#WrestleRome

U17 World Championships, Day 1 semifinals set

By Vinay Siwach

ROME, Italy (July 25) -- The World Championships season is here. The first of the five grand events is beginning in Rome. The U17 World Championships will see close to 600 wrestlers battle it out for the 30 champion belts.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE | PREVIEW | ENTRY LIST

14:32: The 55kg and 80kg semifinals

Khurshidbek NORMUKHAMMADOV (UZB) vs. Suraj SURAJ (IND)
Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE) vs Halil CINAR (TUR)

80kg
Seyed Reza AZARSHAB (IRI) vs. Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE) 
Andrey ATANASOV (BUL) vs. Alperen BERBER (TUR) 

14:30: Here are the 110kg semifinals

Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) vs. Dmytro STRYZHEKOZIN (UKR)
Mazaim MARDANOV (AZE) vs. Cemal Yusuf BAKIR (TUR) 

14:25: The 65kg semifinals are set

Ali ALIZADA (AZE) vs. Ahoura BOUVEIRI (IRI)
Petro SHAFRANSKYI (UKR) vs. Joel ADAMS (USA) 

14:20: Here are the 48kg semifinals for tonight

Said KHALILOV (AZE) vs. Ronit SHARMA (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) vs. Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ

14:00: An epic! Asian champion Mohammad JAHANGIRI (IRI) and European champion Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) battled it out on Mat A at 110kg. Jahangiri got the turn from par terre to lead 3-0 at the break. But he is cautioned for fleeing. Darabos will get two points and par terre. But he cannot turn Jahangiri from par terre. Jahangiri leads 3-2. Iran asks for a two on a slip and loses the challenge. 3-3 Jahangiri with under a minute left. Jahangiri is called passive and 4-3 lead for Darbos. He defends it till the clock runs out.

13:25: Asian silver medalist at 80kg Seyed Reza AZARSHAB (IRI) moving into the quarterfinals with a 9-0 win over Marcus UHTJAERV (EST). He will face Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)

13:15: The 48kg quarterfinals are set

Kurmanbek ALIMZHANOV (KGZ) vs. Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Yu TAKEMOTO (JPN) vs. Ronit SHARMA (IND)
Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ) vs. Umit ALTAS (TUR)
Amr ELSHAER (EGY) vs. Said KHALILOV (AZE) 

12:55: Asian 110kg champion Mohammad JAHANGIRI (IRI) begins with an 8-0 win over Maksim PETROV (BUL). He will now face Leonhard JUNGER (AUT) who reach the bronze medal bout at the Europeans

12:40: At 80kg, a lot of drama has unfolded. Luka GELASHVILI (GEO) gets the turn to beat U17 European champion Mihai GUTU (MDA) 5-2. Gelashvili had lost to Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL) at the U17 Euros. But today, Iwanowski lost in the first round to silver medalist Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE) who will now face Oliver KOVACS (HUN).

12:15: We have heard this name before! Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), a namesake of the 67kg Olympic bronze medalist Mohamed, gets going with a 7-3 win over Pavel ALEXE (ROU) at 65kg.

12:00: Mateusz DAWID (POL) was leading 6-1 and had the bout under control when Abdulla ANORBAEV (KGZ) spun a four-pointer and held Dawid to his back to secure the fall at 65kg.

11:50: The U17 Asian champion Ronit SHARMA (IND) starts with a big 10-0 win over Gabriele PUCHER (ITA) and storms into the 48kg quarterfinal. He will take on Yu TAKEMOTO (JPN) after he got a walkover as world champion Nikita DEMENTIEV (UKR) failed to make weight.

11:40: Said KHALILOV (AZE) trailed 2-0 at the break against Christian CASTILLO (USA) but got the turn from par terre to secure the bout 4-2 at 48kg.

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11:15: Welcome to the live coverage of the U17 World Championships from Rome. Five Greco-Roman weight classes will be in action on day one. 48kg, 55kg, 65kg, 80kg and 110kg wrestlers will take the mat in a short while.

#WrestleRome

Zhou Erases Eight-Point Deficit, Downs World Champ Mensah

By Eric Olanowski

ROME, Italy (January 16) --- It's no secret that ZHOU Feng (CHN) was the underdog coming into her Matteo Pellicone finals against reigning world champion Tamyra MENSAH (USA), and though she fell behind by eight points, she remained composed enough to erase an 8-0 second-period deficit to win the 68kg gold medal. Zhou’s shocking win stopped Mensah, the 2019 Women's Wrestler of the Year, from winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title.

“For the first period, I didn’t feel prepared or ready, but I didn’t give up,” said Zhou. At that point of the match, Zhou surrendered three takedowns and a trapped arm gut and trailed 8-0. “I was thinking the match is not finished and I didn’t give up.” 

