Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! March 19, 2019

Tuesday, March 19, 2019 - 13:04 By Eric Olanowski

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Discussing Russia winning the Freestyle World Cup on home soil and looking at theThor Masters results. Also looking at the upcoming U23 Asian Championships, "Hollywood wrestles Bollywood" and the European Championships. 

1. Russia Wins Freestyle World Cup on Home Soil  
The Russian Federation closed out the Freestyle World Cup with an impressive 9-1 win over Iran to claim their first team title since the 2011 Makhachkala World Cup. This was their seventh Freestyle World Cup title, but first in eight years. 

Overall, Russia went 4-0 on the weekend and compiled a combined individual record of 36-4 over their 40 matches. In addition to their finals win over Iran, they also picked up wins over Cuba (10-0), Japan (8-2), and Turkey (9-1). 

Meanwhile, in the third-place bout, the defending champion the United States edged Japan, 6-4. 

The pair traded blows and were tied three-all after the first six matches. Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN) broke that tie after his 14-3 routing of Samuel Joseph BROOKS (USA), but three consecutive American wins from Hayden ZILLMER, Kyven Ross GADSON, and Anthony NELSON gave the Stars and Stripes the 6-4 advantage, and ultimately the third-place finish. 

Cuba finished fifth place after they defeated Mongolia, 6-4, and Georgia claimed seventh place after beating Turkey, 8-2.

RESULTS 
GOLD - Russia df. Iran, 9-1
BRONZE - United States df. Japan, 6-4 
Fifth - Cuba df. Mongolia, 6-4
Seventh - Georgia df. Turkey, 8-2

2. U23 Asian Championships Starts Thursday 
The U23 Continental Championships train continues to roll this weekend and will make its stop in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for the 2019 U23 Asian Championships. 

The four-day tournament begins on Thursday and will go through Sunday.

SCHEDULE

Thursday (March 21) 
9:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in GR - 60,67,72,77,82,97,130kg
11:30 - Qualification rounds and repechage GR - 60,67,72,77,82,97,130kg
14:45 - Draw - GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg
17:30 - Opening Ceremony
18:00 - Finals GR – 60,67,72,77,82,97,130kg

Friday (March 22) 
9:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in (GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg)
11:30 - Qualification rounds and repechages - GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg 
14:45 - Draw WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg
18: 00 - Finals GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg

Saturday (March 23) 
19:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in - WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg
11:30 - Qualification rounds and repechages - WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg
14:45 - Draw WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg
18: 00 - Finals WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg

Sunday (March 24) 
9:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in - WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg
11:30 - Qualifications rounds and repechage WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg 
18:00 - Finals WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg

Roland SCHWARZ was one of three German wretlers who won a gold medal at the 2019 Thor Masters last weekend. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

3. Germany win Three Thor Masters Golds 
The Thor Masters, an all-Greco-Roman tournament, wrapped up last weekend in Nykobing Falster, Denmark, and Germany was the frontrunner, winning three of the ten gold medals. Denmark and Ukraine had a pair of gold medalists, while Finland, Norway, and Sweden each had a solo gold medalist. 

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD  - Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
SILVER - Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
BRONZE - Anders ROENNINGEN (NOR)

60kg
GOLD - Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
SILVER - Christoph KRAEMER (GER)     
BRONZE - Lauri MAEHOENEN (FIN)

63kg
GOLD - Stig ANDREW BERG (NOR)
SILVER - Lenur TEMIROV (UKR)
BRONZE - Nasrullakh NASIBO (UKR)

67kg
GOLD - Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
SILVER - Ruslan  KUDRYNETS (UKR)      
BRONZE - Aleksey  KALINICHENKO (UKR)

72kg
GOLD - Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)  
SILVER - Vegard JOERGENSEN (NOR)    
BRONZE - Michael WIDMAYER (GER) 

77kg
GOLD - Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
SILVER - Florian NEUMAIER (GER)
BRONZE - Vladimir YAKOVLEV (UKR)

82kg
GOLD - Raibek BISULTANOV (DEN)        
SILVER - Hannes WAGNER (GER)          
BRONZE - Bogdan KOURINNOI (SWE)

