#WrestleWarsaw

Live Blog: Poland Open Ranking Series, Day One

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 - 08:40 By Eric Olanowski

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Poland Open Ranking Series begins in Warsaw with five freestyle weight categories in action on Monday.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Photo

Tuesday's Final Matchups:
57kg: Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV (UZB) vs. Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) (Round 3)
70kg: Alec PANTALEO (USA) vs. James GREEN (USA) 
79kg: Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) vs. Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) 
86kg: Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO) vs. Zahid VALENCIA (USA) 
97kg:  Ali Khalil SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) vs. Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) 

13:22: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll see you back here at 18:00 (local time) for the Day One medal matches.

13:13: Aliyev scores five unanswered points in the second period, but Pantaleo's four-point move in the first period pushes him past the three-time world champ, 6-6. He'll wrestle the winner of James Malcolm GREEN (USA) and  Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO), who are wrestling now on Mat B. 

13:08: What a first period for Alec PANTALEO (USA). He scored a four-point move and a two-point takedown and leads three-time world champion Haji Aliyev, 6-1, after the first period. 

13:03: James GREEN (USA) and Iakobishvili are on the clock, too. They'll wrestle at 13:09 on Mat B.

12:57: We'll take a quick seven-minute break to give Aliyev some rest time. When the time is up, he'll take on Alec PANTALEO (USA) for a spot in tonight's 70kg finals. 

12:37: World champs Aliyev and Iakobishvili are wrestling right now on Mat A!

12:27: Mohammadian held on to win a close battle against Karimmachiani. He scored a takedown and gave up a pair of one-point moves in the second period but held the criteria advantage. He'll now take on Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) in tonight's 97kg gold-medal match.

12:22: Mohammadian struck first with the matches only takedown. He leads, 2-0, after the first period.

12:20: HERE. WE. GO! MAT A: Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) and Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) are wrestling now!

12:14: World champions  Haji Aliyev (AZE) and Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) are up in three matches on Mat A.

11:56: With Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) and Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) wrestling in the 97kg semifinals, it's important to note that this plays a major role in who represents Iran at the Tokyo Olympic Games. I spoke with the Iranian Wrestling Federation, and they said, "We have a qualification cycle. This consists of the performances of each wrestler during the last 7 months (in training and competitions) and for sure Poland Rankings will be one part of this cycle."

11:52: Deepak PUNIA (IND) won't compete at the Poland Open. The Indian pulled out of the competition with an elbow injury. That pushes Zahid VALENCIA (USA) into the semifinals. He'll take on the winner of Tokyo Olympians Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI) and Myles AMINE (SMR). 

11:49: Karimmachiani just put on a show! He thumped Conyedo, 11-0, in just five minutes. He'll now take on Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI). 

11:38: It feels like he just wrestled, but Conyedo is up again! He's wrestling two-time world silver medalist Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI).

11:30: That was close, but Zahid VALENCIA (USA) got the job done. He hung on late to defeat Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL), 6-5. He'll square off against '19 world silver medalist Deepak PUNIA (IND).

Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) upset Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), 2-2, in their opening-round meeting. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

11:21: We're not even one with our first cup of coffee and we already have a massive upset. Italy Abraham Conyedo scored the matches only takedown and upset Olympic champion Sharifov in their opening-round meet.

11:14: This should be a good one on Mat A. It's Olympic champion  Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) and world bronze medalist Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA). They've both qualified their nation's for the Tokyo Olympic Games at 97kg. 

11:13: I spoke too soon! As I wrote Aliyev trailed, 2-1, he strung together seven unanswered points and won the match, 8-2. That win pushed him into his 70kg Round 2 match against Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ). 

11:06: It's still early, but three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE) trails Sirojiddin KHASANOV (UZB), 2-1, with short time left in the first period. They are wrestling on Mat C.

11:00: Good morning, wrestling fans! For those asking about brackets: instead of releasing them all at once, they'll be released each morning after weigh-ins. 

#WrestleBratislava

Losonczi downs Olympic champ Novikov for 87kg European gold

Saturday, April 12, 2025 - 21:15 By Vinay Siwach

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 12) -- David LOSONCZI (HUN) had his task cut out at the European Championships.

