#panam2018

Cuba Impresses, USA Captures Women’s Team Title at #PanAm2018

Sunday, May 6, 2018 - 04:44 By Taylor Miller

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LIMA (May 5) – A country on the rise in all styles, Cuba snagged five medals—two gold, one silver and two bronze—in the final day of women’s competition en route to a third-place team finish at the 2018 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru, on Saturday night.

Leading the way for the Cuban squad was 2017 Junior World silver medalist and U23 bronze medalist Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ, who had a fiery back-and-forth match with Soleymi Antonieta CARABALLO HERNANDEZ (VEN). Between the two, 22 points were scored with Sanchez coming out on top 14-8.

Also picking up gold for Cuba was six-time Pan Am medalist and 2013 champion Yaquelin ESTORNELL ELIZASTIGUE. A bronze-medal winner at the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Memorial, Estornell capped off her day, outlasting 2016 Pan Am champion Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA), 5-4.

USA ran away with the team title, scoring 198 points. Second-place Canada tallied 155 points, followed by third-place Cuba with 106 points.

Coming away with gold for USA in women’s freestyle was Whitney CONDER (USA) at 50 kg, Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) at 53 kg and Adeline GRAY (USA) at 76 kg.

A 2014 World Military silver medalist, Conder lit up the 50 kg bracket, convincingly emerging victorious in all three of her matches on the day. In the finals, she took out past Olympian Carolina CASTILLO HIDALGO (COL), 9-0, to put an exclamation point on her tournament.

Winning her third Pan Am title was Hildebrandt, who teched Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU). Earlier in the day, Hildebrandt had three first-period falls to advance to the 53 kg finals.

Gray, a three-time World champion, claimed her first gold medal at the Pan American Championships in dominant fashion, winning all of her bouts by fall. In the heavyweight final, she led Andrea OLAYA GUTIERREZ (COL), 10-1, before getting the pin at the 4:49 mark.

The final women’s champion of the night was 2016 Pan Am bronze winner Alejandra ROMERO BONILLA (MEX), who edged out 2017 Junior World silver medalist Lianna MONTERO HERRERA (CUB) with a 2-2 win on criteria for the crown at 57 kg.

In the two men’s freestyle weights that were competed on Saturday, both had U.S. winners, including 2017 Junior World champion Mark HALL at 79 and two-time Olympian Ben PROVISOR at 92 kg.

Provisor collected two medals at the tournament as he earned bronze in Friday’s Greco-Roman competition.

The tournament continues tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET with the remaining men’s freestyle weights (57, 61, 65, 70, 74, 86, 97 and 125). Fans can watch live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

WOMEN'S FREESTYLE RESULTS

50 kg
GOLD - Whitney CONDER (USA) df. Carolina CASTILLO HIDALGO (COL), 9-0
BRONZE - Mariana DIAZ MUNOZ (MEX) df. Jacqueline Del Rocio MOLLOCANA ELENO (ECU), 3-2
BRONZE - Jade Marie DUFOUR (CAN) df. Evelin del Carmen SOSA (ARG), 14-2

53 kg
GOLD - Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU), 10-0
BRONZE - Betzabeth Angelica ARGUELLO VILLEGAS (VEN) df. Kristina Katelyn MCLAREN (CAN), 4-3
BRONZE - Lilianet DUANES ANDRES (CUB) df. Dannia Stefanny FIGUEROA DUQUE (COL), 4-3

57 kg
GOLD - Alejandra ROMERO BONILLA (MEX) dec. Lianna de la Caridad MONTERO HERRERA (CUB), 2-2
BRONZE - Alexandria Rebekkah TOWN (CAN) df. Yessica Coraima OVIEDO PEREZ (DOM), 10-0
BRONZE - Michaela Hope BECK (USA) win by forfeit Nes Marie RODRIGUEZ TIRADO (PUR)

62 kg
GOLD - Yaquelin ESTORNELL ELIZASTIGUE (CUB) df. Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA), 5-4
BRONZE - Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) df. Linda MORAIS (CAN), 6-1
BRONZE - Jackeline RENTERIA CASTILLO (COL) df. Karla Johanna CAMPOS GONZALEZ (ECU), 12-1

