#WrestleWarsaw

Adekuoroye Shuts Maroulis Out in Build Up to Tokyo Games

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 14:24 By Vinay Siwach

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WARSAW, Poland (June 11) -- It was the calm before the storm. Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) jumped before the start while Helen MAROULIS (USA) was focused in her customary prayer before the bout. But by the end of it, the Nigerian let out a loud scream as she punched the air after winning her quarterfinal at the Poland Open Ranking Series. Perhaps she would not have done it if it was someone else. But Adekuoroye knew a win over an Olympic champion is no mean feat.

What made the win special over Maroulis was that she had lost to her in the previous two meetings. Back in 2018, the USA wrestler won 4-1 at Beat the Streets competition and she won a tight bout six years ago at the Golden Grand Prix, Baku in 2015.

“When we saw the entries of the Poland Open competition, we only focused on Helen,” Purity AKUH, Adekuoroye's coach, said. “We rewatched the two videos where she had lost to Helen and planned.”

The plan was successful as Adekuoroye chalked out a shutout 13-0 win over Maroulis in the quarterfinal of the 57kg weight class. So dominant was the Nigerian that she finished the bout with a minute and 32 seconds remaining. Helen, a two-time world champion as well, was competing for the first time since winning the gold medal at January's Henri Delegane tournament in France.

Unfazed by her opponent's stardom, Adekuoroye paced the bout according to herself and both wrestlers waited for an opening for the first two minutes of the bout. But there was none. The USA wrestler gave up a point for passivity as well.

But as the first period neared its end, Adekuoroye went for it. Perhaps Maroulis was waiting for a single leg attack like their previous meetings. She was wrong. Adekuoroye blasted a double-leg and got a takedown to lead 3-0. In the past, Maroulis has blocked the left hand of her rival to close out that space and only allow single leg attacks which she manages to defend more often than not.

“Odunayo is a very aggressive wrestler,” her coach said. “I have to calm her every time she goes over board. I just tell her to breath and today as well we wanted her to be calm.”

When the second period began, Adekuoroye kept Maroulis' combination of ankle-pick and trip in check. A move that has given Maroulis decent success was tried in vain.

It gave way for a counter from Adekuoroye as she brought out another double and got four points after a successful challenge. The lead was now 7-0. Maroulis was restless as she tried to shoot for her legs in vain.

As the Nigerian's confidence grew, she finally attempted a single leg as well and off-balanced Maroulis. The score was 9-0 in favor of Adekuoroye. Maroulis has fallen on the defensive mode long ago in the bout. That takedown tore her down.

Adekuoroye shot again for the left leg and lifted her opponent over her shoulders. Instead of slamming her down, Adekuoroye flipped Maroulis back,  got four points and won the bout 13-0.

There was no crowd at the Ursynow Arena in Warsaw, but if there was, it would have witnessed the tension between the two despite the score suggesting a one-sided contest. The two exchanged a few words after the bout, but Adekuoroye just ran off to the warm-up fall to prepare for the next bout.

She now faced an Olympic silver medalist in Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) in the semifinals. However, it was anti-climatic as the Russian surrendered the bout in just a minute and 10 seconds. A series of double leg attacks from Adekuoroye combined with a leg lace was enough for a 10-0 win for her.

There were no singing celebrations but those may be reserved after the final but Adekuoroye announced herself as a serious contender for gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and stir up the storm.

#WrestleAthens

Iran survives Uzbekistan scare to win Greco title at U17 Worlds

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 16:59 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 30) -- Four gold medals were not enough for Uzbekistan as they fell short in what could have been a generational team title in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships.

Iran, which won one gold medal out of 10, was crowned team champions as it performed well in placing their wrestlers in the weight classes. It finished with 125 points while Uzbekistan finished seven short at 118 points. Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points.

Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were not far behind and finished fourth and fifth respectively, tied on 100 points. Both countries had one gold medal each but Kyrgyzstan had two silver medals to Azerbaijan's one to finish ahead of them.

Read More: Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history in Athens

Iran had eight wrestlers in the medal-bouts and six of them returned with one. Iran finished with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Uzbekistan, on the other side, had only those four golds to show. Four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team race.

In one head-to-head bout on Wednesday, Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) secured a 7-5 win over Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB) in 60kg bronze-medal bout which proved crucial. A win for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title.

Then it was the gold medal of Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 92kg which helped Iran jump from fourth place to first. He wrestled Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) for the gold medal and began with three stepouts. Kasyan was called passive and put in par terre. Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Uzbekistan's two gold medals came at 51kg and 71kg.

Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) won the gold medal at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Asian U17 bronze medalist Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) added a third Greco gold of the World U17 Championships for Uzbekistan after he defeated Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1, in the 51kg.

Hagverdiyev was about to be called passive and put in par terre but he scored a stepout to avoid that call and lead 1-0. Tursunov answered with a stepout of his own and made 1-1. However, the criteria remained with Hagverdiyev as United World Wrestling is testing a new rule, where in Greco-Roman, if the score is 1-1, the criteria will be with the wrestler who got the first point.

Tursunov, however, got the par terre position in the second period and a 2-1 lead over Hagverdiyev. He defended his lead for the final minute and as the Azerbaijan wrestler tried a throw, he blocked him and landed on top, earning two more points.

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) upgraded his bronze from 2024 to gold in 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) denied the hosts a gold after he defeated Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1, in the final.

Valiev seemed to have taken the burnt from a few tough bouts from Tuesday as he struggled with his attacks against Soulis, who was egged on by vocal home fans.

However, he found enough inside him to turn from par terre and defend from that position in the second period to win the fourth gold medal of the tournament for Uzbekistan.

Ali NAZAROV (AZE)Ali NAZAROV (AZE) scored a 6-1 victory over Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) in the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ali NAZAROV (AZE) showed why gut-wrench is still one of the best techniques to score points in wrestling as he rolled Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) two times from par terre using gut wrench and win the world title at 60kg.

He later defended his par terre position, winning the final 6-1 and handing Azerbaijan the first gold medal for the World U17 Championships in Athens.

An action-packed match kicked off the medal bouts with Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) and Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) did not hold back their attacks as soon as the final began.

Zhangazhol did not waste much time to get going in the final against Kumarbekov as he used an arm throw to score the first four points but it was removed after he was warned for using his leg.

But he scored a takedown for a 2-0 and then hit a front headlock throw to make it 6-0. Kumarbekov answered with a four-pointer as well and both wrestlers used arm-rolls in the same sequence to score points. When they broke off at the break, Zhangazhol led 8-6.

After the blazing first half, both wrestlers had a subdued second and no more points were scored despite desperate attempts from Kumarbekov. Zhangazhol celebrated his win a split-second early but there was no harm done.

Kyrgyzstan challenged for fleeing in the final five seconds and on review, Zhangazhol was it with a caution for defensive foul, it only got Kumarbekov a point, making Zhangazhol's winning score 8-7.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ), 9-6

BRONZE: Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) df. Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA) vs. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-3

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 11-0
BRONZE: Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) df. Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB), 7-5
BRONZE: Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 5-2

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1

BRONZE: Hossein KAZEMI (IRI) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE: Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ) df. Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN), 7-1

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), 8-0

BRONZE: Ahmet UZUN (TUR) df. Said PASHAYEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: David CALKINS (USA) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 4-0