#HungarianGP2019

Lorincz Wins Second RS Gold of the Year, Hungary Takes Team Title

By Eric Olanowski

GYOR, Hungary (February 24) - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) picked up his second Ranking Series title of the year with a 6-0 shutout victory over Algeria's Ivan LIZATOVIC in the 87kg Hungarian Open finals, and catapulted the host nation to the top of the leaderboard, five points above Iran, who led after the first nine weight classes. 

In the finals, the Hungarian exposed his Algerian opponent twice with a pair of gut wrenches after the Lizatovic was dinged for passivity, and owned the 5-0 lead. A second period step out gave Lorincz the 6-0 advantage and his second Ranking Series gold of the season. The Hungarian also had a title-winning performance at the Zagreb Open two weeks ago. 

Lorincz is quietly building a case to be looked at as one of the most dominate Greco-Roman wrestlers in the world after the first two Ranking Series events. Lorincz has an undefeated 9-0 record this season and has scored six shutout victories while outscoring his opponents 45-8. 

Meanwhile, Korea’s KIM Seunghak and RYU Hansu collected a pair of gold medals on final day of wrestling, joining Georgia as the only nation to win more than one gold medal. 

Ryu, Korea’s two-time world champion, had no trouble scoring the 8-1 victory over Ruslan KUDRYNETS (UKR) in the 67kg gold-medal bout. 

Ryu smothered Kudrynets in the opening period, scoring all eight of his points. The Korean wrestler scored four points on a front head pinch/lift then tacked on an additional four points, transitioning from a takedown to a gut wrench, and commanded the 8-1 lead heading into the second period. 

Ryu took the match and the 72kg gold medal with an 8-1 victory after a scoreless second period. 

Kim Seunghak was the second Korean wrestler to claim a gold medal on the final day of wrestling at the Olimpia Sportpark in Gyor, Hungary. Kim won the 60kg gold medal after his finals opponent Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) forfeited out of the finals match. 

The final two golds went to the pair of former world champions, Viktor NEMES (SRB) and Heiki NABI (EST). 

In the 77kg finals, Nemes used a pair of passivity points to get past Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR), 2-1, while Nabi used a pair of passivity points to get past Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR), 2-0, in the 130kg finals. 

The host nation Hungary (91 points), edged Iran (86 points) by five points to win the team title. Ukraine (83points), Turkey (68 points) and Korea (65 points) rounded out the top-five, respectively. 

Team Scores 
GOLD - Hungary (91 points)
SILVER - Iran (86 points)
BRONZE - Ukraine (83points)
Fourth - Turkey (68 points)
Fifth- Korea (65 points) 

60kg    
GOLD -  Seunghak KIM (KOR) df. Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB), via inj. def. 
BRONZE -  Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) df. Di HU (CHN), 6-0
BRONZE -  Shirzad Ali BEHESHTITALA (IRI) df. Liguo CAO (CHN), 8-1 

67kg 
GOLD - Hansu RYU (KOR) df. Ruslan KUDRYNETS (UKR), 8-1 
BRONZE - Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN) df. Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN), via fall 
BRONZE - Mate NEMES (SRB) df. Soslan DAUROV (BLR), 4-1 

77kg 
GOLD - Viktor NEMES (SRB) df. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR), 2-1 
BRONZE - Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV (UKR) df. Pavel LIAKH (BLR), 4-1 
BRONZE - Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) df. Laszlo SZABO (HUN), 3-3 

87kg 
GOLD -  Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 6-0 
BRONZE - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) df. Fabio PARISI (ITA), 3-2 
BRONZE - Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Mikalai STADUB (BLR), 6-3 

130kg 
GOLD -  Heiki NABI (EST) df. Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR), 2-0 
BRONZE - Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO) df. Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU), 2-1 
BRONZE - Balint LAM (HUN) df. Mykola KUCHMII (UKR), 1-1 

#WrestleParis

Which nations have qualified in Greco-Roman for Paris Olympics

By Eric Olanowski

PARIS, France (May 3) -- The ultra-competitive and uber-emotional final stage of the Paris Olympic Qualifiers is set to take place in Istanbul, Turkiye, May 9-12.

After next week’s Battle on the Bosporus -- which is the sixth and final event on the Olympic qualification calendar -- all 288 tickets to Paris 2024 will be booked and the nations wrestling in Paris will be set. 

Breakdown of quotas allocations for Paris 2024:
- World Championships = 30 freestyle, 30 women’s wrestling and 30 Greco-Roman = 90 quotas
- Continental Olympic Qualifiers (x4 continents) = 12 freestyle, 12 women’s wrestling and 12 Greco-Roman = 36 
- World Olympic Qualifier = 18 freestyle, 18 women’s wrestling and 18 Greco-Roman = 54
- Total = 96 freestyle, 96 women’s wrestling and 96 Greco-Roman = 288 wrestlers in Paris

It’s worth noting, and as you’ll see below, the induvial wrestler who earns the ticket to the Olympic Games does not own the right to compete in Pairs. Ultimately, it’s the National Olympic Committee / country who selects their entry for the Games.

For example: David TAYLOR (USA), through his world-title winning performance in Belgrade, punched the United States’ ticket at 86kg. But after going through their Olympic Trails, and with Taylor falling in the finals, the Stars and Stripes will send Aaron BROOKS (USA) to Paris at 86kg.

Over the last 290 days, wrestles have gone through two of three stages vying for their opportunity to earn their nation’s berth to Pairs.

