#GermanGrandPrix2018

Bacsi Leads Hungary to Three German Grand Prix Golds

By Eric Olanowski

DORTMUND, Germany (August 23) - With only 56 calendar days left until the 2018 World Championships kick off in Budapest, Hungary, most countries have either finalized or are in the final stages of completing their World Championship rosters. 

Considering the number of Hungarian hammers that were entered into last weekend’s Grand Prix of Germany, one can only imagine that Hungary is still looking to cement their rosters and has plans of using this tournament as one of the final deciding factors for their Greco-Roman squad. 

Overall, Hungary had three of the possible ten champions. Most importantly, in two of those weight classes, wrestlers from Hungary met each other for the gold medal. 

Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) stuns 12-time World Team member, Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), 1-1 in the 77kg finals. (Photo by Martin Gabor) 

The first all-Hungary final was at 77kg where Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) knocked off three-time world and Olympic medalist, Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), 1-1 for the gold medal. 

If Hungary was to select Levai over Lorincz, this would be the first time Tamas has missed out on making a World or Olympic team since stepping onto the senior level in 2006. 

The second all-Hungary final was at 82kg where 2014 world champion Peter BACSI (HUN) snuck past Laszlo SZABO (HUN), 3-1. 

The third and final Hungarian gold medal went to Eric TORBA (HUN), who defeated American Dalton ROBERT (USA) in the 60kg finals, 8-2. 

Also of note, two-time world champion Frank STABLER (GER) pulled out of the 72kg finals bout after making his return to the mat for the first time since winning his second world title. Stabler, who recently became a father was facing an upper-body injury that sidelined him for the better part of 2018. The reasoning for Stabler pulling out of the gold-medal bout is yet to be known. 

RESULT
55kg 
GOLD - Nugzar TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
SILVER – Dogus AYAZCI (TUR)
BRONZE – Fabian SCHMITT (GER)

60kg 
GOLD - Erik TORBA (HUN)
SILVER – Dalton ROBERTS (USA) 
BRONZE - Maksim KAZHARSKY (BLR)
BRONZE - Ardit FAZLJIJA (SWE)

63kg 
GOLD - Abdolmohammad DADDY (IRI)
SILVER – Dmytro TSYMBALIUK (UKR)
BRONZE – Onur ATALAY (TUR)
BRONZE – Soslan DAUROV (BLR)

67kg 
GOLD – Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
SILVER – Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
BRONZE – Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
BRONZE – Levan KAVIARADZE  (GEO)

72kg
GOLD – Toni OJALA  (FIN)
SILVER – Frank STABLER  (GER)
BRONZE – Daniel SOINI  (SWE)
BRONZE – Pavel LIAKH  (BLR)

77kg
GOLD – Zoltan LEVAI  (HUN)
SILVER – Tamas LORINCZ  (HUN)
BRONZE – Yunus EMRE BAZAAR  (TUR)
BRONZE – Durtro PYSHKOV  (UKR)

82kg
GOLD – Peter BACSI  (HUN)
SILVER – Laszlo SZABO  (HUN)
BRONZE – Yaroslav FILEHAKOV  (UKR)
BRONZE – Roland BLACK  (GER)

87kg  
GOLD – Denis KUDLA  (GER)
SILVER – Amer HRUSTANOVIC  (AUT)
BRONZE – Ali CENGIZ(TUR)
BRONZE – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)

97kg  
GOLD – Suleiman DEMIRCI  (TUR)
SILVER – Zsolt TOROK (HUN)
BRONZE - Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA)
BRONZE – Giorgi MELIA (GEO)

130kg  
GOLD – Jacobi KAJAIA (GEO)
SILVER – Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
BRONZE – Oleksandr CHERNETSKY (UKR)
BRONZE – Heiki NABI(EST)

#WrestleZagreb

Maroulis, Blades make U.S. team for World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

NEWARK, United States (June 14) -- The United States Women's Wrestling team for the World Championships is fixed. The final selection of the team was held Saturday in Newark, New Jersey with three-time Olympic medalist Helen MAROULIS (USA) and Olympic silver medalist Kennedy BLADES (USA) among those making the cut.

The 'Final X', a tournament to select the team's final 10 wrestlers, saw five experienced stars and five young athletes who earned their spot on the World Championships team.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by FloWrestling (@flowrestling)

Maroulis, the 2016 Olympic and three-time world champion, continued her amazing run of excellence by pinning Amanda MARTINEZ, winning the best-of-three series 2-0 at 57kg. In the first bout, Maroulis scored a first-period pin in 1:51, then was able to put away Martinez in 4:43 in bout two.

