Weekly FIVE! January 21, 2020

Monday, January 20, 2020 - 10:42 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing Mohammadian's magical Matteo Pellicone run, Lorincz winning his sixth Ranking Series title and Zhou's eight-point comeback on Mensah-Stock. Also looking at the Russian Greco-Roman National Championships and results from Sweden's Klippan Lady Open.

1. Mohammadian Has Magical Run at Matteo Pellicone; Dake Wins in Debut at 74kg
Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) had a magical run to the 97kg title at the Matteo Pellicone. Mohammadian’s five victories included a fall over an Olympic champion, and wins over a U23 world champion, a world bronze medalist, a world fifth-place finisher and a European runner-up.

Mohammadian kickstarted his day by crushing Alisher YERGALI (KAZ), a fifth-place finish in Nur-Sultan. The Iranian downed the man who qualified Kazakhstan for the 2020 Olympic Games, 11-0. He followed up that hot start with a second technical superiority victory. This time, he thumped reigning U23 world champion Bo NICKAL (USA), 10-0.

In the quarterfinals, Mohammadian picked up arguably the biggest win of his career when he flattened Olympian champion, Kyle Snyder while commanding an 8-0 lead. An 11-0 showing against 2018 world bronze-medal finisher Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) inserted the Iranian into the finals, where he met Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) for the 97kg title. He capped off his dominant run to a Matteo Pellicone gold medal, where he outscored his five opponents 41-0, with a 9-0 blanking of Hushtyn and brought home his first career Rankings Series title.

Kyle DAKE (USA) dismantled a world and Olympic bronze medalist in 35 seconds in the gold-medal match of his debut at 74kg. Dake, who was one of three American freestyle champions, defeated Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) in his debut down at the Olympic weight of 74kg and joined Thomas GILMAN (USA) and Zahid VALENCIA (USA) on their way to the top of the freestyle podium at the Matteo Pellicone.

In the finals, Dake led 7-0, 16 seconds into the first period, and after his Turkish opponent was hit with a fleeing-the-hold call, the American went back on top in par terre. A pair of gut wrenches less than 20 seconds left gave Dake the 11-0 technical superiority victory and a second Ranking Series title.

Matteo Pellicone Freestyle Recaps:
RECAP: Mohammadian Mauls Snyder En Route to Matteo Pellicone Title
RECAP: Dake Dismantles Demirtas in Debut at 74kg; USA Wins Trio of Day Four Golds

Interviews:
Post-Match Interviews with the Freestyle Champions

RESULTS
57kg - Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA) df. Joseph Daniel COLON (USA), 4-3
61kg - (Nordic Style) - Kumar RAVI (IND) df. Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ), 6-0
65kg - Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) df. Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA), 4-3
74kg - Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA) df. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), 11-0
86kg - Zahid VALENCIA (USA) df. Alexander David DIERINGER (USA), 7-5
97kg - Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) df. Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR), 9-0
125kg - Amir Hossein Abbas ZARE (IRI) df. Bilial MAKHOV (RUS), 5-3

Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) edged Kumar SUNIL (IND), 2-1, at 87kg and became the first wrestler to win six Ranking Series titles. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2. Lorincz Becomes First Wrestler to win Six Ranking Series Golds
Coming into the Matteo Pellicone, Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) already owned a Ranking Series title for every finger on one hand. The 2019 Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year now has to move to a second hand to count his Ranking Series gold medals after he captured his sixth career Ranking Series title on Wednesday night in the Roman seaside town of Ostia.

The Hungarian tallied 19 wins in his previous five Ranking Series appearances. With his quartet of wins on Wednesday, Lorincz improved his Ranking Series record to a perfect 23-0 with a 2-1 win over last year’s Asian silver medalist Kumar SUNIL (IND) in the 87kg finals.

“I am very happy to win this tournament. I want to continue this very good series for me. I want to win the last two qualifications (European Championships and Poland Open) because it helps my seed for the Olympic Games,” said Lorincz.

