#WrestleCoralville

Ukraine bringing loaded WW team to World Cup

By Gary Abbott

CORALVILLE, Iowa (November 18) --- The lineup for Ukraine’s Women’s Wrestling World Cup team has been released.

The Women’s Wrestling World Cup will be held at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, Dec. 10-11. It is the first time that freestyle and women’s wrestling will be held together side-by-side at the World Cup.

The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, conducted by United World Wrestling. The top five teams in men’s freestyle and the top five teams in women’s wrestling from the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September have confirmed their participation. There is also an All World Team in each discipline, featuring the top available athlete from the World Championships in each weight class that were not from a nation which qualified for the World Cup.

The Ukraine Women’s World Cup team is talented, as nine of the 10 entries have won at least one world medal, either on the Senior level or age-group level, or both.

The team is led by 2014 world champion Yulia TKACH OSTAPCHUK, who has also won three other world medals, a 2017 world silver medal and world bronze medals in 2015 and 2018. She has also won world titles at the University and U20 age levels.

Other senior world medalists on the roster include two-time world medalist Oleksandra KHOMENETS (55kg), a 2022 world silver medalist and a 2021 world bronze medalist. Also competing are Oksana LIVACH (50kg), a 2018 world bronze medalist, Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (57kg), a 2022 world bronze medalist and Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (62kg), a 2022 world bronze medalist. All four of these stars have also won age-group world medals, with Livach a 2013 U17 World champion.

Age-group World medalists on the team include Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (65kg), Alla BELINSKA (68kg), Anastasiya ALPYEVA (72kg) and Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (76kg). Alpyeyeva was a 2021 U23 world champion and Onsiak Shustova was a 2013 U17 world champion.

Ukraine, which placed fifth at the 2022 World Championships in women’s freestyle, will be joined in the World Cup by World champion Japan, second place United States, third place China and fourth place Mongolia, in addition to the All-World Team.         

Ukraine’s women’s team will spend an extended time in the United States, training with Team USA and others prior to and after the World Cup. The Ukrainian women will also compete in the Beat the Streets Los Angeles International Wrestling event in San Marino, Calif. on December 18, where it will take on a U.S. women’s all-star team.

The rosters of the World Cup teams for the other nations will be announced over the next week by USA Wrestling.

Ticket packages for the 2022 Men’s and Women’s Freestyle World Cup are currently on sale. The seating capacity for Xtream Arena for the World Cup will be approximately 5,300. Ticket packages include a Gold package for $275, Silver package for $200 and All-Session tickets for $90.

A special Presentation of Teams and Team USA Meet & Greet will also be held on Friday, December 9 at 6:45 pm. It is free and open to the public.

Men’s and Women’s Wrestling World Cup tickets -> https://worldcupiowacity.com/tickets/

Ukraine Women’s Freestyle World Cup team
50 kg – Oksana LIVACH
53 kg – Lilija MALANCHUK
55 kg – Oleksandra KHOMENETS
57 kg – Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA
59 kg – Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK
62 kg – Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK
65 kg – Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO
68 kg – Alla BELINSKA
72 kg – Anastasiya ALPYEVA
76 kg – Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA   

#WrestleCoralville

Hosts USA announces FS/WW World Cup teams

By Gary Abbott

CORALVILLE, Iowa (November 15) --- USA Wrestling announced its lineups for both its men’s and women’s freestyle teams which will compete at the Freestyle and Women’s Freestyle World Cup at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, December 10-11.

The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships. The top five teams in men’s freestyle and the top five teams in women’s freestyle from the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September have confirmed their participation. There is also an All-World Team in each discipline, featuring the top available athlete from the World Championships in each weight class that were not from a nation that qualified for the World Cup.

The U.S. World Cup teams will feature two Olympic champions, four world champions and 10 past world medalists. It will also include a number of talented young stars who are making an impact internationally.

