#Grappling

Gold rush for Individual Neutral Athletes at European Grappling

Thursday, May 30, 2024 - 08:20 By Vinay Siwach

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BAKU, Azerbaijan (May 28) -- Baku was expecting a grand show of grappling at the European Grappling Championships. But it was not ready for the Individual Neutral Athlete storm that hit.

Sweeping all 10 weight classes, Individual Neutral Athletes won 10 gold medals, making up for the previous championships they missed. Not only that, out of the 10 wins in the final, six of them were via submission.

The first day of the European Championships began with Akhmednabi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) winning the 58kg gold medal over Ilia ABRAMENKO (AIN). The gold medal rush continued with Magomed SHAKHBANOV (AIN) submitting Magomedbek TEMEEV (AIN) in the 62kg final. This was his third victory by submission in three matches.

Khabiob ATLUEV (AIN) at 66kg and Apandi AMAGAEV (AIN) at 71kg also won their gold medal via submission continuing the trend of one-sided finals in Baku.

It took Jakob NAJDEK (POL) to finally stop that trend. But that’s all he did. Ivan LISOGOROV (AIN) may not have gotten the submission but he dominated the 77kg final, beating Najdek 7-0 for the gold medal.

Pawel JAWORSKI (POL) took a step closer by scoring points on Murad ABDULATIPOV (AIN) but failed to go all the way, dropping the 84kg final 4-2. Mukhamed URUSOV (AIN) found it difficult to negate Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL) but managed to hang on for a 2-2 win and claimed the 92kg gold medal.

100kg world champion Andrzej IWAT (POL) dropped a close semifinal against Shamil MAZHIDKHANOV (AIN) who went on to win the gold medal with a 6-3 win over Manuel PILATO (ITA) in the final.

In the 130kg weight, renamed from the 100+ kg, Daudgadzhi IBRAGIMOV (AIN) managed to hold off Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA) 5-3 to win the gold medal.

Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN)Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN) won all four of her bouts via submission. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

In the women’s grappling competition, Carlota PRENEDES (ESP) recovered from an early loss to Alicja STYPULKOWSKA (POL) in a round-robin to beat the Pole via submission in the 53kg final.

At 58kg, Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN) showed her class, winning four bouts via submission to win the gold with no troubles. She defeated Victoria SHERHIIENKO (UKR) twice, once in round 3 and then in the final, to finish at the top of the podium. In another AIN vs Ukraine final, Irina CHERNYSHOVA (AIN) won the 64kg gold medal over Daria CHIBISOVA (UKR) 10-2.

Alsu IANSHINA (AIN) also dominated her weight class, winning the 71kg gold medal over Alycia QUENEE (FRA) via submission, her third in four bouts.

Justyna SITKO (POL) managed to clinch the 90kg gold medal with a victory by submission over Paula MARTINEZ (ESP).

RESULTS

Men's Grappling

58kg
GOLD: Akhmednabi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) df. Ilia ABRAMENKO (AIN), via submission

BRONZE: Illia SVIATUN (UKR) df. Alejandro REYES (ESP), via submission
BRONZE: Jerzy IZDEBSKI (POL) df. Bohdan CHORNEI (UKR), 5-2

62kg
GOLD: Magomed SHAKHBANOV (AIN) df. Magomedbek TEMEEV (AIN), via submission

BRONZE: Loris ZANOLINI (ITA) df. Farhad BAGIROV (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Andrii TSVYK (UKR) df. Guillermo GUTIERREZ (ESP), 5-2

66kg
GOLD: Khabib ATLUEV (AIN) df. Artur AGASHIRINOV (AIN), via submission

BRONZE: Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Abdulla ABSHAROV (AZE), via submission
BRONZE: Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) df. Adam VERES KOVACS (HUN), via submission

71kg
GOLD: Apandi AMAGAEV (AIN) df. Ihor DMYTRASH (UKR), via submission

BRONZE: Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Arsen IBRAGIMOV (AIN), via submission (3-3)
BRONZE: Samuel CHAGNY (FRA) df. Samik RAMAZANOV (AZE), 3-2

77kg
GOLD: Ivan LISOGOROV (AIN) df. Jakub NAJDEK (POL), 7-0

BRONZE: Nikolaos POLYDOROS (GRE) df. Arthur LEROY (FRA), 3-1
BRONZE: Iker CAMARA (ESP) df. Serhii KUZMYCHOV (UKR), via submission

84kg
GOLD: Murad ABDULATIPOV (AIN) df. Pawel JAWORSKI (POL), 4-2

BRONZE: Pierre MANZO (FRA) df. Davud MAGOMEDOV (AIN), 4-4
BRONZE: Samy MEZACHE (FRA) df. Pavlo MAKSYMCHUK (UKR), via submission

92kg
GOLD: Mukhamed URUSOV (AIN) df. Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL), 2-2

BRONZE: Mateusz MAZUR (POL) df. Mantas DAUBLYS (LTU), 5-3
BRONZE: Levente LAKY (HUN) df. Wilfried EDMUND (FRA), 8-3

100kg
GOLD: Shamil MAZHIDKHANOV (AIN) df. Manuel PILATO (ITA), 6-3

BRONZE: Andrzej IWAT (POL) df. Gamzat GAMZATOV (AIN), via submission (4-4)
BRONZE: Danielius GREBLIUNAS (LTU) df. Tural AZAYEV (AZE), 2-2 in overtime

130kg
GOLD: Daudgadzhi IBRAGIMOV (AIN) df. Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA), 5-3

