#PolandOpen

Poland Prise Pair of Women's Golds at #PolandOpen

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (September 8) –  Roksana ZASINA (POL) and Agnieszka WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) helped the host nation, Poland, capture two of the possible five women’s wrestling gold medals that were up for grabs on the second day of the final Ranking Series event of the year. 

Roksana Zasina, the No. 8 ranked wrestler in the world, gave Poland their first gold medal of the day after scoring a 6-2 win over U23 world bronze medalist Tetyana KIT (UKR) in the 55kg gold-medal match. 

Zasina won her second straight Poland Open title, but more importantly, she stopped Kit from capturing her first Ranking Series gold medal. Kit has competed in three of the four Ranking Series events and has finished with two silvers and a bronze medal. 

At 72kg, Wieszczek-Kordus handed Poland their second women’s wrestling gold medal after sticking WANG Kunming (CHN) in the gold-medal match. It took Wieszczek-Kordus four tries, but she finally grabbed the gold medal that she’s been chasing since 2012. 


Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) knocked off the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world to win the Poland Open title at 65kg. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN), Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), and Mariya STADNIK (AZE) won the final women’s wrestling gold medals. 

In the 65kg finals, Danielle Lappage stunned the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world, Petra OLLI (FIN), 3-2. Lappage handed Olli her first loss since January’s Ivan Yarygin. Since January, Ollie has won gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the European Championships. 

Stadnik gabbed her second gold medal of the season, defeating Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) in the 50kg gold-medal bout. Stadnik, the Klippan Lady Open runner-up, and European Championship gold medalist scored her fifth technical superiority victory of the tournament, improving her 2018 record to 12-1. Her only loss in 2018 was against reigning world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN).

Svetlana Lipatova claimed the final gold medal with an injury default win over 2017 world runner-up, Marwa AMRI (TUN). 

RESULTS
Women's Wrestling
50kg

GOLD -  Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Ilona SEMKIV (UKR), 13-2 

BRONZE - Whitney CONDER (USA) df. Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS), 6-4 
BRONZE - Jessica Anne Marie MACDONALD (CAN) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), via injury default

55kg
GOLD -  Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 6-2 

BRONZE - Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR) df. Olga SHNAIDER (UKR), 4-0  
BRONZE - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) df. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), 10-0 

59kg
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) df. Marwa AMRI (TUN), 0-0 

BRONZE - Olena KREMZER (UKR) df. Hanna VAHER (BLR), 4-0 
BRONZE - Lingling BAO (CHN) df. Laura Sofia AAK (NOR), via fall

65kg 
GOLD -  Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN), 3-2 

BRONZE - Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), via fall 
BRONZE - Moa NYGREN (SWE)df. Chuying TANG (CHN), 6-2

72kg
GOLD -  Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) df. Kunming WANG (CHN), via fall 

BRONZE - Catalina AXENTE (ROU) df. Patrycja SPERKA (POL), 3-1
BRONZE - Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) df. Nikoletta Renata SZMOLKA (HUN), 10-0

Freestyle
57kg 

GOLD -  Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) df. Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA), 10-0 

BRONZE - Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) df. Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV (USA), 12-6 
BRONZE - Nurislam (Artas) SANAYEV (SANAA) (KAZ) df. Adrian Jakub WAGNER (POL), via fall. 

65kg 
GOLD - Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) df. Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO), via injury default

BRONZE - Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL) df. Jordan OLIVER (USA), , via forfeit
BRONZE - Dimitar Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL) df. Hasibagena HASIBAGENA (CHN), 6-2 

74kg
GOLD -  Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Wei WU (CHN), 12-2 

BRONZE - Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) df. Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ), 7-1
BRONZE - Andrzej Piotr SOKALSKI (POL) df. Jonatan ALVAREZ DIAZ (ESP), via forfeit. 

