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Weekly FIVE! March 12, 2018

Monday, March 12, 2018 - 12:47 By Eric Olanowski

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Reviewing the March installment of United World Wrestling’s world rankings, this week's Women's World Cup and the President Cup of Buryatia Republic
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1. This Week's Women’s World Cup 
United World Wrestling has released the schedule for Women’s Wrestling World Cup which kicks off March 17-18. The dual-meet based events is an annual highlight of the international wrestling calendar, being held in Takasaki, Japan.

The eight participating teams have been separated into two pools with Japan and Belarus leading groups A and B. After tying for second place at the 2017 World Championships with the United States, Belarus has been awarded the Group B tiebreaker. Pool A will consist of Canada, Japan, Sweden and the United States and Pool B will consist of Belarus, China, Mongolia, and Romania.

Japan, who won last year’s World Cup in Russia, will be without 2017 World Champion Yui SUSAKI (48kg) who lost in a recent wrestle-off against rival Yuki IRIE (JPN). Otherwise, the Japanese side is scheduled to start a number of world and Olympic champions in Takasaki, including RIO 2016 titlist Risako KAWAI (63kg) and Sara DOSHO (69kg).

Saturday, March 17 (Local Time)
9:00 am: Canada v. United States (Mat A) // Mongolia v. China (Mat B)
10:15 am: Japan v. Sweden  (Mat A) // Belarus  v. Romania (Mat B)
11:30 am: Sweden v. United States  (Mat A) // Romania v. China (Mat B)
12:45 pm: Japan v. Canada (Mat A) // Belarus  v. Mongolia (Mat B)
4:30 pm: Opening Ceremonies
5:00 pm: Sweden v. Canada (Mat A) // Romania v. Belarus  (Mat B)
6:15 pm: Japan v. United States (Mat A) // Belarus v. China (Mat B)

Sunday, March 18 (Local Time)
9:00 am: Seventh Place Match
10:30 am: Fifth Place Match
1:00 pm: Bronze Medal Match
2:30 pm: Gold Medal Match

2. Russians Nearly Sweep President Cup of Buryatia Republic

Headed by six-time President Cup of Buryatia Republic champion, Aleksander BOGOMOEV (RUS) and Ivan Yarygin silver medalist Anzor URISHEV (RUS), Russians wrestlers captured nine out of ten gold medals at the President Cup of Buryatia Republic.

Photo: BEKHBAYAR Erdenebat (MGL)

Takhti Cup champion BEKHBAYAR Erdenebat (MGL) was the lone non-Russian wrestler to seize a gold medal when he defeated Khuresh-Ool DONDUK (RUS), 2-1 for the 57kg crown.

Also of note, 2016 Olympic silver medalist A. GEDUEV (RUS) pulled out of the tournament after winning his first bout, 10-0. Geduev has yet to finish a full individual competition since being upended in the finals of the 2016 Olympic Games by Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), 6-6 on criteria.

Since the Olympics, Geduev’s last full tournament was the 2017 Clubs World Cup where he suffered a 10-7 loss to Omid HASSANTABAR (Setaregan Sari) while competing for Bimeh Razi.

FINAL RESUTLS:
57kg: BEKHBAYAR Erdenebat (MGL) df. Khuresh-Ool DONDUK (RUS), 2-1
61kg: Aleksander BOGOMOEV (RUS) df. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (RUS), 3-1
65kg: Bayar TSYENOV (RUS) df. Eduard GRIGORIEV (RUS), 11-0
70kg: Evgeni ZHERBAEV (RUS) df. Alibek AKBAEV( (RUS), 5-1
74kg: Arslan BUDOZHAPOV (RUS) df. GANZORIG Mandakhnaran (MGL), 10-0
79kg: Radik VALIEV (RUS) df. Khusey SUYUNCHEV (RUS) via forfeit
86kg: Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) df. PUREJAV Unurbat (MGL), 3-0
92kg: Anzor URISHEV (RUS) df. Timur BATOROV (RUS), 10-0
97kg: Igor ОVSIANNIKOV (RUS) df. ULZISAIKHAN Batsul (MGL), 2-0

125kg: Tsibik MAKSAKOV (RUS) df. Alan HUGAEV (RUS) via forfeit

3. Freestyle Rankings
The March installment of United World Wrestling’s freestyle world rankings were released and are based on results from the Ivan Yarygin and the African and Asian Championships. The next ranking series events are the European and Pan-American Championships which will both be held in the first week of May.

Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Iran each have at least one wrestler ranked atop of March’s rankings.

The Mongolian quartet of top-ranked wrestlers are Asian and President Cup of Buryatia Republic medalist GANZORIG Mandakhnaran and NATSAGSUREN Zolboo, Ivan Yarygin bronze medalist LUVSANDORJ Turtogtokh and TSEVEENSUREN Tsogbadrakh.

Uzbekistan’s threesome of wrestlers receiving the top-ranking is Asian champion Magomed IBRAGIMOV and Asian medalists Abbos RAKHMONOV and Rashid KURBANOV.

After outscoring the competition 32-2 on his way to winning his first Asian Championships, Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) gets the nod as the first ranked wrestler at 86kg.

The remaining first ranked wrestlers are Asian champion Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ), and Nigeria’s African Champion Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR).

FULL RANKINGS

4. Greco-Roman Rankings
In the March edition of United World Wrestling’s Greco-Roman rankings, four front-runners held onto their previous rankings after the Takhti Cup (IRI), Granma y Cerro Pelado (CUB) and the African and Asian Championships. 

The four wrestlers holding onto their No. 1 rankings were Asian champion Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) and Asian medalists Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) and K. ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ).

New to the No. 1 spot was the pair of Asian champions in Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) and Seyedmostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI). Also new to the top-spot was Takhti medalists Khussein MUTSOLGOV (KAZ), Reza KHEDRI (IRI) and U. AMATOV (KGZ).

The next ranking series events will be the European and Pan-American Championships which will both be held the first week of May.

FULL RANKINGS

5. Women’s Wrestling Rankings
After an impressive showing at the Klippan Lady Open and Asian Championships, China dominates the latest edition of United World Wrestling’s women's rankings with six top-ranked wrestlers.

Three of the four remaining leading ranked wrestlers in PAK Yongmi (PRK), Saki IGARASHI (JPN) and 2018 Yarygin champion PUREVDORJ Orkhon (MGL) are all coming off Asian gold medal performances.

Coming off her fifth Klippan Lady Open championship, Petra OLLI (FIN) claims the last top-spot.

The next two ranking series events are the European and Pan-American Championships which will be held the first week of May.

FULL RANKINGS

Weekly FIVE In Social Media
1. #LunesDeMotivacion the last promise. Here is the story of the Stig-Andre Berge fighter from #Noruega ?? in those @JuegosOlimpicos of @Rio2016. #idrett #wrestling #lucha
2. @Ivan_FSWrestling reacts to Geduev dropping out of the President Cup of Buryatia Republic

3. Big Move Monday! 
4. Flag Friday 
5. Score That Saturday: Who scored on this exchange? 

#WrestleBratislava

Alpyeyeva, Livach golds keep Ukraine ahead of Turkiye at Europeans

Friday, April 11, 2025 - 12:22 By Vinay Siwach

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 10) -- Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) was facing a legend in her first-ever European Championships final. While she was chasing her first senior title, her opponent Yasemin ADAR (TUR) was chasing her eighth European title.

It would have been a fairytale for Adar. The Turkish legend who is the first to win Olympic medal, world gold and European gold, would have extended her record of most European titles in Women's Wrestling for Türkiye.

But Alpyeyeva did not get overawed but the occasion or her opponent and handed Adar a 6-0 loss in the 76kg final, which was also the last match for Adar.

The 34-year-old decided to put her shoes on the mat after the match, marking her retirement from the sport. She thanked the crowd of the X-Bionic Sphere, shook hands with Alpyeyeva and vanished into the background as the Ukrainian began her victory lap with the Ukraine flag.