87kg
GOLD - Zakarias BERG (SWE)   
SILVER - Denis KUDLA (GER)    
BRONZE - Amer HRUSTANOVIC (AUT) 

97kg
GOLD - Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)        
SILVER - Felix BALDAUF (NOR)  
BRONZE - G'Angelo HANCOCK (USA)

130kg          
GOLD - Nikolai  KUCHMIY (UKR)          
SILVER - Eduard POPP (GER)   
BRONZE - Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)

4. "Hollywood wrestles Bollywood" Begins March 31 
Women's Wrestling stars from the United States and India will face off against each other on Sunday, March 31 in the 'Hollywood Wrestles Bollywood' at Los Angles' historic Wiltern Theater.

According to www.beatthestreets-la.org, "The dual will be apart of Beat the Streets Los Angeles’ 5th Annual Benefit and International Competition, which is a yearly fundraising and awareness event for the LA-based wrestling non-profit."

There will be eleven top-15 ranked wrestlers in action, with six of those being ranked in the top-5 of the latest world rankings. (The latest rankings can be found on www.unitedworldwrestling.org 's homepage) 

Of the ten star-studded bouts, the most intriguing matchup comes at 53kg, where returning world runner-up and top-ranked Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) will take on No. 11 Vinesh VINESH (IND). 

This will be a rematch of last months Dan Kolov semifinals, where Vinesh stuck Hildebrant to put herself in the Ranking Series tournament finals. She ultimately fell to China's PANG Qianyu in the finals. 

The dual starts at 15:00 on March 31. 

United States vs. India 
50kg: No. 15 Whitney CONDER vs. Sheetal TOMAR 
53kg: No. 1 Sarah HILDEBRANDT vs. No. 11 Vinesh VINESH
55kg: No. 6 Jacarra WINCHESTER vs. Pinki PINKI
57kg: Jenna BURKERT vs. No. 6 Pooja DHANDA
59kg: Alli RAGAN vs. No. 4 Sarita SARITA
62kg: No. 5 Mallory VELTE vs. Sakshi MALIK  
65kg: No. 2 Forrest MOLINARI vs. Navjot KAUR 
68kg: No. 2 Tamyra MENSAH vs. Divya KAKRAN 
72kg: Rachel WATTERS vs. No. 12 (at 76kg) Kiran KIRAN 
76kg: No. 1 Adeline GRAY vs. Sudesh SUDESH 

Abdulrashid SADUALEV (RUS) is expected to compete for Russia at the 2019 European Championships. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne) 

5. European Championships Less Than Three Weeks Away 
In less than three weeks, 20 days to be exact, Bucharest, Romania, will be the host site for the 2019 European Championships. Europe proves year in and year out to be the deepest wrestling continent in the world when it comes to placing wrestlers on the podium at the World Championships. 

In total, eighteen of last year’s thirty world champions hailed from Europe. Ten Greco-Roman, five freestyle and three women’s wrestling world champions came from Europe.

The tournament begins on April 8 and will go until April 14 and can be watched on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

SCHEDULE 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 
1. Big Move Monday -- Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) -- 2019 U-23 Europe
2. Big Move from Day 2 at the Freestyle World Cup • Yakutsk 2019
#wrestleyakutsk
3. Big Move from Day 1 at the Freestyle World Cup • Yakutsk 2019
#wrestleyakutsk
4. MARGHZARI (IRI) comes back from near loss with a throw straight into a pin!! ?? ? #unitedworldwrestling #wrestling#wrestleyakutsk
5. Big Throw in round 3 from GHIASI CHEKA (IRI) ???#wrestleyakutsk #uww #wrestling

#WrestleTirana

Muhamet Malo 2025 Ranking Series Day 5 Recap

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 09:59 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (March 2) -- The final day of Muhamet Malo 2025 Ranking Series will see Greco-Roman action in six weight classes. 55kg, 60kg, 72kg, 82kg, 97kg and 130kg wrestlers will be on the mat.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 4 RESULTS

16:15: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) and Hamza BAKIR (TUR) enter the final at 130kg. Mirzazadeh scores a gut wrench from par terre against Wenhao JIANG (CHN) to lead 3-0 at the break. Jiang gets the forced par terre advantage in the second period but no points from the position for him. Mirzazadeh wins 3-1.

