Potential Russia and Iran World Cup Final Looming

Saturday, March 16, 2019 - 14:30 By Eric Olanowski

YAKUTSK, Russia (March 16) – The Russian Federation went 17-3 in their 20 individual bouts and won their pair of Group A matches on the opening day of wrestling at the 2019 Freestyle World Cup in Yakutsk, Russia. The host nation is expected to take on Iran, who went 2-0 in Group B action, in Saturday night’s first-place match.

In Group A, Russia opened up with a 9-1 routing of Cuba, then defeated Japan, 8-2.

In their dual against their Cuban opponents, Aryian TIUTRIN (RUS) kicked things off (at 57kg) for Russia by upsetting U23 world champion Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA, 8-3, giving Russia the 1-0 lead. Reigning 61kg world champion Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (CUB) put Cuba on the board with a 5-5 win over Zelimkhan ABAKAROV(RUS), which tied the dual at one match apiece. But Russia never looked back and went on an eight-match win streak, ultimately taking the match, 9-1.

In their second match, the Russians beat a Japanese squad who was without 2018 world champion Takuto OTOGURO, 8-2. The reigning world runner-ups trailed 2-0 after Japan's 2017 world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Yudai FUJITA (JPN) scored back-to-back wins at 57kg and 61kg but rattled off eight straight wins for the second time on Day One and picked up the 8-2 victory.

Though they both lost to Russia, Cuba and Japan both scooped up wins against Turkey and head into the final group-stage matchup with 1-1 records. They’ll wrestle each other on Saturday morning (at 11:00) for the second place spot in Group A, with the winner heading to the third-place bout.

Japan, in their match with Turkey, won eight of ten matches, including a win via fall for Sohsuke TAKATANI over current world No. 1 and 2018 world runner-up Fatih ERDIN (TUR) at 86kg. The two were in a scramble when Takatani caught Erdin on his back and flattened him for the fall. Erdin later injury defaulted out of his second match.

Cuba also picked up a win over Turkey. The final score of that match was 6-4.

They did so on the backs of four consecutive Cuban wins after Turkey's Nazim KARA and Abdulkadir OZMEN broke the matches 2-2 tie and handed Turkey the commanding 4-2 advantage with four matches left. The Cuban quartet of Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA, Lazaro HERNANDEZ LUIS, Reineris SALAS PEREZ, and Oscar PINO HINDS picked up wins and closed out the dual on a four-match win streak, helping Cuba grab the 6-4 team victory.

Group B

In Group B action, Iran is the favorite to meet the Russian Federation for the gold medal after their undefeated 2-0 record after the first day of wrestling. They started the day off with a 9-1 thumping of Mongolia before upending the defending champion, the United States, 5-5 on classification points.

For Iran to meet the Russian Federation for the Freestyle World Cup title, they'll have to avoid a loss to a Georgia team that has lost both of their opening day matches.

The United States and Mongolia went 1-1 on the day and will wrestle Sunday afternoon (at 12:15) to determine Group B’s second-place finisher. That match will determine who wrestles the winner of Cuba and Japan in tomorrows bronze-medal match.

Results

Session One

Group A

Russia df. Cuba, 9-1
57kg - Aryian TIUTRIN(RUS) df. Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA(CUB), 8-3 (Russia 1-0)
61kg - Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (CUB) df. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV(RUS), 5-5 (Tie)
65kg - Gadshimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) wins via inj. def. (Russia 2-1)
70kg - David BAEV(RUS) df. Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB) (10-0) (Russia 3-1)
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) df. Jeandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB), via fall (Russia 4
1)
79kg - Husej SUUNCEV (RUS) df. Reinier PEREZ ABREU (CUB), 12-1 (Russia 5-1)
86kg - Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) df. Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB), 4-0 (6-1)
92kg - Magomed KURBANOV (RUS) df. Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS (CUB), 9-7 (Russia 7-1)
97kg – Vladislav BAITSAEV (RUS) df. SALAS PEREZ R. (CUB), 4-0 (Russia 8-1)
125kg - Zelimkhan KHIZRIYEV (RUS) df. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), 10-0 (Russia 9-1)

