Ivan Yarygin

Yarygin Day Two Finals

By Eric Olanowski

Russia continued its dominance on day two of the Ivan Yarygin placing five of a possible six into the night's finals. The host nation has now placed 11 of 12 wrestlers into the first six freestyle weights.

Defending Yarygin champion Ilyas BEKBULATOV (RUS) picked up a quick win in the semifinals scoring a takedown and four gut wrenches to earn the 10-0 win. Bekbultakov will meet 2017 world bronze medalist Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) in the finals. Chakaev took out Tsogtbaatar DAMDINBAZAR (MGL), 9-1 in his semifinal.

Kyle Dake broke Russia's strangehold on the finals with a 10-0 technical superiority victory in the 79kg semifinals. Dake faces Shiabdinovitch GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) who squeaked out a 2-1 semifinal victory over Radik VALIEV (RUS).

At 125kg, Muradin KUSHKHOV (RUS) will wrestle fellow Russian, Anzor Ruslanovitch KHIZRIEV who only ceded four points through his first three matches. Kushkov defeated 2017 world bronze medalist Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) in the quarterfinals.

In women’s wrestling, China, Japan and Mongolia each enter tonight’s session with two finalists.  China and Japan are looking to expand on their gold medal haul, having each captured a pair of gold medals on Friday night. Russia’s Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) and Tamyra MENSAH (USA) are also making final appearances, with Mensah looking to defend her 2017 title.

Here are the final matches:

65kg

GOLD - Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) vs. Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Nachyn Sergeevitch KUULAR (RUS) vs. Batmagnai BATCHULUUN (MGL) 

BRONZE - Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) vs. Tsogtbaatar DAMDINBAZAR (MGL) 

79kg

GOLD - Kyle DAKE (USA) vs. Akhmed Shiabdinovitch GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS)
BRONZE - Muhammet KUTANOGLU (TUR) vs. Radik VALIEV (RUS)
BRONZE - Alan ZASEEV (RUS) vs. Rashid KURBANOV (UZB)

125kg

GOLD - Muradin KUSHKHOV (RUS) vs. Anzor Ruslanovitch KHIZRIEV (RUS) 
BRONZE -
Zolboo NATSAGSUREN (MGL) vs. Zachery William REY (USA) 

BRONZE - Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) vs. Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) 

Women’s wrestling

53kg

GOLD - Yu MIYAHARA (JPN) df. Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS), 4-4
BRONZE -  
Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) df. Yujiao LIU (CHN), 4-4

BRONZE -  Natalia MALYSHEVA (RUS) df. Otgonjargal GANBAATAR (MGL), 7-3

57kg

GOLD - Gantuya ENKHBAT (MGL) vs. Qi ZHANG (CHN) 
BRONZE -  
Lianna de la caridad MONTERO HERRERA (CUB) vs. Battsetseg ALTANTSETSEG (MGL) 
BRONZE - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Alexandra ANDREEVA (RUS)

62kg

GOLD - Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) vs. Kiwa SAKAE (JPN) 
BRONZE - Ayaulym KASSYMOVA (KAZ) vs. Yaquelin ESTORNELL ELIZASTIGUE (CUB) 
BRONZE -  Juan KANG (CHN) vs. Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) 

68kg
GOLD -  Tamyra mariama MENSAH (USA) df. Yue HAN (CHN)

BRONZE - Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB) df. Iuliia MAKSIMOVA BARTNOVSKAIA (RUS)BRONZE -  Rui XU (CHN) df. Galina BULATOVA (RUS)

THIS IS THE START OF THE Yarygin Live Notebook - Day Two 

The second day of wrestling at the 2018 Ivan Yarygin kicks off at 11:00am. Here is where you can WATCH the three men's freestyle and four women's wrestling categories that are in action today. 

Did you miss the action from the first day? Here is everything that you may have missed from DAY ONE of the #Yarygin2018. 

