#WrestleZagreb

Grand Prix Zagreb Open Entries

Tuesday, January 25, 2022 - 12:17 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 25) --  World champions Victor CIOBANU (MDA) and Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) lead the field at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open that begins January 29 in the Croatian capital.

Another big name entered in the tournament is Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Parviz NASIBOV (UKR). He is bumping up a weight class for the tournament and will wrestle at 72kg instead of 67kg.

Datunashvili will be taking a trip to his neighboring country to compete for the first time since winning the gold medal at the Oslo World Championships at 87kg. He will likely face his rival Kyril MASKEVICH (BLR) in Zagreb as well. The two met in the Oslo finals which the Serbian wrestler won.

For Serbia, twin brothers Mate and Viktor NEMES (SRB) are also entered into the field. They begin another Olympic cycle in the hope of qualifying and performing at the Olympics together. In Tokyo, only Mate was able to qualify.

While Ciobanu won the world title at 60kg, he is entered at 63kg for the tournament. He also will be in action after a three-month gap.

A host of young stars are also seeking glory. U23 world champion Tamas LEVAI (HUN), former European champion Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL), and U23 Euro champion Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) are looking for some hardware.

Victor CIOBANUVictor CIOBANU (MDA) will wrestle at 63kg in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

55kg

Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Mihai Denis FLORIN (ROU)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Mykola HAVRYCHKIN (UKR)

60kg

Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Viachaslau MAKARANKA (BLR)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Daniel BOBILLO (ESP)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Michał TRACZ (POL)
Sebastijan NAD (SRB)
Sebastijan KOLOMPAR (SRB)
Dimitar SANDOV (SUI)
Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Dmytro TSYMBALIUK (UKR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Diego ROMERO (USA)
Randon MIRANDA (USA)

63kg

Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Andy JUAN (ESP)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Krisztián KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Aleksandrs JURKJAN (LAT)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Rusu CORNELIU (MDA)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Pedro CALDAS (POR)
Arnaut RAZVAN (ROU)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Jonas MÜLLER (SUI)
Alex BICA (SWE)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Hevorh ARZUMANIAN (UKR)

67kg

Christoph BURGER (AUT)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR)
Maksim NEHODA (BLR)
Alejandro CONCEPCION (ESP)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
István VANCZA (HUN)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Konstantinas KESANIDI (LTU)
Alexei HAHLOVSCHI (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas ÖHLEN (SWE)
André JONSSON (SWE)
Oleksii MASYK (UKR)
Dmytro MIROSHNYK (UKR)
Dmytro VASYLIEV (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg

Stefan STEIGL (AUT)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ-SILVA (ESP)
Junior BENITEZ (ESP)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Róbert FRITSCH (HUN)
Attila TOSMAGI (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Håvard JORGENSEN (NOR)
Juan Sebastian AAK (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
BOTEZ IGOR ANDREI (ROU)
Aleksa ERSKI (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Olah OLIVER (SVK)
Erik PERSSON (SWE)
Christoffer DAHLEN (SWE)
Miru OLSSON (SWE)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Andrii KULYK (UKR)
Vladyslav YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Pat SMITH (USA)

77kg

Kazbek KILOU (BLR)
Tsimur BERDYIEU (BLR)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Oliver KRUGER (DEN)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Akseli YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Beka MAMUKASHVILI (GEO)
Demuri KAVTARADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Zoltán LEVAI (HUN)
Mantas SINKEVICIUS (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Per-Anders KURE (NOR)
Iwan NYLIPIUK (POL)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI ILIE (ROU)
Viktor NEMES(SRB)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Nicolas CHRISTEN (SUI)
Leos DRMOLA (SVK)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Rasmus ÅSTROM (SWE)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)
Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV (UKR)
Elmar NURALIIEV (UKR)
Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR)
Burke PADDOCK (USA)
RaVaughn PERKINS (USA)

82kg

Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Tamás LEVAI (HUN)
Móric KISMONI (HUN)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Daniel COJOC VASILE (ROU)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Anton OLSSON (SWE)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