Bakir had Tokyo silver medalist Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) in the semifinal. Kajaia gets the par terre in first period but doesn't turn Bakir, who got the par terre position in the second period but can't turn. Bakir holds the 1-1 criteria lead for the win.

16:00: Kiril MILOV (BUL) with a front headlock exposure for two and he led Alex SZOKE (HUN) 3-1. Szoke got the third passivity and as he tried to gut wrench Milov, he got stuck on the mat and Milov pinned him to enter the 97kg final.

He will take on Giorgi MELIA (GEO) in final after the Georgian defeated Markus RAGGINGER (AUT) 5-2. Melia blocked a turn from Ragginger and got two points. Ragginger got both the passivity calls and led 2-0 before the defended throw from Melia. Ragginger challenged for a defensive foul but lost it as Melia got another point and lead 3-2 with 1:30 remaining on the clock. Ragginger needs two points for a win. Melia with a stepout with 54 seconds remaining to lead 5-2. Ragginger fails to breakthrough and drops the semifinal.

15:50: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) defends from par terre when Ramon BETSCHART (SUI) got the third passivity and keep his 2-1 lead to enter the 82kg final. He will face Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) in the final after he got a gift from Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL) who committed two offensive leg fouls and was cautioned out of the semifinal.

15:35: Mehmet SAHIN (TUR) enters the 72kg final with a 9-0 technical superiority win over Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ). He will face Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) who beat Otar ABULADZE (GEO) 6-3 which may give him a look in the Georgian team for the European Championships.

15:20: Quick finishes to the 60kg semifinals! Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) with two headpinch front throws to beat Haodong TAN (CHN) 8-0 and enter the final.

Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) brings out two reverse suplexes from par terre to beat Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ) 9-0. Lost challenge from Kyrgyzstan makes it 10-0

15:10: Emre MUTLU (TUR) with a huge four-point throw and then a turn from par terre as he leads Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ) 7-0 at the break in the 55kg semifinals. But Mamyrbekov storms back with two suplexes for two points each to make it 7-5. A challenge from Kazakhstan asking for a foul from Mutlu but there isn't any. A lost challenge makes it 8-5 for Mutlu with a minute remaining. Mutlu defends his lead and wins 8-5.

In the other semifinal, Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) was attacking from the start and earned two turns from par terre to lead 6-0 at the break Yersin ABYIR (TUR). Lolua also pulls out a good defense to keep it 6-1 when he was put on par terre in the second period. Abyir scores three points but a 6-4 win for Lolua.

The semifinals begin at 15:00 hours local time

14:40: Two turns from par terre for Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) to lead 5-1 and he may have thought that it was enough for a win. However, Shahin BADAGHI (QAT), of Iranian origin, scores a takedown to make it 5-4. Bolkvadze scores a stepout however Badaghi challenges and wins as Bolkvadze pulled his singlet. Badaghi down 5-4 with 1:21 left in the 82kg quarterfinal. Badaghi challenges for a headbutt but this time loses the challenge which makes Bolkvadze's score 6-4 whihc is also the winning score.

14:30: Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) with a five-pointer as he moves into the semifinals at 60kg! Shiotani blanks Ziyue XI (CHN) 11-0. 

14:20: Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) with a grand-amplitude over Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) for five points. Sleiva blocked with his hands which gives to more to Lomadze who leads 7-0 at the break. Sleiva can manage only two points in the second period as Lomadze wins 7-2

14:10: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) pulls out his best defense from par terre and stops Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) from turning him in the second period. A turn would have surely given Knystautas a 3-3 criteria lead. But Mirzazadeh wins 3-1

14:00: China has brought some hammers here! Haodong TAN (CHN) pins Paris Olympian Enes BASAR (TUR) at 60kg. Tan got the third passivity [no points are awarded for third passivity in Greco] and got a defensive foul from Basar. He then turned him and held Basar on the mat for a fall.