This will Maroulis' 12th world team selection to go along with her three Olympic appearances. Apart from three world gold medals, Maroulis has four other medals at the World Championships.

World Championships Tickets

Blades, who won silver medal at the 2024 Olympics, finished off a two-match sweep over Brooklyn HAYS at 68kg. Surprisingly, this will be Blades' first appearance at the World Championships. Blades won the first match over Hays, 10-4, and the second 5-2.

Macey KILTY and Kylie WELKER, Blades' teammates at Iowa University, also made the team with convincing victories. Both Kilty and Welker are past world medalists.

Kilty downed Aine DRURY with a pair of 10-0 technical falls, with both matches ending in the first period. Welker, a 2024 world bronze medalist, defeated Dymond GUILFORD in two straight bouts. Welker opened her offense in the second match, she broke open a 1-1 tie with eight second-period points for a 9-1 win. Her first match was a razor-thin 2-1 victory.

Read More: Duke stuns Diakomihalis, Valencia downs Dake

2019 world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER needed all three matches to defeat Abigail NETTE at 59kg. Nette scored a pair of second-period takedowns to beat Winchester, 6-4, in the first bout. In the second match, Nette took a 6-1 lead but a four-point Winchester takedown made it 6-5 before she scored two more takedowns for a 9-7 win. In the deciding third bout, it was all Winchester, who secured a 10-0 technical fall.

The other five wrestlers will be competing in their first senior World Championships, scheduled for September 13 to 21 in Zagreb, Croatia.

Adaugo NWACHUKWU needed three matches to defeat two-time world silver medalist Kayla MIRACLE at 62kg. Nwachukwu had a strong second period to win the first match 14-8. In the second bout, Miracle scored a late step out point to tie it at 3-3 and got another point on a failed challenge for a 4-3 victory. In the deciding third match, after trailing 2-0, Nwachukwu scored eight straight points and went on to win 8-4.

At 50kg, world age-group medalist Audrey JIMENEZ swept her series over veteran Erin GOLSTON. Jimenez began with a 10-2 win over Golston before closing out with a 12-2 technical superiority win in the second bout.

Felicity TAYLOR had a two-match sweep over Brianna GONZALEZ. After winning the first bout 2-1, Taylor scored a takedown and two tilts for a 6-4 victory in the second.

Cristelle RODRIGUEZ, a 2024 world U20 champion, swept her series over high school star Everest LEYDECKER. While the first bout was a close 12-8 win for Rodriguez, she rallied to a 5-1 win in the second.

Alexandria GLAUDE got the 72kg spot after 2024 Olympic champion and two-time world champion Amit ELOR did not compete for personal reasons.

RESULTS (Best of three)

50kg
Audrey JIMENEZ df. Erin GOLSTON, 2-0

Bout 1: Jimenez df. Golston, 10-2
Bout 2: Jimenez df. Golston, 12-2

53kg
Felicity TAYLOR df. Brianna GONZALEZ, 2-0

Bout 1: Taylor df. Gonzalez, 2-1
Bout 2: Taylor df. Gonzalez, 6-4

55kg
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ df. Everest LEYDECKER, 2-0

Bout 1: Rodriguez df. Leydecker, 12-8
Bout 2: Rodriguez df. Leydecker, 8-5

57kg
Helen MAROULIS df. Amanda MARTINEZ, 2-0

Bout 1: Maroulis df. Martinez, via fall
Bout 2: Maroulis df. Martinez, via fall

59kg
Jacarra WINCHESTER df. Abigail NETTE, 2-1

Bout 1: Nette df. Winchester, 6-4
Bout 2: Winchester df. Nette, 9-7
Bout 2: Winchester df. Nette, 11-0

62kg
Adaugo NWACHUKWU df. Kayla MIRACLE, 2-1

Bout 1: Nwachukwu df. Miracle, 14-8
Bout 2: Miracle df. Nwachukwu, 4-3
Bout 3: Nwachukwu df. Miracle, 8-4

65kg
Macey KILTY df. Aine DRURY, 2-0

Bout 1: Kilty df. Drury, 10-0
Bout 2: Kilty df. Drury, 10-0

68kg
Kennedy BLADES df. Brooklyn HAYS, 2-0

Bout 1: Blades df. Hays, 10-4
Bout 2: Blades df. Hays, 5-2

72kg
Alexandria GLAUDE df. Amit ELOR, via forfeit

76kg
Kylie WELKER df. Dymond GUILFORD

Bout 1: Welker df. Guilford, 2-1
Bout 2: Welker df. Guilford, 9-1