#Zagreb2019

Starcevic Soars to Fifth Consecutive Zagreb Open Title

Sunday, February 10, 2019 - 19:09 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 10) – Bozo STARCEVIC remained patient in his hometown of Zagreb and waited until the last bout of the tournament, but the Croatian wrestler capped off his impressive run to a fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title with a tactical 2-1 victory over Turkey’s Yunus BASAR in the 77kg finals. 

Starcevic, the hometown wrestler, grabbed the 1-0 lead after receiving a passivity point but found himself fighting back in the second period after Basar gained the 1-1 lead on criteria with a passivity point of his own. 

With just over a minute left, the Croatian wrestler continued to push the pace and broke the 1-1 tie after he was awarded a second passivity point. Starcevic remained composed in the final 30 seconds and closed out the match with the 2-1 victory, locking up his fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title. 

Starcevic's run to his fifth title also included a 6-1 quarterfinals win over Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR). 


Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV erased a 7-0 deficit to defeat reigning world silver medalist Emrah KUS (TUR) in the 82kg gold-medal bout. (Photo Kadir Caliskan) 

Two World Silver Medalists Go Down

Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV and Russia’s Ilia BORISOV knocked off reigning world runner-up’s Emrah KUS (TUR) and Kiril MILOV (BUL) respectively to with their first Zagreb Open titles. 

Daniel Aleksandrov erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7, in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout. 

Aleksandrov trailed 7-0 after the first two minutes of action. He was dinged for passivity and thrown in par terre position, where Kus grabbed four-points from a reverse lift to control the 5-0 advantage. Aleksandrov found himself down 7-0 after Kus grabbed another two for exposure, but got on the board with a step out point and trailed 7-1 heading into the second period. 

The Bulgarian exploded for seven points in the closing three minutes and hung on to the 8-7 lead to knock off the clearly deflated returning world runner-up, 8-7.

In the 97kg finals, Ilia Borisov also knocked off a returning Budapest world runner-up to win his Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around returning world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period. 

Borisov grabbed the 1-0 lead after Milov was hit for passivity. The Russian went to work in par terre, throwing Milov for four points,  then used a pair of gut wrenches to close out the 97kg gold-medal match with a 9-0 technical superiority victory. 

Uzbekistan and Hungary Win Pair of Golds 

Islomjon BAKHRAMOV and Elmurat TASMURADOV handed Uzbekistan a pair of gold medals, while Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) and Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) won Hungary's two Zagreb Open titles. 

In the 63kg finals, Islomjon Bakhramov struck first with a four-point throw, but Xavier JOHNSON (USA) quickly scored a two-point exposure and cut the Uzbek's leads to 4-2. Bakhramov stayed offensive and scored a pair of takedowns and a gut wrench, ending the 63kg gold-medal match early with a 10-2 technical superiority victory. 

Elmurat Tasmuradov gave Uzbekistan their second gold medal of the day. Tasmuradov came out on fire in the opening seconds of 67kg finals and threw a huge headlock to secure the 4-0 lead over U23 and senior-level European champion Mihai MIHUT (ROU). Tasmuradov surrendered a step out point to the Romanian wrestler, but his first-period four-point throw was enough to give him the 4-1 victory. 

Robert Fritsch won Hungary's first gold medal of the night after Georgia's Ramaz ZOIDZE injury defaulted out of the 72kg finals. 

At 87kg, Viktor Lorincz grabbed a passivity point and a low-level gut and took the 3-0 lead over Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE) into the second period. Lorincz gave up a passivity point but didn’t get turned and held on to the 3-1 decision over Berg, giving Hungary their second gold medal of the night. 

Kamal and Marvik Win Remaining Two Gold Medals 

There wasn't a 55kg gold-medal bout because it was a round-robin competition, so the final two gold medals went to Turkey's Kerem KAMAL  and Norway's Oskar MARVIK (NOR). 

In the 60kg gold-medal bout, two-time junior world champion Kerem Kamal handled Iran’s Milad REZANEZHAD from whistle-to-whistle and scored his first senior-level gold medal with the 9-3 victory, while Oskar Marvik used a first-period passivity point to defeat Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), 1-0, in the 130kg finals.  