13:45: Ziyue XI (CHN) takes out Victor CIOBANU (MDA) at 60kg! What a performance from Xi. He defended his par terre position before scoring a correct throw from par terre in the second period to lead 3-1. Ciobanu gave up a stepout with 40 seconds remaining to fall behind 4-1. Ciobanu challenged so a foul but there was none. Xi gets a 5-1 lead. Ciobanu could not find a way to break Xi who wins 5-1 at 60kg.

13:35: Hamza BAKIR (TUR) scores an 8-0 win over Yuta NARA (JPN) at 130kg. Bakir has been impressive so far as he prepares himself for the big challenge at the European Championships. 

13:25: Tokyo Olympic silver medalist at Greco-Roman 130kg Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) turns Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) from par terre to lead 3-0 at the break before defending his position from forced par terre in the second and win 3-1 at 130kg.

13:10: The world is missing out on Yu SHIOTANI (JPN). A series of reverse lifts from par terre and Shiotani has Ergi UKU (ALB) in all sorts of trouble. An 11-0 win for Shiotani.

13:07: Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) brings out a reverse lift slam on Ji LENG (CHN) to score four points and snatch the win 4-2 against Leng who is a little dumbfounded with that move. Top move from Sleiva

13:05: Ali ARSALAN (SRB) can't find a way to break Iuri LOMADZE's (GEO) defense and drops his 72kg bout 5-1. Lomadze with a defensive block when Arsalan was trying to score on him.

12:50: Kyrgyzstan wrestlers are out here demoralising big star. Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) takes out Selcuk CAN (TUR) at 72kg. After leading 5-0, Khamzaev defended well from par terre and gave up only two points. Can made it 5-5 with a push out but Khamzaev keeps the criteria win.

12:40: Former European champion Kiril MILOV (BUL), who wrestled at Paris Olympics at 130kg, drops down to his natural 97kg, and he dominates Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) 6-1. He scored two turns from par terre in the first period while Sterkenburg failed to do so in the second.

12:05: Hamza BAKIR (TUR) gets two par terre positions in the match and he scored three turns to beat 8-0 Laga BAYI (CHN) at 130kg. He expected to be the heir apparent to Riza KAYAALP (TUR) for Turkiye

11:50: Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) using his aggressive style against Heiki NABI (EST) for a 4-0 win at 130kg. While he did the par terre in the first period, he asked for standing in the second.

11:45: Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) gives a reality check to U20 world champion Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) of the senior level. Shiotani was in forced par terre in the first period but he didn't let Ahmadi Vafa score. The referees were about to give Ahmadi Vafa the second par terre which may have made Ahmadi Vafa relax as he gave up a takedown. A reversal in the same sequence was scored one point for Ahmadi Vafa. But Shiotani with a big lift and throw for two points. Shiotani challenges and gets two more points for a foul from Ahmadi Vafa to lead 6-2. From par terre, Shiotani would score three more points and lead 9-4 with 35 seconds on the clock.

Ahmadi Vafa threatened to cause an upset as he scored a takedown and a turn to make it 9-6 before Shiotani blocked the next turn for two points. He then score another exposure and held Ahmadi Vafa on the mat for a fall.

11:35: Ali ARSALAN (SRB), world bronze medalist at 72kg, impresses with a 4-4 win over Levente LEVAI (HUN). Levai led 3-0 at the break but Arsalan with a headpinch for four. Levai blocked his second attempt. A stepout in the end gave Levai another point but Arsalan won 4-4 on criteria.

11:31: Selcuk CAN (TUR), wrestling at 72kg, with an impressive 7-3 win against Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN). Can with a top defense from par terre to keep Peltokangas at bay

11:25: Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) needed two successful challenges to remaining in the opening match at 97kg against Alex SZOKE (HUN) who committed two offensive leg fouls. Szoke still had a 7-1 lead at the break. Savolainen managed two points in the second period but failed get a move on. Szoke with a 7-3 win.

11:00: Greco-Roman all day as the final day of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series is here. Long day ahead but some classic match ups in various weight class. By the way, rain is back in Tirana.