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Olympic Champ Borrero Survives ‘Bracket of Death’ to Make 67kg Semis, Secure Tokyo 2020 Spot

Sunday, September 15, 2019 - 10:40 By Ken Marantz

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NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Sept. 15)– Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO (CUB) survived the mine field that was the lower bracket of Greco-Roman 67kg to secure a place for Cuba at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, although he still has one more barrier to get over if he wants a shot at first world title in four years.

Borrero knocked off in succession three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) and two-time former world champion RYU Hansu (KOR) to advance to the semifinals of the Greco-Roman 67kg weight class, when he will next face 2018 world U23 champion Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY). 

The other semifinal at 67kg, to be held at the start of the night session at the Barys Arena, will pit reigning champion Artem SURKOV (RUS) against Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN).

By advancing to the semifinals, the quartet assured themselves of at worst a top-six finish – which brings with it a berth for their country at Tokyo 2020. Sunday’s day session marked the start of competition in three Olympic weight classes in Greco, and Russia was the only country to secure more than one berth.

Musa EVLOEV (RUS) moved into the 97kg semifinals with a 9-0 win over Tadeusz MICHAELIK (POL). (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

Musa EVLOEV (RUS), the defending champion at 97kg, had little trouble advancing the semifinal, topping his afternoon with two big throws in storming to a 9-0 technical fall in 2:00 over Tadeusz MICHAELIK (POL). 

Evloev will face 2018 world bronze medalist Mihail KAJAIA (SRB), while the semifinal will be a clash between 2017 world champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) and Giorgi MELIA (GEO).

Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) will meet Denis KUDLA (GER) in a semifinal battle of Rio Olympic medalists. Beleniuk was a silver medalist and Kudla finished with a bronze medal. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

At 87kg, top seed Zhan BELENIUK (UKR), the silver medalist a year ago in Budapest and this year’s European champion, put together a string of solid matches to make the semifinals, where he will face European bronze medalist Denis KUDLA (GER). 

In the other semifinal, Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), the 77kg silver medalist in Budapest, set up a final-four match with Asian bronze medalist Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), who knocked off defending champion Metehan BASAR (TUR) by fall, then repeated that result against Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS).  

The highlights of the day came at 67kg, where any number of matches could have been for a gold under different circumstances. 

Ryu, the 2013 and 2017 world champion, had his hands full right off the bat by having to face 2015 gold medalist Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE), but slipped through with a 2-1 win. A win over European champion Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) put him into the quarterfinals against Borrero.

Borrero, meanwhile, posted a pair of technical fall wins to set up a third-round clash with Staebler, the 72kg world champion who dropped down to the Olympic weight class. On this day, Borrero was totally dominant, building up a 6-0 lead, then ending the proceedings with a flashy 5-point reverse throw. 

Borrero had a far tougher time against Ryu, as neither could score big points and the Cuban held on for the 3-1 win. 

Elsayed was not immune to dodging a few bullets himself. In the third round against European bronze medalist Karen ASLAYAN (ARM), Elsayed was trailing 3-3 on criteria when the Armenian was penalized 2 points with :33 to go. An unsuccessful challenge gave Elsayed a 6-3 win. 

Following the three semifinals, the night session will feature the medal matches in the four non-Olympic weight classes of 55kg, 63kg, 72kg and 82kg. 

Day 2 Results

Greco-Roman Pairings

55kg (20 entries)
Gold – Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ) vs Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Bronze – CAO Liguo (CHN) vs Shota OGAWA (JPN) 
Bronze – Max NOWRY (USA) vs Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)

63kg (18 entries)
Gold – Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) vs Shinobu OTA (JPN)
Bronze – Tynar SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ)
Bronze – Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) vs Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)

67kg (41 entries)
Semifinal – Artem SURKOV (RUS) vs Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Semifinal – Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) vs Ismael BORREO (CUB) 

72kg (25 entries)
Gold – Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) vs Abulazid MANTSIGOV (RUS)
Bronze – LEE Jiyeon (KOR) vs Balint KORPASI (HUN)
Bronze – Michael WIDMAYER (GER) vs Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)

82kg (23 entries)
Gold – Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) vs Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Bronze – Iurii SCKRUIBA (UKR) vs Saied ABDVALI (IRI)
Bronze – QIAN Haitao (CHN) vs Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB)

87kg (39 entries)
Semifinal – Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) vs Denis KUDLA (GER)
Semifinal – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) vs Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

97kg (37 entries)
Semifinal – Musa EVLOEV (RUS) vs Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Semifinal – Giorgi MELIA (GEO) vs Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 4 Results and Highlights

Saturday, February 7, 2026 - 01:36 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 7) -- The fourth day of the Ranking Series in Zagreb will see the remaining four Women's Wrestling weight classes in action along with two Greco-Roman weight classes 77kg and 87kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 3 RESULTS

14:55: GR 87kg semifinals - Tamas LEVAI (HUN) gets a 2-1 win over Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) in the semifinals at 87kg to take a step closer to be part of the Hungarian team for the European Championships. But to confirm that, he has to beat Istvan TAKACS (HUN), who won the other semifinals after a desperate arm-throw for four to beat Matej MANDIC (CRO), 6-2.

