#WrestlePontevedra

U23 World Championships day three semis set

By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (October 19) -- The third day of the U23 World Championships will see women's wrestling with five weight classes. Olympic and world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will be on the mat in her quest to win the gold.

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Semifinals for the evening session

50kg
Nada MOHAMED (EGY) vs. ANKUSH (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA) vs. Yui SUSAKI (JPN)

55kg
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA) vs. Alisha HOWK (USA)
Virginie KAZE (CAN) vs. Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) 

59kg
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) vs. Lexie BASHAM (USA)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL) vs. Ramina MAMEDOVA (LAT) 

68kg​​​​​​​
Nesrin BAS (TUR) vs. Sienna RAMIREZ (USA)
Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN) vs. Noémi SZABADOS (HUN) 

76kg
Inkara ZHANATAYEVA (KAZ) vs. Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) vs. Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) 

13:40: Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN), the only wrestler in the Japan team with no international experience, reaches the 59kg semifinal with a fall over Katherine RENTERIA (COL)

13:00: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) came on the mat and quickly finishes her first bout with a fall over Shahana NAZAROVA (AZE). She is smiling her way through the win.

12:45: Tokyo Olympian Sarra HAMDI (TUN) with another strong win. She takes out Nyla VALENCIA (USA) 3-0 at 50kg.

12:25: Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU) stands stunned on the mat as Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR) pins her. Priceputu twice won the bout only to get it changed due to challenges. Demirhan passed out when Priceputu led 7-0. Then the Romanian scored a fall but it was outside the zone. A 12-2 score gave her the win but Demirhan challenged and it was clear that there was no foul from Demirhan and the score was reversed to 11-2. Demirhan, with just 29 seconds left, sprung a throw and held Priceputu to her back to secure the fall

12:00: Returning silver medalist Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) and Hui CHANG (TPE) left everything on the mat. Chang got a point for the passivity and then a stepout in the second period. Renteria with a big four at the end but Chang challenges and it's actually a stepout. A 3-3 win for Chang. They consult again and it's actually a 3-3 win for Renteria.

11:30: Nesrin BAS (TUR) scores the first takedown over Irina RINGACI (MDA) before the latter answers with her own. Bas with exposure and then Ringaci with a takedown to reclaim the lead. But Bas has a go behind after a scramble. Ringaci challenges the call and she wins the challenge. But Bas wins 11-6.

11:25: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) in a rematch of the U20 World Championships which Kiyooka won. Khomenets caught in a leg lace and Kiyooka runs to an 8-0 lead before Khomenets pulls out due to injury.

11:15: Lisa ERSEL (GER) with a close 4-3 win over Amanda TOMCZYK (POL) while Sarra HAMDI (TUN) with a technical superiority Svenja JUNGO (SUI).

On Mat A, Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) comes from behind to beat Maria LEORDA (MDA) 12-6 at 50kg. 

11:00: Jiah PINGOT (PHI), the first woman from the country to compete at the age group World Championships, was down 6-0 against Jekaterina JERMALONOKA (LAT) but managed to come up with a big throw from win via fall.

10:30: Welcome to another rainy day here in Pontevedra. Women's wrestling begins with five weight classes.

#OffTheMat

What makes Amir Yazdani Olympic wrestling's next big super star?

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkey (June 29) --- In a country that’s birthed some of wrestling’s biggest stars, Amir YAZDANI (IRI) is on the cusp of becoming a household name. He has the perfect mix of attack-first style of wrestling, a massive smile and boatloads of energy – on and off the mat – which makes the 21-year-old a perfect candidate to be wrestling’s next big thing.

In our latest #OffTheMat special, we sat down with Yazdani to talk about his introduction into wrestling and how having one of wrestling’s most-famous last names impacted his path into the sport. He also walked us through his breakout performance at the 2021 World Championships where he reached the world finals.

Furthermore, Yazdani discussed the difficulties that came along with handing Iran their 65kg berth to the Tokyo Olympic Games but falling short in Iran’s Olympic wrestle off and how that impacted him in moving up to 70kg. He also talked about his #PathToParis and how 74kg is the likely destination over the next few years.