#Zagreb2019

Zagreb Open Rosters Released

Monday, February 4, 2019 - 18:11 By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) - The Zagreb Open, United World Wrestlings first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, starts this Saturday in Zagreb, Croatia. Nearly 40 age-group and senior-level world medalists, along with London Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) are set to compete for the all-important Ranking Series points.

This will be the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event where the revamped point structure will be used. This tournament is especially important because the seeding process at the 2019 Astana World Championships takes into account the number of points competitors accumulate from last year's World Championships, along with the Continental Championships and the Ranking Series events.

The number of points awarded at a competition will also be impacted by the number of wrestlers entered in each bracket. For weight categories with 10 or fewer entries, an additional six (6) points will be added. For categories with 11-20 wrestlers entered an additional eight (8) points will be added. Ten (10) points will be added to any weight category with more than 20 entries.

The three remaining Greco-Roman Ranking Series events are the Hungarian Grand Prix (February 23), the Sassari (May 24), and the Oleg Karavaev (July 26).

2019 Ranking Series Point Structure
GOLD - 8 points
SILVER - 6 points
BRONZE - 4 points
Fifth - 2 points

*Please note that these are unofficial entries and are subject to change. Entry will not be official until 24 hours before the competition starts. This goes for every pre-entry list released by United World Wrestling.

55kg
Jozsef ANDRASI (HUN)
Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI)
Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)
Cihat Ahmet LIMAN (TUR)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Dogus AYAZCI (TUR)

60kg
Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL)
Sandro FRANKOL (CRO)
Tony BRALA (CRO)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Mikkel LASSEN (DEN)
Daniel BOBILLO VIGIL (ESP)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Milad Ali REZANEZHAD HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
LEE Jungbaik (KOR)
CHUNG Hanjae (KOR)
KIM Seunghak (KOR)
Ardit FAZLJIJA (SWE)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Dalton James ROBERTS (USA)
Xavier Tramain JOHNSON (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Javokhir MIRAKHMEDOV (UZB)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

63kg
Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL)
Luka PRIHISTAL (CRO)
Mohsen Fathollah MADHANI (IRI)
Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL)
Dawid Andrzej ERSETIC (POL)
Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL)
Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU)
Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE)
Rahman BILICI (TUR)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Erhan KARAKUS (TUR)
Travis Michael RICE (USA)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)

Korea's two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR) will wrestle at 67kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

67kg
Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ (CHI)
Danijel JANECIC (CRO)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Alejandro Ruslan CONCEPCION CASTILLO (ESP)
Otto LOSONCZI (HUN)
Mate KRASZNAI (HUN)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Mohammad Reza Hojatollah MOKHTARI (IRI)
RYU Hansu (KOR)
KIM Dohyeong (KOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Tamas NAD (SRB)
Danielo Giuseppe DI FEOLA (SWE)
Abdul Samet BASAR (TUR)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Volkan CAKIL (TUR)
Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)

72kg
Stoyan Stoychev KUBATOV (BUL)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Fran SACIC (CRO)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)
Martin TOTH (HUN)
Yousef Hajiali HOSSEINVAND FATHI (IRI)
Vegard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Dawid KARECINSKI (POL)
Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksandr PAIVIN (RUS)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Oskar Simon ERLANDSSON (SWE)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Murat DAG (TUR)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

Serbia's 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES is registered to compete at 77kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

77kg
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Laszlo SZABO (HUN)
Martin SZABO (HUN)
Zotlan LEVAI (HUN)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Igor PETRISHIN (ISR)
KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Rafael IUNUSOV (RUS)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Khalid KERCHIYEV (SWE)
Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA)
Peyton Burke WALSH (USA)
Kamal Ameer BEY (USA)
Bilan NALGIEV (UZB)

82kg
Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN)
Daniel TOLLAR (HUN)
Hosein Jahanbakhsh FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI)
Timotej TRBULIN (SLO)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Emrah KUS (TUR)
John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Ivan RATKOVIC (CRO)
Pedro Jacinto GARCIA PEREZ (ESP)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Bertalan PAPP (HUN)
Hasan Jahanbakhsh FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI)
PARK Heageun (KOR)
KIM Junehyoung (KOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Arkadiusz Marcin KULYNYCZ (POL)
Valentin CABI (SRB)
Vladimir STANKIC (SRB)
Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV (SRB)
Aleksandar Georgije STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Patrick Anthony MARTINEZ (USA)
Kevin Dewayne RADFORD JR (USA)
Muhammadali SHAMSIDDINOV (UZB)

Bulgaria's 2018 world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) is expected to compete at 97kg. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

97kg
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
Adam VARGA (HUN)
Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN)
Robert ERSEK (HUN)
Abolfazl Naser SEYEDMAHDAVI (IRI)
LEE Seyeol (KOR)
KIM Seungjun (KOR)
Ilia BORISOV (RUS)
Pontus Johan LUND (SWE)
Fatih BASKOY (TUR)
Abdul Kadir CEBITUR)
Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR)
Nicholas Allen BOYKIN (USA)
Daniel Collett MILLER (USA)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)

130kg
Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Ante MILKOVIC (CRO)
Balint LAM (HUN)
Armin Mozes MAJOROS (HUN)
Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI)
KIM Minseok (KOR)
LEE Seungchan (KOR)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

#WrestleParis

Women's Wrestling at Olympics: 20 years strong

Monday, July 8, 2024 - 15:09 By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 8) -- Inside an academy located in the middle of a farm at a village in Haryana, the northern Indian state that’s the country’s wrestling capital, a bunch of teenage girls had scribbled the name of their hero on a wall – Helen MAROULIS (USA).