In the finals, Lorincz, last year's world runner-up, picked up an inactivity point and a stepout in the first period. He had his lead cut to a single point when he was dinged for an inactivity point himself. But the Hungarian Hammer relied on his world-renowned defensive skills and hung on to win an unprecedented sixth Ranking Series title, 2-1.

“I came here to win. I had some hard matches, and I’m not where I want to be. I want to (build) my strength and power for the other tournaments.”

Matteo Pellicone Greco-Roman Recap:
RECAP: Lorincz Locks up Sixth Career Ranking Series Gold Medal

Interviews:
Post-Match Interviews with the Greco-Roman Champions

RESULTS
55kg - (Nordic Style) - Dogus AYAZCI (TUR) df. Max Emiliano NOWRY (USA), 9-0
60kg - Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) df. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 4-3
63kg - (Nordic Style) -  Andres MONTANO ARROYO (VEN) df. Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR), 11-0
67kg -  Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) df. Abouhalima ABOUHALIMA (EGY), 3-1
72kg -  Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) df. Selcuk CAN (TUR), via fall
77kg - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) df. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR), via fall
82kg - Singh GURPREET (IND) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-5
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kumar SUNIL (IND), 2-1
97kg - Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) df. Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 5-4
130kg - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) df. Moises PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN), via fall

3. Zhou Shocks Mensah with Eight-Point Comback
It's no secret that ZHOU Feng (CHN) was the underdog coming into her Matteo Pellicone finals against reigning world champion Tamyra MENSAH (USA), and though she fell behind by eight points, she remained composed enough to erase an 8-0 second-period deficit to win the 68kg gold medal. Zhou’s shocking win stopped Mensah, the 2019 Women's Wrestler of the Year, from winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title.

“For the first period, I didn’t feel prepared or ready, but I didn’t give up,” said Zhou. At that point of the match, Zhou surrendered three takedowns and a trapped arm gut and trailed 8-0. “I was thinking the match is not finished and I didn’t give up.”

Zhou, a two-time world medalist, kickstarted her unexpected comeback with two points from a defensive stop, which ended in a takedown. She tacked on six additional points from three gut wrenches and closed out the match on top, 8-8.

After her remarkable come-from-behind win, Zhou said, “I’m happy and excited. From this competition, most of (these wrestlers) will participate in the Olympic Games, so to get the gold medal makes me very happy.”

Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) dropped down from 53kg to 50kg and won the Matteo Pellicone title with a 4-2 come-from-behind win over reigning world silver medalist Emilia VUC (ROU). (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

If there were any questions surrounding Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) moving down to 50kg coming into Rome – they’ve been answered on Friday night. Hildebrandt scored a takedown with two seconds left and stole the gold medal from Emilia VUC (ROU) in the 50kg finals battle that featured a pair of past world silver medalists. With a smile on her face from ear-to-ear, Hildebrandt said, “I like the sound of that, 50kg champ!”

The American, who was down 2-1 with under 10 seconds left, said she told herself, “You’re not going to win because I'm not going to lose.” And that’s exactly what happened.

The 2018 world silver medalist used an underhook throw by with under ten seconds left to get to the body of her Romanian opponent. Then, she snaked her left arm out, and barley scored the takedown as time expired to win her second Ranking Series title, 4-2.

Matteo Pellicone Women's Wrestling Recaps:
Zhou Erases Eight-Point Deficit, Downs World Champ Mensah

Interviews:
Post-Match Interviews with the Women's Wrestling Champions

RESULTS
50kg - Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), 4-2
53kg -  Vinesh VINESH (IND) df. Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU), 4-0
55kg - (Nordic Style) - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR), 10-0
57kg - Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Anshu ANSHU (IND), 10-0
59kg - (Nordic Style) -  Anhelina LYSAK (UKR) df. Yuliya PISARENKA (BLR), via fall
62kg - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), via injury default
65kg - (Nordic Style) - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Oksana KUKHTA HERHEL (UKR), 5-0
68kg - Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA), 8-8
72kg - (Nordic Style) - Maria SELMAIER (GER) df. Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR), 8-6
76kg -  Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) df. Qian ZHOU (CHN), 10-0

Davit CHAKVETADZE defeated Alexander KOMAROV, 4-2, in the 87kg Greco-Roman Russian National fInals. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

4. Russian Greco-Roman National Championships Wrap up in Novosibirsk
The southwestern Siberian city Novosibirsk, known for breeding two of the most feared Greco-Roman wrestlers in Olympic history, Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS) and Roman VLASOV (RUS), hosted the 2020 Russian Greco-Roman National Championships over the weekend.

