#WrestleZagreb

Grand Prix Zagreb Open Entries

By Eric Olanowski

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)

#WrestleIstanbul

Stars to follow in Women's Wrestling at World Qualifier

By Vinay Siwach

ISTANBUL, Türkiye (May 6) -- Mariya STADNIK (AZE) has endured quite a few heartbreaks in her 16-year-long career. The most recent was her fall against Oksana LIVACH (UKR) in the final five seconds of the match. A win would have confirmed a fifth trip to the Olympics for her.

The four-time Olympic medalist will now be in Istanbul for the World OG Qualifier -- the last chance -- in a bid to earn a Paris 2024 quota. It will also put her one step closer to winning an unprecedented fifth Olympic medal, a feat no one has achieved in wrestling.

But Stadnik isn't the only one with so much to fight for in Istanbul.

Two-time European champion Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) was also seconds away from earning a spot for Paris when Tokyo silver medalist Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) scored a takedown to beat her. Hrushyna missed the Tokyo flight after suffering an injury two months before the Games.

Now, she will be in Istanbul along with Tokyo bronze medalist Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) who is not yet qualified at 57kg. Both will compete for the three spots available along with other top wrestlers like Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), Giullia PENALBER (BRA), Aurora RUSSO (ITA), Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL), Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU), Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (AIN) and Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR).

In each Olympic weight class, the winner of the semifinals will earn a berth for the Paris Games for their respective countries. The third spot will be earned by the winner of the playoff between the two bronze medalists of the weight class.

This provides an extra opportunity to the wrestler who lost to the two best wrestlers of their respective weight classes. The repechage, bronze-medal bouts and the playoff will be held the next day.

China, which managed three quotas at the Asian OG Qualifier, will be hoping to claim all six spots for Paris as Jia LONG (CHN) and Feng ZHOU (CHN) compete in the 62kg and 68kg respectively.

Ziqi FENG (CHN), Qianyu PANG (CHN), Kexin HONG (CHN) and Juan WANG (CHN) clinched the 50kg, 53kg, 57kg and 76kg spots with the last three coming at the Asian OG Qualifier in Bishkek last month.

For Long, who was in Tokyo, the field at 62kg will be strong. Veranika IVANOVA (AIN), Lais NUNES (BRA), MANSI (IND), Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA), Kriszta INCZE (ROU) and Nesrin BAS (TUR) are a few wrestlers who can trouble Long.

Bas is an interesting choice by Turkiye as she regularly competes in the 72kg weight class. She was a U23 world champion in the same. But with the 68kg qualification by world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) and 76kg by European champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR), Bas decided to move down.

At 68kg, Feng will have to raise her game if she wants to represent China in Paris. The weight has 23 wrestlers including the likes of Elis MANOLOVA (AZE), Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL), Linda MORAIS (CAN), Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), NISHA (IND) and Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU).

Hristova would be doubly motivated to win a quota in Istanbul after she missed it in Baku. Leading 8-0 against Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR) in the quarterfinal, she got put on the mat by Skobelska and the Ukrainian secured a fall, leaving Hristova heartbroken.

A few European stars have not managed to earn a Paris spot at 53kg. Two-time Olympian Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) will be a strong contender to claim one of the three spots at 53kg.

Annika WENDLE (GER), Sztalvira ORSOS (HUN), Zeynep YETGIL (TUR), Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) and Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) will be fighting it out for the quotas as well.

Karla GODINEZ (CAN), the favorite at the Pan-Am OG Qualifier, suffered a loss and failed to qualify Canada. But she will be in Istanbul to earn that spot and join her sister Ana who qualified at 62kg. Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL) will be a strong contender as well.

Among the big names at 76kg, Martina KUENZ (AUT), Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (AIN), Yuliana YANEVA (BUL), Samar HAMZA (EGY), Epp MAE (EST), Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) and Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR) are taking the trip to Istanbul.

Despite all the stars assembling in Istanbul, Stadnik will be the center of attraction. How does a 36-year-old bounce back from her first-ever loss in Europe? Is she still good enough to compete against some of the best in the world? Is she a medal threat for Paris 2024?

A win in Istanbul will answer those questions.