Japan df. Turkey, 8-2
57kg - Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Ali KARABOGA (TUR), 11-2 (Japan 1-0)
61kg - Yudai FUJITA (JPN) df. Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR), 5-1 (Japan 2-0)
65kg - Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) wins via inj. def. (Japan 3-0)
70kg - Serhat ARSLAN (TUR) df. Kojiro SHIGA (JPN), 7-2 (Japan 3-1)
74kg – Yuto MIWA (JPN) df N. KARA (TUR), 4-3 (Japan 4-1)
70kg - Yuta ABE (JPN) df. Abdulkadir OZMEN (TUR), 3-0 (Japan 5-1)
86kg - Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN) df Fatih ERDIN (TUR), via fall (Japan 6-1)
92kg - Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN) df Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR), 2-1 (Japan 7-1)
97kg - Naoya AKAGUMA (JPN) df. Ali BONCEOGLU (TUR), 6-3 (Japan 8-1)
125kg - Abdullah OMAC (TUR) df. Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA, 3-0 (Japan 8-2)

Group B

USA df. Georgia 7-3

57kg - Lasha LOMTADZE (GEO) df. Zach SANDERS Z. (USA), 3-1 (Georgia 1-0)
61kg - Nicholas MEGALUDIS (USA) df. Tornike KATAMADZE (GEO), 10-0 (Tied)
65kg - Zain RETHERFORD (USA) df Amiran VAKHTANGASHVILI (GEO), 9-2 (USA 2-1)
70kg - Jason CHAMBERLAIN (USA) df. Mirza SKHULUKHIA (GEO), 10-0 (USA 3-1)
74kg - Isaiah MARTINEZ (USA) df. Zurabi ERBOTSONASHVILI (GEO), 10-6 (USA 4-1)
79kg - Davit KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) df. Thomas GANTT JR (USA), 11-0 (USA 4-2)
86kg - Samuel BROOKS (USA) df. Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO), via fall (USA 5-2)
92kg - Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) df. Hayden ZILLMER (USA), 3-0 (USA 5-3)
97kg - Kyven GADSON (USA) df. Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO), 2-0 (USA 6-3)
125kg - Anthony NELSON (USA) df. Rolandi ANDRIADZE (GEO), 6-0 (USA 7-3)

Iran df. Mongolia, 9-1
57kg - Alireza SARLAK (IRI) df TUMENBILEG Tuvshintulga (MGL), 3-2  (iran 1-0)
61kg - ERDENEBAT Bekhbayar (MGL) df. Iman SADEGHIKOUKANDEH (IRI), 4-0 (Tied)
65kg - Morteza GHIASI CHEKA (IRI) df. BATCHULUUN Batmagnai (MGL), 7-3 (Iran 2-1)
70kg - Meisam NASIRI (IRI) df. GANZORIG Mandakhnaran (MGL), 7-2 (Iran 3-1)
74kg - Reza AFZALIPAEMAMI (IRI) df. BAT ERDENE Byambadorj (MGL), 7-0 (Iran 4-1 )
79kg - Mojtaba ASGHARI OSMAVANDANI (IRI) df. B. BYAMBASUREN (MGL), 11-0 (Iran 5-1)
86kg - Mersad MARGHZARI (IRI) df. ORGODOLUitumen (MGL), 5-3 (Iran 5-1)
92kg - Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI) df. BAASANTSOGT Ulziisaikhan. (MGL), 10-0  (Iran 7-1)
97kg -  Alireza GOODARZI (IRI) df. LUVSANDORJ Turtogtokh (MGL), 10-0 (Iran 8-1)
125kg -Komeil GHASEMI (IRI) df. DORJKHAND Khuderbulga (MGL), via fall. (iran 9-1)

