Klippan Ladies

Adar, Gray and Wiebe Set to Collide in Klippan

Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - 14:41 By Eric Olanowski

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KLIPPAN, Sweden (February 14) -- Wrestlers from 20 countries will head to Klippan, Sweden to compete in United World Wrestling’s first women’s wrestling ranking series event of the season, the Klippan Lady Open.

Three previous world champions and two Olympic medalists are set to collide this weekend at the Klippan Lady Open. Erica WIEBE (CAN), Yasemin ADAR (TUR) and Adeline GRAY (USA) are among the elite wrestlers competing in the 76kg weight class.

Erica WIEBE (CAN), 2016 Olympic champion, returns to international competition after taking an extended period of time off. Yasemin ADAR (TUR), returning world champion looks to reign supreme over the 76kg weight category, but three-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA) is looking to reclaim the top spot that she held from 2014 until the Olympic Games when Wiebe took the crown.

Other wrestlers to pay attention to will be Olympic bronze medalist Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS), Aline FOCKEN (GER), a 2017 world finalist and Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) the U23 world champion.

At 50kg, Yui SUSAKI (JPN), 2017 world champion and returning Klippan champion will have three top contenders to fight off. Chasing Susaki will be Mariya STADNIK (AZE), the two-time world and Olympic silver medalist, U23 world champion, Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) and Alina Emilia VUC (ROM), 2017 world silver medalist.

The 53kg weight class is littered with age-level talent chasing Olympian Nina HEMMER (GER).

The three youngsters who are looking to make their presence known on the senior-level are Nanami IRIE (JPN), junior world champion, Beatrice Andrea ANA (ROM), cadet world runner-up and Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS), a U23 world bronze medalist.

Competing for the gold at 55kg will be a pair of Russian’s in Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS), a 2018 Yarygin finalist and Nina MENKENOVA (RUS), the U23 world bronze medalist who is looking to win her first senior-level tournament since the 2016 Torneo Citta a Sassari.

The remaining contender at 55kg is 2017 cadet world runner-up, Sena NAHAMOTO (JPN).

Vying for the top spot at 57kg is the top-tier trio of 2017 junior world champion Sae NANJO (JPN), Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS), 2016 world silver medalist and 2017 European champion and Tetyana KIT (UKR).

A pair of Russian Ivan Yarygin bronze medalists in Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS) and Uliana TUKURENOVA (RUS) are leading the charge at 59kg.

The other potential gold medalist at 59kg is 2017 European champion Grace BULLEN (NOR). 

Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT), 2017 world bronze medalist will look to put a stop to 62kg tournament favorite, 2017 world finalist Yulia TKACH’s (UKR) quest to win her second Klippan Lady Open title.

Tkach won her last Klippan Lady Open in 2015.

At 65kg, it’ll be the threesome of Henna JOHANSSON (SWE), two-time Olympian, Petra OLLI (FIN), 2015 world silver medalist and U23 world runner-up Braxton STONE CAN who will be looking to stop Yulia PRONTSEVICH (RUS), the 2018 Ivan Yarygin runner-up from winning back-to-back titles.

Last month, tournament favorite Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) became the first American to win Yarygin titles.

If Mensah-Stock wants to continue her winning ways and claim the 68kg Klippan Lady Open title, she’ll have to go through two Olympians in Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) and Buse TOSUN (TUR). 

Rounding out the tournament, the two favorites at 72kg are Jenny FRANSSON (SWE), Olympic bronze medalist and Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN), U23 world runner-up.

SCHEDULE 
Saturday - All weights 
Session 1 - 1:00pm (local time)
Session 2 - 5:00pm (local time) 
Sunday - All weights 
Session 3 - 10:00am (local time)
Session 4 - 2:00pm (local time) 

#WrestleTirana

Breaking down freestyle battles at World Championships for Non-Olympic weights

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 09:44 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 15) -- Six months ago, no one had the Sadulaev-Taylor-Ghasempour three-way battle for world title on their bingo card. But it is about to go down in Tirana.

The World Championships in non-Olympic weight classes is returning after eight years. Despite the fact that none of the Paris Olympic participants were allowed in the tournament, it still has a host of stars hoping to become world champions.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN), a two-time Olympic and five-time world champion, did not participate in the Paris Olympics and is going down a weight class to 92kg in a bid to earn his sixth world title. Three-time world champion David TAYLOR (USA) jumped from 86kg to 92kg in a bid to compete at the World Championships. He now gets a shot at Sadulaev. Two-time world champion at 92kg Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), who has been moving up and down in weight classes, has somehow been made the challenger.

Ghasempour participated in the 97kg weight class in the Zagreb Open but lost to Kyle SNYDER (USA). He was in line for Iran's 86kg spot for Paris but later opted out of a trial against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI).

Sadulaev lost a bout for the second time in his career and first in six years when he lost to Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) at the 2023 World Championships. Taylor lost to Aaron BROOKS (USA) in the U.S. Olympic trials and Ghasempour barely scraped through in the trials for the world team in Iran.

Yet, the three will be the favorite for the gold medal and it will only be a surprise if any of them miss out on the podium in Tirana.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is eyeing his seventh world title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is also chasing history. If he wins, he will win his seventh world title, making him the most successful American wrestler at the World Championships. He missed out on competing at the 2023 World Championships but stormed back in 2024, winning the trial in the United States.

But his path to gold won't be an easy one. Two-time U23 world champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), former world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), three-time world medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) and Asian champion Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) are also in the fray.

Nokhodi and Burroughs have wrestled in two back-to-back World Championships finals with the latter winning both. But Burroughs suffered his first loss to an Iranian in 2022 when Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) defeated him at the World Cup and Nokhodi will draw confidence from there.

All the big names will be looking to hand Burroughs his first World Championships loss since 2019.

Vitali ARUJAU (USA)Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is the defending world champion at 61kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Olympic champion eyeing a world title will be Zavur UGUEV (AIN) as he last won the second of two titles in 2019. Uguev won gold at the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg but finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships. He will be at 61kg in Tirana hoping to deny defending world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) a second world title.

Arujau won his first world gold medal in 2023 by beating Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) in a tense final. He won the team trials in the U.S. to confirm his name for the World Championships in Tirana.

An interesting name entered is Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB). The former European champion will turn out for Serbia at 61kg but it is unlikely that he will be challenging for gold.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN), however, can be a big threat for the gold medal given his style and pace of wrestling. He rocked the competition at the U20 World Championships last month and won gold at 61kg. It will be interesting to see how he fares at his first senior World Championships.

Asian Championships silver medalist UDIT (IND) and Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) have some good wins under their belts over the past two years and they would like to make a mark in Tirana.

Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wrestled in the U23 World Championships final last year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U23 world and European champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) will be making his senior international debut at 70kg in Tirana and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. However, the field has other top contenders like Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and James GREEN (USA) among others.

Yazdani lost the final at 70kg last year to Zain RETHERFORD (USA) but will look to make amends this year. He won the Asian Championships over Aoyagi in a high-scoring final. Yazdani's 13-9 win over Aoyagi was not convincing and the Japanese will look to change the result if the two meet in Tirana. Aoyagi was in the final against Sheriev but dropped the final 9-3. He finished eighth at the World Championships in 2023.

Former U20 world champion for Iran, Peiman BIABANI (CAN) will be turning out for Canada. He finished second at the Pan-Am Championships and the World Championships will be a big test for him. 2023 bronze medalist Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) will look to change the color of his medal this year.