#WrestleRome

Mensah Stock, Wiebe cruise to titles at Matteo Pellicone

Friday, March 5, 2021 - 20:45 By Vinay Siwach

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OSTIA, Italy (March 6) --- Tamyra Mariama MENSAH-STOCK (USA) had a perfect 2019. She won gold around the world beginning with the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in January and finishing with the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. She was rising as one of the best in the world. As she stepped into 2020, she was expected to continue her gold-winning rush at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome. But she failed despite leading 8-0 in the final as Feng ZHOU (CHN) came back to win 8-8 on criteria.

A year later, Mensah-Stock was back at the same arena to try and change the color of her medal. With a display of composure, style and dominance, the American wrestler claimed the 68kg gold medal by defeating European champion Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) 11-0 in the final at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event in Rome on Friday.

The 29-year-old world champion had a little sluggish start but turned it around in her own style to claim the gold medal after coming agonizingly close to it last year. Apart from a surprise toss she suffered in her first-round bout against Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), she looked in total control of her three bouts.

"I performed a lot better at the end compared to the entire tournament," Mensah-Stock said."I was trying to remember who I am and the switch was in my first match when she (Hanzlickova) threw me. I was like 'okay I don't want that to happen again.'"

She did exactly that, outscoring her opponents 28-4 and defending all attacks that were thrown at her. The final in particular saw Mensah Stock display why she was the best in her category in the world. She defended a pair of leg attacks from Hristova and countered them with her own to finish the match.

"When I went to the final I said you know what, I am here to wrestle so let's do this," she said. "I was getting myself motivated and talking to myself. I wrestled my way and did not worry about what she had."

Eica WIEBE (CAN) after winning the gold medal at Matteo Pellicone

Another wrestler who came into the event with high hopes was Rio Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN). The defending champion at 76kg category did have some hiccups but prevailed in all her bouts to win her second consecutive gold medal in Rome.

Wiebe led Canada's dominating show at the event as Michelle FAZZARI (CAN) also won the title down at 62kg weight category after beating Marianna SASTIN (HUN) 2-1. Olivia Grace DI BACCO (CAN) contributed with a bronze medal at the 68kg weight category after a 6-4 win over Alexandria Junis GLAUDE (USA).

Wiebe, who suffered a loss by fall just a week back in Kiev, Ukraine, took her time to get going in all her bouts. She opened the day with a 5-1 cautious win against Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA). Her semi-final against Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) was a 2-0 win, both points scored in the first period.

Even in the final against Hamza, Wiebe took her time to finally start her attacks. She was warned for passivity but got into work mode in the activity period, scoring a four-point throw. She then controlled the entire bout, winning the gold 11-0.

"My nephew's named Matteo and the Matteo Pellicone is my lucky tournament and I am happy to do him proud," Wiebe said. "My first two opponents, they have qualified for the Games, they are great competitors, I have never wrestled Samar (Hamza) before so it's exciting to feel her out."

Wiebe has suffered some unexpected losses in recent times including at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan in 2019 with the latest being the fall in Kiev. But that has not hurt her preparations for the Tokyo Olympics where she will be the defending champion.

"It's great to get on the mat after such a hiatus and everything is building for Tokyo," she said. "I am excited to get back home and continue to do that, trying to get back into the swing of competing and trying to figure out this sport. I just tried to wrestle and be myself there."

At 57kg, Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) scored two late takedowns against Asian champion SARITA (IND) to win 4-2 and claim the gold medal.

Both Mensah Stock and Wiebe have five Ranking Series titles to their names. The USA wrestler has won five gold medals, a silver and two bronze in total. Wiebe has six medals in total as she won a bronze medal at the Klippan Lady Open in 2018.

Not revealing much about her plans for the USA Olympic Trials, Mensah Stock said, "Olympic trials are next. I am training for myself, working hard to get better for myself and when it comes to anybody, I really don't know who I am going to be wrestling.

"It can be anybody's day. I don't want to say the name because I am training for anybody. I want to go out and wrestle my way."

Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) won the gold at 77kg

Earlier, three new Greco-Roman champions were also crowned in Rome as Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) won the gold at 72kg. Zolton LEVAI (HUN) defended his title at 77kg while Russian national champion Adlan AKIEV (RUS) took the top honors at 82kg.

Fritsch was up against returning silver medalist Selcuk CAN (TUR) and was behind 0-2 but staged a comeback in the second period to win 2-2 on criteria. It was a disappointing end for Can who was looking to change the colour of his silver medal from last year to gold. All four points in the bout were either passivity or pushouts.