PHOTO OF THE DAY - DAY ONE 

TWEETS OF THE DAY 
Get social with United World Wrestling (@wrestling) on twitter and use the #Yarygin2018 for a chance to be featured on our TWEETS OF THE DAY!  

Freestyle

The three Freestyle  weight categories that will compete today are 65kg,79kg and 125kg. 

First and Second Round 
Logan STIEBER (USA), the 2016 World champion trailed 3-2 heading into the second period when he picked up a takedown to a leg lace. Stieber ended the match with that sequence, 13-3. 

Over on MAT A, BATCHULUUN Batmagnai (MGL) and Lazaro Dayron CARBONELL VALDES (CUB) are wrestling in what's going to be a MATCH OF THE DAY CANDIDATE. The final score of this match was 13-9 in favor of Batchluun. 

Y. Rodrigues BONNE (CUB) who is one of the most explosive wrestlers on the planet is coming up on MAT A. Chalk up Y. Rodrigues BONNE (CUB) for another #BIGMOVEMONDAY! He just ended his first round match with an insane five point move. 

Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) and Logan STIEBER (USA) are about to come to MAT A. Bekbulatov's the returning champion, and as previsouly mentioned, Stieber is a world champion.

There were a few good exchanges, but overall it was Bekbulatov's defense and gut wrench that helped seal the 16-6 technical superiority victory. 

Fan favorite, Cengizhan ERDOGAN (TUR) just picked up his second victory of the day, putting himself into the quaterfinals at 65kg. 

Bonne trails 6-3 with under a minute left over on Mat A. After giving up a four-point move, BATCHULUUN Batmagnai (MGL) won, 10-3. 

Over on Mat C, it will be back-to-back matches for the Americans. First up was Bobby TELFORD,  now it's Zach RAY (USA). 

Quarterfinals (2:22 PM) 

FS 65kg - (2:25 PM) - Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) just scored twelve unanswered points and leads Nachyn Sergeevitch KUULAR (RUS), 12-4 with two minutes remaining in the second period.  Bekbulatov  wins and moves onto the 65kg semifinals. He'll wrestle the winner of Cengizhan ERDOGAN (TUR) and Batmagnai BATCHULUUN (MGL). 

FS 79kg - (2:25 PM) - The 79kg quarterfinals are about to begin over on Mat B. 

FS 79kg - (2:33 PM) - Kyle DAKE (USA) outlasts Alan ZASEEV (RUS) to make the semifinals at 79kgs. 

FS 65kg - (2:54 PM) - The semifinals are starting over on Mat A with  Tsogtbaatar DAMDINBAZAR (MGL) and Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS). 

 

Women's Wrestling 
The four women's wrestling weight categories that will compete today are 53kg, 57kg, 62kg and  68 kg. 

Erdenesukh NARANGEREL (MGL) just capped off her second round match with a 12-2 technical fall over Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS). ERDENESUKH used a blast double right to a leg lace to score the final four points of the match. 

Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) uses two takedowns to defeat Natalia MALYSHEVA (RUS), 4-0. 

WW 57kg - (3:11 PM) Gantuya ENKHBAT (MGL) and Alexandra ANDREEVA (RUS) will wrestle in the first women's wrestling semifinal on Mat B. 

#WrestleBucharest

Sadulaev back, Freestyle stars assemble for European Championships

By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 2) -- Four months after a neck surgery and four years since his last European Championships, Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) will return to the mat, hoping to win his sixth European title.

In September, Sadulaev pulled out of his semifinal against eventual champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and underwent surgery. This will be his first international competition as he won the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in the last week of January. 

The European Championships will kick off on February 12 in Bucharest, making the countries participating in the tournament eligible to participate in the European Olympic Qualifier in Baku. The tournament will be available on UWW+ on uww.org and the UWW app.

Apart from Sadulaev, Tokyo Olympic champion  Zavur UGUEV (AIN), world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), world champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN) and arch-rivals Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will be in action.

Sadulaev, who is yet to qualify for the Paris Olympics, will be checked by world silver medalist in Belgrade Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), bronze medalist Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) and former world silver medalist Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK).