Rio Olympic champion Davit CHAKVETADZE reemerged as the favorite to represent Russia at the continental representative at 87kg, while Sergey SEMENOV showed that he’s back to his winning ways after a disappointing 2019 campaign.

Chakvetadze, who defeated Alexander KOMAROV, 4-2, in the finals, was triumphant in his quest to win a second 87kg national title in the last three years and may have cemented himself as Russia’s European Championship representative. And though Chakvetadze was the reigning 87kg national champion, he finished behind Komarov at the 2019 Grand Prix of Germany, which kept him off of Russia’s 2019 Nur-Sultan team. And after Komarov’s 11th-place finish in Kazakhstan, whoever Russia elects to roll with moving forward, whether it’ll be Chakvetadze or Komarov, will have to qualify their nation for the 2020 Olympic Games at 87kg.

At 130kg, 2018 world champion Sergey Semenov sealed up at 3-0 win over Zurabi GEDEHAURI and got back to his winning ways after he failed to lock up an Olympic qualification spot with a disappointing 17th-place in Nur-Sultan.

According to www.wrestrus.ru ’s correspondent Tigran AVANIAN, Russia’s lineup for the 2020 European Championships is scheduled to be released on February 6.

It should be noted that the following wrestlers were released from the 2020 Russian National Championships:
60kg – Sergey EMELIN (2018 world champion, 2019 world silver)
60kg – Stepan MARYANYAN (2018 world champion, 2019 world silver)
67kg – Artem SURKOV (2018 world champion, 2019 world silver)
77kg – Roman VLASOV (Two-time Olympic champion)
97kg – Musa EVLOEV (2019 and ‘18 world champion)

RESULTS
55kg - Vitaly KABALOEV df. Emin SEFERSAEV, 3-2
60kg – Zambolat LOKIYAEV df. Artur PETROSYAN, 7-0
63kg – Ibrahim LABAZANOV df. Marat MARIPOV, 5-5
67kg - Alain MIRZOYAN df. Nazir ABDULAEV - 5: 6
72kg - Adam KURAK df. Magomed YARILBOV, 3-0
77kg - Alexander CHEKHIRKIN df. Islam OPIEV, 7-0
82kg - Shamil OZHAEV df. Ruslan VARDANYAN, 6-2
87kg - Davit CHAKVETADZE df. Alexander KOMAROV, 4-2
97kg - Alexander GOLOVIN df. Nikita MELNIKOV, 3-1
130kg - Sergey SEMENOV df. Zurabi GEDEHAURI, 3-0

5. Japan Wins Five Klippan Lady Open Golds; Bullen Wrestles in Italy and Sweden Days Apart
Japan won five of nine gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, while Grace BULLEN (NOR) grabbed gold in Sweden days after competing in Italy at the Matteo Pellicone.

Umi ITO (JPN), Rino KATAOKA (JPN), Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) and Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) won their respective traditional brackets as Ami ISHII (JPN) won the 65kg Nordic style bracket.

Ita and Kataoka, who won the 50kg and 53kg titles, respectively, each ended their matches early with 10-0 shutout wins. Ito blanked Felicia GALLO (FRA) and Kataoka shutout Ellen RIESTERER (GER).

Sakurai scored the biggest win for Japan when she snuck past seven-time world and Olympic medalist, Sofia MATTSSON (SWE), 4-2, for the gold at 55kg.