Zhou, a two-time world medalist, kickstarted her unexpected comeback with two points from a defensive stop, which ended in a takedown. She tacked on six additional points from three gut wrenches and closed out the match on top, 8-8. 

After her remarkable come-from-behind win, Zhou said, “I’m happy and excited. From this competition, most of (these wrestlers) will participate in the Olympic Games, so to get the gold medal makes me very happy.” 

Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) downed Anshu ANSHU (IND), 10-0, in the 57kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 57kg, a friendly wager between two presidents sparked three-time world medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) past Anshu ANSHU (IND) for the gold medal. Understanding the wager was a joke, and with a smile on her face, the long and lengthy Adekuoroye said, “Before the match, my president and one other president had a bet that I’d maybe lose to (Anshu). So, I told him to keep calm; I’m ready for the match. I’m happy to make him proud.” 

The Nigerian, who was last year’s world bronze medalist at 57kg, quickly handled Anshu in the finals, 10-0. She scored an early takedown off a single leg, then picked up eight straight points off exposures – six of which came from a match-ending leg lace.

“I came here to win a gold medal. For me, it’s not like a surprise, and I look forward to some matches again.”

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) fought through illness to win the 62kg title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Even though the reigning world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) has been fighting through a nasty illness since the start of the year, she decided to still compete at the Matteo Pellicone. “At the beginning of this year, I got sick and ill, so I wasn’t 100% ready for the competition,” Tynybekova said. “And, actually, before this final, my coach thought I should not go on the mat because of my illness.”

But, midway through today’s session, she felt strong enough to compete in the medal-match session. And luckily for her, she didn’t have to wrestle the entire six minutes. 

She only wrestled for just over a period – three minutes and 16 seconds to be exact -- and after leading 7-2, was awarded the gold medal when 2019 world silver medalist Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) broke her nose in the second period and injury defaulted out of the finals.  

“In the final match, I didn’t give my 100%. In my mind, I planned on keeping my energy and strength to wrestle for the two periods. But, accidentally, my Russian opponent couldn’t continue.” 

Erica WIEBE (CAN) wrapped up her 76kg finals match against ZHOU Qian (CHN) in the opening period after a takedown, followed by four leg laces. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

In the 76kg finals, Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) ended her gold-medal bout against two-time world medalist ZHOU Qian (CHN) in the opening period with a 10-0 shutout victory. 

“When I get into wrestling position, that’s when it gets really fun. She went for kind of a double leg, I redirected, went behind, we get into a scramble, and that’s what wrestling is all about.” 

Wiebe barrel-rolled into four straight leg laces and ended the match 10-0 in the first period. Jokingly, Wiebe said, “I’ve been working on my lace. Watch out world!” 

Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) scored the come-from-behind fall over Selcuk CAN (TUR) in the 72kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) and Singh GURPREET (IND) closed out the Greco-Roman portion of the competition with gold medals on Thursday night. 

Elsayed and Levai picked up falls in the 72kg and 77kg finals, respectively, while Gurpreet scored the 8-5 victory over Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) in the 82kg finals. 

Elsayed, a two-time U23 world champion, trailed 5-1 but flattened Selcuk CAN (TUR) in the 72kg finals and backflipped his way to a second career Ranking Series title. And after a pair of Ranking Series final losses, Levai finally got his long-awaited gold medal when he stuck Yunus BASAR (TUR) in the 77kg finals. 

The third day of wrestling at the Matteo Pellicone kicks off on Friday at 10:30 (local time) in Ostia, Italy.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Anshu ANSHU (IND), 10-0 
BRONZE - Linda MORAIS (CAN) df. Jenna Rose BURKERT (USA), 10-0 
BRONZE - Allison Mackenzie RAGAN (USA) df. Alina AKOBIIA (UKR), 4-4 

62kg
GOLD - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), via injury default
BRONZE - Jia LONG (CHN) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), 6-1 
BRONZE - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) df. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), 3-1

68kg
GOLD - Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Tamyra MENSAH (USA), 8-8
BRONZE - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Divya KAKRAN (IND), 12-2
BRONZE - Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR)

76kg
GOLD - Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) vs. Qian ZHOU (CHN), 10-0
BRONZE - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) df. Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ), via injury
BRONZE - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) df. Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR), 4-2 

Greco-Roman
72kg
GOLD - Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) df. Selcuk CAN (TUR), via fall 
BRONZE - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Parviz NASIBOV (UKR), 6 - 0
BRONZE - Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR) df. Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN), 5-3 

77kg
GOLD - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) df. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR), via fall 
BRONZE - Wuileixis RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN) df. Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA), 8 - 2
BRONZE - Sajan SAJAN (IND) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), via fall 

82kg
GOLD - Singh GURPREET (IND) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-5
BRONZE - Florian NEUMAIER (GER) df. John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA), 5 - 1
BRONZE - Salih AYDIN (TUR) df. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB), 6-5