Weekly FIVE! March 19, 2019

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

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

#WrestleAlexandria, #WrestleParis

Sghaier beats Hamza; New Zealand, Algeria earn historic Paris Olympic spots

Saturday, March 23, 2024 - 20:16 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 23) -- For a second consecutive day at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt suffered a heartbreak.

On Friday, Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) failed to earn a Paris Olympic spot in Greco-Roman. And today, two-time world medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) suffered a stunning loss in Women's Wrestling to miss out on the Paris spot.

Apart from Hamza, the tournament threw a few other surprises as six nations shared the 12 Paris spots with Nigeria winning the most with four. Algeria, Guam and Tunisia won two each while Egypt and New Zealand got one each. Algeria and New Zealand qualified for the Olympics for the first time in Women's Wrestling.

Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN), an African champion at 72kg and Tokyo Olympian, once again earned her qualification at 76kg. Beating Hamza made it even more special.

Six wrestlers were divided into two groups of three each. Samar HAMZA (EGY) topped her group while Amy YOUIN (CIV) finished second. In the other group, African champion Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) topped the group and Sghaier was second as she had lost to Rueben in the first match.

Hamza and Sghaier faced each other in the semifinal and Sghaier was slow to start before hitting a headlock four-pointer and Hamza could only score two points. In the second period, Sghaier inside-tripped Hamza for two more points. Hamza responded with a four but Sghaier recovered from the throw and held Hamza on the mat for a pin. While it was not confirmed, Hamza was cautioned for fleeing, adding two more points to Sghaier's score.

Hamza got a takedown and on another attempt, Sghaier hit a hip toss and helped Hamza to the mat to secure the fall and earn the Paris spot.

In the other semifinal, Rueben completely blocked Youin to score a 6-0. Rueben's was Nigeri's fifth Paris Olympic quota as Odunayo ADEKOUROYE (NGR) won one at the World Championships.

Nigeria's Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) showed her class at 68kg again, winning the semifinal against Uilau TARKONG (PLW) via fall in just 24 seconds.

Tayla FORD (NZL) is the first to qualify New Zealand for Olympics in Women's Wrestling. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Tayla FORD (NZL) made sure that New Zealand will have a representative at the Olympics in Women's Wrestling for the first time as she won the spot after pinning Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY) in the other semifinal at 68kg.

The only weight class in which Nigeria is yet to qualify is the 50kg as African champion Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) suffered a 7-5 loss to Nada MOHAMED (EGY) in the semifinal.

The Rio Olympian led 2-2 at the break and scored a stepout at the start of the second period to lead 3-2. But Nada got a stepout to earn a 3-3 criteria lead. However, that lead was short-lived as Genesis answered with a takedown and led 5-3 with 50 seconds left on the clock.

Nada scored a stepout with nine seconds remaining and in a dramatic turn of events, she snapped Genesis who pointed out that there was no whistle from the referee to restart. But Nada was awarded the two points which Genesis challenged but lost.

Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) earned an Olympic quota at 50kg, a first for Algeria. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In another close semifinal, Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) got the better of Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 9-6, becoming the first Algeria wrestler to qualify the nation in Women's Wrestling. She led 4-0 using two takedowns before Ayachi scored a reversal and exposure to cut the lead to 4-3.

Doudou had to pay the price for being defensive as Ayachi scored a stepout in the second period and later a go-behind to lead 6-4. Ayachi became defensive soon after and Doudou hit a single leg and elevated Ayachi who fell as Doudou tried making it a double-leg. She was awarded four points, giving her an 8-6 lead with 28 seconds left.

Ayachi tried her options but gave up a stepout as Doudou celebrated earning a spot in the Olympics while Ayachi could not control herself as soon as the match ended.

Tunisia's second quota came in 62kg as Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) dominated Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG) in the semifinal. Her 12-1 win ensured that Tunisia continued its African dominance at the weight even after Marwa AMRI's (TUN) retirement. Amri now coaches the Tunisian team.

The other wrestler to qualify at this weight was African champion Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) who defeated Angelina RODRIGUES MIRANDA (CPV) 10-0 in just 24 seconds.

Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) after qualifying Guam for the Paris Olympics at 57kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Aquino sisters win

The Aquino sisters from Guam, Mia and Rckaela, earned Paris Olympic spots after winning the semifinals at 53kg and 57kg. Mia has wrestled at the Tokyo Olympians but Rckaela will go to her first Olympics.

Both posted contrasting victories in their respective semifinals as Mia pinned Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN) after scoring 11 points and Rckaela managed a close 4-3 win over Faten HAMAMMI (TUN) who scored all her points in the first period.

Rckaela trailed 3-2 at the break and showed some frantic wrestling in the second period which did not threaten Hamammi. However, her constant movement managed to tire Hamammi who gave up a takedown with 20 seconds left. Rckaela needed to defend her 4-3 lead for 10 seconds which she did and won the Paris spot.

Qualifying with Mia at 53kg is African champion Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) who rolled to a 10-0 win over Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY). At 57kg, Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG) earned the second spot after beating Natacha NABAINA (CMR) 11-8.

RESULTS

50kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 9-6
SF 2: Nada MOHAMED (EGY) df. Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR), 7-5

53kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Mia AQUINO (GUM) df. Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN), via fall (11-0)
SF 2: Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) df. Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY), 10-0

57kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG) df. Natacha NABAINA (CMR), 11-8
SF 2: Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) df. Faten HAMMAMI (TUN), 4-3

62kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) df. Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG), 12-1
SF 2: Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) df. Angelina RODRIGUES MIRANDA (CPV), 10-0

68kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF1: Tayla FORD (NZL) df. Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY), via fall
SF 2: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Uilau TARKONG (PLW), via fall

76kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) df. Samar HAMZA (EGY), via fall (14-8)
SF 2: Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) df. Amy YOUIN (CIV), 6-0

Weekly FIVE! March 19, 2019

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Sghaier beats Hamza; New Zealand, Algeria earn historic Paris Olympic spots