#WrestlePontevedra

Russian Women Lead After Day 4; Hungary and Belarus Within Striking Distance

Thursday, June 6, 2019 - 19:09 By Eric Olanowski

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (June 6) – Daria KHVOSTOVA (RUS) and Ekaterina VERBINA (RUS) mounted come-from-behind victories in the 50kg and 55kg gold-medal matches respectively and assisted the Russian Federation in carrying a six-point lead over Hungary into the final day of women’s wrestling at the Junior European Championships. 

In the 50kg finals, Daria Khvostova used a late takedown and gut wrench to win the battle of former European champions against Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU), 6-3. 

The pair traded takedowns in the first period, but Khvostova found herself fighting from behind after Priceputu, the U23 world bronze medalist, had the 2-2 lead on criteria heading into the second period. 

The score remained unchanged until the 30-second mark of the second period when the Russian shot a low-level knee pull single, then transitioned into a gut wrench and took the 6-2 lead. Khvostova surrendered a stepout as time expired but held onto the three-point lead and won her second European title, and first since 2016 when she won the 43kg cadet European title in Stockholm, Sweden. 


Ekaterina VERBINA (RUS) scored a pair of takedowns in the final minute of the 55kg finals to defeat Anna SZEL (HUN), 6-6. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

In the 55kg gold-medal match, Ekaterina Verbina mounted a four-point comeback win with one-minute left and robbed Anna SZEL (HUN) of the European title. 

Verbina surrendered a pair of step outs, but scored two off a beautiful high crotch and had the 2-2 lead on criteria heading into the final three minutes. The Russian’s opponent tagged her with a takedown and gut wrench and grabbed the 6-2 lead heading into the final two minutes of the match. 

With 52 seconds remaining, Verbina picked up her offensive attack rate and to fire off high crotch after high crotch. The 2018 junior world bronze medalist scored twice off those high crotches and nabbed the 6-6 lead on criteria. Verbina held on to improve on her bronze-medal finish from last year, and won her first European title since winning the 2017 cadet European title. 

Russia also picked up a third medal on the day when Marina SUROVTSEVA defeated Greta CEPONYTE (LTU), 8-2 in the 76kg gold medal bout. 

Bernadett NAGY (HUN) shutout Kseniya DZIBUK (BLR),3-0 in the 76kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Hungary and Belarus Within Striking Distance of Russian in Team Race
Hungary (76 points) and Belarus (67 points) sit it second and third respectively and are in striking distance heading into the final day of wrestling in Spain. They each won a gold and a silver on the fourth day of the Junior European Championships. 

Hungary’s champion was Bernadett NAGY (HUN) and Belarus’ champion was Krystsina SAZYKINA (BLR). Nagy won the 76kg title with a 3-0 win over Kseniya DZIBUK (BLR), while Sazykina shutout Erika BOGNAR (HUN), 4-0 in the 59kg finals. 

Freestyle wrestling begins tomorrow morning at 11:00 (local time), and the Day 5 finals will start at 18:00. 

RESULTS

Team Scores (After Day 4) 
GOLD - Russia (79 points)
SILVER - Hungary  (73 points)
BRONZE - Belarus (67 points)
Fourth - Ukraine (64 points)
Fifth - Turkey (52 points)

50kg 
GOLD - Daria KHVOSTOVA (RUS) df. Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU), 6-3 
BRONZE - Taru Marketta VAINIONPAEAE (FIN) df. Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA), 5-3
BRONZE - Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR) vs. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)

55kg
GOLD - Ekaterina VERBINA (RUS) df. Anna Hella SZEL (HUN), 6-6 
BRONZE - Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 7-0
BRONZE - Patrycja GIL (POL) df. Darya SINKAVETS (BLR), via fall

59kg 
GOLD - Krystsina SAZYKINA (BLR) df. Erika BOGNAR (HUN) , 4-0
BRONZE - Veronika RYABOVOLOVA (UKR) df. Kristina MIKHNEVA (RUS), 4-3 
BRONZE - Teresa LUMIA (ITA) df. Angelika MYTKOWSKA (POL), 9-1 

68kg 
GOLD – Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE) df. Kadriye AKSOY (TUR), via fall 
BRONZE - Ewelina CIUNEK (POL) df. Johanna MEIER (GER), via fall 
BRONZE - Khrystyna MALIAVKA (UKR) df. Marta OJEDA NAVARRO (ESP), 13-3 

76kg 
GOLD - Bernadett NAGY (HUN) df. Kseniya DZIBUK (BLR), 3-0 
BRONZE - Romana VOVCHAK (UKR) vs. Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER) 
BRONZE - Marina SUROVTSEVA (RUS) df. Greta CEPONYTE (LTU), 8-2 

#WrestleTirana

Olympic medalists in strong field set to light up Tirana

Monday, February 24, 2025 - 12:21 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 24) -- After he won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) was asked his wrestling journey. He replied that he "had many problems" but will go through it again without second thoughts.

Taking his first step in the new Olympic cycle for 2028 LA Olympic, Novikov won the prestigious Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in January and is now wrestling his first Ranking Series event of the year -- the Muhamet Malo in Tirana.

Novikov is the only Paris Olympic champion who has returned to a UWW tournament since winning gold in August last year. He will be up against a top 87kg Greco-Roman field at the second Ranking Series of the year.

