#Yariguin2019

Russia Captures Five of Seven Golds on Day Two of Ivan Yariguin

By Eric Olanowski

KRASNOYARSK, Russia (January 25) - Russia, riding on the coattail of their two-time world champion Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV, claimed a combined five gold medals across freestyle and women’s wrestling on the second day of competition at the 30th Annual Ivan Yariguin. 

Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov stuck two-time world bronze medalist GANZORIG Mandakhnaran (MGL) in the 70kg finals to claim his first Yariguin title. Gazimagomedov scored three takedowns and then caught Ganzorig on his back during a failed Mongolian roll-through attempt, which was meant to stop the Russian from grabbing his fourth takedown. Either way, Gazimagomedov picked up the fall after leading 10-0. 

Muslim SADULAEV (RUS) scored four points on a first-period feet-to-back double leg and outlasted Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 4-4 in the 57kg gold medal bout. 

Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS) gave the Russian Federation their third freestyle gold medal of the day when he made easy work of Romania’s Nikolai OKHLOPKOV, shutting him out, 7-0, in the 61kg gold-medal bout. 

Viktoriia VAULINA and Mariia KUZNETSOVA stopped Japan from sweeping the Day 2 women’s wrestling finals and provided the host nation with their final two gold medals of the day. 

Vaulina stuck Nao TANIYAMA (JPN) in the 55kg finals after commanding a lead 7-0 lead, and Kuznetsova rode a nine-point first period to grab the 9-4 win over Misuzu ENOMOTO (JPN) in the 65kg gold-medal bout. 

Kika KAGATA and Yuzuka INAGAKI handed Japan the pair of remaining women’s wrestling gold medals. 

Kagata controlled the 50kg gold-medal bout from the first whistle and capped off her Yariguin rookie trip with a 10-0 victory over Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS). 

The game plan for Kagata, the four-time age-level world champion, was apparent and worked like a charm. The Japanese plan was to overemphasize the fake to the left leg and come back to the right with a high crotch. Kagata scored a pair of early first period takedowns with her heavy fake, then tacked on an exposure and commanded for the 6-0 lead before ending the match with a defensive stop that transitioned to a leg lace, giving her the 10-0 technical superiority victory. 

Yuzuka Inagaki survived a scare and narrowly edged Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 4-3, to win the 59kg gold medal. 

Inagaki, the 2017 cadet world champion, scored the first takedown of the match, using an overhook to a high crotch and ended the opening period with a two-point advantage. 

In the final period, Inagaki went back to what worked in the first period and scored her second takedown of the match with an overhook to a high crotch,  extending her lead to 4-0. 

Things got interesting from this point of the match. 

A Lipatova exposure and reversal cut Inagaki’s lead to 4-3. With under 10 seconds remaining in the match, the Russian went for and was awarded the match-winning takedown as the clock hit zero. Lipatova gained the 5-4 advantage as time expired, but a successful Japanese challenge that lasted nearly four minutes reversed the call and helped Inagaki narrowly escape with the 4-3 victory. 

Day three action from the Ivan Yariguin resumes tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. local time. 

RESULTS

Freestyle 

57kg 
GOLD - Muslim SADULAEV (RUS) vs. Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS)
BRONZE - NARMANDAKH Lkhangarmaa (MGL) df. ZOU Wanhao (CHN),  4-4 
BRONZE -  Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA) df. Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL), 14-8

61kg 
GOLD - Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS) df. Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU), 7-0 
BRONZE - Ramazan FERZALIEV (RUS) df. Otgonbaatar GANSUKH (MGL), 10-0 
BRONZE - Eduard GRIGORIEV (RUS) df. TSERMAA Chinzorig (MGL), 4-0 

70kg
GOLD - Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL), via fall
BRONZE -  ENKHBAYAR Byambadorj (MGL) df. Askhat SLYAMKHANOV (KAZ), 8-0 
BRONZE - Razambek ZHAMALOV (RUS) df. David BAEV (RUS), 8-4

Women’s Wrestling 

50kg 
GOLD - Kika KAGATA (JPN) df. Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS), 10-0 
BRONZE - Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB) df. Anudari NANDINTSETSEG (MGL), 3-2
BRONZE - Victoria Lacey ANTHONY (USA) df. Elena VOSTRIKOVA (RUS), 6-1

55kg
GOLD - Viktoriia VAULINA (RUS) df. Nao TANIYAMA (JPN), via fall. 
BRONZE - BAT OCHIR Bolortuya (MGL) df. Ekaterina VERBINA (RUS), 7-5

59kg 
GOLD - Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 4-3 
BRONZE - ALTANTSETSEG Battsetseg (MGL) df. Zelfira SADRADDINOVA  (RUS), 7-4 

65kg
GOLD - Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) df.  Misuzu ENOMOTO (JPN), 9-4 
BRONZE - Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL) df. SALIKHOVA Dinara (RUS), via fall 
BRONZE - Yulia PRONTSEVITCH (RUS) df. Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA), 4-1 

#CanadaWrestling

Former world champion Di Stasio of Canada retires

By United World Wrestling Press

OTTAWA, Canada (March 13) -- After nearly 15 years of representing Canada, Justina DI STASIO (CAN) has decided to retire.

During her career, Di Stasio built an impressive resume that will go down as one of the all-time greats in Canadian wrestling history. The 32-year-old represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Di Stasio won gold medal at the World Championship in 2018, a Pan-American Games gold medal in 2019 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022. In addition, she is a multiple-time Pan-Am Championships gold medalist.

While there have been many memorable moments, a few stood out to Di Stasio, including her start with the national team, her win at the 2018 worlds, being coached on the national team by two-time Olympic medalist Tonya VERBEEK (CAN), and making her first Olympics in 2024.

“Winning worlds was a special moment, especially because I could hear my parents cheering from the stands," Di Stasio said. "It reminded me of my tournaments as a kid. It also helped me frame everything in my life better. I realized it is about the journey and not the destination. It was amazing to feel the way I did on that one day, but it was only one day. I had worked so hard in the lead up, but I realized I had to enjoy those days too. I still wanted to be the best in the world and I never didn’t train like it, but from that point, I made sure to enjoy my wrestling every day.”

That love for the sport kept Di Stasio going despite setbacks that stalled her dream of competing at the Olympics. After failing to qualify for the Rio and Tokyo Games, Di Stasio qualified for Paris 2024, eventually finishing 12th.

“Making it to the Olympics came with lots of pressure, but good pressure. I had won everything else and trained every day thinking I could be an Olympic champion. Even though it was a heart-breaking result, I know I couldn’t have worked harder and that helped me accept the result. I would have loved to make it there when I was younger, but I think I needed to be more mature to handle the result.”

Read full news on Wrestling Canada Lutte website.