14:40: GR 77kg semifinals - Ali OSKOU (IRI) with a beautiful throw from par terre to get a 5-0 lead before another turn makes it 7-0. He eventually beats Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 10-1, and advances to the 77kg final. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) will challenge the Iranian for the gold medal after the Hungarian defeated Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 7-0, majorly using gut-wrenches.

14:25: 76kg semifinals - Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) with two stepouts and one point for activity clock to take a 3-0 lead against Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) before a lost challenge from Japan adds another point to her score and she wins 4-0. She will take on Tristan KELLY (USA) for the gold medal who scored a four-pointer with seven seconds remaining against PRIYA (IND) to claim a 4-4 criteria victory 

14:10: 72kg semifinals - Buse TOSUN (TUR) is into the final at 72kg after a close 2-2 criteria win over Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN). She was down 2-1 but dragged the Japanese out of bounds to take the criteria and the win. For the gold medal, she will take on Diksha MALIK (IND) who posted a 4-2 win over Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW).

13:55: 57kg semifinals - MANISHA (IND) makes it to the final at 57kg with rather ease, beating Amory ANDRICH (GER), 11-0. She will test herself against Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) in the gold medal bout after the Japanese defeated Elvira SULEYMAN (TUR) via fall

13:45: 53kg semifinals - U20 world champion Everest LEYDECKER (USA) takes out world bronze medalist ANTIM (IND) 2-2. She scored a takedown in the first period and then defended that score. However, Antim managed to score a stepout alongwith a point for fleeing from Leydecker. With the score 2-2, Leydecker kept the criteria for a bigger technique and won. She will take on Roksana ZASINA (POL) for the gold medal who defeated Annika WENDLE (GER), 8-4, in the other semifinals.

13:15: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) gets two rolls from par terre and then defends to beat Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) and move into the semifinals at 77kg.

12:50: Almost five years after they met in the 2021 U17 World Championships, Katie GOMEZ (USA) and ANTIM (IND) meet again on the mat in Zagreb. Antim gets the first takedown an also point for activity clock. Antim extends her lead to 5-0 with another takedown before the break. Constant pressure from Antim and gets two more takedowns to lead 9-0. Antim finishes with an exposure and wins 11-0, avenging that loss from Budapest against Gomez, who went on to win the gold there.

12:35: Everest LEYDECKER (USA), U20 world champion and competing at her first senior international tournament, begins with an 11-0 victory over Anjali KACHHAWA (IND) at 53kg.

12:20: Priya PRIYA (IND), who finished fifth at the World Championships, pins Enrica RINALDI (ITA) at 76kg and moves into the semifinals.

12:05: Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE) drops her 72kg bout against Buse TOSUN (TUR), 2-0. Both activity clock points and then Tosun is solid in defense to post the victory

11:50: In an all Hungarian battle perhaps for the European Championships selection, Robert FRITSCH (HUN) gets the better of Levente LEVAI (HUN), 4-1, at 77kg. A turn from par terre for Fritsch in that win.

11:45: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) gets the par terre and wastes no time in getting Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) two reverse bodylock throws and two and four points respectively. He then gets a takedown to win the bout via technical superiority at 77kg

11:40: After a longish battle and review, Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) gets a 15-11 victory over Sydney PETZINGER (USA) at 53kg. 

11:25: Giullia PENALBER (BRA) with a dominant win on U23 world champion Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) at 57kg. Aliyeva never got going and Penalber led 14-4 before getting the fall

11:15: Asian champion at 62kg MASNISHA (IND) has moved down to 57kg. She faces Tindra DALMYR (SWE) in her opening bout and begins well to score a takedown. Dalmyr gets a four-pointer but Manisha controls the rest of the bout and wins 9-4

11:10: Amory ANDRICH (GER) gets a fall over Samantha STEWART (CAN) at 57kg. Stewart has been adjusting to the 57kg weight class but Andrich made short work of Stewart

10:45: Couple of quick results from Greco-Roman. First up is Levente Levai (HUN), European champion at 72kg and now at 77kg, with a 3-0 victory against Mohamed Khalil (EGY). And Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB) holding on for a 3-2 victory against Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) at 77kg

10:30: Another day in the and we will see more wrestlers trying to adjust to the Olympic weight classes.