze medalist, Mae.

1:15: HERE WE GO! I'm excited for this match. It'll be world bronze medalists Epp Mae and Martina Kuenz who are wrestling on Mat B.

1:11: Mattsson moves into the 53kg semifinals with an 8-0 shutout win over Hemmer. She's outscored her first two opponents, 18-0, and is one match away from earning a finals berth.

1:05: Olympic bronze medalist Mattsson is taking on Germany's Nina HEMMER on Mat A.The winner moves into the semifinals.

12:45: Mensah followed up her :20 second opening-round win with a 10-0 victory over Nesrin BAS (TUR). She'll wrestle the winner from Bout 34 in tonight's semifinals.  

12:32: World bronze medalists Epp MAE (EST) and Martina KUENZ (AUT) will square off on Mat B in five matches.

Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) has outscored her Henri DEGLANE opponents, 23-0. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

12:21: Olympic champion Maroulis keeps things rolling and improves to 2-0 on the day. After her 10-0 shutout win over Elena BRUGGER (GER), she's outscored her first two opponents 23-0.

11:57: World bronze medalist Demirhan trailed 3-0, but put four points on the board and defeated Amy FEARNSIDE (USA), 4-4. Until that Fearnside loss, USA was a perfect 9-0 on day.

11:48: Ukraine's '14 world champion Yulia TKACH is coming up in four matches on Mat B.

11:43: Winchester leads Pul, 8-2, but the match was briefly stopped as the American showed the ref her left arm -- allegedly showing a bite mark. No points were awarded as Winchester closed out the match with the 10-2 victory.

11:40: World bronze medalist Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) is coming up next on Mat B. 

11:38: Pul is holding her own against Winchester over on Mat B. The Turkish wrestlers leads the reigning world champion, 2-2, heading into the break. Each wrestler scored a takedown in the opening period. 

11:29: And we're back! World champion Winchester is making her second appearance down at 53kg after winning world gold in Nur-Sultan down at 55kg -- which is a non Olympic weight class.

11:26: I'm not sure what the hold up is on Mat A, but I think it has something to do with the mat surface. They have been mopping the mat for what feels like 10 minutes. Winchester and Pul are waiting mat-side. They both just put their sweatshirts back on and are trying to stay warm.

Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) warms up for the opening day of wrestling at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

11:15: Reigning world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) is coming up next on Mat A against Esra PUL (TUR).

11:05: Mattsson looked sharp in her first match of the year. She scored a pair of takedowns and three guts and moved into the 53kg quarterfinals with a 10-0 win over Schelder.

10:50: Six-time world and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) is coming up on Mat B in two matches. She'll take on Austria's Florine SCHELDER.

10:46: Team USA is rolling early. Lauren LOUIVE (USA) picked up a victory against Arianna CARIERI (ITA) over on Mat B -- extending USA's record to 6-0 in this morning's session. 

10:38: Reigning world champion Tamayra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) kicked off her day with a :20 second fall over Laura GODINO (ITA). She scored an early takedown off a head inside single, then threw Godino to her back for the quick fall.

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024 Day 6 Preview: FS 65kg and 97kg; WW 76kg

Saturday, July 27, 2024 - 10:26 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (July 27) --- Kyle SNYDER (USA) has thought about his revenge day on Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) ever since that September loss in Belgrade where the 'Wonder Kid' stormed past 'Captian America' in the quarterfinals of the World Championships.

Snyder has locked August 11 as his revenge date, when FS 65kg, FS 97kg, and WW 62kg will take center stage at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

Meanwhile, four world champions -- Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI), Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), Haji ALIYEV (AZE) and Zain RETHERFORD (USA) will battle it out for 65kg Olympic supremacy.

On the women's side, Yuuka KAGAMI (JPN) will begin her quest to future Japan's dominance in the women's wrestling world and become their first-ever heavyweight Olympic champion.

97kg: Snyder, from champion to challenger

For Tazhudinov, the match against Snyder was a coming-out party, while it was a "back to the drawing board" moment for the American. In just over two minutes, Snyder gave up back-to-back four-pointers, ultimately losing the match 11-0.

Since that September loss, Snyder has been in the lab at Penn State University with fellow Olympic champion Cael SANDERSON (USA), cooking up a game plan for how he'll take out Tazhudinov in the Paris 2024 semifinals. 

Tazhudinov and Snyder are seeded No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, putting them together on the bottom side of the bracket, setting up a potential semifinal clash.

Kyle SNYDER (USA)Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) defeated Kyle SNYDER (USA) in Zagreb. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan) 

Another youthful threat standing in Snyder's way is Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI), who is unseeded and will be randomly drawn into the bracket.

Azarpira, the 22-year-old, beat Snyder earlier this year. The two met in the finals of the Zagreb Open Ranking Series, where Azarpira took Snyder down twice to not only win the Ranking Series title but also lock up his spot on Iran's Olympic team over Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI).

With Snyder and Tazhudinov on the bottom of the bracket, the three guys to keep an eye on the top side of the bracket are Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR) and Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO).

With all the discussion in this 97kg bracket always around Snyder and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN), these three guys often take a back seat in the debate. Still, one is about to catapult themselves to a level of stardom they never imagined.

