#WrestleRome

Ukraine women snag trio of Pellicone golds

Thursday, June 23, 2022 - 18:29 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (June 23) -- Ukraine women shined at Matteo Pellicone by winning three of four gold-medal matches contested on Thursday, while Azerbaijan closed out the Greco-Roman side of the Ranking Series event with the team title.

The trio of Ukraine winners were Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR), Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) and Alla BELINSKA (UKR).

In Greco-Roman, Azerbaijan had six finalists – including four wrestlers who ascended to the top of the podium – and won the Greco-Roman team title 46 points ahead of second-place Hungary (102 points).

Of the three Ukraine women who summitted the Ranking Series podium Thursday, Belinska, without question, made the biggest splash.

In just her second competition down at 68kg since the 2018 World Championships, Belinska snapped world champion Irina RINGACI's (MDA) 20-match win streak that dated back to August 2021.

Since the 2021 U20 World Championships, Ringaci has been victorious in 20 consecutive matches. Her run spanned the U20 and Senior World Championships, U23 and Senior European Championships, Dan Kolov and the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event.

But Belinska wasn't worried about Ringaci's resume or her win streak. Instead, she had one thing on her mind: flip the script from their March matchup where Ringaci pinned Belinska after leading, 12-0.

In the short-lived 68kg finals in Rome, Belinska snapped the continental champion into a front headlock and caught Ringaci's head near her knee. Then, the 2022 European bronze medalist locked up a cradle, remained composed and was methodical in working to the fall. She remained patient and took her time, using nearly 90 seconds to inch Ringaci's shoulders to the mat for the pin.

With her win on Thursday, Belinska added a third Ranking Series gold to her resume. She also won golds at the '21 Poland Open and '18 Yasar Dogu.

Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) dominated Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR), 11-1, in the 57kg gold-medal match. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Hrushyna and Koliadenko also dominated their final opponents on Thursday, helping Ukraine (95 points) carry the 55-point lead over Brazil (40 points) into Friday, the final day of women's wrestling action.

In the first period of the 57kg finals, Hrushyna snapped Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) down to the mat and worked on a front headlock for nearly 40 seconds before getting to the corner and picking up her first takedown. After a minute of scoreless action, Hrushyna went back to her front headlock and picked up a second go-behind takedown.

With less than a minute to go in the first frame, Hrushyna brought Kamaloglu down to all fours with two-on-one. Then, as the reigning European champ's Turkish opponent tried building back up to her feet, Hrushyna used an underhook throw-by to put four points on the board, increasing her lead to 8-0.

There was some confusion at the end of the scoring sequences, as Hrushyna's corner thought there should have been another set of two awarded. The refs came together and white-paddled the two in question, keeping Hrushyna's lead to 8-0.

In the second period, Hrushyna and Kamaloglu traded step-outs, before the Ukraine wrestler stopped a swing single attempt to her left leg and spun behind for the 11-1 win.

In an all-Ukrainian battle at 62kg, Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Koliadenko cruised to a one-sided 6-0 win over Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR).

While on the shot clock in the first period, Koliadenko shot an open double leg, transitioned into a pair of leg laces and jumped out to the 6-0 lead.

In the second period, Koliadenko switched to a more defensive wrestling style and was never really in danger of surrendering points. Instead, she stayed poised, controlled Prokopevniuk's head with a left-side collar tie and halted the European bronze medalist's high-level attacks.

Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) eased his way to a 4-0 win over Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) in the 77kg finals. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Hungary, Lithuania and Moldova each had a wrestler win Greco-Roman gold on Thursday. Still, Azerbaijan ended up winning the team title after pushing six wrestlers into the finals.

Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) breezed past Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) in the 77kg finals and defended his Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series titles from '20 and '21. He was the second Hungarian Greco-Roman champion of the week, joining David LOSONCZI (HUN), who won 87kg last night.

Levai controlled the bout against Kaviyaninejad from whistle to whistle and was never threatened by the former U20 world champ. He earned an inactivity point in each period and scored two points from a correct lift.

More importantly, Levai likely punched his ticket to World Championships after beating fellow Hungarian and reigning European champion Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 8-1, in their semifinal meeting.

Mihail BRADU (MDA) celebrates beating Rasoul GARMSIRI (IRI), 2-1, in the 82kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 82kg, Mihail BRADU (MDA) used a first-period takedown to edge Rasoul GARMSIRI (IRI), 2-1.

Bradu worked on a front-head pinch when Garmsiri bailed out and conceded the first two points of the match. That lone takedown proved to be the key factor in the match.

In the second period, Bradu was dinged with inactivity when Garmsiri went for a reverse lift and transitioned into somewhat of an unorthodox gut wrench, picking up what seemed to be two exposure. The Moldovan challenged the call, saying his Iranian opponent committed a leg foul. Bradu won the challenge and led, 2-1, with under a minute to go in the match. He held on to the one-point win and grabbed gold at a Ranking Series event for the first time in his career.