68 kg
GOLD - Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB) df. Soleymi Antonieta CARABALLO HERNANDEZ (VEN), 14-8
BRONZE - Yanet Ursula SOVERO NINO (PER) df. Temitope Lydia OGUNJIMI (CAN), 7-4
BRONZE - Leonela Aleyda AYOVI PARRAGA (ECU) df. Diana Paulina MIRANDA GONZALES (MEX), 3-1

76 kg
GOLD - Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) df. Andrea Carolina OLAYA GUTIERREZ (COL), fall 4:49
BRONZE - Andrimar Daniela LAZARO DIAZ (VEN) df. Gracelynn DOOGAN (CAN), 8-2
BRONZE - Mabelkis CAPOTE PEREZ (CUB) win by injury default Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA)

MEN'S FREESTYLE RESULTS

79 kg
GOLD - Mark John HALL II (USA) df. Ethan Adrian RAMOS (PUR), 6-0
BRONZE - Santiago MARTINEZ RESTREPO (COL) win by forfeit Rashji Leonardo MACKEY (BAH)
BRONZE - Shawn Kenneth DAYE FINLEY (CAN) df. Marcos Roberto QUESADA MARTINEZ (PER), fall 1:13

92 kg
GOLD - Benjamin Errol PROVISOR (USA)
SILVER - Esdras Carlos LOPEZ PEREZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Dalton James WEBB (CAN)

#WrestleAthens

With two Greco golds, Uzbekistan shines at U17 Worlds

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - 20:12 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 29) -- "There are very few wrestlers as gifted and talented as he is."

Uzbekistan coach Alim KURBANOV was full of praise of his newly-minted world champion ward Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) in Athens on Tuesday.

Hasanov left little doubt about his skills, as he tore through his competition at 48kg and won Uzbekistan's first world title in three year at this level.

A country which has won team titles at Asian U17 level two years in a row is now threatening to win the team title at the World U17 Championships.

Though it has to continue its good show on Wednesday as well as Uzbekistan is currently third in the team race with 58 points, it has two more finalists and two in repechage in Wednesday. If most of the results go its way, Uzbekistan can easily overtake first-place Kazakhstan [61 points] and second-placed Iran [60 points].

Read More: Greece gets Greco finalist at U17 Worlds; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan keep up

Hasanov defeated Asian U17 champion Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ) 10-1 in the final in a show of some skillful defense and powerful gut-wrench.

Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) celebrates after winning the final at 48kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Kumaruly opened the scoring when he got the par terre position in the first period but Hasanov managed to defend the attempts for gut-wrenches from the Kazakhstan wrestler. In the second period, Hasanov first scored a stepout and then got the par terre position. Out came the deadly gut-wrench as he rolled Kumaruly four times to lead 8-1.

The final finished when Hasanov threw Kumaruly off him and it was scored a takedown. The 10-1 win made Hasanov the first Uzbekistan wrestler to win gold at World U17 in three years.

"I have been wrestling for six years now," Hasanov said. "It was my grandfather’s dream to make me wrestle. He enrolled me in wrestling and dreamt that I would become a national champion and then a world champion. He himself did not wrestle, he just really loves this sport."

The second gold medal for Uzbekistan came from Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB) who held off Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO), 14-7, in a high-scoring final at 80kg.

Martiashvili got the first par terre and as he tried turning Kholmirzaev, he was blocked and the Uzbekistan got two points. A stepout for Martiashvili made it 2-2 but he was down on criteria.

In the second period, Kholmirzaev's attempted arm-throw was blocked by Martiashvili who got two points but the favored was returned by Kholmirzaev who added a four-point suplex in the same sequence to lead 8-4. Martiashvili reversed the position and scored a turn when the referee blew the whistle to review the challenge asked by Georgia.

The score was 8-6 for Kholmirzaev but after review, it was 8-7 and the bout restarted in par terre. As Martiashvili tried turning Kholmirzaev again, he was blocked, giving two more points to the Uzbekistan.

A desperate attempt for a throw and win from Martiashvili saw him land on his back, giving Kholmirzaev four points and a fall for the gold medal.

