#WrestleAmman

U20 World Championships day six GR semis set

By Vinay Siwach

AMMAN, Jordan (August 19) -- Entering another day of wrestling at the U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan. Five Greco-Roman weight classes in action as 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg wrestlers take the mats. Saturday is the final full day of wrestling at the tournament.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

The semifinals for the evening session

60kg
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ) vs. Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) vs. SUMIT (IND)

67kg
Nestori MANNILA (FIN) vs. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI) vs. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)

72kg
Levente LEVAI (HUN) vs. Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) vs. Imran ALIEV (AIN)

82kg
Yasin YAZDI (IRI) vs. Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO) vs. Alperen BERBER (TUR)

97kg
Rostislav COVALI (MDA) vs. Gor AYVAZYAN (GEO)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) vs. Kevin USPENSKI (EST)

15:15: Kevin USPENSKI (EST) with a fall over Sebastian WARCHOL (POL) at 97kg and he moves into the semifinals against Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)

15:10: Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) with a monster five-point throw over Magomed MUKHTAROV (AIN) and he then secures a takedown to win 11-3. Mukhtarov challenges for a foul but the review sees a clean takedown. Khaslakhanau wins 12-3 at 97kg

15:00: Alperen BERBER (TUR) marches on at 82kg. He wins 3-1 over Ivan CHMYR (UKR) after scoring from par terre and sneaking out when he was put in par terre

14:40: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) once again has this crowd on its feet! He has two big suplexes as he beats Azat SARIYAR (TUR) 11-0 and moves into the 67kg semifinals. 

14:25: Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM) pins Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE) to move into the 60kg quarterfinals. He will take on U20 European champion Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) who beats Kuvonchbek YAKHSHIBOEV (UZB) 7-5.

14:15: Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) looking for a second U20 world gold. He beats Huangsheng WU (CHN) 6-0 in the pre-quarterfinals at 60kg. 

14:05: Alperen BERBER (TUR) with a 10-0 win in his first bout against Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL) at 82kg. Berber is a former U17 world champion

13:40: Yasin YAZDI (IRI) survives an early onslaught from Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) to come back and win at 82kg. He moves into the quarterfinals against Reon KAKEGAWA (JPN).

13:15: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) gets the crowd involved as he upsets returning champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) 7-5 at 72kg. Alameldin got a big throw from par terre and Abdullazade was left to play catch up

12:35: U20 world champion from 2021 Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) gets going with an 11-0 win over Kemal SEVGILI (TUR) at 67kg. Dehbozorgi looks solid 

12:15: Amirreza AKBARI (IRI) takes out former U17 world silver medalist Darius KIEFER (GER) 6-1. Kiefer failed to turn Akbari from par terre while Akbari kept the pressure to beat Kiefer

11:45: Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) allowed Gunhee LEE (KOR) to score four points against him but manages to score nine of his own to win his 72kg opening-round bout.

11:35: That bout took ages but Hajime KIKUTA (JPN) won 14-13 against Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) at 72kg. Kikuta led 13-7 with just 15 seconds on the clock and Aliev got a takedown, a back roll and a gut wrench for six points to tie it 13-13. Kikuta, however, had criteria for a four-pointer he hit earlier.

11:20: Defending champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) trailed 2-2 against UMESH (IND) but he scores two pushouts on Umesh's attacks to win 4-2 at 72kg. That bout took a lot out of Abdullazade there. 

11:10: Former U17 world champion Joel ADAMS (USA) suffers an opening round loss to Artur JEREMEJEV (EST) at 67kg. Adams will look to improve his strength for the U20 level after his first year at this level

10:55: Zsolt TAKACS (HUN) thought he has a chance against Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI) but the latter rolls to a 10-2 win at 67kg after Takacs got an initial takedown

10:40: What better start we could have asked for? A thriller between Nika BROLADZE (GEO) and Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL) saw the Poland wrestler win 11-11 on criteria. Broladze used a big four-point throw to make it 11-9 but in the final second, Salimov scored a stepout for one point. Broladze was cautioned for fleeing which made the score 11-11 and gave Salimov the win.

10:30: Done with the first round of repechage bouts and we are moving into the qualification rounds of five Greco-Roman weight classes -- 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg. 

10:00: Five days of high-paced wrestling have flown by. But welcome to another day of wrestling as Greco-Roman continues in Amman.

#WrestleZagreb

Masoumi, Snyder win Zagreb Open golds unscathed

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 6) -- Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) has announced his claim for the 125kg world title.

Soon after win the gold medal at 125kg at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series on Thursday in the Arena Zagreb, Masoumi announced that he 'win the World Championships gold medal at the same hall."

