Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! March 19, 2019

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

World Combat Games: Kyrgyzstan dominates final day in Riyadh

By United World Wrestling Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (October 26) -- Central Asian powerhouses Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan returned with a rich haul of gold medals in Belt Wrestling at the World Combat Games in Riyadh on Thursday.

While wrestlers from Kyrgyzstan won four gold medals, their counterparts from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan completed a golden hat-trick each. The competition was held in 10 categories across the two styles: Qazak (men’s 65kg, 75kg, 85kg; women’s 60kg, 70kg) and Alysh (men’s 70kg, 80kg, 90kg; women’s 55kg, 65kg).

Begai BEISHENAALY KYZY (KGZ) began the medal rush for Kyrgyzstan with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Mariam MAZANASHVILI (GEO) by Zhartylai Zheni, the acting of putting your opponent on the mat with three-point contact, in the women's Qazak Style 60kg. Soon after, Marlen ABDURASULOV (KGZ) overcame Mohammad NABIZADEH (IRI) by fall in the Men's Alysh Style 70kg.

Azizkhan MUSABEK UULU (KGZ) beat Arslan HOJAMBERDIYEV (TKM) to extend Kyrgyzstan’s dominance. He won in the Men's Alysh Style 90kg. And in the day’s penultimate gold medal bout, Elzada MOMUNZHANOVA (KGZ) defeated Gantsetseg GANBOLD (MGL) 4-2 in the Women's Alysh Style 55kg to cap off a successful day in office for the country’s wrestlers.

Meanwhile, Zhumazhan KOZHAMBEKOV, Madi AMANGELDI and Roza NYSSANTAIKYZ led the march for Kazakhstan. All three gold medals for the wrestlers from Kazakhstan came in the Qazak style.

In the women's 70kg category, Nyssantaikyz was dominant from the get-go. She began her campaign with a win over Shakhnoza BOZOROVA (UZB) and followed it up with another strong show against the Netherlands’ Sem VAN DUN (NED). In the final, the Kazakh wrestler defeated Mariasole MOMENTE (ITA) via Taza, a throw that lands the opponent with both shoulders on the mat.

There was some consolation for Van Dun as she won a bronze medal along with Reihaneh GILANIASL (IRI).

Kozhambekov, meanwhile, reigned supreme in the men’s 75kg category of the Qazak style as he defeated Tornike GRIGALASHVILI (GEO) 2-0 in the final. It was the only time in the day Kozhambekov was made to work hard as he hardly broke a sweat en route to the gold medal bout.

It was a similar story in the 85kg class, too, where Amangeldi won all three of his bout via Taza, a flawless throw for victory, as he romped to the top of the podium. After making short work of Sanga GOMBOSUREN (MGL) in the quarterfinals and Amir SHEIKH HOSSEINI (NED) in the semifinals, Amangeldi defeated Khamroz RAJABOV (TJK) in the final.

Nur AMANSHUKIROV (KAZ) could have won another gold medal for Kazakhstan but he fell short against an inspired Manucher SHIRINOV (UZB), who didn’t put a foot wrong as he claimed the title in the 65kg category.

Meanwhile, the day that began with a gold medal for Uzbekistan, with Shirinov claiming the title, ended on a similar note after Maftunbonu MAHMUDOVA (UZB) beat Jemal OVLYAKULYYEVA (TKM) 9-6 in the women's Alysh Style 65kg. Khusan ABDUKHAKIMOV (UZB) beat Rozymyrat MEDOV (TKM) via fall to win the title in men’s Alysh Style 80kg.