#BuchaWrestU23

China and Japan Each Advance Four Women to #BuchaWrestU23 Semifinals

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - 14:17 By Taylor Miller

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Photo of Miho IGARASHI (JPN) by Martin Gabor. 

BUCHAREST, Romania – The first batch of women’s freestyle semifinals are set for the 2018 U23 World Championships in Bucharest, Romania, highlighted by four wrestlers from China and four from Japan.

There are no semifinal head-to-head matchups between the two nations.

For Japan, the four semifinalists include Miho IGARASHI at 50 kg, Saki IGARASHI at 55 kg, Yuzuru KUMANO at 59 kg and Miwa MORIKAWA at 68 kg.

Wrestling tonight for China is Junling OUYANG at 55 kg, Ningning RONG, Chuying TANG at 68 kg and Paliha PALIHA at 76 kg.

2017 U23 World champion Miho Igarashi advanced to the semis at 50 kg, where she will take on two-time age-group World bronze medalist Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU). Miho seeks her fifth World title as she is also a two-time Junior World champion and a 2014 Cadet World champion.

The other semifinal at 50 kg features 2011 Cadet World champion and two-time World silver medalist Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS) and Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL).

Photo of Junling OUYANG (CHN) by Martin Gabor. 

At 55 kg, the other Igarashi, Saki, will take on 2016 Junior World bronze medalist and 2014 Cadet World bronze winner Elena Heike BRUGGER (GER). Saki was this year’s 2018 Junior World champion and claimed Cadet World silver in 2015.

On the other side of the bracket, it’s China’s Ouyang against Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ), who is a two-time Junior World medal winner.

Photo of Grace BULLEN (NOR) by Martin Gabor. 

World champions Rong of China and Kumano of Japan are on opposite sides of the 59 kg bracket.

Rong, who won the 2018 Senior World title at 57 kg two weeks ago, will battle two-time Cadet World champion and two-time Junior World medalist Olena KREMZER (UKR), while the reigning U23 World champion Kumano will face Youth Olympic Games champion and 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR).

Photo of Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB) by Martin Gabor.

The last weight that features wrestlers from both China and Japan is at 68 kg.

2018 Junior World bronze medalist Morikawa will have to go through Khishigmaa MUNKHBAT (MGL) to earn a spot in the finals. Most recently, Munkhbat was 10th at the Ivan Yarygin Memorial.

Tang of China took seventh at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last month. In order to guarantee a spot on the podium, Tang must make her way past Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB), who is a 2017 U23 World silver medalist and 2017 Junior World bronze medalist.

At 76 kg, Paliha will face 2015 Junior World bronze winner Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ). On the other side, 2017 U23 World finalist Gracelynn DOOGAN (CAN) will go head-to-head with Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR).

Semifinals will begin Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. local time (10:15 a.m. ET). Fans can watch live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Semifinal matchups

50 kg
Miho IGARASHI (JPN) vs. Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS) vs. Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)

55 kg
Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ) vs. Junling OUYANG (CHN)
Elena Heike BRUGGER (GER) vs. Saki IGARASHI (JPN)

59 kg
Ningning RONG (CHN) vs. Olena KREMZER (UKR)
Yuzuru KUMANO (JPN) vs. Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)

68 kg
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) vs. Khishigmaa MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Chuying TANG (CHN) vs. Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)

76 kg
Paliha PALIHA (CHN) vs. Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR) vs. Gracelynn DOOGAN (CAN)

#UWWAwards

UWW's 2024 Wrestlers of the Year: Petriashvili, Tosun, Kusaka

Monday, December 16, 2024 - 16:45 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 16) -- United World Wrestling has announced the wrestlers of the year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman. UWW’s 2024 Wrestler of the Year award winners are Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Buse TOSUN (TUR) and Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

Freestyle: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

The 30-year-old Georgian finished with a style-best 68,200 Ranking Series points through his finishes at the four point-based events of the year -- Olympic Games, European Championships, Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series -- in which he collected a 13-4 record with 8 wins coming against top 20 ranked opponents.

Petriashvili’s 2024 season didn’t start well, as he finished in fifth place with a 3-2 record at the Croatian Ranking Series. This marked Petriashvili’s sixth consecutive full season in which he started on a losing note before regaining focus and peaking at the most opportune times.

In his next outing, Petriashvili scored three wins before reaching the European finals for the seventh time in his career. However, he fell short against career rival Taha AKGUL (TUR) for silver.

The three-time world champion then went to Hungary for the final tune-up before the Paris Olympics. While at the second Ranking Series event of the year, Petriashvili grabbed three wins, but not before falling to Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) in the semifinals while nursing a left elbow injury.

Petriashvili headed to Paris hungry to improve his 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medal. The father of two did exactly that, picking up four victories including a 10-9 shock win over two-time reigning world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI), becoming Georgia’s third-ever freestyle Olympic gold medalist.
 
Greco-Roman: Nao KUSAKA (JPN)

23-year-old Nao KUSAKA (JPN), finished with a Greco-Roman best 79,200 Ranking Series points after winning golds at the Olympics, Asian Championships, and Hungarian Ranking Series events while also winning a bronze at the Croatian Ranking Series event at the beginning of the season.

After falling in the semifinals of his first competition of the year, Kusaka rallied off 14 consecutive victories -- four of which came against former world champions Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) and Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) -- on his way to winning golds in Paris, Bishkek and Budapest.

Kusaka’s win in Paris at 77kg, alongside his fellow teammate Kenichiro FUMITA’s gold, ended Japan’s 40-year Greco-Roman Olympic gold-medal drought.

Women's Wrestling: Buse TOSUN (TUR)

Buse TOSUN (TUR) is UWW’s Women’s wrestler of the year after topping the rankings with a style best 60,200 points. She narrowly edged Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) by 200 points for the coveted award.

Tosun, the reigning world champion at 68kg, finished 2024 with an impressive 11-2 record. Of those 11 wins during the season, a staggering eight came against wrestlers in the top 15 of the world rankings.

She dropped her first match of the season to Feng ZHOU (CHN) but went on to win 11 of her remaining 12 bouts, falling only at the Paris Olympics to eventual champion Amit ELOR (USA), en route to winning an Olympic bronze which was just Turkiye's second-ever women’s wrestling Olympic medal.

United World Wrestling congratulates Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Nao KUSAKA (JPN), and Buse TOSUN (TUR) for their incredible achievements this year and for being named the 2024 Wrestlers of the Year.