When women’s wrestling made its Olympic debut, some of these girls were not even born. There were no roads leading up to the academy where they trained until a few years ago — the best way to reach the academy was on foot from the nearest highway exit point roughly a couple of miles away. And internet connectivity was patchy at best.

Yet, the story of Maroulis’s dominance had traveled to this far-flung village and became a part of the folklore. Few stories illustrate better the impact and the reach of women’s wrestling.

In less than three weeks, the eyes of the entire sporting – and wider – world will be fixed on Paris when the Olympic Games get underway. On the mat at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Champ de Mars, more stories of inspiration will unfold, paving the way for many young wrestlers to follow in the footsteps of their heroes.

At the Paris Olympics, women's wrestling will celebrate its 20th year of being at the Games. Back in 2004, when it was included in Athens, there were only four categories. In Paris, as was the case in Tokyo, there will be six — the same as Freestyle and Greco-Roman.

The 2024 Games will also be significant for the officials. As many as 11 female referees will be part of the officials. Back in 1988, it was only one.

Athens Women's Wrestling at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Wrestling at the Paris Olympics will also be a symbolic occasion given the key role France played in the evolution of the women’s game. It was at Pas-de-Calais where women’s wrestling took one of its first steps. A club in Calonne-Ricouart was the first to open its doors to women in 1971.

From this tiny space in a region roughly three hours from Paris, women’s wrestling spread in other parts of France before it became a popular activity in the rest of the world.

The seeds that were sown in France have blossomed in countries across the world. As women’s wrestling traveled to Beijing, London, Tokyo and now arrives in Paris – following the journey that began in Athens – it left behind immaculate footprints for young, aspiring children to follow.

Tayla FORD (NZL) is the first wrestler from New Zealand who will compete at the Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Next month, when the competition gets underway in the French capital, history will be in the offing as Tayla FORD (NZL) will become the first female wrestler from her country to make it to the Olympics.

Ford’s story is one of sheer perseverance, not just hers but even of those around the wrestler. Her father, a high school wrestler, got Ford into wrestling after it was included in the Olympics programme. He had a mat installed in their garage and every day, the father and daughter trained.

In a way, Ford’s story is similar to the wrestlers from the Olympic women’s wrestling’s undisputed powerhouse, Japan.

The queen of wrestling, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), began her journey in the same way. Before she went on to win every title there was to win – three Olympic gold medals, 13 World Championship titles, four Asian Games and Asian Championship gold medals each – Yoshida learnt the art at home.

Her father built a dojo at home where Yoshida, began to wrestle before she could even run properly. The rest, as they say, is history. The rise of Kaori ICHO (JPN), who went 13 years without a loss, followed a similar arc. And so do the stories of the other Japanese women, from Risako KAWAI to Yui SUSAKI.

Not to forget Icho, who won four gold medals at the Olympics, becoming the first Olympic athlete to win four golds in the same individual sport.

In Athens 20 years ago, Japan won only 2 gold medals. Since then, they have won 13. This level of dominance is rare to see in any sport. One of the few countries that’s consistently come close to challenging Japan’s dominance, and been a thorn in their flesh when it comes to a clean sweep of gold medals, is the USA.

Remarkably, the USA did not even compete at the World Championships until 1989, two years after the first edition for women took place. But once they landed on the scene, they took everyone by storm.

Afsoon JOHNSTON (USA) – who won a bronze medal – Asia DEWEESE (silver) and Leia KAWAII (silver) finished on the podium in 1989 and became sort of the pioneers of women’s wrestling in the US. Since then, there hasn’t been a time when the athletes from the Olympic powerhouse haven’t been among the medals.

The rise of women’s wrestling in the US is also a fascinating story, with nearly 50,000 girls competing in high school championships last year. Those young girls saw the wrestling stars from the country on television and decided to tread the same path they’d chosen.

A major reason for the surge in popularity in the US has been wrestlers like Maroulis. Her gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 – the first American woman to achieve that feat – is seen as one of the big milestones that gave the sport a massive push.

Maroulis’s feat didn’t just inspire children in the US. The story traveled the world over, including a remote village in India. If anything, it showcased the sport’s transcending influence.

Zagreb Open Rosters Released

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Women's Wrestling at Olympics: 20 years strong