#WrestleWarsaw

Weight-to-Watch: Women’s Wrestling 57kg

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 - 12:58 By Eric Olanowski

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WARSAW, Poland (June 2) --- Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) headlines the loaded 17-woman 57kg bracket at next week’s Poland Open. In total, the weight will feature two Olympic medalists, five world medal winners, and seven continental champions.  

Earlier this year, during her appearance on UWW LIVE, Maroulis shared her mentality and desire to compete against the best, saying, “I don’t just want the medal for the sake of the medal. I want it to be the toughest competition. The point of being the best is you want to know that you beat everyone that you think is incredible.”

Next week, Maroulis will have that opportunity to lace up her boots against the world’s best at 57kg – including Olympic runner-up Valeria KOBLOVA (RUS) and world medalist Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) and Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR).  She’ll also have to get through a slew of continental champions, including European winners Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) and Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS), and Asian champ Anshu ANSHU (IND). 

The Poland Open will be Maroulis’ second competition of the ’21 season. The two-time world champion's last competition was January’s Henri Deglane in France. She won four matches and defeated Germany’s Laura MERTENS to win the 57kg gold. The win in France marked Maroulis’ first international gold since she claimed her second world title at the ’17 Paris World Championships. 

On paper, Adekuoroye, Africa’s first-ever women’s wrestling world finalist, would be the biggest threat to Maroulis’ shot at winning Ranking Series gold in Warsaw. But, after being sidelined for over 16 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two-time world bronze medalist Iryna Kurachkina takes the top spot as Maroulis’s biggest threat. 

Kurachkina is on an eight-tournament podium finishing streak that dates back to May ‘19’s International Ukrainian Tournament. During that stretch, she’s captured gold at the European Championships, European Games, Individual World Cup, and the prestigious Alexander Medved Prizes. She also finished with bronze medalists at the ’19 World Championships, European Championships, and the International Ukrainian Tournament twice.  

If Adekuoroye and Maroulis happen to meet, it wouldn’t be the first meeting between the two superstars. The pair wrestled in an exhibition in New York City at the ’18 Beat the Street. The American scored the matches only takedown, shut down the Nigerian’s offense, and eased her way to a 4-1 win. 

Rio Olympic runner-up Valeria Kobloba will make her first appearance down at 57kg since between the ’17 World Championships and when she gave birth. Since then, she's competed at the Russian (59kg) and European Championships (62kg), finishing in first and fifth, respectively. 

The two other continental champions that'll compete in Warsaw are Ologonova and Anshu.

Anshu will wrestle for a fourth time this season. It’ll be her first competition back since winning the 57kg Asian title in April. Her other two competitions were the Asian Olympic Qualifier and the Matteo Pellicone. She qualified India for the Olympic Games after she reached the finals at the Asian Olympic Qualifier but dropped her bronze-medal match at the Pellicone and finished in fifth place. 

Ologonova, the three-time world silver medalist, will compete outside Russia for the first time since the ’18 World Championships. Most recently, she fell to Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS) (who is also entered in the competition) in the Russian National finals.  

Two dark horses that round out the weight are Alina Hrushyna Akobiia and Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA). 

The young upset-minded Hrushyna Akobiia is looking to spoil the party at 57kg. Last week, she claimed gold at the U23 European Championships – which was her fifth consecutive tournament finishing in the top three. Prior to that win in Skopje, she qualified Ukraine for the Olympic Games with her final-reaching performance at the European Olympic Qualifier, claimed silver and bronze medals at the ’20 and ’21 senior-level European Championships, respectively, and won the International Ukrainian Tournament. 

Riviere finished in second place at the World Olympic Qualifier and qualified France for the Tokyo Olympic Games.  

Wrestling at the Poland Open kicks off on June 8 and can be followed live on www.uww.org.  

57kg Entries 
Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA) 
Elena Heike BRUGGER (GER) 
Fatoumata Yarie CAMARA (GUI) 
Anshu ANSHU (IND) 
Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR) 
Patrycja GIL (POL) 
Jowita Maria WRZESIEN (POL) 
Magdalena Urszula GLODEK (POL) 
Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS)
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS) 
Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) 
Mehlika OZTURK (TUR) 
Eda TEKIN (TUR) 
Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) 
Tetyana KIT (UKR) 
Helen MAROULIS (USA) 

#WrestleSamokov

Kyrgyzstan, Moldova earn chance to end U20 World title drought

Sunday, August 17, 2025 - 18:58 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 17) -- Kyrgyzstan and Moldova earned a chance to end their gold-medal drought at the U20 World Championships.

On the first day of the 2025 World U20 Championships in Samokov, four Freestyle weight classes were in action. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) was the surprised finalist at 74kg and will try to become Kyrgyzstan's first gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 20 years. He will take on European U23 champion Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) in the final.

At 70kg, Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) earned the final and will now try to become Moldova's first U20 world champ in Freestyle since 1999. He will take on returning bronze medalist PJ DUKE (USA) in the gold-medal bout.

The 125kg weight class will see an all-Asian final as Asian U20 champion Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) earned a shot for the world title against Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a wrestler over whom Kassimbek has a 3-0 head-to-head record.

