Weekly FIVE! February 26, 2019

Monday, February 25, 2019 - 18:47 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing this week's Dan Kolov and Russia's 2019 Freestyle World Cup Rosters. Also reviewing results from the Hungarian and German Grand Prix' and the Cerro Pelado.

1. Dan Kolov - Nikola Petrov Begins Thursday

Four Olympic gold medalists and four world champions have entered this week’s Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament, United World Wrestling’s second freestyle and women's wrestling Ranking Series event of the 2019 season.

Two-time defending world champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Olympic champions Taha AKGUL (TUR), Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA), and Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) have each signed up to compete in Ruse.

While on the women’s side defending world champions Petra OLLI (FIN), RONG Ningning (CHN), and Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL) are all scheduled to wrestle.

Winner of the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov will be awarded eight (8) points, with second, third and fifth place grabbing six (6), four (4), and two (2) points respectively.

In addition to the placement points, wrestlers will receive additional points based on the number of participants in their bracket. For weight categories with 10 or fewer entries, an additional six (6) points will be added. For categories with 11-20 wrestlers entered an additional eight (8) points will be added. Ten (10) points will be added to any weight category with more than 20 entries.

The two remaining freestyle and women's wrestling Rankings Series events are the Sassari (May 24), and the Yasar Dogu (July 12).

If you missed the first Ranking Series event, the Ivan Yariguin, click here to view the event hub.

2. Lorincz Lifts Host Nation to Hungarian Grand Prix Title

Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) picked up his second Ranking Series title of the year with a 6-0 shutout victory over Algeria's Ivan LIZATOVIC in the 87kg Hungarian Open finals, catapulting the host nation to the top of the leaderboard, five points above Iran, who led after the first nine weight classes.

In the finals, the Hungarian exposed his Algerian opponent twice with a pair of gut wrenches after the Lizatovic was dinged for passivity, and owned the 5-0 lead. A second period step out gave Lorincz the 6-0 advantage and his second Ranking Series gold of the season. The Hungarian also had a title-winning performance at the Zagreb Open two weeks ago.

Lorincz is quietly building a case to be looked at as one of the most dominate Greco-Roman wrestlers in the world after the first two Ranking Series events. Lorincz has an undefeated 9-0 record this season and has scored six shutout victories while outscoring his opponents 45-8.

The host nation Hungary (91 points), who wasn’t even in the top-five after the opening day of wrestling, edged Iran (86 points) by five points to win the team title. Ukraine (83points), Turkey (68 points) and Korea (65 points) rounded out the top-five, respectively.

FINALS RESULTS
55kg - Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB) df. Reza Kheirollah KHEDRI (IRI), 6-4
60kg - Seunghak KIM (KOR) df. Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB), via inj. def.
63kg - Shinobu OTA (JPN) df. Erbatu TUO (CHN), 6-0
67kg - Hansu RYU (KOR) df. Ruslan KUDRYNETS (UKR), 8-1
72kg - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO), via inj. def.
77kg - Viktor NEMES (SRB) df. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR), 2-1
82kg - Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN), 7-1
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 6-0
97kg - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Fatih BASKOY (TUR), 3-3
130kg - Heiki NABI (EST) df. Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR), 2-0

Day One Wrap
Day Two Wrap

3. Russia Releases World Cup Roster
World champions Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (70kg) and Zaurbek SIDAKOV (74kg) lead the Russian Federation’s 20-man roster for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup.

The 2018 freestyle world champions will be without world champions Zaur UGUEV (57kg) and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (97kg), and two-time world runner-up RASHIDOV Gadshimurad (61kg), but their lineup will feature 2018 third-place finishers Akhmed CHAKAEV (65kg) and Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (79kg).

For Russia to earn top-billing in 2019, the home side will need to win a Group A side which includes a resurgent Cuban team, Japan, and Turkey.

The United States heads up Group B but faces steep competition from a Georgia squad rife with former world and Olympic champions, including two-time defending heavyweight world champion Geno PETRIASHVILLI. A young Iranian team and ever-improving Mongolia squad fill out Group B.