Session Two
Group A

Russia df. Japan 8-2
57kg - Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Muslim SADULAEV (RUS) , 2-1 (Japan 1-0)
61kg - Yudai FUJITA (JPN) df. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (RUS), 2-2 (Japan 2-0)
65kg - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) df. Daichi TAKATANI (JPN), 11-0 (Japan 2-1)
70kg - Anzor ZAKUEV (RUS) df. Kojiro SHIGA (JPN), 11-0 (Tied)
74kg - Timur BIZHOEV (RUS) df. Yuto MIWA (JPN) , 11-0 (Russia 3-2)
79kg - Magomed Eldarovitch RAMAZANOV (RUS) df. Yuta ABE (JPN), 10-0 (Russia 4-2)
86kg - Vladislav VALIEV (RUS) df. Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN), 6-4 (Russia 5-2)
92kg - Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RUS) df. Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN) 10-0 (Russia 6-2)
97kg - Vladislav BAITCAEV (RUS) df. Naoya AKAGUMA (JPN), 6-2 (Russia 7-2)
125kg - Pavel KRIVTSOV (RUS) df. Katsutoshi KANAZAWA (JPN), 11-0 (Russia 8-2)

Cuba df. Turkey, 6-4
57kg - Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB) df. Ali KARABOGA (TUR), 5-2 (Cuba 1-0)
61kg - Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR) df. Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (CUB), 7-1(Tied)
65kg - Cengizhan ERDOGAN (TUR) df. AlejandroVALDES TOBIER (CUB), via disq. (Turkey 2-1)
70kg - Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB) df. Serhat ARSLAN (TUR), via fall (Tied)
74kg - Nazim Selami KARA (TUR) df. COLOMBAT RIVERA Cristian Reinier (CUB), 12-2 (Turkey 3-2)
79kg - Abdulkadir OZMEN (TUR) df. Reinier PEREZ ABREU (CUB), via fall (Turkey 4-2)
86kg - Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR), via inj. def (Turkey 4-3)
92kg - Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS (CUB) df. Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR), 4-4 (Tied)
97kg - Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB) df. Ali BONCEOGLU (TUR), 11-7 (Cuba 5-4)
125kg - Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) df. Abdullah OMAC (TUR), 8-1 (Cuba 6-4)

Group B
Iran df. USA, 5-5
57kg - Alireza SARLAK (IRI) df. Zachary SANDERS (USA), 4-3 (Iran 1-0)
61kg - Nicholas MEGALUDIS (USA) df. Iman SADEGHIKOUKANDEH (IRI), 12-0 (Tied)
65kg - Zain RETHERFORD (USA) df. Morteza GHIASI CHEKA (IRI), 6-1 (USA 2-1)
70kg - Meisam NASIRI (IRI) df. Jason CHAMBERLAIN (USA), 3-0 (Tied)
74kg - Isaiah MARTINEZ (USA) df. Reza AFZALIPAEMAMI (IRI), 8-2 (USA 3-2)
79kg - Thomas GANTT JR (USA) df. Mojtaba ASGHARI OSMAVANDANI (IRI), 11-6 (USA 4-2)
86kg - Mersad MARGHZARI (IRI) df. Samuel BROOKS (USA), via fall (USA 4-3)
92kg - Hayden ZILLMER (USA) df. Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI), 6-4 (Tied)
97kg - Alireza Mohammad GOODARZI (IRI) df. Kyven Ross GADSON (USA), 4-0 (Iran 5-4)
125kg - Komeil Nemat GHASEMI (IRI) df. Anthony NELSON (USA), 6-2 (Tied)

Mongoloa df. Georgia, 5-5
57kg - Lasha LOMTADZE (GEO) df. TUMENBILEG Tuvshintulga (MGL), 8-8 (Georgia 1-0)
61kg - GANSUKH Otgonbaatar (MGL) df. Tornike KATAMADZE (GEO), 10-0 (Tied)
65kg - BATCHULUUN Batmagnai (MGL) df. Amiran VAKHTANGASHVILI (GEO), 9-2 (Mongolia 2-1)
70kg - ENKHBAYAR Byambadorj (MGL) df. Mirza SKHULUKHIA (GEO), 16-5 (Mongolia 3-1)
74kg - Zurabi ERBOTSONASHVILI (GEO) df. BAT ERDENE Byambadorj (MGL), 6-4 (Mongolia 3-2)
79kg - Davit KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) df. BYAMBASUREN Bat-Erdene (MGL), 6-2 (Tied)
86kg - ORGODOL Uitumen (MGL) df. Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO), 4-3 (Mongolia 4-3)
92kg - Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) df. BAASANTSOGT Ulziisaikhan (MGL), 11-0 (Tied)
97kg - Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) df. ULZIISAIKHAN Batzul (MGL), 3-1 (Georga 5-4)
125kg - MUNKHTUR Lkhagvagerel (MGL) df. Rolandi ANDRIADZE (GEO), 1-1 (Mongolia 5-5)

