Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! September 4, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing rosters for #Budapest2018 and #Trnava2018 and Richard Perry's recent accident. 

1. Junior World Championship Freestyle Rosters Released 
Daton FIX (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA), the duo of American returning champions lead a freestyle #Trnava2018 field that boasts 245 wrestlers from 40 different nations. 

Fix, the 55kg champion from a year ago enters the Junior World Championships at 57kg, while Steveson, the 120kg gold-medal winner enters at 125kg. 

Steveson will be looking for his fourth age-level world title. Since stepping on the international scene in 2015, Steveson has yet to drop a match on his way to claiming two Cadet World titles, and a Junior World gold medal. 

Fix, the three-time world medalist will be trying to win back-to-back Junior World titles while competing in his fifth age-level World Championship. Since taking tenth place at the 2014 Cadet World Championships, Fix has rallied to win two bronzes, and most recently, a gold medal. 

Freestyle action begins on Friday, September 21 and will close the Junior World Championships.

Click HERE to see freestyle entries 

Gadshimurad RASHIDOV (RUS), 2017 world runner-up. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.

2. Russia to Finalize #Budapest2018 Roster at This Weekends Poland Open
Warsaw, Poland will host the Poland Open on September 7-9, and Russia's two final freestyle World Team spots will be up for grabs. The two remaining weight classes that have not been cemented are 61kg and 65kg. 

Gadshimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) (61kg) and Ilyas BEKBULATOV (RUS) (65kg) were relieved from participating at Russian Nationals and will compete alongside Russian National champions Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS) (61kg) and Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) (65kg) at the Poland Open.

The highest placer in these two weight classes at the Ziolkowski (Poland Open) will represent Russia at the 2018 World Championships.

Click HERE for Poland Open homepage.

3. Richard Perry Suffers Horrific Accident, Go-Fund Me Created 
Richard Perry, the No. 3 ranked 86kg American freestyle wrestler suffered a horrific injury during a recent national training camp. It has been reported that Perry’s eye was impaled, causing brain injury. 

Per the Go-Fund Me that was created, “The Perry family will need help with the expenses from traveling, time off from work that both Rich and Gina will have to take, as well as day to day life expenses.” 

Please click HERE if you would like to contribute to the Perry Family Go-Fund Me page. 

Peter BACSI (HUN), 2014 world champion. Photo by Martin Gabor.

4. #Budapest2018 Host Nation, Hungary Announces World Championship Roster 
Seven Hungarian Greco-Roman wrestlers from last year’s squad will again represent Hungary at the World Championships. The only difference, this year it’ll be on Hungarian soil. 

Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), the 2017 world runner-up and Paris bronze medalists Balazs KISS (HUN) and Balint KORPASI (HUN) are the three returning medalists that will represent Hungary at the World Championships. 

The three remaining wrestlers that made the Hungarian squad are 2014 world champion Peter BACSI (HUN), and first-time representatives Jozsef ANDRASI (HUN) and Krisztian VANCZA (HUN).

Another interesting note regarding the Hungarian World Team, Tamas and Viktor Lorincz have competed on Hungary's Greco-Roman team at twenty World Championships and Olympic Games.

Hungry’s GR #Budapest2018 Squad 
55kg - Jozsef ANDRASI  
60kg - Erik TORBA 
63kg - Krisztian VANCZA 
67kg - Mate KRASZNAI 
72kg - Balint KORPASI 
77kg - Tamas LORINCZ 
82kg - Peter BACSI 
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ 
97kg - Balazs KISS  
130kg - Balint LAM  

Yui SUSAKI (JPN), 2017 world champion. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.

5. #Trnava2018 Women's Wrestling, Greco-Roman Lineups Submitted 
The final women's wrestling and Greco-Roman entries for the #Trnava2018 World Championships have been submitted and the most surprising entry comes from reigning senior-level world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN).

Susaki, Japan's 19-year-old superstar won three straight Cadet World Championships before heading to Paris last year to claim her first senior-level World Championship, defeating current world No.1 Alina VUC (ROU), 14-4. 

The 2018 Junior World Championships will be Susaki's first junior-level competition ever. 

Another surprising entry comes from France's U23 world champion and 2017 world bronze medalist, Koumba LARROQUE. Larroque enters her first junior-level competition since winning the 2016 Junior World Championship gold medal. 

Reigning champions Sae NANJO (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) also make their return to the Junior World Championships with hopes of winning back-to-back gold medals.

In Greco-Roman, three reigning champions in Kamal BEY (USA), Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) are registered to defend their titles from last years Tampere Junior World Championships. 

Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS), the three-time age-level world champion and most dominant age-level wrestler in the world was expected to compete for Russia at 82kg but is not registered for the Junior World Championships. Instead, Russia has entered Shamil OZHAEV (RUS) at GR 82kg.

Click HERE to see women's wrestling entries.

Click HERE to see Greco-Roman wrestling entries.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday! Don't Miss the #grappling #world#championships in #astana #kazakhstanfrom the 6th of september.