Group A - RUS (1), CUB (4), JPN (5), TUR (8)
Group B - USA (2), GEO (3), IRI (6), MGL (7)

The 2019 Freestyle World Cup beings on March 16 in Yakutsk, Russia, and will be live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

Russia’s World Cup Roster
57kg - Muslim SADULAEV
57kg - Aryian TIUTRIN
61kg - Eduard GRIGOREV
61kg - Magomedrasul IDRISOV
65kg - Akhmed CHAKAEV
65kg - Nachyn KUULAR
70kg - David BAEV
70kg - Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV
74kg - Zaurbek SIDAKOV
74kg - Magomed KURBANALIEV
79kg - Magomed RAMAZANOV
79kg - Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV
86kg - Vladislav VALIEV
86kg - Dauren KURUGLIEV
92kg - Magomed KURBANOV
92kg - Alikhan ZHABRAILOV
97kg - Rasul MAGOMEDOV
97kg - Igor OVSIANNIKOV
125kg - Anzor KHIZRIEV
125kg - Said GAMIDOV

4. Cuba Wins Six Cerro Pelado International Golds
Cuban wrestlers won six of eight freestyle gold medals at last weekend’s Cerro Pelado in Havana, Cuba. United States’ Ben WHITFORD and Brandon SORENSEN won the 61kg and 70kg gold medals respectively and were the only two non-Cubans to win a gold medal.

Darthe CAPELLAN (CAN) was the only wrestlers not from Cuba or the United States to medal at the Cerro Pelado. He won a bronze medal at 57kg.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB)
SILVER - Alexei ALVAREZ BLANCO (CUB)
BRONZE - Frank PERELLI (USA)
BRONZE - Darthe CAPELLAN (CAN)

61kg
GOLD – Ben WHITFORD (USA)
SILVER - Cory CLARK (USA)
BRONZE - Aleynier HERNANDEZ GUILARTE (CUB)

65kg
GOLD - Alejandro VALDES TOBIER (CUB)
SILVER – Evan HENDERSON (USA)
BRONZE – Dean HEIL (USA)
Cristian SOLENZAL LOPEZ (CUB)

70kg
GOLD – Brandon SORENSEN (USA)
SILVER Lavion MAYS  (USA)
BRONZE - David CARR (USA)
BRONZE Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB)

74kg
GOLD - Geandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB)
SILVER - Thomas GANTT (USA)
BRONZE Joey LAVALLEE (USA)
BRONZE - Dan VALIMONT (USA)

79kg - No competition

86kg
GOLD - Yurieski TORREBLANCE QUERALTA (CUB)
SILVER - Kenneth COURTS (USA)
BRONZE - Brett PFARR (USA)
BRONZE - Lazaro HERNANDEZ LUIS (CUB)

92kg - No competition

97kg
GOLD - Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB)
SILVER - Yongen BASTIDAS (CUB)
BRONZE - Kevyn GADSON (USA)

125kg
GOLD - Yudenny ALPAJON ESTEVES (CUB)
SILVER - Dominique BRADLEY (USA)
BRONZE - Lazaro SILVA (CUB)
BRONZE - Tanner HALL (USA)

5. Grand Prix of Germany Wraps Up in
Five different nations won a women’s wrestling gold medal at the last weekend’s German Grand Prix, but Canada and the United State were the frontrunners with three gold medalists each.

The host nation Germany had a pair of champions, while Nigeria and Russia each had a solo gold-medal winner.

The most notable championship performance came from Russia’s 2012 Olympic champion Natalya VOROBIEVA (RUS). Vorobieva, who made her return to the mat three weeks ago at the Henri Deglane Challenge, made only her second tournament appearance since her runner-up finish at the Rio Olympics. Vorobieva absence was due to the birth of her son shortly after the 2016 Olympic Games.

In the finals, Vorobieva defeated Martina KUENZ (AUT) to win her first gold medal since the 2015 Golden Grand Prix.