Georgia had more disappointment in store on Tuesday. Just two months ago, Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO) won the European U17 gold medal by destroying Janes NAZARYAN (ARM) 9-0 in the final in Skopje. As both wrestlers made it to the World U17 Championships final on Tuesday in Athens, Nazaryan was under pressure to reverse the result from Skopje.

It seemed that Tavberidze would take the gold once again over Nazaryan, a stroke of luck and persistence from Nazaryan saw him score a takedown and take a 5-4 lead for the win in the gold medal-bout.

Nazaryan was off the blocks with a passivity point and then he turned Tavberidze for two more points. The Georgian cut one point with a stepout just before the break to make it 3-1.

Tavberidze kept his composure in the second period and when he got the par terre position, he managed to turn Nazaryan and lead 4-3 with 50 seconds remaining. As both wrestlers battled it out in the center, Tavberidze turned his back in one of the escapes but Nazaryan pounced on him and managed to complete a takedown.

That was all he needed and kept his 5-4 lead and won the world title and managed to equal his head-to-head record against Tavberidze 2-2 in four bouts.

"I faced my opponent from the final for the fourth time," Nazaryan said. "He [Tavberidze] is my friend both on and off the mat. He gives me the motivation to train even harder so that I can beat him."

Born in Vagharshapat, Nazaryan trains at the Vagharshapat club as well as at the Norayr Musheghyan Sports School. While he shares the second name with the legendary two-time Olympic champion Armen NAZARYAN, Janes said he always looked up to Armen.

"He is my idol," he said. "I have watched a lot of videos of his wrestling, and he motivates me greatly. He is my idol, and I want to win even a few more medals than Armen Nazaryan."

Kyrgyzstan's gold medal came at 55kg as Asian U17 champion Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ) won 3-1 against Nurali ASKAR (KAZ) in the final. A foul from Askar saw Abdirasulov get two points and the par terre points became neutral after that.

India won its fourth gold medal in World U17 Championships history as HARDEEP (IND) overcame the Iranian challenge of Yazdan DELROUZ (IRI) at 110kg.

This is the heaviest weight class India has ever won a gold medal in at the World U17 level. Earlier, Vinod KUMAR (IND) won at 45kg in 1980, Pappu YADAV (IND) won at 51kg in 1992 and SURAJ (IND) won at 55kg in 2022.

Hardeep fell behind 3-0 at the break as Delrouz scored two stepouts and one point for passivity. But Hardeep began the second period with a takedown and then got a point for passivity. In a surprising move, the Asian U17 champion asked for a standing restart instead of par terre as he was aware that Delrouz won't be able to sustain the pace of his wrestling.

Photo

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD:  Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) df. Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ), 10-1

BRONZE: Michael RUNDELL (USA) df. Kaisei YAMAMOTO (JPN), 12-6
BRONZE: Amirmohammad HAJIVAND (IRI) df. Baris SOYLU (TUR), 12-3

55kg
GOLD:  Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ) df. Nurali ASKAR (KAZ), 3-1

BRONZE: Amirreza TAHMASBPOUR (IRI) df. Aditya GUPTA (IND), via fall (10-1)
BRONZE: Makhdi BAROTOV (TJK) df. Nihat BAHMANOV (AZE), 8-5

65kg
GOLD: Janes NAZARYAN (ARM) df. Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO), via fall (5-4)

BRONZE: Dosbol SHAMIL (KAZ) df. ANUJ (IND), 5-4
BRONZE: Arseni KIKINIOU (USA) df. Yehor TARASENKO (UKR), 5-1

80kg
GOLD: Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB) df. Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO), via fall (14-7)

BRONZE: Ismail BEREKET (TUR) df. Nijat YEYLAGALIYEV (AZE), 9-0
BRONZE: Nurislam OSKONBAEV (KGZ) df. Taha NOURI (IRI), 3-1

110kg
GOLD: HARDEEP (IND) df. Yazdan DELROUZ (IRI), 3-3

BRONZE: Temuri SIMSIVE (GEO) df. Hu Anshi NUERLEBIEKE (CHN), 1-1
BRONZE: Anatolii NOVACHENKO (UKR) df. Emrullah CAPKAN (TUR), 5-1