Japan’s final gold medalist was Yuka Kagami, who edged Dymond GUILFORD (USA), 2-1, in the 76kg gold medal bout.

Meanwhile, Norway’s Grace Bullen won gold at 59kg at the Klippan Lady Open days after going wrestling in Italy at the Matteo Pellicone. In Italy, Bullen went 2-2 but fell to eventual 57kg silver and bronze medalists, respectively, Anshu ANSHU (IND) and Linda MORAIS (CAN). In Sweden, the 2018 U23 world champion throttled Abigail NETTE (USA), 10-0, in the finals at 59kg.

RESULTS
50kg - Umi ITO (JPN) df. Felicia GALLO (FRA), 10-0
53kg - Rino KATAOKA (JPN) df. Ellen RIESTERER (GER), 10-0
55kg - Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) df. Sofia MATTSSON (SWE), 4-2
57kg - (Nordic Style) - Lauren LOUIVE (USA) df. Cameron GUERIN (USA), 8-0
59kg - Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Abigail NETTE (USA), 10-0
62kg - Jennifer PAGE (USA) df. Emma JOHANSSON (SWE), via fall
65 kg - (Nordic Style) - Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Rin TERAMOTO (JPN), 8-3
72 kg - (Nordic Style) - Danuté DOMIKAITYE (LTU) df. Mizuki NAGASHIMA (JPN), 13-3
76kg - Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) df. Dymond GUILFORD (USA), 2-1

Weekly FIVE In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Temirtassova A. (KAZ) -- Senior Worlds 2019 #WrestleNursultan
2. We want to thank all 400k wrestling fans for the continued support. ? ? #unitedworldwrestling
3. Behind the scenes at #wrestlerome
4. @frankchamizo92 talks about why he's sitting out of Matteo Pellicone and potential matchups with Dake, Burroughs and Sidakov ??? // Full interview on our Instagram bio
5. Big Move Of Day 3 at #WrestleRome Ranking Series Matteo Pellicone!

2026 Muhamet Malo

Sadulaev Returns to Tirana as Stacked 97kg Field Awaits

Friday, February 20, 2026 - 14:01 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 20) -- For four years the 97kg weight class was considered the premier one in international wrestling. Then all of a sudden it was not. Rivalries is what makes divisions and following the absence of Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), the 97kg category had lost one half of it's.

Sadulaev's rivalry with Kyle SNYDER (USA) had begun in 2017, peaked at the Tokyo Olympics and just when it seemed the Russian was emerging dominant, he disappeared from the scene.

Then Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) came and went. Snyder picked up two world titles in Sadulaev's absence. Newer wrestlers threatened but none appeared to be as good as Sadulaev and Snyder.

Slowly other weight classes gave fans more. Like 86kg with David TAYLOR (USA) and Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) becoming the two pillars. 65kg was the deepest weight every year. In fact, no world or Olympic champion has won the gold medal consecutively at 65kg since 2008.

At 74kg, shake-up kept happening with Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) making way for Kyle DAKE (USA). But Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) was the leader until Razambek JAMALOV (UZB), Chermen VALIEV (ALB), and Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) came along.

But 97kg is back in the spotlight.

Five months after he became the world champion, Snyder will be part of a new chapter of the 97kg series as Sadulaev returns to competition in this weight class after more than two years.

Wrestling at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event in Tirana, Albania, Sadulaev will join Snyder, Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), Batyrbek TSUKALOV (SVK), Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW), among others. If Sadulaev and Snyder clash, it will be their first match since the 2021 World Championships final in Oslo, Norway.

Snyder is still the rock he is, pressuring wrestlers into giving up at his pace. It is how he won his fourth world title in Zagreb. He easily overpowers everyone except Sadulaev.

But will Sadulaev be at his best? The 29-year-old last competed at the 2024 Non-Olympic World Championships, winning gold at 92kg after that epic semifinal against Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI). From his social media, Sadulaev seems to be in shape, sharing videos of his training from the gym, mat and even outdoors. He also had an interesting training session with Greco-Roman Olympic champion Musa EVLOEV (UWW), who has now decided to skip the event after initially registering.

