Granma y Cerro Pelado

Olympic Champion Borrero Wows Home Crowd To Make Granma Cup Finals

Sunday, February 18, 2018 - 03:10 By

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HAVANA, Cuba – The heavy hitters emerged as day one of the Granma Cup Greco-Roman scrap came to a close on Saturday evening in Cuba’s illustrious capitol city.

Havana raved the return of its Olympic champion, Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB), who competed in front of his home-country crowd for the first time since the Rio Games.

Competing eight kilograms above the weight class in which he won his Olympic gold medal, Borrero Molina navigated his way through three bouts to qualify for tomorrow afternoon’s final at 67kg.

He tackled a pair of countrymen to kick off his day, downing Damian CRISTIAN (CUB), 5-1, and Miquel MARTINEZ (CUB), 3-2. Hitting his stride in round three, Borrero Molina executed a sweeping five-point arm throw to pin Alejandro SANCHO (USA) in just over one minute.  

Borrero Molina, also a 2015 world champion, will rematch against Martinez for the gold medal.

Three additional finals feature two competitors from the host nation of Cuba. None are larger than the 130kg final pitting 2016 Olympic silver medalist Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) opposite 2017 world bronze medalist Oscar PINO HANDS (CUB).

Both heavyweight combatants went unscored upon throughout the day, with each grabbing two individual victories. Pino Hinds earned the tougher win of the two by edging 2017 European silver medalist Balint LAM (HUN) in the semifinals, 3-0.

The past two years Lugo Cabrera and Pino Hinds have been Cuban teammates at the Pan American Championships. Both earned gold on each occasion. In fact, Lugo Cabrera has amassed a whopping seven Pan American titles dating back to 2009.

The remaining Cuba-on-Cuba finals come at 60kg between Luis ORTA (CUB) and two-time Pan American champion Javier DUMENIGO (CUB), and at 63kg with Joy MAREN (CUB) and Janier ALMENARES (CUB) earning the nod.

The 87kg final will be a rematch of the Grand Prix of Zagreb final held two weeks ago in Croatia. Two-time world bronze medalist and reigning European champion Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) and U23 world champion Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) are slated to meet in an all-Hungarian final tussle once more. Lorincz won the latest battle between the two top-tier talents.

A highly-anticipated Hungary-Cuba showdown will take place at 72kg, with 2016 world champion Balint KORPASI (HUN) meeting two-time defending Granma Cup champion Yosvani PENA (CUB) for the gold.

The electric junior world champion from the United States, Kamal BEY (USA), downed two of last year’s Pan American medalists to secure a berth in the 77kg finals against Ariel FIZ (CUB).

Two-time Pan American bronze medalist Luigi PEREZ (VENEZUELA) will be challenged by Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) in the 97kg final contest.

The 82kg weight class featured a four-man round-robin, therefore will not have a designated gold-medal match. The last bout scheduled to be wrestled in this bracket comes with 2016 world bronze medalist Lazlo SZABO (HUN) facing Antonio DURAN (CUB). Should Szabo take this bout, he will be named champion.

Of note, Szabo won a tight, 2-0 bout over 2014 world champion Peter BACSI (HUN) in the opening round of the day. Bacsi is positioned to win the silver medal if Szabo holds serve tomorrow.

The Greco-Roman medal matches at the Granma Cup will take place at 2 p.m. (ET) on Sunday. Complete results and a live stream of the event can be found at unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS: http://uww.io/NQ6AU

MEDAL MATCHES

60kg

Gold – Luis ORTA (CUB) vs. Javier DUMENIGO (CUB)

Bronze – Andrej GINC (GER) vs. Dalton ROBERTS (USA

67kg

Gold – Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (Cuba) vs. Miquel MARTINEZ (Cuba)

Bronze – Alejandro SANCHO (United States) vs. Wilexys RIVAS (Venezuela)

72kg

Gold – Balint KORPASI (Hungary) vs. Yosvani PENA (Cuba)

Bronze – Anthony SANDER (Germany) vs. Logan KASS (United States)

77kg

Gold – Ariel FIZ (Cuba) vs. Kamal BEY (United States)

Bronze – Juan ESCOBAR (Mexico) vs. Luis AVENDANO (Venezuela)

87kg

Gold – Erik SZILVASSY (Hungary) vs. Viktor LORINCZ (Hungary)

Bronze – Friedrich FOUDA (Germany) vs. Geovanis CARRERAS (Cuba)

Bronze – Kevin RADFORD (United States) vs. Daniel GREGORYCH (Cuba)

97kg

Gold – Luigi PEREZ (Venezuela) vs. Gabriel ROSILLO (Cuba)

Bronze – Monteaqudo REINIER (Cuba) vs. Hayden ZILLMER (United States)

Bronze – Kevin MEJIA (Honduras) vs. Pablo REINIER (Cuba)