Despite being the lowest-seeded of the three, Matcharashvili is the betting favorite in his rivalries with Magomedov and Ciftci. 

Matcharashvili has had four matches with Magomedov and five against Ciftci and has a 7-2 combined record against both guys. He's also coming off wins against the duo at this year's European Championships.

Top-seeded Magomedov and No. 5 Matcharashvili have met four times in their careers, with the Georgian owning a 3-1 match advantage.

Matcharashvili won the opening pair of meetings before taking his lone loss of the series in the semifinals of the 2023 World Championships. In their last meeting, Matcharashvili returned to his winning ways, winning the European finals against his Azeri rival, 7-1.

Matcharashvili and Ciftci have met five times in their careers -- twice as underclassmen and three times on the senior level. 

Matcharashvili first defeated Ciftci at the 2017 U20 European Championships before losing to the Turkish wrestler at the 2019 U23 European Championships. Matcharashvili has since beaten Ciftci at the European Championships in back-to-back years and at the 2023 World Championships.

65kg: Tough road to gold

Regarding stacked weight classes at Paris 2024, 65kg ranks near the top. The weight features four world champions and a slew of other competitors who could end up making a run to the podium.

Since last year's World Championships, reigning world champ Muszukajev has taken out Amouzad and Aliyev at least once and will have to do it against them in order to end Hungary's 76-year freestyle Olympic gold-medal drought.

Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) has a perfect record against Haji ALIYEV. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Muszukajev and Aliyev, seeded No. 3 and 6, respectively, will meet in the quarterfinals, and then the Hungarian will face the Iranian in the semifinals.

The Paris 2024 quarterfinal meeting between Musukaev and Aliyev will be their fourth career meeting, with the former Russian-turned-Hungarian owning a 3-0 advantage. In their last meeting at the Hungarian Ranking Series, Muszukajev picked up arguably his most dominant win over Aliyev. He scored a 9-3 victory that included a beautiful four-point throw, a takedown, a trapped arm gut and a step out.

If Muszukajev can defeat Aliyev, it will set up a third meeting with 2022 world champion Amouzad. They've split their previous meetings, with Muszukajev getting revenge on Amouzd in last year's world semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) is favored to meet world runner-up Sebastian RIVERIA (PUR) in the semifinals.

The meeting between Rivera and Tevanyan will be a rubber match after the pair split their 2023 World Championship and 2024 Zagreb Open Ranking Series meetings. Riveria trailed 6-0 in Belgrade with two minutes left but picked up a shocking 9-8 win to push himself into the world finals. Then, in Croatia earlier this year, Tevanayan evened the score with a 9-1 victory.

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) defeated Toyko Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) to be on the Japan team. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

On the non-seeded front, Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) and Retherford are the most dangerous guys who can blow up a bracket. 

Kiyooka, who took out reigning Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) in Japan's wrestle-offs, is 7-1 this season. More importantly, the 23-year-old has 2024 wins over Olympians Muszukajev and Austin GOMEZ (MEX).

Retherford, down from his 2023 world title-winning weight of 70kg, will be tasked with trying to win America's first Olympic medal at 65-66kg since Jamill KELLY's (USA) Athens 2004 silver medal. This season, Retherford has had seven international bouts, winning every match except the one he had with Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) at the World Olympic Qualifier.

WW 76kg: Japanese sweep in Paris?

It's no secret that everyone is chasing Japan in the women's wrestling race. Japan has had 24 women wrestle at the Olympic Games; winning 15 of 24 Olympic titles. However, they've never reached a gold-medal bout at WW 76kg (formerly 72kg).

Kagami will be tasked with ending Japan's five Olympic Games drought of gold medals. "There has never been a Japanese gold medal in the 76kg heaviest weight class at the Olympics before," said Kagami. "I want to be the first." 

As unbelievable as it seems, it's not unrealistic that Japan's squad will sweep the Olympics, but Kagami, who says there's no pressure, knows it all comes down to her. When asked how many Olympic titles Japan will win in Paris, Kagami replied without hesitation, "Six. Now it's up to me. If I do my best, I think Japan can win six gold medals."

The reigning world champion must get through familiar foes Yasemin ADAR YIGIT (TUR) and Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) to complete her historic run. The Japanese star has a winning track record against Medet Kyzy but has yet to solve the puzzle of Adar. 

At the 2022 World Championships, Kagami lost to Adar and has not wrestled the Turkish star since. What makes this interesting is that Adar is unseeded, which means she'll be randomly drawn into the bracket, leaving the possibility of a second meeting with Kagami.

Yuka KAGAMI (JPN)Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) defeated Adeline GRAY (USA) en route her 76kg gold at the World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Kagami has two wins between a loss to Medet Kyzy, but her latest win is a washy one. In the world finals, Kagami won after Medet Kyzy injury defaulted due to a knee injury. The pair split their previous meetings, with the Japanese wrestler winning at the 2022 U23 World Championships and the Kyrgyz wrestler winning at the 2022 Asian Championships.

The sixth day of wrestling at Paris 2024 starts on August 10. Follow @unitedworldwrestling on all social channels to stay updated on what's happening in Paris.