The final Greco-Roman gold went to top-ranked Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU). In the 72kg finals, the Lithuanian earned an injury default victory as Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) could not compete in the gold-medal bout.


Yelena MAKOYED (USA) hip tossed Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) during the 76kg finals. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Makoyed's dream run

In her debut senior-level competition, Yelena MAKOYED (USA) shocked the wrestling world en route to winning the 76kg gold medal. 

Makoyed picked up confidence-building wins over European champion Epp MAE (EST), world bronze medalist Martina KUENZ (AUT) and European bronze medalist Catalina AXENTE (ROU) before throttling U23 world champ Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) in the finals. 

In the gold-medal match, Makoyed capitalized on a swing single and led by two points. Then, after the action was blown dead and the wrestlers came up to their feet, the American worked with an underhook when she timed a hip tossed perfectly and tacked on another two points. Her third takedown came with a low-level double, sitting Alpyeyeva to her butt, gaining a 6-0 lead at the end of the first period.

In the second, Makoyed only needed 35 seconds to score four points off a beautiful go-behind to a gut wrench with double boots in, giving her the 10-0 win and first Ranking Series gold. 

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

57kg 
GOLD - Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) df. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR), 11-1

BRONZE - Patrycja GIL (POL) df. Tamara DOLLAK (HUN), via fall
BRONZE - Giullia RODRIGUES (BRA) df. Erika BOGNAR (HUN), via fall

62kg 
GOLD - Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR), 6-0

BRONZE - Lais NUNES (BRA)  df. Ana GODINEZ (CAN), 8-6

68kg 
GOLD - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Irina RINGACI (MDA), via fall 

BRONZE - Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) df. Noemi SZABADOS (HUN), 4-2
BRONZE - Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Grabriela PEDRO (BRA), 11-0

76kg 
GOLD - Yelena MAKOYED (USA) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), 10-0

BRONZE - Martina KUENZ (AUT) df. Catalina AXENTE (ROU), 5-2

Greco-Roman

72kg 
GOLD - Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) df. Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE), via inj. def.

BRONZE - Valentin PETIC (MDA) df. Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR), 3-1 
BRONZE - Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Matias LIPASTI (FIN), 9-0

77kg 
GOLD - Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) df. Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI), 4-0

BRONZE Robert  FRITSCH (HUN) df.Joilson DE BRITO (BRA), 9-0
BRONZE Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE) df. Luca DARIOZZI (ITA), 6-2

82kg 
GOLD - Mihail BRADU (MDA)  df. Rasoul GARMSIRI (IRI), 2-1

BRONZE - Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) df. Oldrich VARGA (CZE), 2-1 
BRONZE - Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) df. Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA), 3-0

#WrestlePontevedra

Begenjov wins Turkmenistan's historic world title in Freestyle

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - 23:12 By Vinay Siwach

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 7) -- After falling agonizingly short of a World Championship medal two years in a row, Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) made amends in the most impressive way possible -- winning Turkmenistan's first-ever world title in Freestyle.

Begenjov won the gold medal in 79kg weight class at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on Saturday, becoming the first Freestyle world champion of his country. It is only the second time Turkmenistan has won a gold medal at any World Championships. Shorat KHODAYEV (TKM) won a U17 world gold in 1994.

"It was my dream," Begenjov said. "I made my dream come true. I’ve become a world champion. It’s the first time in the history of my country [in Freestyle]."

Begenjov had competed at the U17 World Championships in 2022 and 2023, finishing 12th and fifth respectively. This year, he finished fifth at Asian Championships, 12th at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers and won bronze at the U23 Asian Championships. The loss at the Asian Championships hurt Begenjov.

"I was so disappointed after losing at the Asian Championships," he said. "I started training harder and last month I won the U20 Asian Championships and now the World Championships."

Not only did he win gold, Begenjov did so without conceding a point in the tournament. He outscored his opponents 46-0, including the 5-0 win over Jackary RYDER (USA) in the final.

He led 1-0 at the break after Ryder failed to score after being put on the activity clock. Begenjov used his fake attacks to keep Ryder on check and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 2-0.

Ryder did get on Begenjov's leg a couple of times but failed to finish those attacks. On one occasion, Ryder was trying to lift after a single-leg attack but Begejnov grabbed Ryder's leg and he fell on his back, giving up two points as Begenjov extended his lead to 4-0. A lost challenge made it 5-0.

The 18-year-old plans to compete at the U23 World Championships but doesn't plan to compete at the senior level yet.

"I have to train harder to repeat this and win the senior world title," he said. "I am physically not strong enough yet for senior level."