130kg

Gold – Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (Cuba) vs. Oscar PINO HINDS (Cuba)

Bronze – Diego ALMENDRA (Chile) vs. Balint LAM (Hungary)

Bronze – Eduardo MORRELL (Puerto Rico) vs. Franz RICHTER (Germany)

#Grappling

Russia Sweeps U17 European Grappling Despite Armenia Challenge

Tuesday, May 26, 2026 - 07:35 By United World Wrestling Press

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YEREVAN, Armenia (May 20) -- Armenia’s emerging grapplers showcased remarkable depth while Russia dominated the heavier divisions at the U17 Men’s European Grappling Championships here on Monday, with the three traditional regional powers — Armenia, Russia and Ukraine — sweeping podium places across the men’s categories.

Armenia’s strength was most visible in the lighter weights. In the 39-42kg category, Yura MELKONYAN led an Armenian one-two finish ahead of Emanuel GHULYAN, winning the bout 2-1. The trend continued at 50kg where Aram HOVSEPYAN (ARM) clinched gold while compatriot Arshak GALSTYAN (ARM) secured bronze. In the 63kg division, Avet BARSEGHYAN (ARM) added a bronze to the home country’s tally.

The hosts consistently placed multiple wrestlers on the podium, underlining the depth of their youth programme. Armenia added further medals through Marat KARAPETYAN and Hovhannes MRKTCHYAN at 46kg, Gor KHACHATRYAN at 54kg, Garush VARDANYAN at 76kg and Martin DAVTYAN at 85kg.

Russia, meanwhile, stamped its authority in the middle and upper weights. Albert PAREMUZIAN won (RUS) the 46kg title before Azizdzhon SOTVOLDIEV (RUS) took gold at 58kg, beating Davyd KHOMANETS (UKR) 5-0 in the final.

The Russians continued their dominance in the 63 and 69kg categories, recording a gold-silver finish in both. In 63kg, Kurbanali MAKHMUDOV (RUS) defeated Boris BAIRAMUKOV (RUS) to win the gold medal, whereas Ramil ZHIROV (RUS) claimed the 69kg title, beating Iaroslav BALAKIREV (RUS) 7-2 in the final.

The Russians were especially dominant at 76kg where Gusein KHASAEV defeated compatriot Muslim MAMMAEV 2-1 in an all-Russian final.

Ibragim KUMYSHEV (RUS) added another gold at 85kg while Russia also collected silver and bronze in the heavyweight 110kg division through Dzhamal ALKHASOV and Ramazan ESEDOV, respectively.

Ukraine produced fewer overall medallists but impressed with quality performances. Roman SHOSTAK led a Ukrainian one-two finish at 54kg ahead of Illia ZHOLOBOV, while Yaroslav FEDYNA emerged heavyweight champion at 110kg. Ukraine also secured double podium finishes at 58kg through Khomanets and Artem ZAIETS.

Poland’s Marcel Jan BIALEK was the only medallist outside the dominant trio, taking silver at 85kg.

While Russia won the team title with a total of 190 points, hosts Armenia were second with 164, and Ukraine finished third, amassing 85 points.

Russia Dominates in Women`s

Russia reinforced its status as the tournament’s powerhouse by capturing the women’s team title as well, after a commanding series of performances across all categories. Echoing the dominance of the men, Russian grapplers reached the podium in all five weight categories and ultimately finished ahead of Ukraine in the overall standings, with 105 points.

Olesia YATSKO (UKR) beat Ailina GALIEVA (RUS) 7-4 to reign supreme in the 46kg category. It was a Russian 1-2 in the 49kg division, with Vasilisa SHUTOVA (RUS) defeating compatriot Elena KHISMATULLINA (RUS) to take the gold, while Karolina HYRIA (UKR) won the bronze medal.

The strongest statement came in the 56kg category, where Russia completed a remarkable clean sweep of the podium. Sofia ZASLAVSKAIA secured the gold medal after an outstanding performance, while Veronika ZIIAEVA added silver and Eva Sergeevna USHAKOVA claimed bronze, underlining the nation’s depth and control in the weight class.

Russia continued to collect crucial team points in the 60kg division, where Viktoria MOKSUNOVA earned silver. Nadia Bozena PLEWINSKA (POL) took the gold medal with an impressive display while Yana PAVLIUK (UKR) finished third to keep Ukraine firmly in contention for second place in the team rankings.

In the 65kg division, Ukraine celebrated gold through Sofia GOLOVACH, who delivered one of the country’s standout performances of the tournament. Matylda ULEWICZ (POL) earned silver, while Angelina IARKINA (RUS) added another bronze medal to the Russian tally.

Despite strong competition from both Ukraine and Poland, Russia’s consistency across all categories proved decisive, with the multiple podium finishes allowing them to comfortably secure the overall women’s title.