#WrestleOslo

Live Blog: World Championships Day 5 - WW 57kg, 59kg, 68kg, 72kg

By Vinay Siwach

OSLO, Norway (October 6) -- Tokyo Olympic champion Taymra MENSAH STOCK (USA), Rio champion Helen MAROULIS (USA), former world champion Sae NANJO (JPN), Linda MORIAS (CAN) will be in action as women's wrestling 57kg, 59kg, 68kg and 72kg will be underway in Oslo, Norway. If you missed Sadulaev and Snyder wrestling for the fourth time, here's the wrap - Sadulaev-Synder rivalry take news turn

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE | ALL PHOTOS

1250: Results of the WW 59kg quarterfinals

Maya NELSON (USA) df Krystsina SAZYKINA (BLR), via fall
Sarita MOR (IND) df Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER), 3-1
Akie HANAI (JPN) df Shoovdor BAATARJAV (MGL), 4-0
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) df Sara LINDBORG (SWE), 10-0

1235: Results of the WW 57kg quarterfinals

Helen MAROULIS (USA) df Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RWF), 10-1
Sae NANJO (JPN) df Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), via fall
Anshu MALIK (IND) df Davaachimeg ERKHEMBAYAR (MGL), 5-1
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA), 12-10 

1220: Results of the WW 72kg quarterfinals

Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR) df Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR), via fall
Masako FURUICHI (JPN) df Divya KAKRAN (IND), 10-0
Anna SCHELL (GER) df Alla BELINSKA (UKR), via fall
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) df Cynthia VESCAN (FRA), 10-10

1210: Results of the WW 68kg quarterfinals

Khanum VELIEVA (RWF) df Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR), 8-7 
Rin MIYAJI (JPN) df Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU), 10-0
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) df Olivia DI BACCO (CAN), 7-1
Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) df Anastasiia LAVRENCHUK (UKR), 8-0

1200: In a battle that saw Morias try to plan a comeback, Mor holds on for a 8-4 win and advance to the quarterfinals which are beginning now.

1150: Asian champion Sarita MOR (IND) is up against world champion Linda MORIAS (CAN) in their pre-quarterfinal at 59kg.

1130: Nanjo wins her pre-quarterfinal with an 8-4 win. All Japan wrestlers have begin with a win today. They had one gold medal yesterday and three in the finals today. Looks like another four will be reach the top bout 

1120: Masako FURUICHI (JPN) is the the winner on Mat B. She beats Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL) via technical superiority for another win for Japan. Sae NANJO (JPN) is on the mat for Japan now

1110: Not the debut she was hoping for but Welker falls 1-8 against Tosun. Rio Olympic champion and Tokyo bronze medalist Helen MAROULIS (USA) gets the fall against 
Jeannie KESSLER (AUT) at 57kg

1100: Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) gets going with a dominant victory against Minji HA (KOR). Next match on Mat C is junior world champion Kylie WELKER (USA) against Buse TOSUN (TUR)

1045: Japan's rollercoaster continues at World Championships. Rin MIYAJI (JPN) begins with a huge win over Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)

1030: Welcome to day five of the World Championships. All four mats will see women's wrestling and fans here are ready for local star Grace BULLEN (NOR).

#WrestleZagreb

In 68kg debut, Blades suplexes her way to gold

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 8) -- Kennedy BLADES (USA) may have changed her weight class but there was no change in her style. Wrestling at 68kg, down from 76kg in which she won the Paris Olympics silver medal, Blades won the gold medal at Zagreb Open Ranking Series on Friday.

READ MORE: Blades shines, Jafarov injured

In a round-robin bracket which had four bouts for each wrestler, Blades was a notch above the rest as she secured two falls and two victory via superiority with none of the four bouts going to the second period.

Blades had moved from 76kg to 68kg for this tournament and is expected to remain at this weight class for the Los Angeles Olympic cycle.

"I feel really good," Blades said about the weight cut. "I ate the night so I'm just happy that I have a lot of energy still, and I was able to use my power, even though same day weigh-in. I'm feeling great."

Kennedy BLADES (USA)Kennedy BLADES (USA) completes a suplex over Karolina POK (HUN). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Blades began the day with a fall over Kendra DACHER (FRA) and another over world bronze medalist Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) before Noémi SZABADOS (HUN) became the victim of her pace. Blades' moment of the day came in the Round 5 in the evening session when she launched a near-perfect suplex against Karolina POK (HUN). She was awarded five points for the suplex.

"I feel like a lot of people overlook wrestling," she said. "So I just want to make it as exciting as possible, and if I can do a big move or make it like, oh, then I just go for the big move."

The move over Pok reminded wrestling fans of the beautiful suplex Blades performed over Catalina AXENTE (ROU) at the Paris Olympics in the first bout itself. Blades went on to win the silver medal, and five months later she has captured her first Ranking Series gold medal using the same move.

"I've just been with my college team at University of Iowa," she said. "After Olympics, I only took about two weeks off because I was like I have college season. So I eased into it. I've just been competing and training hard and I just feel very prepared for what's to come."

At 68kg, Amit ELOR (USA) is the Olympic champion but with a new Olympic cycle, it is expected that she will be at 72kg before moving around to decide which weight class is beneficial for her. Blades hinted she will remain at 68kg for the World Championships.

"Honestly, I'm still deciding what I want to do," Blades said. "But I just feel really good at this whole tournament. I know it was plus two kilos, but I mean, I weighed like 68.9kg and I was like hydrated. So I'm like I'm fine. We'll see. I feel like it might be the move, so I just have to talk to my coaches, I'm going to figure some things out."

The U.S. won another gold medal at 62kg as Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) won three bouts in the round-robin bracket, keeping a clean slate.

Nwachukwu was in trouble of finishing second as former world champion Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) was winning 2-0 with less than 20 seconds left. However, Nwachukwu got a takedown and a turn to win the bout and confirm her gold medal.

In an all Azerbaijan final at 59kg, Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE) defeated Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 4-2, winning the gold medal.

Greco-Roman also began on Friday and Iran had a forgetful day in office. Treating the Zagreb Open as a trial for the Asian Championships, Iran had brought multiple wrestlers in various categories.

But it failed to win gold medal in the two Greco-Roman weight classes in action on Friday and drew a blank at 67kg.

U20 world champion Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) dropped his semifinal against Valentin PETIC (MDA) 6-1 and then lost his bronze medal bout. Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR) stopped Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI), 10-1, in the other semifinal.

Joergensen capped off his day with a stunning 9-1 win over Petic in the 67kg to win the gold medal.

At 63kg, U23 world silver medalist Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN) dominated the field and defeated Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), via fall in the final to win the gold medal.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE) df. Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 4-2

BRONZE: Micheala BECK (USA) df. Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA), via inj. def.

62kg
GOLD: Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
SILVER: Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
BRONZE: Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)

65kg
GOLD: Dinara KUDAEVA (AIN)
SILVER: Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
BRONZE: Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)

68kg
GOLD: Kennedy BLADES (USA)
SILVER: Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
BRONZE: Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)

Greco-Roman

63kg
GOLD: Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Ellis COLEMAN (USA) df. Ziya BABASHOV (AZE), 5-3
BRONZE: AYTJAN KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 5-4

67kg
GOLD: Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 9-1

BRONZE: Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) df. Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI), 5-0
BRONZE: Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) df. Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI), 10-1