Alpyeyeva did not get any chance to Adar in the final, overpowering her with strength and speed. Alpyeyeva hit three double-leg attacks and managed to score on all three of them.

While Adar did try matching Alpyeyeva, she was slow for the Ukrainian. Alpyeyeva managed to keep an upper hand for the full six minutes and won 6-0.

Alpyeyeva was the second gold medal for Ukraine on Thursday as 2019 European champion Oksana LIVACH (UKR) claimed her second title after beating Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 8-0, in an equally dominant fashion.

Livach began with a stepout and added a double-leg takedown for a 3-0 lead. She kept her attacks going and went for a big four-point move and another stepout made her lead 8-0 which she defended in the final minute.

The 27-year-old finished fifth at the Paris Olympics and was lacking on motivation recently. But the gold medal has revived her love for wrestling.  

At 55kg, Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) made her senior European debut a successful one when she defeated 34-year-old Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 6-5, with a takedown in the final five seconds of the 55kg final.

Debien, who earned a bronze medal at the World Championships last year, scored a stepout and then tripped Verbina for four to lead 5-0. The French wrestler then decided to defend her lead for the remaining time.

This was a similar result to the last time the two faced each other at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series, with only the winner being different. Debien won that semifinal 5-4.

"I was confident that I could win," Verbina said. "I prepared for this match. I knew it would be intense. Two months ago, we faced each other at the Ranking Series event, and it was already a very rough match. I was ready for the same kind of wrestling, the same pressure — I expected it.

"I was angry. When there was one minute left, I looked at the scoreboard and saw that there was one minute remaining; my mind just switched off, and I started moving on autopilot."

Verbina has made a habit of winning gold medal at first continental championships over the years. She won gold at U17 European Championships in 2017, then the U23 European Championships in 2021 and now at senior level in 2025. She also has a U20 European gold which came in 2019, her second trip at that age-level.

"This is the first step for me into senior-level wrestling, because I hadn’t wrestled at the European or World Championships at the senior level before," she said. "This was my first major start. I competed at a ranking tournament earlier, didn’t do well, took third place, and I really wanted to prove myself at the senior level."

Verbina was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia but moved to Dagestan with her parents. She has trained in Makhachkala, Dagestan since 2005 and has been competing for Dagestan.

"Now I live and train in Makhachkala," she said. "My coach is Sveta Gracheva — she trains me day and night. She’s a very tough coach, but she believes in me."

Former world U20 champion Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) needed a last second takedown to beat Bediha GUN (TUR), 4-2, and win the gold medal at 59kg.

Sidelnikova was called passive twice which gave Gun a 2-0 lead but the Turkish wrestler was put on the 30-second clock which made the score 2-1. Gun was heading towards victory when Sidelnikova hit an inside trip which made Gun fall and give two points for Sidelnikova for  3-2 win. Gun challenged the call but lost adding another point to Sidelnikova score.

Another final was decided in the minute when Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) managed to hang on to a 2-2 criteria win against Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) in the 68kg to win her first major medal.

Shauchuk scored a takedown in the first period but was called passive which gave Zelenykh a point. The Romanian scored a stepout and tied it 2-2 but Shauchuk led on criteria for her bigger technique.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Oksana LIVACH (UKR) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 8-0

BRONZE: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW) df. Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA), 11-1
BRONZE: Natallia VARAKINA (UWW) df. Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU), 4-1

55kg
GOLD: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) df. Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 6-5

BRONZE: Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 7-4 
BRONZE: Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) df. Tuba DEMIR (TUR), 6-2

59kg
GOLD: Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) df. Bediha GUN (TUR), 4-2

BRONZE: Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) df. Erika BOGNAR (HUN), 3-2
BRONZE: Aurora RUSSO (ITA) df. Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 3-2

68kg
GOLD: Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 2-2

BRONZE: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR), 9-6
BRONZE: Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) df. Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER), 12-0

76kg
GOLD: Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) df. Yasemin ADAR (TUR), 6-0

BRONZE: Martina KUENZ (AUT) df. Enrica RINALDI (ITA), 2-1
BRONZE: Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW) df. Laura KUEHN (GER), 2-2