Soon after winning the Yarygin tournament, Sadulaev posted on his Instagram that "he is back on track." A fully fit Sadulaev is expected in Bucharest which will mean that his opponents will have a tough time.

Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) is the defending champion at 86kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Among other Olympic weight classes, 86kg defending champion Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) will be returning since his injury in the Ranking Series in Budapest last year. In all likelihood, he is set to face Tokyo bronze medalist Artur NAIFONOV (AIN) as the two revive their rivalry. The two used to dominate the national scene in Russia.

Another transfer and winner of the season-opening Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) will also be in action, making it a tough bracket. Ramazanov will be keen on continuing his good form and challenging the established stars at 86kg in Europe.

World bronze medalist Myles AMINE (SMR) is entered and making it to his third straight final at the European Championships will be his top priority. U20 world champion Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA), 79kg world silver medalist Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) and Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) are also in the bracket.

Taha AKGUL (TUR)Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) are expexted to meet in the 125kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Akgul and Petriashvili, ranking second and fourth in the world, can only meet in the final, setting up another gold-medal bout if both make it to the final.

The two have long dominated the weight classes with the former winning it 10 times since 2012 and Petriasvili winning it twice with the last coming in 2020. Akgul defeated Petriashvili in the final in Zagreb last year.

At the Ranking Series in Zagreb, Petriashvili pulled out of his bout against world champion Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) citing injury. It will be interesting to see if he will return fully fit.

At 57kg, Zavur UGUEV (AIN) will look to put behind the disappointment of finishing without a medal at the World Championships and return to winning ways. Uguev has a lot to fight for as a win in Bucharest will make him the favorite for the gold medal in Paris as well if he goes to the Olympics.

But world bronze medalist Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) will look to win the European title at 57kg as well. The 61kg champion last year has moved down to the Olympic weight and possesses the skills to upset any star wrestler. At the World Championships, he dropped a 16-13 semifinal against Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) before winning a bronze medal.

With many wrestlers deciding not to go through the rigorous process of reducing their weight, the 65kg weight class will see world bronze medalists Shamil MAMEDOV (AIN) and Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) as the top stars.

The two will be drawn on the same side of the bracket given Tevanyan is ranked third in the world and Mammedov is fifth. Mikyay NAIM (BUL) and Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR) will also be in the fray to reach the final.

Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)65kg world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) will be at 70kg in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

The 65kg world champion Muszukajev has moved up to 70kg and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. A definite crowd-puller, Muszukajev will once again be tested for his conditioning. But if his performance at the World Championships is anything to go by, Muszukajev should put on a show of explosive wrestling.

U23 world champions Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) will look to upset the world champ if they meet in the bracket. At the U23 World Championships, Sheriev defeated Heybatov 13-3 and the Azerbaijan wrestler will be keen on avenging that loss as well.

At 74kg, three-time champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) will start as the favorite but will be tested by Timur BIZHOEV (AIN), a former world bronze medalist. The field also includes Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) and veteran Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR).

Akhmed USMANOV (AIN)World champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN) will be up against a strong field at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Most of the regular stars of 74kg have moved up to 79kg, a weight class which will be a tightly-contested category. Multiple world and Olympic medalists are entered in the weight class for the Bucharest tournament. World champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN), Tokyo silver medalist at 74kg Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN), former world medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), young star and defending champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), multiple-time world medalist Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), veteran Hetik CABOLOV (SRB), Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU) and Ramazan SARI (TUR) are a few names who will be vying for the European title.

A face-off between Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) and Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) is expected at 61kg. MAgomedov lost the 61kg final at the World Championships while Abakarov finished with a bronze medal at 57kg after suffering a loss to Stevan MICIC (SRB). Micic was registered for the European Championships but pulled out.

Boris MAKOEV (SVK) is moving up to 92kg for the European Championships but the weight class already has a few hammers. Magomed KURBANOV (AIN) will have a chance to win the title but world silver medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), bronze medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) and former European champion Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) are also in the mix.