#WrestleRome

Superstars Staebler and Aleksanyan Soar to Top of European Podium

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 - 20:44 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (February 12) --- Deafening cheers of “Frankie” and “Artur” rebounded off the wooden topped Pala Pellicone Arena as superstars Frank STAEBLER (GER) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) closed out the Greco-Roman portion of the European Championships with gold medals. 

Staebler cruised past Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) in the 72kg finals and grabbed his second European title. His 6-1 win over Lomadze on Wednesday night came eight years after he won his first continental gold at the 2012 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

After the match, Staebler announced that this was his last time he'd compete at the continental championships. "This was the last European Championships of my career. I am very happy to end the European cycle with a gold medal. The next stop is the Tokoyo Olympic Games for an Olympic medal." 

Staebler will make his descent back down to the Olympic weight of 67kg for a run at the one thing his resume is missing -- an Olympic medal. He's wrestled twice at the Olympic Games, but he’s come up short of a podium finish in both of those appearances. He finished fifth in London and seventh in Rio.

Staebler went further on his retirement, saying, "My focus is 100% on the Olympic Games. After the Olympics, I will retire from wrestling and work as a keynote speaker."

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) became a six-time European champion with a 7-1 win over Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Aleksanyan forged a rock-solid 7-1 finals victory over tenth-ranked Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) and claimed his fifth career European championship title. "I am very happy that I won the gold medal for our country. It’s the second gold for us today and I think we showed some good wrestling today." 

Aleksanyan tied top-ranked Musa EVLOEV (RUS) for the world's top spot at 97kg with his win on Wednesday night. He carried 40 Ranking Series points to Rome, and with the addition of his 20-point European gold medal, the Armenian sits level with his Russian rival with 60 points.

But Aleksanyan said he isn't worried too much about his rankings. "I am not interested in what number I am in the rankings. The most important is that I got the license for the Olympics. There will be 16 athletes and I will be one of them wrestling for the Olympic gold."

The Rio Olympic champion had two goals coming into the year, and he checked one of those off tonight with his gold-medal performance. "My first goal was to become a five-time European champion. The Olympics are ahead and I want to become a two-time Olympic champion in Tokyo." 

Aleksanyan is headed back to Armenia for training camp and isn't sure when he'll compete next. When asked if he'll wrestle in the Poland Open and try to steal the No. 1 spot from Evloev, he said, "I don’t know. That’s not me who makes decisions. It's our coaches. Wherever they tell me to wrestle, I will do that. 

Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) handed Armenia their second gold medal of the night with a 5-5 win over Kerem KAMAL (TUR). 

He surrendered an inactivity point in the first period and trailed 1-0. Gharibyan tossed Kamal with a massive four-point arm throw and gained the 4-1 lead after falling behind early in the first period. He extended his lead to 5-1 with an inactivity point but conceded a takedown and a caution-and-two and led 5-5 on criteria. 

Gharibyan stayed defensively sound in the final 60 seconds and stopped a flurry of Turkish attacks and won his first European title. Before his gold medal in Rome, Gharibyan never finished inside the top-ten in his two European appearances. 

Thoresen Becomes Second Norwegian European Champion in last 25 Years 
Morten THORESEN (NOR) joined Felix BALDAUF (NOR) as the only Norwegian Greco-Roman wrestlers to win a European gold medal in the previous 25 years. Furthermore, he became just the fifth Greco-Roman wrestler from Norway to ever claim a European title. 

“I think it’s pretty funny because me and Felix lived together. He’s (since) moved out and I’m the new European champion in the house,” Thoresen jokingly said.

The 23-year-old won four hard-fought matches and capped off his title run with a 2-2 win over Nazir ABDULLAEV‘S (RUS). “I had the flow through the whole competition. I had four really hard matches, but at the end of the day, I ended on top.” He trailed 2-0 in the finals but finished on top thanks to a pair of one-point second-period exchanges.

Thoresen's focus now switches to qualifying Norway for the Olympic Games. “My goal is to qualify (Norway) for the Olympics. I’m going to go home and keep on training. Hopefully, you’ll see me at the Olympic Games.” 

Norway’s Greco-Roman European Champions 
2020 - Morten THORESEN (67kg)
2017 - Felix BALDAUF (98kg) 
1992 - Lars ROENNINGEN (48kg) 
1990 - Jon ROENNINGEN (52kg) 
1988 - Lars ROENNINGEN (48kg) 
1927 - Sven MARTINSEN (58kg) 

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) and Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) shake hands after their battle in the 82kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Azerbaijan’s Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) claimed the fifth and final gold medal of the day. He collected two inactivity points and beat Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 2-1, in the 82kg gold-medal match. 

The European Championships begin on Thursday at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS

60kg  
GOLD - Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) df. Kerem KAMAL (TUR), 5-5 
BRONZE - Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) df. Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS), 6-6
BRONZE - Murad BAZAROV (AZE) df. Helary MAEGISALU (EST), 9-0

67kg  
GOLD - Morten THORESEN (NOR) df. Nazir Rachidovitch ABDULLAEV (RUS), 2-2 
BRONZE - Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN), 7-5 
BRONZE - Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) df. Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR), 4-2 

72kg 
GOLD - Frank STAEBLER (GER) df. Iuri LOMADZE (GEO), 6-1
BRONZE - Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO), 7 - 5
BRONZE - Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) df. Adam KURAK (RUS), 3-1

82kg 
GOLD - Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 2-1 
BRONZE - Hannes WAGNER (GER) df. Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR), 8 - 3
BRONZE - Bogdan KOURINNOI (SWE) df. Ciro RUSSO (ITA), 6-4

97kg 
GOLD - Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 7-1 
BRONZE - Aleksandr GOLOVIN (RUS) df. Artur OMAROV (CZE), 8-0
BRONZE - Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN), 3-3

#WrestleParis

10 seeded showdowns we need to see at Paris 2024 (No. 6-10)

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - 14:29 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (July 17) – We’re still a few weeks out from the Paris 2024 draws taking place on August 4. However, with the release of the top eight seeds per style, we can start to project potential matches that could take place as early as the quarterfinals.

SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 EVENT PAGE 

The top eight Ranking Series point collectors from the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Continental Championships, and the Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series events earned a top eight seed. The remaining eight wrestlers will be randomly drawn into their respective brackets.

Here are the top ten matches that we could see between seeded wrestlers from the quarterfinals on:

10. WW 68kg QUARTERFINAL - No. 3 Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) vs. No. 6 Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
Koumba Larroque has been a prominent figure in French wrestling since her bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships at just 19 years old. Now in the prime of her career, she’s France’s best shot at a medal.

Larroque’s path to an Olympic medal will be bumpy, to say the least. She’s the third-seeded athlete in a bracket with six world champions and includes a potential quarterfinal clash with  familiar foe No. 6 Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR).

Larroque and Oborududu met twice in their career, splitting their pair of previous encounters.

Oborududu won their opening meeting at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event, but Larroque returned the favor a year later at the Poland Open, evening the score at 1-1.

If Larroque and Oborududu win their first match, their third career meeting would take place August 5 in the 68kg quarterfinals.

9.  FS 65kg SEMIFINAL –  No. 2 Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) vs. No. 3 Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN)
Amouzad and Musukaev are nightmare opponents for each other and are stylistically opposites.

Amouzad, the 65kg world champ from two years ago, is a guy who wants to close the gap with his right-side underhook and fill as much space as possible. Conversely, Musukaev, the reigning 65kg world champion, wants as much space as possible to flow freely.

In their first meeting—the semifinals of the 2022 World Championships-- Musukaev fell victim to Amouzad’s pace and was shut out 6-0. In their second matches—the semifinals of the 2023 World Championships—Musukaev weathered the first period storm, saved enough energy for a last-ditch effort and stole the world finals spot, 6-5, with less than 10 seconds remaining.

If Amouzad and Musukaev meet for a third time, it’ll be on August 10 in 65kg semifinals.

8. 57kg SEMIFINAL – No. 2 Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) vs. No. 3  Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
The Nichita and Adekuoroye rivalry is one that dates back to the 2019 World Championships but has since changed hands from their pre-COVID meeting.

The seasoned vet Adekuoroye is an anomaly in the wrestling world. Her style can’t be mimicked or replicated. She’s the tallest and lengthiest 57kg wrestler in the world but has also learned to use her leverage to become one of the most powerful wrestlers in the weight.

Adekuoroye’s unique style gave Nichita fits in their first meeting, as the four-time world medalist opened their three-match series with a dominant 10-0 win.

But Nichita carried what she learned from their first meeting into their next matches and had her hand raised on subsequent occasions.

In Tokyo, Nichita fell behind early but capitalized on an uncharacteristic Adekuoroye’s mistake and picked up a dramatic come-from-behind fall while trailing 8-2. Their next meeting came at the 2023 World Championships, where Nichita doubled Adekuoroye before ending the match in the first period with a left-sided trap arm gut, 10-0.

The fourth meeting between Nichita and Adekuoroye will take place August 8 in the 57kg semifinals.

7. GR 67kg QUARTERFINAL – No. 2 Luis ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB) vs. No. 7 Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
If there were ever a lesson from losing a match, Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) certainly learned it the hard way.

Earlier this year at the Hungarian Open Ranking Series event, Esmaelil led reigning Olympic champion Orta, 7-5, with 0.4 seconds left in the match.

But before we get to the ending of the match, it’s important to note that Esmaeili was in a domestic battle with reigning Olympic gold medalist Reza GERAEI (IRI) for Iran’s 67kg Paris Olympic spot. If Esmaeili beat Orta, he cemented his spot on Iran’s Olympic team. If he lost, Esmaeili and Geraei would go to a three-match wrestle off and the winner goes to Paris.

Now, circling back to the match: With less than a second to go in the match, Esmaeili began celebrating as he thought the clock expired.

During Esmaeili’s lapse of judgement, Orta, being the experienced guy, continued to wrestle through the whistle. Orta took a peek at the clock, saw there was still time left, locked up a throw and picked up four points, stealing the match, 9-7.

Esmaeili will try to get his revenge on Orta August 7 in the 67kg quarterfinals.

*Esmaeili ended up beating Geraei in two straight matches to earn the Olympic spot.

6. WW 57kg SEMIFINAL - No. 1 Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) vs. No. 5 Helen MAROULIS (USA)
Through the first two meetings between Sakurai and Maroulis, it’s been a one-sided affair. Sakurai is 2-0 against Maroulis, outscoring the Rio Olympic champion, 9-0, while picking up four offensive takedowns and not surrendering a single point.

Sakurai and Maroulis’ meeting at the 2022 World Championships was a slow-paced match, where the Japanese wrestler did enough to win but didn’t really establish her dominance.

That came in the second match.

In their second meeting, the biggest difference was Sakurai’s tatical use of her right hand when tied up with Maroulis. She used it to score three takedowns—one from an underhook front headlock, one from a underhook throw-by and the final one coming from a two-on-one—besting the American, 6-0.

The third meeting between Sakurai and Maroulis would take place August 8 in the 57kg semifinals.

Wrestling at the Paris Olympic Games starts Agust 5-11 and can be followed on www.uww.org.