#WrestleBudapest

#WrestleBudapest Ranking Series women’s wrestling entries

By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 26) — Like the previous three Ranking Series events, the fourth and final event in Budapest, Hungary promises to be a thrilling affair as close to 600 wrestlers are registered for the July 13-16 tournament.

Women’s wrestling too has received entries that include full-strength squads from the USA, China, Canada, Mongolia, Ukraine, France and Turkiye.

Wrestlers are also shifting to the Olympic weight classes as the Paris Olympic qualifying World Championships are just two months away. The Ranking Series allows two-kilogram weight tolerance and awards prize money to all the medal winners.

For Budapest, a host of nations have entered three wrestlers in the Olympic weights with the hope of getting their final entry to the Belgrade World Championships.

At all of the Olympic weight classes — 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg — fans can expect a preview to how competitive the World Championships are going to be as the wrestlers battle for five Paris Olympic spots at each weight.

All the action from Budapest can be followed live on uww.org and the UWW App from July 13.

50kg
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Madison  PARKS (CAN)
Katie  DUTCHAK (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Jacqueline MOLLOCANA ELENO (ECU)
Nada MOHAMED (EGY)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Julie SABATIE (FRA)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Bianka FATH (HUN)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Erin GOLSTON (USA)
Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA)

53kg
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Diana WEICKER (CAN)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Min ZHANG (CHN)
Qianyu PANG (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Tetiana PROFATILOVA (FRA)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN)
Vivien MATYI (HUN)
Hyunyoung OH (KOR)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)
Thalia MALLQUI PECHE (PER)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Ahinsa FERNANDO (SRI)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Liliya HORISHNA (UKR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Dominique PARRISH (USA)

55kg
Li DENG (CHN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
VINESH (IND)
Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
Alisha HOWK (USA)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)

57kg
Engracia PANDA (ANG)
Ana PELENDA (ANG)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Alexandria TOWN (CAN)
Hannah TAYLOR (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Kexin HONG (CHN)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
Jeongae BARK (KOR)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Davaachimeg ERKHEMBAYAR (MGL)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Nova BERGMAN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR)
Xochitl MOTA PETTIS (USA)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Alexandra HEDRICK (USA)
Betzabeth SARCO COLMENAREZ (VEN)

59kg
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Viktoria BORSOS (HUN)
SARITA (IND)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Olena NASIBOVA KREMZER (UKR)
Jennifer PAGE (USA)
Brenda REYNA (USA)

62kg
Angelina LELO (ANG)
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Hanbit LEE (KOR)
Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Zuzanna WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
Bridgette DUTY (USA)

65kg
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
Emma BRUNTIL (USA)

68kg
Sara LANDO (ANG)
Olivia DI BACCO (CAN)
Feng ZHOU (CHN)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Eyleen SEWINA (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
Tayla FORD (NZL)
Yanet SOVERO NINO (PER)
Natalia STRZALKA (POL)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)
Forrest MOLINARI (USA)

72kg
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Noemi OSVATH NAGY (HUN)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR)

76kg
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN)
Juan WANG (CHN)
Genesis REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar HAMZA (EGY)
Epp MAE (EST)
Cynthia VESCAN (FRA)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Seoyeon JEONG (KOR)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Patrycja SPERKA (POL)
Fanni NAGY (SRB)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)

#WrestleZagreb

Tazhudinov in search for answers despite bronze medal

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- A World Championships medal might be a career milestone for most wrestlers, but for Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), the bronze he won in Zagreb is a prize he hopes to forget.

Coming into the tournament in Zagreb, Tazhudinov was considered as the best wrestler in the world and the favorite to win the gold medal at the 97kg. He had built a reputation of a wrestler who bulldozes anyone who stands in his path, as he did to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But Tazhudinov was anything but an Olympic and world champion in Zagreb.

He almost dropped his quarterfinal match with Mogomed KURBANOV (UWW), needing a front headlock roll to survive. The thrill of victory was short lived, as Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) showed that Tazhudinov is indeed human, winning their semifinal 5-2 to end Tazhudinov's golden run.

"My initial goal was the gold medal," Tazhudinov said. "I wanted to become a two-time world champion. Unfortunately, it didn't happen -- maybe it was meant to be this way. It's very painful to lose."

As he searched for answers for his performance, Tazhudinov said that recent shoulder surgery may have affected his wrestling at the World Championships.

"I was coming back after surgery, after a serious injury," Tazhudinov said. "Maybe that had an effect, I don't even know. It took me a very long time to get myself together. At the beginning, training sessions were very difficult."

Tazhudinov returned from surgery to win two gold medals in a one-month span -- first at the Spain Grand Prix and then at the Budapest Ranking Series in June.

After the semifinal loss to Azarpira, Tazhudinov returned the next night for the bronze-medal bout with 34-year-old Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL), which only further put Tazhudinov under the scanner despite winning the match.

Magamaev was on the activity clock when he bodylocked Tazhudinov and slammed him for four points just before the 30 seconds elapsed. Tazhudinov rebounded with a takedown to make it 4-2 at the break.

He began the second period with another takedown to make it 4-4, but Magamaev continued the scramble and both wrestlers were awarded two exposure points each, putting the Bulgarian ahead 6-6 on criteria.

A counter lift to exposure gave Tazhudinov the lead for the first time, 8-6, and as Magamaev tried doing the counter lift, he gave up two as Tazhudinov blocked him. The final scramble, which gave Tazhudinov an 11-10 win, was challenged by Bulgaria. Eventually, it was scored 13-10.

Despite winning the bout, Tazhudinov shook his head as he left the mat, perhaps surprised himself by his lackluster performance.

"Honestly, I don't even know what went wrong," he said. "It means I wasn't well enough prepared. It means I wasn't in my best shape. It means I need to work even more."

Tazhudinov said he had difficulty preparing mentally for the bronze-medal bout after the loss to Azarpira.

"After the semifinal loss, I couldn't motivate myself at all for the bronze-medal match," he said. "I don't even know how I stepped onto the mat. I wasn't mentally ready to wrestle at all, and that's why the match was so difficult.

"But I will not give up -- I'll go home, work on my mistakes, and train even harder to come back stronger."