Two returning bronze medalists, Duke and Justin RADEMACHER (USA), upgrade their bronze medals from last year and earn themselves a chance to win gold on Monday at 70kg and 97kg respectively.

Akylbekov, who had finished at 17th at 79kg last year, had a dream run on Sunday and ended one for Raul CASO (ITA) in the semifinals. Caso had posted two last-second victories, however, he failed to repeat those heroics in the semifinal against Akylbekov.

Caso was 3-2 and went attack-mode in the final 15 seconds. He almost scored a takedown over Akylbekov who managed to sneak out and then Caso jumped over to take control for a takedown. However, the Kyrgyz wrestler stood up to avoid giving up any points. Italy challenged for two points but lost that on review, giving one more point to Akylbekov.

While Caso was leaving it late in his wins, Akylbekov was contrastingly dominating them. He defeated Nicholas HOOPER (CAN), 12-0, in the opening bout, blanked Titas PIJORAITIS (LTU), 10-0 and then handed Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ) a 6-1 loss.

Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in the semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

He will now face Khaniev, who earned himself his first world medal at any level. Khaniev defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in a very close semifinal than the scoreline suggests.

Khaniev led 3-3 on criteria but Yamaguchi constantly threatened to score in the final 25 seconds. He hit a double-leg attack and planted Khaniev, who somehow managed to not land in danger. In a counter, Khaniev exposed Yamaguchi for two points and took a 5-3 lead. Yamaguchi tried a desperate throw in the final 15 seconds but Khaniev blocked it for two more points to win.

Earlier in the day, Khaniev avenged his European U20 Championships loss to Manuel WAGIN (GER) with a technical superiority win after he had beaten returning silver medalist Ladrion LOCKETT (USA).

Duke had his first big challenge of the day in the semifinals against former world U17 champion Erfan ELAHI (IRI) at 70kg. Duke scored a takedown while Elahi had a point for stepout and Duke's passivity. Duke's two-point scoring move gave him the criteria.

However, Elahi somehow thought he has the criteria and did not think of attacking in the final 30 seconds. When the bout was over, Elahi celebrated as if he had won only to realize that he has lost 2-2.

Duke will look to win his first a world title before wrestling at the senior World Championships later in September. He will take on Gaidarli for the gold-medal after the Moldovan won his semifinal 7-4 against Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE).

Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) reached the 70kg final in Samokov. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gaidarli became the first Moldovan Freestyle wrestler to reach the final at U20 Worlds since 2019 after a stunningly good run in Samokov. He defeated European U20 champion Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 13-3, avenging his loss from Carole, Italy.

In the semifinals, he scored three takedowns in the second period against Aghazada to win 7-4, bettering his 18th-place finish from last year and earning a chance to end the gold-medal drought for Moldova.

Returning bronze medalist at 97kg Rademacher defeated European U20 champion Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and will now try to win gold. Rademacher led 4-3 at the break extended his lead with a takedown for two points to start the second period, add another go-behind and single-leg to takedown to lead 10-3.

Petriashvili got an attack for two points but Rademacher was relentless in his wrestling and scored three more takedowns to win 16-5.

Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW)Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) survived to win 11-9 against VISHAL (IND) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

For the gold medal, he will face Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) who survived, with some help, for an 11-9 win over VISHAL (IND) who had Magomedov in all sorts of trouble. Magomedov led 10-4 when Vishal mounted a comeback against an absolutely broken Magomedov. He scored a takedown and Magomedov was cautioned for a singlet-pull foul which made it 10-7.

As the bout was restart in par terre, India challenged for two more points but the referee had blown the whistle before control from Vishal. That challenge gave enough breathing time to Magomedov to managed to hang on to his lead and win 11-9.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) celebrates after winning his 125kg semifinal against Cole MIRASOLA (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kassimbek had a very dominant semifinal as he defeated Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0, inside the first period. He had two excellent counter takedowns and then locked up Mirasola's legs around his head and turns him twice. He finished things with a double-leg takedown.

Kassimbek has lost to two World U17 Championships finals before but he will have a good chance to win his first world title. He will take on Mohammad Nezhad, a wrestler he has defeated three times before.

The Iranian denied former world U17 champion Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE) after a 1-1 victory in the semifinal. Mohmmad Nezhad got the one point for passivity in the second period which gave him the criteria.

Mohammad Nezhad lost to Kassimbek for the first time in 2023 Asian U17 Championships final, 8-1, then at the same tournament in 2024, 2-2 in the semifinals. His third loss to Kassimbek came in the semifinals of the 2024 World U17 Championships, 4-3.

RESULTS

70kg
GOLD: PJ DUKE (USA) vs. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) 

SF 1: Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) df. Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE), 7-4
SF 2: PJ DUKE (USA) df. Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI), 2-2

74kg
GOLD: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) vs. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ)

SF 1: Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) df. Raul CASO (ITA), 4-2
SF 2: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) df. Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3

97kg
GOLD: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) vs. Justin RADEMACHER (USA)

SF 1: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO), 16-5
SF 2: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. VISHAL (IND), 11-9

125kg
GOLD: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) vs. Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 1-1
SF 2: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) df. Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0