2. Serbia’s ?? first-ever European medalist, Stevan MICIC (SRB) / @stevanandrijamicic has registered for #Budapest2018 at FS 57kg.

3. Tamas and Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) will represent Hungary ?? at the #Budapest2018 World Championships. Combined, the brothers have competed on Hungary's Greco-Roman team at TWENTY World Championships and Olympic Games. 
@lorincztomi12 
@lorinczviktor

4. Turkey’s ?? GR #Trnava2018 World C’Ship Lineup.
‪55kg - C. LIMAN ‬
‪60kg - ? K. KAMAL‬
‪63kg - A. TOPRAK ‬
‪67kg - I. GUN‬
‪72kg - E. ERGEN ‬
‪77kg - A. ERDURAN‬
‪82kg - M. SARICICEK‬
‪87kg - B. TAN‬
‪97kg - B. KAYISDAG ‬
‪130kg - F. BOZKURT‬

5. ‪Kyrgyzstan’s ?? Junior GR World C’ship Team. #Trnava2018‬. @akjol_mahmudov .
55kg - N. KERIMBERDI UULU‬
‪60kg - D. KADYROV‬
‪63kg - E. BAKIROV‬
‪67kg - K. IBRAGIMOV‬
‪72kg - I. BILIMOV‬
‪77kg - ? - A. MAKHMUDOV ‪82kg - I. BILIMOV‬
‪87kg - A. TALANTBEK UULU‬

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! May 14, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Discussing next week's Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial, along with results from the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the Beach Wrestling World Series. Also looking at Gadzhimagomedov's surgery and the latest set of Greco-Roman rankings. 

1. Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial Begins Next Thursday 
United World Wrestling’s third Ranking Series event of the year, the Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial, is just over a week away. It’ll be the first-ever Ranking Series event which will feature freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling under one roof. 

The three-day tournament, which begins on May 23, will take place 655km west of Rome on the Italian island destination of Sardinia. The thought of wrestling with the breeze of the Tyrrhenian Sea on your back has intrigued some of the sports biggest stars to sign up for the event. Though registration is not official until 24 hours before the first whistle, here are some of the stars that fans can expect to see in Sardinia: 

GR 77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) – Olympic champion
FS 70kg - Soslan RAMONOV (RUS) – Olympic champion 
WW 76kg - Erica WIEBE (CAN) – Olympic champion
WW 72kg - Anna FRANSSON (SWE) – Olympic bronze
FS 74kg - Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) –  Two-time world champion 
GR 67kg - 
RYU Hansu (KOR) – World champion 
WW 76kg - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) – World champion
WW 55kg - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) – World champion
WW 55kg - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) – World champion
GR 77kg - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – World runner-up 
FS 74kg - Khetik TSABALOV (RUS) - World runner-up 
FS 65kg - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) – Two-time world silver 
GR 87kg -Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) – U23 World champion 
WW 57kg - Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) – U23 World champion
FS 57kg - Suleyman ATLI (TUR) – Ranked No. 1 at 57kg 
FS 68kg - Fatih ERDIN (TUR) – Ranked No. 1 at 86kg

SCHEDULE

2. Brazilian Women, Georgian Men Sweep Beach Gold in Rio
Brazilian funk music thumped Saturday afternoon as four of the nation’s beach wrestling women captured gold at the second stop of the Beach Wrestling World Series (BWWS). The Brazilian side, who laughed and danced their way to the unlikely quadruple gold also each collected 1000 CHF for winning their respective weight classes at the event.

Kamila BARBOSA (50kg), Camila FAMA (60kg), Brenda AGUIAR DOS SANTOS (70kg), and Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) each cruised their way to gold over the course of the two-day event, creating a buzz among the hometown crowd.

Also similar to the first stop, four Georgians made the finals of the event, only this time all four Georgians managed to take home top billing.

Click here for Tim Foley’s full Beach Wrestling wrap. 

3. Nine Europeans Ranked First in Latest Greco-Roman World Rankings
United World Wrestling has released their latest point-based Greco-Roman world rankings, and European nations own nine of the ten top spots heading into the final pair of Ranking Series events before the Nur-Sultan World Championships.

Even more impressive, the Russian Federation owns five of Europe’s nine top-spots. The five No. 1-ranked Russian wrestlers are Sergey EMELIN (60kg), Stepan MARYANYAN (63kg), Artem SURKOV (67kg), Musa EVLOEV (97kg), and Sergey SEMENOV (130kg). 

In addition to the Russian-five, Azerbaijan’s Eldaniz AZIZLI (55kg), Germany’s Frank STAEBLER (72kg) , Turkey’s Emrah KUS (82kg), and Ukraine’s Zhan BELENIUK (87kg) also hold the top spot at their respective weight classes. 

The lone non-European top-ranked wrestler is Korea’s  Olympic champion Hyeonwoo KIM who is ranked No. 1 at 77kg.

Click here for full breakdown of Greco-Roman rankings.

