#wrestlebishkek

Saturday's Bishkek Ranking Series finals set

Saturday, June 3, 2023 - 04:07 By Eric Olanowski

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (June 2) --- The third day of wrestling at the Bishkek Ranking Series event will welcome in 97kg and 125kg in freestyle and the final six women's wrestling weights--50kg, 53kg, 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg. 

Everything you need to know:
📍Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬
🗓️: June 1-4
🕙: Qualification = 10:30
🥇🥈🥉= 18:00
#️⃣: #WrestleBishkek
🖥️: http://uww.org 
📱: UWW App

Saturday's final matches:

Freestyle 
97kg: Awusayiman HABILA (CHN) vs. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) 
125kg: Sardorbek KHOLMATOV (UZB) vs. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) 

Women's Wrestling
50kg: Meng FAN (CHN) vs. Oksana LIVACH (UKR) 
53kg: Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL) vs. Otgonjargal GANBAATAR (MGL) 
55kg:  Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ) vs. Karla Lorena GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) 
59kg: Yuliia TKACH (UKR) vs.  Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
65kg: Nordic-style bracket
72kg: Nordic-style bracket

1:42: Oksana LIVACH (UKR) just punched her ticket to the finals with a four-point throw with 5 seconds left. She trailed Ziqi FENG (CHN), 4-1, winning the match 5-4 after the late throw.

1:27: Petriashvili puts in a gutsy performance in the semifinals and fishes off Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), 10-0, before the mid-match break. He'll wrestle tonight for gold against the winner of Sardorbek KHOLMATOV (UZB) and Buheeerdun BUHEEERDUN (CHN). 

1:07: The first semifinal is about to be called to Mat A. We have nine matches left--including repechage--on each mat before the end of the morning session. 

12:42: Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) is in a tight race over on Mat A against Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR). They put up 14 points in the first period with the Mongolian leading the Ukrainian, 8-6.

12:40: We're going to roll right into the women's wrestling quarterfinals across all mats now.

12:38: Geno won, but something went wrong with his right knee. It clearly bothered him throughout the entire second period as he continued to favor it. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the last match that we see today from the three-time world champ.

12:28: Three-time world champion Petriashvili making his way to Mat B where he'll wrestle Georgian teammate Manashvili. 

12:11: This is my first time seeing Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), the 20-year-old Asian champion from Bahrain, in person. His length and athleticism is impressive for a 97kg guy. With time, I could see him giving the top guys at 97kg trouble in a few years. 

12:05: Feng picked up a point for a Demirhan hair pull and moved into the 50kg quarterfinals, 8-4, where she'll meet Chinese teammate Chun LEI (CHN).

11:59: European bronze medalist Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) is in trouble over on Mat A. She's down 7-4  Ziqi FENG (CHN) has a 7-4 lead with :43 second in the second period.

11:49: Yepez breaks the Pan-Am champ losing streak in Bishkek, scoring the 11-0 win over Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB) in the first round at 53kg. Her 53kg quarterfinals match will be against Min ZHANG (CHN).

11:34: Petriashvili and Deng lived up to the hype, with the Georgian big man edging his Nur-Sultan world finals opponent, 4-3. 'Petro' will face fellow Georgian Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO) next.

11:30: After a slight wifi issue, we're back. While we were down, reigning Asian champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) picked up a 10-0 win over Serik BAKYTKHANOV (KAZ). He'll  meet Nursultan AZOV (KAZ), who scored a late four-point to narrowly move past Mostafa Aly Elsayed Gabr ELDERS (EGY).

11:00: The headliner of the competition, Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) is coming up in two matches on Mat B. The three-time world champ opens up his day in Bishkek against his 2019 world finals opponent, DENG Zhiwei (CHN).

10:56: Let's see if  Lucia Yamileth YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) can turn around the luck for the Pan-American champions. Yesterday, Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) and Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) fell in their opening round matches. 

Yepez will wrestle in four matches on Mat A against Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB).

10:49: In the opening round 55kg Nordic bracket, Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) just handled European bronze medalist Othelie HOEIE (NOR), 12-1. She'll have Round 2 off, then will meet fellow Ukrainian and former world champion Yuliia TKACH (UKR).

10:40: Godinez holds off Vynnyk and wins the opening round bout in the 55kg Nordic bracket. 

10:36: Karla Lorena GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) and Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) are in a close battle over on Mat A. The Canadian leads 4-2.

Godinez has been the aggressor, taking the only shots of the bout, but there's only 30 seconds left so expect Vynnyk to get the motor running. 

10:16: We're 15 minutes away from the first whistle here at the Bishkek Arena. The hockey arena turned wrestling hot bed is freezing this morning, so the goal for the next 15 minutes is to stay as warm as possible.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.