Over the years, his performance at different competitions of two-day formats saw a dip on the second day. So Hungary coach Viktor LORINCZ told him to be focused for six minutes.

Losonczi was up against Olympic champion Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) in the 87kg final of the European Championships in Bratislava in Saturday. The two had recently met in the Paris Olympic semifinal which Novikov won.

But the final in European Championships was a different story.

Losonczi wrapped his arm around Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and scored a takedown in the first 30 seconds to take a 2-0 lead. Novikov locked Losonczi around the chest and tried to shift to a seatbelt position but the Hungarian pushed Novikov out-of-bounds with his head to lead 3-0. Novikov was put in par terre which gave Losonczi one more point but he failed to score from par terre and settled for the 4-0 lead.

Novikov's chance came in the second period when he got the par terre position. He turned Losonczi one time but when he tried the second time, both wrestlers were out of bounds. Losonczi led 4-3 with 1:31 left on the clock.

There was no comeback for Novikov in the final. Earlier in the tournament, Novikov had won two bouts in thrilling fashion, scoring late, one time with only one second left.

"During the break I told him that just three more minute and you can be the European champion. So this pushed him," Lorincz said.

After the loss, Novikov said that he made a few which cost him dearly in the final.

"This is still the beginning of the season and I am not 100 percent, especially after winning the Paris Olympics. I think, mentally I am not ready. Olympics was different," Novikov said. "My goal is the World Championships. I am European champion and Olympic champion. I want to be world champion. More work and hope and I will be world champion. I was much better in the final than yesterday. I gifted him two positions after locking him. I made mistakes and you can't make mistakes at this level. Before the Olympics, I knew that any thing is possible. But after Olympic, I know that everything is possible. All you need is belief in yourself."

At 63kg, Kerem KAMAL (TUR) earned his second European title with big win in the final. Kamal came out with a takedown and suplex for a 6-0 lead. Armenia challenged the call asking for a foul hold below the legs from Kamal but it lost the challenge on review to give Kamal another point.

Aslanyan got one back when Turkiye challenged for a throw which was adjudged a risk action from Aslanyan who got a point for lost challenge. Both wrestlers were without any challenges after that.

In the second period, Aslanyan pushed the pace but failed to break Kamal. A stepout got him the second point which cut the lead to 7-2 with a minute left in the final.

At 55kg, Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) denied Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) his third European title by beating the Azerbaijan wrestler 1-1 in the final.

Sefershaev got the benefit of the new Greco-Roman rule that United World Wrestling is testing at the European Championships which awards the wrestler who got the first point the win if the match ends 1-1.

The former European champion got the first par terre advantage but failed to score any points. However, he defended his par terre position when Azizli got the advantage in the second period and kept his 1-1 lead for the gold, his second at the European Championships.

Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) did not need any par terre advantages in his 77kg final against Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) as he scored a arm-drag takedown for two points in the second period and won his fourth straight European title.

This was Amoyan's first tournament since winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and he did not show any sings of being away from the mat.

At 130kg, Sergei SEMENOV (UWW) defended his title with a 1-1 criteria win over Hamza BAKIR (TUR).

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 1-1

BRONZE: Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) df. Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 8-1
BRONZE: Artiom DELEANU (MDA) df. Arnold MEGALY (SVK), 8-0

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM), 7-2

BRONZE: Mairbek SALIMOV (POL) df. Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR), 10-0
BRONZE: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE), via fall

77kg
GOLD: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), 4-3

BRONZE: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) df. Albin OLOFSSON (SWE), via fall
BRONZE: Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: David LOSONCZI (HUN) df. Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), 4-3

BRONZE: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR), 2-1
BRONZE: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Hannes WAGNER (GER), 3-1

130kg
GOLD: Sergei SEMENOV (UWW) df. Hamza BAKIR (TUR), 1-1

BRONZE: Darius VITEK (HUN) df. Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (UWW), 6-0
BRONZE: Jello KRAHMER (GER) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 1-1