87kg

Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NDL)
Ruben Elias BEEN (NOR)
Kułynycz ARKADIUSZ (POL)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Samuel OJOG NICI (ROU)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
Dickov ŽARKO (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Algot KALLMAN (SWE)
Artur OVSEPIAN (UKR)
Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH (UKR)
Alan VERA (USA)

97kg

Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Pavel HLINCHUK (BLR)
Mikalai STADUB (BLR)
Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU (BLR)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Dadak ONDREJ (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Jesus GASCA (ESP)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Loïc SAMEN (FRA)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO)
Azizsir RAMSIN (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Róbert ERSEK (HUN)
Dáriusz VITEK (HUN)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Martynas NEMSEVISIUS (LTU)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Arnoldas Baranovas (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NDL)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Tadeusz Michalik MICHALIK (POL)
Ionut Cristnel Florin GOSA (ROU)
Aleksandar SIMONVIC (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Micheil KADJAJA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Andrii DEHTIAROV (UKR)
Zielimkhan DZIHASOV (UKR)
YEVHENII Saveta  (UKR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Valentyn SHKLIARENKO (UKR)
Vladyslav HONCHAR  (UKR)
Tracy HANCOCK (USA)

130kg

Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Konsta MAENPAA (FIN)
Franz RIHTER (GER)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Rornas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafał KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Istvan BEREI LENARD (ROU)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Sviatoslav KALASHNIKOV (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Tanner FARMER (USA)

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Best Move: Blades Suplex

Friday, February 14, 2025 - 15:22 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 14) -- Kennedy BLADES (USA) is making the suplex her own. After thrilling a packed Champs de Mars Arena with a majestic suplex at the Paris Olympics, the 21-year-old star began her 2025 season with two of them at the Zagreb Open last week.

"When I get behind, in my mind, I am like I have to execute this because it's so rare to hit a suplex," Blades said in Zagreb. "So every time I get behind in matches or big stages, I try to hit the suplex. I want to do it at the world stage because I know it will be on the highlights."

At the Zagreb Open, Blades was at 68kg, two weight classes down from 76kg, in which she won the silver medal at the Paris Games. She debuted at 68kg with a fall over Kendra DACHER (FRA) and another fall over world bronze medalist Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE).

The first glimpse of her suplex in the match against Noémi SZABADOS (HUN). Close to a minute had gone in the bout when Blades used her reach for a outside single-leg. Instead of going for a takedown, she stood up and locked Szabados from behind and out came the throw.

However, the perfect arch was missing and it was awarded four points.

Blades wasn't satisfied. In Round 5 and leading 7-0, Blades countered Karolina POK (HUN) in a perfect set up for a suplex. Pok made a half-hearted attempt for a headlock but Blades snuck out and moved behind.

Pok knew it was coming. She did not resist and Blades did not relent. A picture-perfect arch, a beautiful throw, safe landing and a cheeky smile at the end. Blades was content.

"I just feel like when someone gets a headlock, they probably have to throw it really hard because growing up, I used to wrestle Greco in the summer," she said. "So my coach always taught us how to set up the suplex if they grab your head for a headlock and they don't go. When someone gets in a headlock position and they don't go super hard, then the suplex is there. If I would ever be in that position, I just go flat because I know that they can probably throw me. "

While it has become relatively easy for Blades to throw her opponents at 68kg, she still needs to tackle their speed and movement.

"I think at 68kg, the girls just feel lighter and that's what makes it a tiny bit easier," she said. "The difference though is that they wrestle a little bit more so my conditioning and footwork needs to be better. Whereas at 76kg, they're kind of hand fighting. It's more like strength. But at 68kg, it's speed and technique. It's hard to distinguish if it's easier or not, but I think the fact that I was able to lift the girls up easy was the best thing ever."

The suplex isn't new to Blades. She performed one at the U20 World Championships back in 2021, then at the Olympics and now in Zagreb. However, Blades picks the one in Paris as the best one so far.

"The best suplex is probably my Olympic one because that was straight back on her neck, on the Olympic stage, first match." she said. "I was on fire. I kind of want to see that the suplex I just hit because I think it was pretty nice. But the Olympic one is so hard to beat and I was in a pink singlet."