RESULTS
50kg
GOLD - Whitney CONDER (USA)
SILVER - Katharina BAUMGARTNER (GER)
BRONZE - Victoria ANTHONY (USA)
BRONZE - Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)

53kg
GOLD - Diana WEICKER (CAN)
SILVER - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE)
BRONZE - Jessica BLASZKA (NED)
BRONZE - Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)

55kg
GOLD - Cameron GUERIN (USA)
SILVER - Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
BRONZE - Jeannie KESSLER (AUT)

57kg
GOLD - Adekuoroye ODUNAYO (NGR)
SILVER - Anna Hella SZEL (HUN)
BRONZE - Elena BRUGGER (GER)
BRONZE - Francesca INDELICATO (ITA)

59kg
GOLD - Andrea GRASRUECK (GER)
SILVER - Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
BRONZE – Debora LAWNITZAK (GER)

62kg
GOLD - Luisa LIEMESCH (GER)
SILVER - Johanna MATTSSON (SWE)
BRONZE - Marwa AMRI (TUN)
BRONZE - Mallory VELTE (USA)

65kg
GOLD - Braxton STRONE-PAPADOPOULOS (CAN)
SILVER - Amanda HENDEY (USA)
BRONZE - Macey KILTY (USA)
BRONZE - JuliaSALATA (USA)

68kg
GOLD - Olivia DIBACCO (CAN)
SILVER - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN)
BRONZE - Anna SCHELL (GER)
BRONZE -Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

72kg
GOLD - Guilford, Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
SILVER - Sennett, Andrea Rose SENNETT (USA)
BRONZE -Molnar, Zsuszanna  MOLNAR (SVK)

76kg
GOLD - Natalya VOROBIEVA (RUS)
SILVER - Martina KUENZ (AUT)
BRONZE - Francy RAEDELT (GER)

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Ibragim Ilyasov (RUS) -- 2018 U-23 Europe @ilyasov_57
2. RYU Hansu with a nasty front head! Team Korea took two titles on the weekend which was good enough for a 5th place team finish! #grecoromanwrestling #wrestling ? @martin_gabor__
3. Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo ?? gets an early win #hungariangp2019 .
4. Great early action on Day 1 at the #hungariangp2019 #unitedworldwrestling #wrestling #grecoromanwrestling
5. Happy @alliseeisgold Day (2/22)! Счастливого @alliseeisgold дня!

#WrestleBucharest

Cengiz vs Losonczi on cards, Kayaalp eyes European record

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 - 10:47 By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 7) -- World champions Ali CENGIZ (TUR) and David LOSONCZI (HUN) may have shared the 87kg world title from Belgrade but the two are on course to meet and settle the scores at the European Championships in Bucharest next week.

Cengiz won the gold medal in Belgrade but a United World Wrestling review ruled that a referee error cost Losonczi the title. The Hungary wrestler was later awarded a shared world title.

But we are likely to find who is the clear winner in Bucharest as Greco-Roman will kick off the tournament on February 12. The European Championships will be live on UWW+ which can be watched on uww.org or the UWW App.

Losonczi and Cengiz can only meet in the final as they are seeded one and two respectively. And to reach the gold medal bout, both have to navigate a tough bracket.

The biggest threat will be Alan OSTAEV (AIN) who won a bronze medal at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in January. He stunned a packed house in Zagreb by beating Losonczi 9-0 in the first round. Ostaev had two big throws which helped him win the contest in the first period itself.

The second bronze medalist from Zagreb, Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) will also be in action in Bucharest hoping to win his first medal at a championship for Serbia.

Tokyo Olympic champion and world bronze medalist Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) will also make a comeback to the European Championships. He last wrestled at the tournament in 2021, winning a bronze medal. He won the gold medal in the 2019 edition of the championships.

Young stars in the weight class include U20 world champion Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), former U20 world champion Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and former U23 world champion Exauce MUKUBU (NOR).

