#WrestleZagreb

Updated Grand Prix Zagreb Open Entry List

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 - 18:07 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 13) -- For the first time since the Nur-Sultan World Championships, two-time world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) will make his long-awaited return to the mat. The Rio Olympic runner-up and Ukrainian Parliamentary member will kick off his '21 campaign later this week at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, which gets underway January 16-17 in Zagreb, Croatia's Dom Sportova Hall. 

Beleniuk is apart of a loaded competition list that'll feature 165 athletes from 18 different nations. In addition to Beleniuk, other starts to keep an eye on are:
60kg: Stig Andre BERGE (NOR): Rio Olympic bronze medalist 
60kg: Victor CIOBANU (MDA): '18 world silver medalist
63kg: Elmura tTASMURADOV (UZB): Rio Olympic bronze medalist 
67kg: Morten THORESEN (NOR): '20 European champion 
67kg: Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL): '18 world bronze
77kg: Daniel CATARAGA (MDA): Two-time U23 world champion // '16 world silver medalist 
82kg: Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN): Two-time European champion
82kg: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE): '19 world silver medalist 
97kg: Felix BALDAUF (NOR): '17 European champion

Reigning Zagreb Open champions that are entered:
67kg: Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
77kg: Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
87kg: Oskar JOHANSSON (SWE)

55kg
Steven ECKER (GER)
Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
Giovanni FRENI (ITA)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Snorre LUND (NOR)
Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

60kg
Ivan LIZATOVIĆ (CRO)
Luka PRIHISTAL (CRO)
Juuso LATVALA (FIN)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Micha TRACZ (POL)
Dawid ERSETIC (POL)
Alexander BICA (SWE)
Ardit FAZLIJA( SWE)
Ahmet UYAR  (TUR)|
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Mukhammadkodir YUSUPOV (UZB)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)


63kg
Dominik CELIČEK (CRO)
Andrej GINC (GER)
Deniz MENEKSE (GER)
Giovanni Paolo ALESSIO (ITA)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Stig Andre BERGE (NOR)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIĆ (SRB)
Niklas OHLEN (SWE)
Elmura tTASMURADOV (UZB)

67kg
Elmer MATTIL (FIN)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Steve MOMILIA (ITA)
Francesco BELLINO (ITA)
Ruben MARVICE (ITA)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Daniel SOINI (SWE)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Enes BAŞAR (TUR)
Haci KARAKUŞ (TUR)
Ime NASIBOV (UKR)
Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)

72kg
Marko NIKOLIĆ (CRO)
Akseli YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Titas KERSEVICIUS (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Sebastian AAK (NOR)
Aron PINTER (SRB)
Didrik SILVERIN (SWE)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
|Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

77kg
Božo STARČEVIĆ (CRO)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJAŠEVIĆ (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Roni PUROLAINEN (FIN)
Michael WIDMAYER (GER)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Ciro RUSSO (ITA)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Edgar BABAYAN (POL)
Mateusz WOLNY (POL)
Iwan NYLYPIUK (POL)
Dawid KLIMEK (POL)
Albin OLOFSON(SWE)
Lukas AHLGREN (SWE)
Nicolas CHRISTEN (SUI)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Vladimir YAKOVLEV (UKR)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Elmar NURALIEV (UKR)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

82kg
Filip ŠAČIĆ (CRO)
Antun BORČIĆ (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIĆ (CRO)
Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Marius BRAUN (GER)
Simon OLLINGER (GER)
Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU)
Magnus GRONVIK (NOR)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Marc WEBER (SUI)

87kg
Tomislav HADER (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Matej MANDIĆ (CRO)
Petr NOVAK (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Vili ROPPONEN (FIN)
Juho PAHIKAINEN (FIN)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Simone FIDELBO(ITA)
Veronica PARISI (ITA)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Julius MATUZEVICIUS (LTU)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Eividas STANKEVICIUS (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Vladislav GUTU (MDA)
Aleksandar ST JEPANETIC (SWE)
Oskar JOHANSSON (SWE)
Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Dogan GÖKTAŞ (TUR)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Zhan BELENYUK (UKR)
Joe RAU (USA)

97kg
Ivan RATKOVIĆ (CRO)
Nikola CONAR (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Ondrej DADAK (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Ilja KLASNER (GER)
Patrick NEUMAIER (GER)
Jan ZIRN (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Nikoloz KAKHEKASHVILI (ITA)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Pontus LUND (SWE)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Dzihasov ZIELIMKHAN (UKR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)

130kg
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Konsta MAENPAA (FIN)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Franz RICHTER (GER)
Samuele VARICELLI (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafał KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Muhammet Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR)
Nikolai KUCHMIY (UKR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

#development

UWW conducts pilot coaching course in Nigeria

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 08:02 By United World Wrestling Press

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YENAGOA, Nigeria (October 23) — After its success on the mat, Nigeria is leaving no stone unturned to grow wrestling off the mat as well.

United World Wrestling organised a Level 3 Coaching Course, approved by IOC, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa from October 15 to 19 after a Level 1 Training course.

Of the 21 participants, 18 completed the training process which took place at the national wrestling center located in Bayelsa. This center which is renowned for producing Nigeria’s best wrestlers including Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) and multiple time world medalist Odunayo ADEKUROYE (NGR).

The training, organised with the collaboration of the Nigerian Olympic Committee and the Nigerian Wrestling Federation, was an opportunity for the participants to achieve their maximum potential performance with applications of international guidelines and aiding Nigerian wrestlers in reaching their peak.

President of Nigeria Wrestling Federation Daniel IGALI stressed on the impact the training course will have on the coaches and referees, as well as the wrestlers.

"I must thank the IOC, UWW and the NOC as this is massive. As you know, the coaches and referees determine outcome of every federation,” Igali said. “I'm glad we now have Level 3 accredited coaches in Nigeria which means the level of instruction is going to be higher and I believe heading into Paris 2024 the contingent will be better prepared."

coaching

Three experts, fluent in various languages, were designated for this pilot project. The experts included lead Educator Vincent AKA, covering four languages (English, French, Spanish and Russian), second educator and coach Zac DOMINGUEZ and a third educator Ahmed KEDRI, who constantly supervises and supports all Arabic speaking countries.

"They will soon be great coaches,” Dominguez said of the participants. “All came with an open mind to learn. But wrestling is like a marathon and it's going to be a journey, so they'll have to keep learning and improving."

The content of the course were designed to best fit the participants by UWW Education Manager Zach ERRETT. The Level 3 Course focuses on Periodization and Building a Coaching Philosophy. Both of these topics are important for the development of coaches and to better develop the training.

Given the success of wrestling in Nigeria, Nigeria Olympic Committee President Tony NEZIANYA explained that selecting the wrestling federation for this training was a no brainer.

"We're pleased to organize the course because we have evaluated all the sports in Nigeria and thought that wrestling has best opportunity of making us proud and giving us that prestigious Olympic gold medal,” Nezianya said. “The wrestling federation has been impressive and winning a lot of medals and we think they deserve to have this course."

coaching

Kedri also explained the significance of the course for Nigeria and the growth of wrestling in the country.

“This course is very important for wrestling in Nigeria because it's a perimeter to empower their learning and I commend them for their active participation,” he said.
 
Oyinbrakemi KING, a trainee who attained the Level 3 IOC licence, expressed joy and gratitude.

"I'm short of words but I'm very happy,” King said. “I want to thank the president of the federation for providing us with a beautiful facility that made it possible for the instructors to come to Nigeria. I promise that we will continue to work hard and improve.”