Beach wrestling

Georgia Shines in ‘Beach Wrestling World Series’; Qatar and 2020 Season on the Horizon

By United World Wrestling Press

VEVEY, Switzerland (October 11) -- The 2019 Beach Wrestling World Series concluded last month in Zagreb with several of the world’s top beach grapplers wrestling for gold and securing top billing in the overall rankings.

Led by enigmatic Olympic bronze medalist Dato MARSAGISHVILI (90kg), Georgia captured a whopping three out of a possible four top place finishes in men’s beach wrestling.

Marsagishvili, Levan KELEKHSASHVILI (70kg), and Davit KHUTSISHVILI (80kg) earned the top ranking in their respective weight categories by winning each event they entered. Each of the three wrestlers claimed three gold medals in three attempts and scored 50,000 points.

Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE) finished No.1 at +90kg. The heavyweight wrestler competed in all four events, winning three gold medals and one silver to finish with 58,000 points.

Despite a runner-up finish in the rankings Semen RADULOV (UKR) wow'ed fans across the world with his big throws (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Two Ukrainian women, Kateryna MASHKEVYCH (50kg) and Anna MAZURKEVYCH (70kg), finished No. 1 in their respective weight categories. Both Mashkevych and Mazurkevych earned a pair of gold medals, competing in Odessa and Zagreb and finished with 40,000 points.

Camila FAMA TRISTAO (BRA) earned the No.1 ranking in the women's competition at 60kg after winning two gold medals and a silver medal in the World Series. Her golds came in Rio and Zagreb.

Aikaterini PITSIAVA (GRE) won three golds in three attempts and finished No.1 at +70kg.

Many of the top finishers, including Georgia’s World Series champions, will be in Doha October 15-16 to compete at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games.

The 2020 Beach Wrestling World Series will again consist of four stops, with dates and locations to be announced in the coming weeks. At a meeting last month in Nur-Sultan more than 30 national federations from across all continents attended an informational session to help answer questions about the growing style.

National federations or wrestlers interested in learning more details about the 2020 events are asked to reach out to sports@unitedworldwrestling.org.

2019 Beach Wresting World Series Results

Men

70kg

1. Levan KELEKHSASHVILI (GEO) 50,000

2. Semen RADULOV (UKR) 42,000

3. Michael PETERS (USA) 19,500

4. Miljan DUKANOVIC (SRB) 17,400

5. Luka MALOBABIC (CRO) 15,000

 

80kg

1. Davit KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) 50,000

2. Georgios KOULOUCHIDIS (GRE) 42,800

3. Aleksandar NIKOLIC (SRB) 19,500

4. Timotej TRBULIN (SLO) 17,400

5. Ibrahim YUSUBOV (AZE) 16,000

 

90kg

1. Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) 50,000

2. Christos SAMARTSIDIS (GRE) 34,500

3. Strahinja DERMANOVIC (SRB) 19,500

4. Domenik ANDREIC (CRO) 17,400

5. Murat OZKAN (TUR) 13,000

 

+90kg

1. Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE) 58,000

2. Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) 44,300

3. Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) 35,300

4. Sabolc HORVAT (SRB) 17,400

5. Dorde PESUT (SRB) 15,000

 

Women

 

50kg

1. Kateryna MASHKEVYCH (UKR) 40,000

2. Carmen GOMES TEIXEIRA VIEIRA (POR) 31,000

3. Kristal BETANZO (USA) 24,000

4. Kamila BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA (BRA) 18,000

5. Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU) 10,000

 

60kg

1. Camila FAMA TRISTAO (BRA) 48,000

2. Valeriia SEMONKINA ZLATOVA (UKR) 34,000

3. Isabel RODRIGUES (POR) 31,100

4. Pia KOCBEK (SLO) 17,400

5. Georgiana FILIP (ROU) 10,000

 

70kg

1. Anna MAZURKEVYCH (UKR) 40,000

2. Sonia PEREIRA BRAZIO (POR) 34,000

3. Diana BETANZO (USA) 24,000

4. Sara TRBULIN (SLO) 17,400

5. Adina Elena POPESCU (ROU) 10,000

 

+70kg

1. Aikaterini PITSIAVA (GRE) 50,000

2. Iryna PASICHNYK (UKR) 24,000

3. Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) 10,000

4. Halyna KOVALSKA (UKR) 8,000

5. Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR) 8,000

#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series Live: Tazhudinov untroubled; Aoyagi, Suda win

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Live Report

97kg: Olympic champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled for the first time since Paris last week with a gold medal in Grand Prix of Spain, continues his return at the Budapest Ranking Series at 97kg.

In his first bout, Tazhudinov was up against Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and rolled to a 12-2 technical superiority win, making Viskhanov pay for his half-hearted attacks.

Tazhudinov began slow but hit a double-leg for four points and Viskhanov scored exposure for two points. But Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns from par terre to make it 10-2.

The bout went into the second period and Tazhudinov locked a cradle but Viskhanov avoided the fall, but failed to stop a Tazhudinov win.

His next bout was even shorter as he defeated Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) 10-0, thanks to a series of takedowns, and book  a spot in the semifinals.

65kg: Another Paris Olympic medalist, Islam DUDAEV (ALB), suffered an 11-0 loss to Asian U23 champion SUJEET (IND). After a slow start, Sujeet had a scoring spree in the second period and broke Dudaev down to post a win.

Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) has no trouble taking out Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL), 6-0, in the bout which included a huge suplex from quad-pod.

79kg: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), wrestling for the first time since the Paris Games, opens with a 12-1 win over European silver medalist Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) in a very aggressive match. Kougioumtsidis just too much for an aging Khadjiev.

70kg: Austin GOMEZ (MEX) gets the better of a very sluggish Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) 10-0. Muszukajev has not looked the same ever since the 2024 Olympic Games.

Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) hands Sina KHALILI (IRI) a defeated at 70kg. That means that Khalili may be out of the contention for the World Championships now.

57kg: World U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) pulls of a last-second win over Niklas STECHELE (GER), 4-2 at 57kg. Lilledahl was down 2-2 on criteria but attacked a single-leg and both wrestlers went out-of-bounds. Lilledahl was given a point as Stechele's hand touched first.

Germany challenged the call but it was upheld and Lilledahl was awarded another point for lost challenge. He will take on RAHUL (IND) in the semifinals.