86kg 
GOLD -  Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) df. Samuel BROOKS (USA), 2-2 

BRONZE - Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA) df. Lars SCHAEFLE (GER), 10-0 
BRONZE - Piotr IANULOV (MDA) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 8-3 

97kg
GOLD - Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df.  Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ), 10-0 

BRONZE - Chaoqiang YANG (CHN) df. Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN), via injury default 

Greco-Roman
63kg 

GOLD - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) df. Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL), 4-0 

BRONZE - Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) df. Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE), 8-0 

72kg 
GOLD -  Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Denis HORVATH (SVK), 9-0  

BRONZE - Daniel Mattias SOINI (SWE) df. Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN), 7-1 
BRONZE - Mikko Petteri PELTOKANGAS (FIN) df. Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR (BRA), 5-1 

82kg
GOLD - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR), 6-4 

BRONZE - Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Edgar BABAYAN (POL), 6-2
BRONZE - Jarno Krister AALANDER (FIN) df. Petr NOVAK (CZE), 4-3

97kg 
GOLD - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL), 7-0 

BRONZE - Suleyman ERBAY (TUR) df. Mathias BAK (DEN), 13-6 
BRONZE - Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) df. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), via injury default 

#WrestleTirana

Kamal soars high with Tirana Ranking Series gold

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (March 1) -- The last time Kerem KAMAL (TUR) was in action internationally, he did not have a favorable outcome. A bloody battle with Georgij TIBILOV (SRB) ended in a loss at the European Championships.

But Kamal, who impressed all with his performance at all the age-group World Championships and continentals, started the 2025 season with a scintillating victory at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series, capturing the 63kg gold medal.

The 2022 U23 world champion was in his elements as he defeated Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0, in the final with two big throws for four points each. His first shoulder throw gave him a 4-0 lead, then he got the par terre position from which he performed a suplex for four points to win in just over a minute. Choibekov challenged for a leg-foul but Kamal's movements were clean.

In his earlier bouts, he defeated Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 5-1 in the quarterfinals with some incredible defense from par terre in the first period. When Mohsen Nejad tried to turn Kamal, the Turkish wrestler moved forward on the mat to break Mohsen Nejad's grip.

Mohsen Nejad needed to score to break Kamal's 1-1 criteria lead and tried a big throw which Kamal blocked and pinned Mohsen Nejad on the mat for four points.

"At the Turkish Championships six weeks ago, I moved up to the new weight class of 63kg," Kamal said. "This time I competed against very strong opponents like Mohsen Nejad from Iran and [Razvan] Arnaut from Romania. I’m happy that I was able to win all my matches. It was a good start to the new year.

Kamal will now be busy for the preparation of European Championships to be held in second week of April in Bratislava, Slovakia.

"I’m not yet 100 percent fit," he said. "I focused a lot on endurance training during the training camp, and my preparations are fully aligned with the European Championships. I wanted to test my ground defense -- I did a good job [in Tirana] but I will work even harder to make sure I can reach my full potential at the European Championships."

Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) throws Valentin PETIC (MDA) for four points during the 67kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Kyrgyzstan did win a gold medal as U23 world champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) brought out his best in the final against Valentin PETIC (MDA), beating the Moldovan 11-0 to capture the 67kg gold medal.

This was the second gold medal for Kyrgyzstan in Tirana after Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal on Friday.

Beishekeev, the U23 world champion last year in Tirana, needed only the first par terre position to complete the technical superiority win over Petic. He went for the reverse left and scored four points and as Petic landed on his back, Beishekeev went for the fall. However, Petic blocked Beishekeev with his hands on legs was docked two caution points.

With a 7-0 lead and restart in par terre, Beishkeev once again went for the reverse lift and scored a four-pointer to complete the 11-0 win.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0

BRONZE: Baiaman APILOV (KGZ) df. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-1

67kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 11-0

BRONZE: Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 7-2
BRONZE: Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ) df. Lei LI (CHN), 9-1