Results

Team Scores
GOLD - Turkey (132 points) 
SILVER - Uzbekistan (101 points) 
BRONZE - Croatia (91 points) 
Fourth - Bulgaria (85 points) 
Fifth - Hungary (83 points) 

55kg (Round-Robin) 
GOLD -   Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI) 
SILVER - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) 
BRONZE - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)

60kg 
GOLD - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Milad Ali REZANEZHAD (IRI), 9-3

BRONZE - Erik TORBA (HUN) df. Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU), 3-3 
BRONZE -  Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) df. Seunghak KIM (KOR), 4-3 

63kg 
GOLD - Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Xavier JOHNSON (USA), 10-2 

BRONZE -  Dawid Andrzej ERSETIC (POL) df. Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI (GEO), 12-0 
BRONZE -  Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) df. Travis Michael RICE (USA), 9-0 

67kg
GOLD -  Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) df. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU), 4-1 

BRONZE - Enes BASAR (TUR) df. Morten THORESEN (NOR), 9-0
BRONZE - Ignazio SANFILIPPO (ITA) df. Danijel JANECIC (CRO), via injury default 

72kg
GOLD - Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)  df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), via injury default

BRONZE - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) df. Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR), 3-1 
BRONZE - Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL) df. Mate NEMES (SRB), 3-1 

77kg
GOLD - Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 2-1 

BRONZE - Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI) df. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU), 7-4 
BRONZE - Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) df. Rafael IUNUSOV (RUS), 10-0 

82kg
GOLD - Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7

BRONZE - Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB), 2-1 
BRONZE - Karlo KODRIC (CRO) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO), via injury default 

87kg
GOLD - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE), 3-1 

BRONZE - Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) df. Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL), 6-3 
BRONZE - Arkadiusz Marcin KULYNYCZ (POL) df. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN), 4-3 

97kg
GOLD - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) df.  Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL), 9-0 

BRONZE - Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB) df. Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN), 11-0
BRONZE - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Adam VARGA (HUN), 4-0 

130kg 
GOLD - Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) , 1-0 

BRONZE - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) df. Osman YILDIRIM (TUR), 5-1 
BRONZE - Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL) df. Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO), 5-1 

#WrestleIstanbul

Spencer Lee one step closer to Olympic dream

Friday, May 3, 2024 - 12:37 By Vinay Siwach

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ISTANBUL, Turkiye (May 3) -- The world will finally see the return of Spencer LEE (USA) on a big stage. The one-time phenom is coming to Istanbul in a bid to qualify the United States for the Paris Olympics at 57kg.

Lee is a former U17 and U20 world champion and was primed to be the next superstar from the U.S. However, he could never get going at the international stage and only participated in an international tournament in 2024, eight years after his U20 world title. At the Pan-Am Championships this year, Lee won the gold medal at 57kg.

Despite his three NCAA titles and a college record a few can dream of, Lee hasn't returned to the international scene partly due to injuries and partly due to his college commitments. After two surgeries, battles with health, a heartbreaking loss in NCAAs, a long return and wins over former Iowa teammate Thomas GILMAN (USA) at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Lee is finally here.

"I’ve had such a tough time trying to stay healthy and trying to compete to the best of my ability,” Lee said after winning the trials. "I’m still not healthy but I’m healthy enough to wrestle hard against really, really good opponent.”

That's what he will have to do in Istanbul. In the 57kg bracket, Lee will be unseeded and can be drawn against any of the big names in the first round. Tokyo Olympian Georgi VANGELOV (BUL), former U23 world champion AMAN (IND), world silver medalist Alireza SARLAK (IRI) and local star Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR) are a few names he will have to keep an eye on.

The field also includes world bronze medalists Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) and Horst LEHR (GER) along with former European champion Vladimir EGOROV (MGL), Asian Games silver medalist Chong Song HAN (PRK) and Andrii YATSENKO (UKR).

If his opponents need a form check, Lee won four bouts at the trials, outscoring his opponents 35-11 with wins over Tokyo bronze medalist Gilman and Zane RICHARDS (USA). And his attacks are solid as ever as Gilman found out in the best-of-three series.

Three wrestlers in each Olympic weight class will receive Paris 2024 quotas in Istanbul, two being the winners of the semifinals and the third will be decided with a playoff between the two bronze medal winners. Lee would hope to secure it as the winner of the semifinal and avoid going, if fortunate, through repechage.

Apart from qualifying the U.S. in Istanbul, there is extra motivation for Lee to win in Istanbul. Lee's mother, Carry, is from France where she met Lee's father, Larry, both judokas. And, he can become the first Olympic champion for the U.S. in the lowest weight class since 2008.

Lee is aware that the road to Paris is still 'long and hard'. But the 25-year-old is ready.

"I have work to do."