Trained by his uncle in Ashgabat, Begenov graduated from school earlier this year and joined the university.

"I will start my first year," he said. "I will study stock exchange. We have this faculty in Turkmenistan."

Apart from Ryder's silver medal, the United States won gold and three bronze medals. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) upgraded his silver from last year to gold, winning the 57kg weight class by beating Lev PAVLOV (AIN) in the final.

This was Lilledahl's fourth straight age-group world final after he made two at U17 level and one at U20. He won silver in 2021 and upgraded to gold in 2022 at the U17 Worlds.

In the final against Pavlov, who he had beaten on his way to the final last year in Amman, Lilledahl got two activity points while Pavlov got one. Pavlov failed to find a perfect opening to score a point in the final seconds and dropped the final 2-1.

"When I wrestled him before, it was a lot more wide open," Lilledahl said. "With it being the finals [this year], he would kind of just wrestle to win. That's what you have to do. You're here to win. 

"That's pretty much what I figured would happen. He doesn't really like to create a lot of action, which kind of plays against me because I like the action. It was a stylistic matchup. Having wrestled him before, we kind of knew each other and knew how each other felt and stuff like that."

Aitmukhan adds U20 title

World champion at 92kg Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) gave the U20 World Championships a try and went home with a gold medal. Aitmukhan became Kazakhstan's first Freestyle world champion at the senior level last year at 92kg in Belgrade.

By winning the 97kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Aitmukhan as became only the fourth wrestler from Kazakhstan, and first in 24 years, to win a gold in Freestyle at U20 World Championships.

Aitmukhan was so dominant in the final that Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) could not stop him from winning the final 10-0.

Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) completes a takedown in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran won the gold medal at 65kg as Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) shut out Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), and won the final 10-2. Khorramdel lost his semifinal to Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN) last year but won a bronze medal in the 61kg weight class.

The U20 Asian champion had a difficult path to the final as he had to make a comeback in his opening bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), winning 12-11. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) also fought hard but lost 9-6 before Khorramdel hung on for a 6-4 win over Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) in the semifinals.

Hosokawa was displeased with his performance as Khorramdel blocked him from the right side and Hosokawa failed to score from his strong position. 

While Hosokawa lost, his Nippon Sports Science University teammate Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) won the gold medal at 70kg. Two days before his bouts, Yamashita had announced in the dining hall that he could "only see the gold medal". Yamashita made sure he took it home.

In a high-paced final, Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) failed to challenge Yamashita's speed and style and lost 6-0 in the 70kg final.

"This was my first international world tournament," Yamashita said. "I played with the intention of having fun and had a lot of fun. This is my goal for this year, but after competing, I realized that the senior world championships or the Olympics would be even more amazing. "

It was not all fun for Baitukaev on the mat as Yamashita showed his A game. Yamashita got the first point via stepout and earned a second when the 30-second activity clock against Baitukaev ended. Yamashita blasted a double in the second period to get two points and turned using head-in-middle lace to lead 6-0. Baitukaev had no energy left to attack and Yamashita won the gold medal.

Yamashita celebrated by gesturing like he was taking out the imaginary Samurai swords. 

"I came up with it when I was thinking of doing a performance based on Japanese culture," he said. "It's a Japanese tradition since ancient times. I did it because I admired it."

Yamashita trains with Olympic champions Rei HIGUCHI (JPN and Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) at NSSU and wants to replicate the success his teammates had.

"I realized that what I was doing was correct," he said. "It was a great environment to have someone close to me that I was aiming for. I was really moved by watching the matches. I was inspired by that."

For him to be at the Olympics, Yamashita will have to wait at least four years and jump to 74kg to make the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm still thinking about it, but I guess I can only be 74kg to qualify for the Olympics," he said "I would like to be at 74kg for Los Angeles."

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Lev PAVLOV (AIN), 2-1

BRONZE: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) df. Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: ANKUSH (IND) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)  df. Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), 10-2

BRONZE: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) df. Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via fall (9-0) 
BRONZE: Peter DUKE (USA) df. Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ), 18-7

79kg
GOLD: Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) df. Zackary RYDER (USA), 5-0

BRONZE: Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) df. Said SAIDULOV (AIN), 5-4
BRONZE: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. AMIT (IND), 13-2

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam JAKSIK (SVK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 2-1

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) vs. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)

SF 1: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Marcus BLAZE (USA), 7-2
SF 2: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) vs. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

SF 1: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Shingo ANDO (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-1

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) vs. Joshua BARR (USA)

SF 1: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI), 12-2
SF 2: Joshua BARR (USA) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Sali SALIEV (BUL) vs. Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Sali SALIEV (BUL) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 5-4
SF 2: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA)

SF 1: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Benjamin KUETER (USA) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 13-3