Levai successfully defendied his title at 77kg after a comfortable 3-1 win against Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) in the final. En route his gold medal, Levai notched up wins against Patrick Harrison SMITH (USA) 2-0 in quarter-final and Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ) 11-1 in the semi-finals.

Akiev dominated the 82kg final with big throw to take a 5-1 lead against Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), a returning silver medalist in Rome. Akbudak did try to make a comeback but had to be content with the silver.

RESULTS 
Greco-Roman

Final #WrestleRome GR Team Scores:
GOLD: Russia (175 points)
SILVER: Second Hungary (145 points)
BRONZE: Turkey (136 points)
Fourth: Kazakhstan (134 points)
Fifth: India (82 points)

72kg
GOLD - Robert FRITSCH (HUN) df. Selcuk CAN (TUR), 2-2
BRONZE - Kuldeep MALIK (IND) df. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS), 10-9

77kg
GOLD - Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 3-1
BRONZE - Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) df. Peyton WALSH (USA), 8-0
BRONZE -Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ) df. Patrick SMITH (USA), via fall

82kg
GOLD - Adlan AKIEV (RUS) df Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 6-1"
BRONZE - Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA), 8-0
BRONZE - Laszlo SZABO (HUN) df. Salih AYDIN (TUR), 2-1


Women’s Wrestling
57kg
GOLD - Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) df. Sarita SARITA (IND), 4-2
BRONZE - Francesca INDELICATO (ITA) df. Anshu ANSHU (IND), via inj. def.
BRONZE - Emma TISSINA (KAZ) df. Altynay SATYLGAN (KAZ)

62kg
GOLD - Michelle FAZZARI (CAN) df. Marianna SASTIN (HUN), 2-1
BRONZE - Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) df. Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ), 6-1

68kg
GOLD - Tamyra STOCK MENSAH (USA) df. Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL), 11-0
BRONZE -  Olivia Grace DI BACCO (CAN) df. Alexandria Junis GLAUDE (USA), 6-4
BRONZE -  Sofiya Hristova GEORGIEVA (BUL) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), via inj. def

76kg
GOLD: Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) df. Samar HAMZA (EGY), 10-0
BRONZE -  Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) df. Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA), 6-0
BRONZE -   Enrica RINALDI (ITA) df. Matilde CALDARELLI (ITA), 10-0

#WrestlePontevedra

Begenjov wins Turkmenistan's historic world title in Freestyle

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - 23:12 By Vinay Siwach

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 7) -- After falling agonizingly short of a World Championship medal two years in a row, Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) made amends in the most impressive way possible -- winning Turkmenistan's first-ever world title in Freestyle.

Begenjov won the gold medal in 79kg weight class at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on Saturday, becoming the first Freestyle world champion of his country. It is only the second time Turkmenistan has won a gold medal at any World Championships. Shorat KHODAYEV (TKM) won a U17 world gold in 1994.

"It was my dream," Begenjov said. "I made my dream come true. I’ve become a world champion. It’s the first time in the history of my country [in Freestyle]."

Begenjov had competed at the U17 World Championships in 2022 and 2023, finishing 12th and fifth respectively. This year, he finished fifth at Asian Championships, 12th at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers and won bronze at the U23 Asian Championships. The loss at the Asian Championships hurt Begenjov.

"I was so disappointed after losing at the Asian Championships," he said. "I started training harder and last month I won the U20 Asian Championships and now the World Championships."

Not only did he win gold, Begenjov did so without conceding a point in the tournament. He outscored his opponents 46-0, including the 5-0 win over Jackary RYDER (USA) in the final.

He led 1-0 at the break after Ryder failed to score after being put on the activity clock. Begenjov used his fake attacks to keep Ryder on check and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 2-0.

Ryder did get on Begenjov's leg a couple of times but failed to finish those attacks. On one occasion, Ryder was trying to lift after a single-leg attack but Begejnov grabbed Ryder's leg and he fell on his back, giving up two points as Begenjov extended his lead to 4-0. A lost challenge made it 5-0.

The 18-year-old plans to compete at the U23 World Championships but doesn't plan to compete at the senior level yet.

"I have to train harder to repeat this and win the senior world title," he said. "I am physically not strong enough yet for senior level."

Trained by his uncle in Ashgabat, Begenov graduated from school earlier this year and joined the university.

"I will start my first year," he said. "I will study stock exchange. We have this faculty in Turkmenistan."

