#WrestleZagreb

Thursday's night women's wrestling semifinals set

Thursday, April 20, 2023 - 09:36 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (April 20) -- The fourth day of the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Women's wrestling will start off with 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg and 72kg wrestlers taking the mat.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

FULL EUROPEAN C'SHIP SCHEDULE:
- 11:30 - Qualification rounds
- 16:45 - Semifinals
- 18:00 - Finals

1:20: That's a quick morning session. We wrapped up the early session in just under two hours. We'll be back for tonight's semifinals at 16:45.

1:10: Here are the semifinals matches (as they come in): 
53kg
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN) vs. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) 
Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE) vs. Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)

57kg
Jowita Maria WRZESIEN (POL) vs. Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) 
Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) vs. Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) 

62kg
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) vs. Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL) 
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE) vs. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 

65kg
Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA) 
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) vs. Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU) 

72lkg
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)  vs. Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR) 
Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) vs. Liudmyla PAVLOVETS TYCHYNA (UKR) 


12:58: Malmgren was up 11-6 and then picked up a fall to move into the semifinals against Turkan NASIROVA (AZE).

12:55: Olympic bronze medalist Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) grabs a 10-0 win and moved into the semifinals. She'll face the winner of Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) and Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA). 

If Hrushyna wins, it'd be a rematch of last years European finals, which was won by the Ukrainian.

12:49: Big matchup going on over on Mat C.  Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE) and Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) are in a 7-4 battle right now as we head into the second period.

12:30: Grace Bullen picked up her second quick 10-0 win. She tech'd Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR) and Amina Roxana CAPEZAN (ROU) and punched her ticket to the 62kg semifinals.

12:18: There are good and bad parts to having seeded athletes. One of the bad parts is having to wait a few hours before we get to see our superstars compete. Either way, they stars are starting to show up on the match board. Here are a few high-profile athletes coming up soon:

Mat A | Bout 258: Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) 
Mat B | Bout 275: Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) 
Mat B | Bout 277: Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) 
Mat C | Bout 289: Irina RINGACI (MDA) 
Mat C |Bout 292: Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL) 
Mat C |Bout 293  Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE) 

11:47: Our first qualification match of the morning will take place on Mat A. It'll be Olympic bronze medalist  Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) taking on Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA) in the first bout of the day.

11:37: Welcome back to the Arena Zagreb for the second day women's wrestling and the fourth overall day of action at the European Championships.We'll start today with a few repechage bouts for those who fell to eventual finalists.

#USAWrestling

Paris Olympic Champ Elor Makes Winning Return After Child Birth

Saturday, May 16, 2026 - 11:49 By United World Wrestling Press

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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, United States (May 15) -- Three months after giving birth, Paris 2024 Olympic champion Amit ELOR (USA) returned to competition at the United States World Team Trials Challenge tournament in Louisville.

The 22-year-old Elor pinned her way to win the tournament and book her stop for the Final X, the U.S. tournament, to be held on June 19, to select its team for the 2026 World Championships.

The two-time world champion wrestled Pan-American champion Precious WIESER (USA) in the 72kg final and pushed her lead to 11-0 before converting her final takedown into a fall with 29 seconds left.

This was Elor's first appearance since the same this tournament a year ago. She pulled out of the 2025 Final X due to health issues and later announced her pregnancy.

In other bouts, two-time world medalist Macey KILTY (USA) also pinned her way to Final X. Following a technical fall in the semifinals, Kilty pinned Claire DI CUGNO (USA) 66 seconds into final at 62 kg. With the victory, Kilty now sets up a rematch of the U.S. Open final against recent Pan-Am champion Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) at Final X.

At 53kg, Elena IVALDI (USA) secured a technical superiority win over Sydney PETZINGER (USA) in a high-scoring, 23-12, contest. Ivaldi, leading 15-12 at one point, put the match away with eight-straight points to seal the win.