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At 130kg, Riza KAYAALP (TUR) is going for a record-breaking 13th European Championships title. A gold medal will take him past the 12th title Aleksandr KARELIN holds in Greco-Roman.

Kayaalp suffered a loss in the final at the World Championships but will hope that his reign in Europe doesn't meet the same fate. Sergei SEMENOV (AIN), veteran Heiki NABI (EST), home favorite Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) and young star Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) are the few other names in the bracket.

Another packed weight class in 77kg as Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) looks to defend his title from Zagreb. But challenging him are world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), 72kg world champion Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), Robert FRITSCH (HUN), U23 world champion Alexandrin GUTU (MDA), former world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB) and former European champion Yunus BASAR (TUR).

Amoyan's run last year included a semifinal victory over Basar who later won a bronze medal. Gutu was injured in the repechage round and pulled out.

Suleymanov lost his first-round bout but he reached the final of the World Championships and won the Zagreb Open last month. He will also be seeded number one for the European Championships, making a clash with Amoyan possible in the gold-medal bout.

Ghanem won the world title at 72kg but he suffered an early loss at the Zagreb Open. Arsalan won a bronze medal at that event.

Defending champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) (blue) and silver medalist Kiril MILOV (BUL) are entered at 97kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) will also be wrestling for the first since the World Championships in which suffered a shocking loss in the final to win a silver medal at 97kg. The defending champion will be seeded third and looking for his seventh gold medal at the competition.

The field includes top seed world bronze medalist Artur OMAROV (CZE), Zagreb Open winner and second seed Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN), former world bronze medalist Artur SARGSIAN (AIN), 2022 European champion Kiril MILOV (BUL), Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN), Tamas LEVAI (HUN) and Felix BALDAUF (NOR).

Milov is making a comeback since his silver medal at the 2023 European Championships as he suffered a career-threatening injury that also forced him to skip the World Championships.

Last year, Victor CIOBANU (MDA) and Kerem KAMAL (TUR) offered an action-packed bout and the two are expected to clash again. Since Kamal is unseeded, he can meet Ciobanu in any round of the bracket.

Ciobanu, the returning silver medalist, reached the final of the Zagreb Open but pulled out, handing the victory to Sadyk LALAEV (AIN). Lalaev is entered to compete in Bucharest and Ciobanu will be keen to have a go this time.

Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) and Pridon ABULADZE (GEO) will be part of the bracket but with defending champion Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) moving to 63kg, the 60kg weight class will have a new European champion.

Nazaryan's task to win the 63kg weight class won't be a walk in the park as he has to face world and defending champion Leri ABULADZE (GEO). Zhambolat LOKYAEV (AIN) and Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) will also look to win the gold medal.

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) is the defending champion at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) has had a tough time since winning the gold medal at 67kg at the last European Championships as he lost the final of the World Championships and then got pinned at the Zagreb Open. But he will look to return to gold-winning ways in Bucharest.

Jafarov will be the favorite to win the gold medal despite the likes of Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA), Morten THORESEN (NOR), Sebastian NAD (SRB) and Murat FIRAT (TUR) in the weight class.

82kg world champion Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) will be eyeing another European title after skipping the last edition. Huseynov won the world title in 2021 but failed to repeat in 2022. He moved back to 82kg for the 2023 edition and won the gold medal.

He will have a young field to navigate as former U20 world champion Islam ALIEV (AIN) is joined by multiple-time age-group world medalist Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) and U20 world champion Alperen BERBER (TUR).

Azerbaijan has another chance at winning the gold medal at 72kg defending champion Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) returns to defend his title. He will face the likes of Krisztian VANCZA (HUN), Mate NEMES (SRB), Selcuk CAN (TUR) and Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) among others.

At 55kg, Adem UZUN (TUR) had a dream run last year, winning the gold medal. He will look to repeat as the champion even though Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), who suffered a 13-3 semifinal loss to Uzun, hopes to finally win the European title. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) has decided to skip the tournament.

Weekly FIVE! February 26, 2019

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Cengiz vs Losonczi on cards, Kayaalp eyes European record