Apart from Ryder's silver medal, the United States won gold and three bronze medals. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) upgraded his silver from last year to gold, winning the 57kg weight class by beating Lev PAVLOV (AIN) in the final.

This was Lilledahl's fourth straight age-group world final after he made two at U17 level and one at U20. He won silver in 2021 and upgraded to gold in 2022 at the U17 Worlds.

In the final against Pavlov, who he had beaten on his way to the final last year in Amman, Lilledahl got two activity points while Pavlov got one. Pavlov failed to find a perfect opening to score a point in the final seconds and dropped the final 2-1.

"When I wrestled him before, it was a lot more wide open," Lilledahl said. "With it being the finals [this year], he would kind of just wrestle to win. That's what you have to do. You're here to win. 

"That's pretty much what I figured would happen. He doesn't really like to create a lot of action, which kind of plays against me because I like the action. It was a stylistic matchup. Having wrestled him before, we kind of knew each other and knew how each other felt and stuff like that."

Aitmukhan adds U20 title

World champion at 92kg Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) gave the U20 World Championships a try and went home with a gold medal. Aitmukhan became Kazakhstan's first Freestyle world champion at the senior level last year at 92kg in Belgrade.

By winning the 97kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Aitmukhan as became only the fourth wrestler from Kazakhstan, and first in 24 years, to win a gold in Freestyle at U20 World Championships.

Aitmukhan was so dominant in the final that Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) could not stop him from winning the final 10-0.

Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) completes a takedown in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran won the gold medal at 65kg as Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) shut out Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), and won the final 10-2. Khorramdel lost his semifinal to Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN) last year but won a bronze medal in the 61kg weight class.

The U20 Asian champion had a difficult path to the final as he had to make a comeback in his opening bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), winning 12-11. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) also fought hard but lost 9-6 before Khorramdel hung on for a 6-4 win over Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) in the semifinals.

Hosokawa was displeased with his performance as Khorramdel blocked him from the right side and Hosokawa failed to score from his strong position. 

While Hosokawa lost, his Nippon Sports Science University teammate Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) won the gold medal at 70kg. Two days before his bouts, Yamashita had announced in the dining hall that he could "only see the gold medal". Yamashita made sure he took it home.

In a high-paced final, Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) failed to challenge Yamashita's speed and style and lost 6-0 in the 70kg final.

"This was my first international world tournament," Yamashita said. "I played with the intention of having fun and had a lot of fun. This is my goal for this year, but after competing, I realized that the senior world championships or the Olympics would be even more amazing. "

It was not all fun for Baitukaev on the mat as Yamashita showed his A game. Yamashita got the first point via stepout and earned a second when the 30-second activity clock against Baitukaev ended. Yamashita blasted a double in the second period to get two points and turned using head-in-middle lace to lead 6-0. Baitukaev had no energy left to attack and Yamashita won the gold medal.

Yamashita celebrated by gesturing like he was taking out the imaginary Samurai swords. 

"I came up with it when I was thinking of doing a performance based on Japanese culture," he said. "It's a Japanese tradition since ancient times. I did it because I admired it."

Yamashita trains with Olympic champions Rei HIGUCHI (JPN and Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) at NSSU and wants to replicate the success his teammates had.

"I realized that what I was doing was correct," he said. "It was a great environment to have someone close to me that I was aiming for. I was really moved by watching the matches. I was inspired by that."

For him to be at the Olympics, Yamashita will have to wait at least four years and jump to 74kg to make the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm still thinking about it, but I guess I can only be 74kg to qualify for the Olympics," he said "I would like to be at 74kg for Los Angeles."

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Lev PAVLOV (AIN), 2-1

BRONZE: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) df. Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: ANKUSH (IND) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)  df. Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), 10-2

BRONZE: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) df. Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via fall (9-0) 
BRONZE: Peter DUKE (USA) df. Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ), 18-7

79kg
GOLD: Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) df. Zackary RYDER (USA), 5-0

BRONZE: Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) df. Said SAIDULOV (AIN), 5-4
BRONZE: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. AMIT (IND), 13-2

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam JAKSIK (SVK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 2-1

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) vs. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)

SF 1: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Marcus BLAZE (USA), 7-2
SF 2: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) vs. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

SF 1: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Shingo ANDO (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-1

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) vs. Joshua BARR (USA)

SF 1: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI), 12-2
SF 2: Joshua BARR (USA) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Sali SALIEV (BUL) vs. Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Sali SALIEV (BUL) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 5-4
SF 2: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA)

SF 1: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Benjamin KUETER (USA) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 13-3