"I hope that this year I can have a good match to become a national champion, and in the same hall, I will also win the gold medal in the 2025 World Championships," he said after winning gold medal at 125kg at the Zagreb Open.

Last year, Masoumi finished with a silver medal after suffering a loss to Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) in the final. But before that he had a close match with Paris Olympian Mason PARRIS (USA).

Thursday was different. He gave no chance to Parris and rolled to a 10-0 win inside first period, a rare phenomenon in the super heavyweight class.

"The match I had last year with Parris and to this year, I was able to have an easy and good match by following a few points that my coaches told me," he said.

Though he is certain of winning the gold medal at the September World Championships, Masoumi has to go through Olympic silver medalist and world champion Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) at 125kg domestically.

"Zare and I are two of the top heavyweights in Iran," he said. "We're scheduled to wrestle each other in two months. I hope that whoever wins that match will represent Iran's heavyweight division at the competition."

Zare defeated Masoumi in the Zagreb Open final last year to confirm his ticket to Paris Olympics. This is was the third meeting between the two and Masoumi is yet to record a win against Zare.

"I chose to come to Zagreb because last year I wrestled Zare in the final, and I came in second place," Masoumi said. "This year, by using the advice I've received, I was able to win gold in this tournament."

Another silver medalist from last year, Kyle SNYDER (USA), returned to the top of the podium. Snyder had lost to Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) in the 97kg final in 2023 but defeated Abofazl BABALOO (IRI) 12-1 in the final on Thursday to pocket the gold medal.

In his earlier bouts, Snyder blanked Richard VEGH (HUN), 10-0, and Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK), 11-0.

In other results, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) must have the memories of the 2021 U23 World Championships semifinals flashing before him as he took on Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the final at 92kg. Firouzpour was caught in a leg lace in that semifinal and trailed 8-0, a deficit he failed to cover and lost 10-7.

But on Thursday, it was Firouzpour who got the better of Nurmagomedov, beating him 11-4 for the gold medal. Firouzpour got an 8-2 lead after launching a gut wrench and despite a few strokes of brilliance from Nurmagomedov, he kept the Azerbaijan wrestler quiet and won his second Ranking Series gold medal and third overall.

Nurmagomedov had earlier defeated Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) 6-5 in the semifinal for a come-from-behind win and also grabbed the spot at 92kg for the European Championships.

Veteran Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) used his experience to beat 18-year-old U20 world champion Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) 5-3 in the 79kg final, frustrating Yousefi with his defense.

Khadjiev also became the first male wrestler from France to win gold medal at a Ranking Series. Only Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) has won gold before at a Ranking Series (Zagreb Open 2023 and 2021 Poland Open).

Khadjiev raced to a 4-0 lead at the break with a takedown and gut wrench as Yousefi failed to find an opening in the first period. But he managed to get Khadjiev tired and scored an arm-bar exposure for two points to cut the lead to 4-2. Khadjiev stopped another such attempt and snapped Yousefi on the edge and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 5-2.

A stepout gave one point to Yousefi with 17 seconds left on the clock but he failed to score a takedown needed for a win and settled for the second place.

Women's Wrestling

Three months after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships, 34-year-old Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA) added a Ranking Series gold medal to her name as she defeated another veteran Samantha STEWART (CAN), 6-2, in 55kg final.

At 50kg, Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN) remained unbeaten in the three bouts of the round-robin bracket to emerge as the gold medal. Lithuania's first-ever Olympian in Women's Wrestling Gabija DILYTE (LTU) won silver while Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) won bronze.

Photo

RESULTS

Freestyle

79kg
GOLD: Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) df. Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI), 5-3

BRONZE: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK), 7-0
BRONZE: Rocco WELSH (USA) df. Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO), 9-3

92kg
GOLD: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) df. Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), 11-4

BRONZE: Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Boris MAKOEV (SVK), 9-2 
BRONZE: Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA) df. Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA), 9-1

97kg
GOLD: Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI), 12-1

BRONZE: Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) df. Richard VEGH (HUN), 10-0
BRONZE: Jonathan AIELLO (USA) df. Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO), via inj. def.

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Mason PARRIS (USA), 10-0
 
BRONZE: Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) df. Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL), 6-1
BRONZE: Hayden ZILLMER (USA) df.Trent HILLGER (USA), 10-3

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
SILVER: Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
BRONZE: Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)

55kg
GOLD: Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA) df. Samantha STEWART (CAN), 6-2

BRONZE: Roza SZENTTAMASI (USA) df. Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE), via fall
BRONZE: Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA) df. Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN), 13-2