Two-time U17 world champion Morgan TURNER (USA) needed a late takedown to confirm her 10-8 win over Felicity TAYLOR (USA) at 50kg. In a back-and-forth battle, Taylor grabbed an 8-7 lead with seven seconds to go with a takedown on the edge of the mat. On the ensuing restart, Turner scored two points off an ankle pick, and a lost challenge sealed the 10-8 victory.

The 55kg spot went to Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA) who won 6-0 over Alexandra HEDRICK (USA) while at 65kg, 2023 world bronze medalist Jennifer PAGE (USA) outlasted Emma BRUNTIL (USA), 4-2.

Alexis JANIAK (USA), a age-group world medalist, secured her Final X spot at 59kg as she edged out two-time age-group world medalist Amani JONES (USA), 4-1.

Each winner of the tournament is paired against the U.S. Open champion in a best-of-three series at Final X to determine the representative for the U.S. at the 2026 World Championships. Final X will take place on June 19 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Three Final X matchups were already determined in women’s freestyle, 57kg, 68kg and 76kg.

In Freestyle, Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) made it to Final X after winning the World Team Trials Challenge tournament. Lee scored a 13-3 win over Anthony KNOX (USA) at 57kg. Lee’s victory sets up a rematch against three-time age-group world champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA), who beat Lee at the U.S. Open last month.

In the 61 kg final, U23 world champion Jaxen FORREST (USA) won against Benjamin DAVINO (USA), 11-1. Forrest previously beat Davino in the finals at the NCAA National Championships, 4-2, and Davino came back to beat Forrest in the U.S. Open semifinals, 8-4.

Paris 2024 Olympian Zain RETHERFORD (USA) made his return to the mat in style and won the 70kg tournament title. In low-scoring bouts, Retherford won his semifinal match on Thursday, 3-2, then edged Caleb HENSON (USA) in the final, 2-1.

At 125kg, after what was ruled a pin early on, Mason PARRIS (USA) rallied and claimed the victory. An early scramble ended with Isaac TRUMBLE (USA) initially being rewarded with a fall. However, after a challenge, the call was overturned after being called for a choke. After the challenge, the match was all tied at 2-2, and Parris bounced back to take a 14-6 lead. He held off a late rally from Trumble to secure the 14-12 victory.

David CARR (USA) won at 74 kg after he defeated Jayden JAMES (USA), holding off a late charge from James to secure the 9-7 decision and advance to Final X.

Final X Match-Ups

Women's Wrestling

50kg: Katie GOMEZ (USA) vs. Morgan TURNER (USA)
53kg: Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA) vs. Elena IVALDI (USA)
55kg: Everest LEYDECKER (USA) vs. Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)
57kg: Helen MAROULIS (USA) vs. Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
59kg: Abigail NETTE (USA) vs. Alexis JANIAK (USA)
62kg: Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) vs. Macey KILTY (USA)
65kg: Kayla MIRACLE (USA) vs. Jennifer PAGE (USA)
68kg: Kennedy BALDES (USA) vs. Isabella MIR (USA)
72kg: Alexandria GLAUDE (USA) vs. Amit ELOR (USA)
76kg: Kylie WELKER (USA) vs. Dymond GUILFORD (USA)

Freestyle

57kg: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) vs. Spencer LEE (USA)
61kg: Marcus BLAZE (USA) vs. Jaxen FORREST (USA)
65kg: Real WOODS (USA) vs. Bowen BASSETT (USA)
70kg: Ridge LOVETT (USA) vs. Zain RETHERFORD (USA)
74kg: James GREEN (USA) vs. David CARR (USA)
79kg: Levi HAINES( USA) vs. Chance MARSTELLER (USA)
86kg: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) vs. Kyle DAKE (USA)
92kg: Trent HIDLAY (USA) vs. Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)
97kg: Kyle SNYDER (USA) vs. Stephen BUCHANAN (USA)
125kg: Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) vs. Mason PARRSI (USA)