The beginning stages of the qualification process took place last September at the 2023 World Championships, in Belgrade, Serbia, where there was a total of 90 quotas up for the taking. Wrestlers who won a medal--gold, silver or bronze (x2)-- earned a ticket for their country. 

Additionally, the two losers of the bronze-medal matches faced off in an Olympic playoff match, determining the fifth allocation in Belgrade.

Then came the Continental Olympic Qualifiers, where 36 quotas per continent were handed out.

Those athletes who reached the finals of their respective weight classes at the Pan-American, African & Oceania, European and Asian Olympic Qualifiers booked their nation’s ticket to Paris.

Now, after traveling through Belgrade, Acapulco, Alexandria, Baku and Bishkek, we’ve reached Istanbul for the “Last Chance Qualifier.”

There will be a slight adjustment to the number of allocations given in Istanbul, where in addition to the finalists earning berths to Paris, there will be an Olympic playoff between the winners of the bronze-medal matches to determine the final entries for the Olympic Games.

The draws for the World Olympic Qualifier will take place on May 8, with wrestling beginning the following day. Greco-Roman will compete live on UWW+ on May 9-10, women’s wrestling on May 10-11 and freestyle on May 11-12.

Here are the Greco-Roman nations that have qualified for the Paris Olympics before the start of the World Olympic Qualifier (May 9-12).

60kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV)
Japan (Kenichiro FUMITA)
China (Liguo CAO)
Uzbekistan (Islomjon BAKHRAMOV)
Iran (Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Venezuela (Raiber RODRIGUEZ)
Cuba (Kevin DE ARMAS)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Abdelkarim FERGAT)
Egypt (Moamen MOHAMED)

From European OG Qualifier
Moldova (Victor CIOBANU)
Turkiye (Enes BASAR)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Aidos SULTANGALI)
DPR Korea (Se Ung RI)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Sadyk LALAEV as Individual Neutral Athlete
Azerbaijan (Murad MAMMADOV)
Serbia (Georgij TIBILOV)

67kg
From World Championships

Cuba (Luis ORTA)
Azerbaijan (Hasrat JAFAROV)
Iran (Mohammadreza GERAEI)
Serbia (Mate NEMES)
Armenia (Slavik GALSTYAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Chile (Nestor ALMANZA)
Ecuador (Andres MONTANO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Tunisia (Souleymen NASR)
Algeria (Ishak GHAIOU)

From European OG Qualifier
Ukraine (Parviz NASIBOV)
France (Mamadassa SYLLA)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Japan (Kyotaro SOGABE)
Kyrgyzstan (Amantur ISMAILOV)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Moldova (Valentin PETIC)
Georgia (Ramaz ZOIDZE)
Egypt (Mohamed ELSAYED)

77kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Akzhol MAKHMUDOV)
Azerbaijan (Sanan SULEYMANOV)
Armenia (Malkhas AMOYAN)
Japan (Nao KUSAKA)
Uzbekistan (Aram VARDANYAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Cuba (Yosvanys PENA)
Colombia (Jair CUERO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Abd Elkrim OUAKALI)
Egypt (Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN)

From European OG Qualifier
Turkiye (Burhan AKBUDAK)
Finland (Jonni SARKKINEN)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Demeu ZHADRAYEV)
Iran (Amin KAVIYANI)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Sergei KUTUZOV as Individual Neutral Athlete
Bulgaria (Aik MNATSAKANIAN)
Hungary (Zoltan LEVAI)

87kg
From World Championships
Turkiye (Ali CENGIZ)
Hungary (David LOSONCZI)
Ukraine (Zhan BELENIUK)
Bulgaria (Semen NOVIKOV)
Kazakhstan (Nursultan TURSYNOV)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Spencer WOODS)
Colombia (Carlos MUNOZ)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Bachir SID AZARA)
Egypt (Mohamed METWALLY)

From European OG Qualifier
Serbia (Aleksandr KOMAROV)
Milad ALIRZAEV as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Iran (Alireza MOHAMDIPIANI)
China (Haitao QIAN)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Azerbaijan (Rafig HUSEYNOV)
Kiryl MASKEVICH as Individual Neutral Athlete
Poland (
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ)

97kg
From World Championships
Cuba (Gabriel ROSILLO)
Armenia (Artur ALEKSANYAN)
Iran (Mohammadhadi SARAVI)
Czech Republic (Artur OMAROV)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Honduras (Kevin MEJIA)
United States (Alan VERA GARCIA)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Fadi ROUABAH)
Egypt (Mohamed GABR)

From European OG Qualifier
Georgia (Roberti KOBLIASHVILI)
Lithuania (Mindaugas VENCKAITIS)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Uzbekistan (Rustam ASSAKALOV)
Korea (Seungjun KIM)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Finaland (Arvi SAVOLAINEN)
Artur SARGSIAN as Individual Neutral Athlete

Kyrgyzstan (Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV)

130kg
From World Championships

Iran (Amin MIRZAZADEH)
Turkiye (Riza KAYAALP)
Cuba (Oscar PINO)
Egypt (Adellatif MOHAMED)
China (Lingzhe MENG)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Cohlton SCHULTZ)
Chile (Yasmani ACOSTA)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Tunisia (Amine GUENNICHI)
Morocco (Oussama ASSAD)

From European OG Qualifier
Germany (Jello KRAHMER)
Sergei SEMENOV as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Alimkhan SYZDYKOV)
Korea (Seungchan LEE)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Romania (Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU)
Azerbaijan (Sabah SHARIATI)
Pavel HLINCHUK as Individual Neutral Athlete