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: Lopez confident in his quest for fifth Olympic gold

Sunday, July 21, 2024 - 06:14 By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 21) -- In the history of the Olympic Games, only one athlete has won the gold medals five consecutive times: Ireen Wüst. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Dutch speed skater completed the milestone and etched her name into the history books when she won the 1,500m race.

No Summer Olympian has ever won gold medals in the same individual event five consecutive times. No wrestler has ever won five gold medals. All that could change in Paris. And the man sniffing at the record is Mijain LOPEZ (CUB).

The man they fondly call ‘Gigante de Herradura’ and ‘El Terrible’ currently holds the record of winning the same individual Olympic event four times along with swim legend Michael Phelps, track hero Carl Lewis, the American discus throw hero Al Oerter, the sailor from Denmark Paul Elvstrom and Kaori ICHO (JPN) who, like Lopez, has four gold medals.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Born on August 20, 1982, the super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler made his first appearance at the Olympics in 2004. He was accompanied in the contingent by his elder brother Michel, a boxer (his other older sibling, Misael, was a rower). Michel won a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division in Athens, a medal that continued Cuba’s historic dominance in boxing.

Lopez observed everything quietly at his maiden Games and when he returned to the biggest stage of all, in Beijing four years later, he would take the field by storm. The 6-foot-5-inch tall wrestler won a gold and repeated that feat in 2012, then in 2016 and the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“I feel like it is a dream,” Lopez said. “I believe that it's a goal that I have had throughout my career. I have won four gold medals. I believe winning an Olympic gold medal is hard. So winning four and five is exceptional.”

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) defends his gold medal at 2012 London Olympic Games (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

His stranglehold in the super heavyweight division at the Olympics has played side-by-side with his dominance at the World Championships – where he has five titles and three silver medals – and the nine Pan American Championships crowns that are to his name.

Lopez last competed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. After beating Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) in the gold medal bout on superiority, he stayed away from the mat before resurfacing last year to renew his bid for a fifth Olympic gold.

In May 2023, he announced his intention to come back but didn’t straightaway dive into competition mode although he would have been the favorite to defend his Pan American Games title.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) won his third gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

But due to a personal loss in the weeks leading up to the Pan-Am Games, Lopez opted out of the competition and chose to prepare himself for the bigger battle. He watched from the sidelines as for the first time since 2003, a new face stood on the top of the podium at the Pan-Am Games.

All the while, Lopez had been training with single-minded focus at his bases in Varadero, the scenic beach resort roughly 150 km from Havana, and the Pelado High-Performance Centre in Havana.

In Paris, he might have to fight two battles simultaneously. The first against his aging body — he is 41 years old at the moment. And once he manages that, the Cuban will have to navigate through a tough field, especially since he isn’t among the seeded wrestlers in the 130kg category.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) won his fourth gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Lopez has sounded unfazed. If anything, he is itching to better the record of one of his favorite athletes, someone he has called the greatest Olympian of all time – Phelps.

“The preparation is done. I feel in optimal condition and all wrestlers are motivated both in Cuba and internationally. It has been a very important time for me to keep the motivation to get to my sixth Olympic Games and fight for my fifth medal,” he said. “Something I am doing with great focus to be able to show the world that everything you have in mind, and want to achieve, can be achieved. I know it's in my mind, and I believe the possibility of achieving that result is high.”

Lopez wrestles in Paris on August 5 and 6.

Potential Russia and Iran World Cup Final Looming

Group B

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Paris 2024: Lopez confident in his quest for fifth Olympic gold