BRONZE: Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) df. Lukasz OLECH (POL), 8-3
BRONZE: Nizami GAFAROV (AZE) df. Mykola MATSEIKO (UKR), 5-3

Women's Grappling

53kg
GOLD: Carlota PRENDES (ESP) df. Alicja IRENA (POL), via submission

BRONZE: Zuzanna KOWALSKA (POL) df. Kristina RAU (GER), 9-7

58kg
GOLD: Olesia ZHURAVLEVA (AIN) df. Viktoriia SERHIIENKO (UKR), via submission

BRONZE: Irina KUPRINA (AIN) df. Jazmin ARJONA (ESP), 11-6

64kg
GOLD: Irina CHERNYSHOVA (AIN) df. Daria CHIBISOVA (UKR), 10-2

BRONZE: Julija STOLIARENKO (LTU) df. Veronika KARAKHONOVA (AIN), via submission
BRONZE: Giulia RODIO (ITA) df. Laila OHLHOFF (GER), 8-2

71kg
GOLD: Alsu IANSHINA (AIN) df. Alycia QUENEE (FRA), via submission

BRONZE: Emily GUENZLER (GER) df. Daniella SANTANA FABELO (ESP), via submission

90kg
GOLD: Justyna SITKO (POL) df. Paula MARTINEZ BORREGUERO (ESP), via submission

BRONZE: Alena VLASOVA (AIN) df. Janina CZYCZYN (POL), 6-2

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2025 Day 1 Semifinals Set

Wednesday, February 5, 2025 - 09:31 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 5) -- The first Ranking Series of 2025 is here. The Zagreb Open will see wrestling over four days with Freestyle starting things in 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg weight classes.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | 2025 SEASON PREVIEW

13:35: The final semifinals of the session at 86kg. Zahid VALENCIA (USA) gets the better of Nathan JACKSON (USA) 12-2 and advance to the final. He will face Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) who blanked Trent HIDLAY (USA) 5-0.

13:25: David CARR (USA) rolls to a 12-2 win over Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) 12-2 and will face Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) who got the better of Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO).

13:15: Sina KHALILI (IRI) into the Zagreb Open final at 70kg as James GREEN (USA) pulls out of the semifinals citing an injury. He will face Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) who defeated Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI) 10-5.

13:05: Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) gets his gut wrench going against Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR) to win 14-4 at 65kg. He will face Joseph MC KENNA (USA) who defeated Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)

13:00: We just published a tribute to Mariya STADNIK (AZE) who retired on Monday after 22 years! Legend. Read it here.

12:50: The 61kg final is set and it's all-Iranian. Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) and Ibrahim KHARI (IRI) won their respective semifinals to advance. The third Iranian in the weight class, Reza MOMENI (IRI) also has a chance to win a bronze medal as he lost the semifinals to Khari.

12:40: Spencer LEE (USA) with a 6-4 win over Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX). He led 6-0 before allowing Young to score a stepout and a takedown but that was all. He will wrestle Bazarganov in the 57kg final.

12:35: Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) gives a reality check of senior level wrestling to Ahora KHATERI (IRI). The Azerbaijan wrestlers rolls to a 10-0 technical superiority win over the Iranian to move to the 57kg final. 

12:30: Semifinals of the day begin now. We have 57kg wrestlers coming on the mat now.

12:22: European champion and world medalist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) hangs on a for a 5-0 win over Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE). He will wrestle in the semifinals at 74kg. 

12:12: Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), who recently defeated Paris medalist Chermen VALIEV (ALB) in the Bundesliga, beats U20 world champion Ali REZAEI (IRI) 6-1 at 74kg. Kuramagomedov was on point in that bout.

12:00: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) gave up a couple of step outs against Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) but got the job done with a 5-2 win at 86kg to move into the semifinals.

11:45: Two solid bouts on Mat C. Joseph MC KENNA (USA) used a good four-pointer throw and completed a 7-4 win over Ali RAHIMZADA (AZE). In the next bout, Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) was leading Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO) 7-0 in the first period but struggled with the pace in the second as Otinashvili came back and made the score 13-9. As Khorramdel tried a desperate four-pointer, Otinashvili pinned him

11:35: James GREEN (USA), who is back after a year and a half of retirement, wins a close one over compatriot Alec PANTELO (USA) 4-3 at 70kg. He marked his international return at the 2024 World Championships at 70kg and finished 11th.

11:25: Paris silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) comes out and gets a 10-0 win over Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) in two minutes. He moves into the semifinals at 

11:10: Former U17 world champion and Iran's big bet at 57kg Ahora KHATERI (IRI) comes out off a hole! He was trailing 7-2 against Brandon COURTNEY (USA) with less than 30 seconds remaining but mounts a comeback and wins 7-7

11:05: Two-time Olympian and world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) with a little awkward start to the season. Up against Jarrett JACQUES (USA) in the opening round at 70kg, Muszukajev drops the bout 3-2. He lacked his speed and the conditioning is missing as well. Great win for Jacques.

10:55: Kamil KERYMOV (UKR) gave a tough fight to Paris Olympian Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) at 57kg but RBY, popularly known as in the USA circuit, wins 9-6. He is on a potential clash with Spencer LEE (USA) in the semifinals

10:45: Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB) gets his typical defensive style out and hangs on for a controlled 4-0 win over Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO) at 57kg.

10:30: Welcome to day one of the Zagreb Open! This is the first of the four Ranking Series events which will award points to the wrestlers and help in the seeding for the World Championships in September which incidentally will be held in the same Arena Zagreb.