4. Gadzhimagomedov Undergoes Surgery After European C'ship Injury 
Russia’s reigning 79kg world bronze medalist Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and cruciate ligament in his right knee – but he's expected to make a full recovery before July’s Russian National Championships, where he's expected to move down to 74kg.

Gadzhimagomedov hurt his right knee in the closing seconds of the first period in his European Championship semifinals bout against Oleksii DOMANYTSKYI (UKR). Gadzhimagomedov stopped an arm spin attempt and went down in pain, grabbing his right knee. He was up 3-0 at that point and continued wrestling on one knee in the second period. The Russian scored a pair of heroic takedowns, and ultimately won the bout, 7-0. 

But, Gadzhimagomedov medically forfeited out of his finals match against reigning world runner-up Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) and settled for a silver medal. 

Olena KREMZER (UKR) defeated Anzhelina LYSAK (UKR) to win the 59kg title. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

5. International Ukrainian Tournament Concludes in Kiev
The International Ukrainian Tournament wrapped up in Kiev, Ukraine, and according to sources in the Ukrainian Wrestling Federation, the host nation will use last weekend’s results as the determining factor for June’s European Games. The highest placing Ukrainian wrestler at each weight will represent their nation in Minsk, Belarus, at the 2019 European Games. 

Of the nine gold medals up for grabs (no entries at 72kg), Ukrainian wrestlers won seven of those nine titles. Arguably, the most notable upset of the tournament came at 57kg, where Irina KHARIV (UKR) shocked reigning European runner-up Tatyana KIT (UKR) to steal the European Games spot. 

Additionally, European champions Alla CHERKASOVA (68kg) and Iryna HUSYAK (55kg), and European runner-up Lilya HORISHNA (53kg), sat out of last weekend’s competition. It’s not clear if they’ve done enough to automatically grant themselves a spot in the lineup at the European Games, or there will be a special wrestle-off prior to June's competition.

Japan’s Miyuu NAKAMURA (50kg) and Vasilisa MARZALIUK (76kg) were the two non-Ukrainian wrestlers who reached the top of the podium in their respective weight classes. 

Nakamura, the 2016 junior world champion, upset returning world bronze medalist No.2-ranked Oksana LIVACH (UKR) in the 50kg finals. In her finals, No. 19 Vasilisa Marzaliuk defeated Ukraine’s European Championship representative Alla BELINSKAYA in the 76kg gold-medal bout. 

Results

50kg    
GOLD - Miyuu NAKAMURA (JPN)
SILVER - Oksana LIVACH (UKR)  
BRONZE Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
BRONZE - Maria VINNIK (UKR)

53kg
GOLD - Yuliia BLAHINYA (UKR)  
SILVER - Kristina BEREZA(UKR)
BRONZE - Paula KOZLOV (POL)
BRONZE - Maria PPREVOLARAKL (GRE)

55kg
GOLD - Alina AKOBIYAN (UKR)  
SILVER - Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR)           
BRONZE - Khristina DEMKO (UKR)

57kg
GOLD - Irina KHARIV (UKR)         
SILVER - Tatyana KIT (UKR)          
BRONZE - Irina KURCHKINA (BLR)

59kg    
GOLD - Olena KREMZER (UKR)    
SILVER - Anzhelina LYSAK (UKR)            
BRONZE - Sofia BODNAR (UKR)

62kg    
GOLD - Yulia TKACH (UKR)                                              

65kg    
GOLD - Irina KOLIADENKO (UKR)          
SILVER - Tatyana RYSHKO (UKR)
BRONZE - Anastasia LAVRENCHUK (UKR)

68kg    
GOLD - Kristina BEREZA (UKR)                                        

72kg                                                                        
No Competition 

76kg    
GOLD - Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR)        
SILVER - Alla BELINSKAYA (UKR)         
BRONZE - Irina PASICHNIK (UKR)

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday -- DATUNASHVILI Z. (GEO) -- 2015 European Games
2. Talk about earning the No.1 ranking in the world? Here’s @koreawrestlingfederation ‘s Olympic champion and No.1-ranked (at 77kg) KIM Hyeonwoo’s (71 points) resume since the World Championships: 
World Championships:? Asian Championships:? Zagreb Open:? Hungarian GP:? 
3. The Hungarian head-scratcher. 
Who should Hungary ?? enter into the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships at 87kg?
No. 3 Erik SZILVASSY - U23 ??and European?or No. 5 Viktor LORINCZ - 2x ??, Hungarian GP and Zagreb Open ?. Lorincz is 2-0 against Szilvassy in 2019
4. Saturday smiles with No. 5 RYU Hansu ??. ?: @sachikohotaka
5. Hungary’s ?? reigning world champion Peter BACSI has retired since winning world gold on home soil - meaning the 82kg seeds (as of now) at the #WrestleNurSultanWorld Championships will be: 
No. 1 - Emrah KUS ??.
No. 2 - @saeid.abdovali68 ??.
No. 3 - Viktar SASUNOUSKI ??.
No. 4 - @bisultanov_077 ??.