The challengers will definitely have their chances in Tirana. Aitmukhan leads the pack, spurred by his victory over Tazhudinov at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in October. The 2023 world champion at 92kg has slowly improved and was fifth at the World Championships.

Olympic bronze medalist Magomedov will be another threat but his struggles with conditioning are evident from past tournaments. Khaniev, a 92kg silver medalist at U23 World Championships, is another exciting talent making his debut at 97kg. With veterans in the mix, Khaniev has to find a way to move past them.

Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) defeated Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IR) at 86kg at the ISG 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

A few other weight classes will see match-ups that may or may not occur again.

World bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) starts his 2026 season at 86kg. He defeated Ghasempour for a tactical victory at the ISG 2025 in Riyadh. At the World Championships, he dropped his quarterfinal to Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN), 13-8, before returning to win the bronze medal.

Dzhioev will be wary of two wrestlers in particular -- Kyle DAKE (USA) and Ibragim KADIEV (UWW). Dake, a world champion at both 74kg and 79kg, will make his first international appearance at 86kg and first since the 2024 Paris Olympics. Dake, who will turn 35 on February 25, is still adjusting to the new weight and Tirana will be a huge test.

Kadiev, a former U20 world champion, lost a close bout to Ghasempour at the World Championships but has what it takes to go all the way in Tirana.

Earlier in February, former world silver medalist at 79kg Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) impressed with a silver medal performance in Zagreb. The same was not true for 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) who made his 86kg debut. Both will return at 86kg in Tirana. Another wrestler moving up is Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM), a former U20 world champion at 79kg. Veteran of this weight, Osman GOCEN (TUR), would like to disrupt the order as well.

Zavur UGUEV (UWW), world champion at 61kg, is the favorite in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

World champion Zavur UGUEV (UWW) will be at 61kg and the favorite despite the presence of Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) and world bronze medalist Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB).

Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), world silver medalist from 57kg, will also try his hand at 61kg. Zagreb Open gold medalist Austin DESANTO (USA) is also among the names at 61kg.

Former 61kg world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is moving to 65kg. He is expected to have a challenging field though. World bronze medalist Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) will be the biggest threat as he begins the new season. U23 world champion and Zagreb Open champion SUJEET (IND) has also entered the second straight Ranking Series event.

U23 world bronze medalist Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ), who lost the semifinals to Jalolov, world fifth-placer Peiman BIABANI (CAN), and former U20 world champion Mohit KUMAR (IND) are also part of the weight class.

European champion at 65kg Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) will be wrestling at 70kg in Tirana. He had a rather underwhelming World Championships, losing the bronze medal bout to Jalolov. In Tirana, he will be checked by Asian champion Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), who was once the most versatile wrestler but has faded a little recently.

Austin GOMEZ (MEX) and Islam DUDAEV (ALB) are also at 70kg and the former can run through the field on his day.

Azerbaijan will have a domestic battle at 74kg as Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) will be challenged by 70kg U23 world champion Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE). The jump to 74kg from Heybatov sets up an intense battle in Azerbaijan as both eye the spot on the European and World Championships teams later. However, the weight difference may give Bayramov the edge.

But both also have to face competition from former world medalist Yones EMAMI (IRI), Asian silver medalist Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), and Inalbek SHERIEV (UWW), a 2024 world bronze medalist at 70kg.

Iran will hope that Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI), one of their choices at 92kg, returns with a gold medal, just like Mobin AZIMI (IRI) did at the Zagreb Open. Azimi, however, lost his Nelson bracket bout to world champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) before the American forfeited the final.

The 125kg weight class will throw a few battles. World silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) will be the favorite in a field that also has Mason PARRIS (USA), Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA), Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), and Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW).

Freestyle action will kick off the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series 2026 on February 25 in Tirana on UWW+. Click here for full schedule. Click here for Mumahet Malo 2026 entries.

Weekly FIVE! January 21, 2020

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Sadulaev Returns to Tirana as Stacked 97kg Field Awaits