The tournament will be held in Tirana from February 26 to March 2 with important Ranking Series points up for grabs. The Zagreb Open, held two weeks ago, and Muhamet Malo will be crucial for wrestler hoping to get seeded at the continental championships that begin in March.

Novikov will be expecting rematches with David LOSONCZI (HUN) and Alireza MOHAMADIPIANI (IRI), both of whom he beat in Paris. Losonczi has Istvan TAKACS (HUN) and Tamas LEVAI (HUN) to watch out for as Hungary to second its pick for the European Championships.

Georgia is doing the same with Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) entered at 87kg while other strong contenders include Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) is hoping to be Iran's mainstay at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake KIRKMAN)

Despite the dropouts in other weight classes across styles just days before the tournament, it still throws quite a strong field.

At 60kg, Iran is pushing for Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) as it's flagbearer after struggling to find a world-beater. His first senior test will see him go up against a few stars including world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA), Olympian Enes BASAR (TUR) and Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) among others.

Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) was at 60kg earlier and was about to retire after Paris Olympics. However, he is wrestling at 63kg in Tirana and Turkiye's Kerem KAMAL (TUR) is also returning to action.

At 72kg, Levente LEVAI (HUN), who surprisingly won Zagreb Open gold, will look to continue his run but has hurdles in the name of former world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB) and European champion Selcuk CAN (TUR).

Paris Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is warming up for the Asian Championships and will be the favorite to win the gold medal at 130kg. He has Tokyo silver medalist Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) and age-group world champion Hamza BAKIR (TUR) in the bracket as well.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB)Chermen VALIEV (ALB) is a Paris Olympic medalist at 74kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Freestyle

Albania's star Freestyle trio of Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), Islam DUDAEV (ALB) and Chermen VALIEV (ALB) are wrestler in front of their home crowd. All three are returning to action since the Paris Games in which Dudaev and Valiev won bronze medals.

Abakarov will be tested by former European champion Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) and Artem GOBAEV (UWW) at 61kg.

Dudaev will have tougher challenges at 65kg. He is likely to have a Paris rematch with silver medalist Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) who is expected to be Iran's representative at the Asian Championships.

U23 world champion Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) is also entered and is always the biggest threat for the gold medal. Amouzad and Dudaev will be cautious of the rising star.

For Valiev, Yones EMAMI (IRI) and Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) could be the trouble-makers at 74kg, a weight class he is expected to dominate. Valiev and Salkazanov match for styles but Valiev seems to always find a way to score points while Salkazanov is more of a tactical wrestler who can play the clock well.

Naychn KUULAR (KAZ)Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ), a former U23 world champion, wrestling in Bundesliga. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

At 70kg, former U23 world champion Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ) is turning up for UWW competition after six years, this time for Kazakhstan. Kuular, who represented Russia previously, has kept himself in the news with a win over Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) in the Bundesliga, albeit at 71kg.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won't have great memories of Tirana as he lost the World Championships semifinal to Abdulrashid SADULAEV in the last second and returned empty-handed. But he is back in Tirana with less expectations and pressure at 92kg as he begins an Olympic cycle in which he may finally get to be at the Olympics.

At 125kg, Olympic silver medalist Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) will be in action and the favorite to win gold medal as well.

Kyle SNYDER (USA) will be wrestling at back-to-back Ranking Series events. He won the gold medal in Zagreb and is expected to be in Tirana as well. A second gold medal this year will push him to the top of the ranking at 97kg.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) is the world champion at 55kg but wrestling at 53kg in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

Japan is sending its six Emperor's Cup winners to Tirana. The six include two world champions from last year as Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) return to Tirana for another trip.

Others include former age-group world champion Umi ITO (JPN) who finished with a bronze at the U23 World Championships, will also be returning to Tirana. Former world champion Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) [nee OKUNO], is registered at 55kg, U20 world champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) is at 59kg, world bronze medalist Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg and Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN) is at 76kg.

China too is sending a strong but a relatively new team. It will be led by former 59kg world champion Qi ZHANG (CHN) who is moving up to 62kg for this tournament. She will be wrestling for the Asian Championships spot as well against teammate LILI (CHN) who won world bronze medal in 2023.

Grace BULLEN (NOR)Grace BULLEN (NOR) is returning to action at 62kg after Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

However, Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) will be the favorite in this weight class which also Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) and Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL). Bullen will be wrestling at her first competition since winning the first Olympic medal for Norway in Women's Wrestling in Paris.

62kg silver medalist at Paris Olympic Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) is wrestling at 65kg for the Ranking Series. She will be up against former world champions Irina RINGACI (MDA) and Morikawa in her bracket which will be divided into two groups as the weight class has only seven wrestlers. There is a chance that all three wrestler end up in the same group.

Another loaded weight class is the 55kg in which Zagreb Open champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will be looking to add a second gold medal of the Ranking Series. In Zagreb, she wrestled only one match -- final -- but Albania has a bigger bracket which also includes Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW), Okuno, Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) and Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR).

At 72kg, three-time world silver medalist Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) will hope to win gold in Tirana as she lost the World Championships final here last year despite leading it at one point. 

Her compatriot and former Asian champion Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) is registered at 76kg but her path to gold medal may not be as easy. The weight class also has Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) and Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) who will look to confirm her spot at 76kg for Ukraine in the new Olympic cycle.