The freestyle team will feature a pair of Olympic and world champions, Jordan BURROUGHS at 79kg and Kyle SNYDER at 97kg. Burroughs is a 2012 Olympic champion, a six-time world champion and has won 10 career world and Olympic medals. Burroughs is the first U.S. wrestler to win seven world and Olympic titles. Snyder is a 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time world champion and has won eight career world and Olympic medals.

Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS, a 2022 world silver medalist, will compete at 65kg. Two other members of the 2022 world team are on the USA lineup, Seth GROSS at 61kg and Hayden ZILLMER at 125kg. Nick GWIAZDOWSKI, a two-time world bronze medalist, is also on the U.S. freestyle team at 125kg. 

The United States, which won the 2022 world team title, will be joined in the World Cup by second-place Iran, third-place Japan, fourth-place Mongolia and fifth-place Georgia, in addition to the All-World Team.

In women’s wrestling, a pair of world champions are on the team, 2019 world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER at 55kg and 2022 world champion Amit ELOR at 72kg. Winchester was also a member of the 2020 Olympic team. Elor became the first USA wrestler to win three world titles in the same year, also capturing a U20 world title and a U23 world title.

The team also features two-time world silver medalist Kayla MIRACLE at 62kg, two-time world bronze medalist Alyssa LAMPE at 50kg, two-time world bronze medalist Mallory VELTE at 65kg and 2021 world bronze medalist Jenna BURKERT at 55kg. Also competing on the U.S. team is 2022 World Team member Dymond GUILFORD at 76kg. 

The women’s team features a local athlete, Felicity TAYLOR at 53kg, who is a member of the women’s wrestling team at the University of Iowa and is a native Iowan. 

The United States, which was second at the 2022 World Championships in women’s wrestling, will be joined in the World Cup by World champion Japan, third place China, fourth place Mongolia and fifth place Ukraine, in addition to the All-World Team. 

Ticket packages for the 2022 Men’s and Women’s Freestyle World Cup are currently on sale. The seating capacity for Xtream Arena for the World Cup will be approximately 5,300. Ticket packages include a Gold package for $275, a Silver package for $200 and All-Session tickets for $90.

A special presentation of teams and Team USA Meet & Greet will also be held on Friday, December 9, with tickets available at $10. Fans can receive a free youth ticket for the Friday night event, with the purchase of an adult general admission ticket.

Men’s and Women’s Freestyle World Cup tickets -> https://worldcupiowacity.com/tickets/

USA's Freestyle World Cup Team:
57kg – Zane RICHARDS 
57kg – Nick SURIANO 
61kg – Seth GROSS 
61kg – Daniel DESHAZER 
65kg – Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS 
65kg – Evan HENDERSON|
70kg – Tyler BERGER
70kg – Alec PANTALEO 
74kg – Jason NOLF 
74kg – Vincenzo JOSEPH
79kg – Jordan BURROUGHS 
79kg – Chance MARSTELLER 
86kg – Zahid VALENCIA 
86kg – Mark HALL
92kg – Nathan JACKSON
92kg – Jay AIELLO 
97kg – Kyle SNYDER 
97kg – Kollin MOORE 
125kg – Hayden ZILLMER 
125kg – Nick GWIAZDOWSKI 

USA's Women's Wrestling World Cup Team:
50 kg – Alyssa LAMPE 
50 kg – Erin GOLSTON 
53 kg – Felicity TAYLOR
53 kg – Ronna GROSS
55 kg – Jacarra WINCHESTER 
55 kg – Jenna BURKERT
57 kg – Alexandra HEDRICK
57 kg – Amanda MARTINEZ
59 kg – Lexie BASHAM 
59 kg – Michaela BECK 
62 kg – Kayla MIRACLE 
62 kg – Jennifer ROGERS 
65 kg – Mallory VELTE
68 kg – Sienna RAMIREZ
68 kg – Solin PIEARCY 
72 kg – Amit ELOR 
72 kg – Skylar GROTE 
76 kg – Dymond GUILFORD 
76 kg – Yelena MAKOYEV