#WrestleAlexandria

Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series: World champs highlight strong WW field

Friday, February 17, 2023 - 15:44 By Taylor GREGORIO

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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 17) -- The second Ranking Series event, the Ibrahim Moustafa, is days away. The event will take place February 23-26 in Alexandria, Egypt.

The results will not only give ranking points to the wrestlers, but they will also be crucial in determining the four seeds for the upcoming continental championships. Ibrahim Moustafa will be the second event in which UWW will award prize money and a two-kilogram weight tolerance will be allowed in each weight class.

Like in Zagreb, this event will also feature a strong women's field with 133 wrestlers including nine world champions and 34 World Championships medalists.

All the action from Egypt starts next Thursday and can be followed live on uww.org or on the UWW app.

Below are five storylines to keep an eye on next weekend.

Parrish, Nichita among 2022 world medalists competing

Alexandria will welcome eight 2022 World medalists, counting two gold medalists, two silver medalists and four bronze medalists.

Highlighting this group are world champions Domnique PARRISH (USA) and Anastasia NICHITA (MDA). Competing at 53kg, Parrish secured the title on her senior World Championships debut in September. That same week, Nichita became just the second Moldovan woman to win a senior world title, when she topped the 59kg podium.

A pair of reigning silver medalists, Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and Grace BULLEN (NOR), will wrestle in the same bracket next week. Miracle is a two-time runner-up, securing silver at 62kg in 2021 and 2022. Bullen, who won her first senior medal last year at 59kg, has decided to bump up to 62kg.

The host country will cheer for Samar HAMZA (EGY) as the 2022 silver medalist is entered at 76kg and will be one of the favorites to claim the gold at home.

The 2022 bronze medalists expected to compete are Mengyu XIE (CHN) at 55kg, Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) at 62kg and Epp MAE (EST) at 76kg

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is the only two-time world champion in the field. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Nine past world champions in the field

Nine women head into Alexandria with gold hardware to their names. Two weight classes 59kg and 62kg -- feature multiple world champs.

Wrestling at 59kg is 2022 champion Anastasia Nichita and 2014 winner Yuliia TKACH (UKR), while the 62 kg competitors include two-time world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), 2021 champion at 59kg Bilyana Dudova and 2018 champion Taybe YUSEIN (BUL).

In addition to Nichita, there is one other reigning gold medalist, Dom Parrish, who will compete at 53kg. The other three are 2019 champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), 2018 champion Ningning RONG (CHN) and 2021 champion Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ). Winchester will wrestle at 55kg with Rong at 57kg and Zhumanazarova at 68kg.

Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) is one of the three world champions at 62kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

World champs highlight stacked 62kg bracket

The 62kg weight class has a ton of star power coming into the second Ranking Series event with three past world champions and six other past world medalists. Aisuluu Aisuluu is the only two-time world champion in the entire women’s field. She earned titles in 2019 and 2021. Also winning a world gold in 2021 was Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), who claimed her title at 59kg. She will be competing at 62kg next week. The final world champ in this weight is 2018 winner Taybe Yusein. All three world champs also have other medal-winning performances, and between the three of them, they combine for four golds, four silvers, three bronzes and two Olympic medals.

Other medalists registered include silver medalists Kayla Miracle, who has earned two, Jia LONG (CHN), Grace Bullen and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) and bronze winners Xiaojuan LUO (CHN) and Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR).

Skylar GROTE (USA)Skylar GROTE (USA) is coming off a gold medal win in the first Ranking Series event. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Seven finalists from first Ranking Series

Last month, the UWW Ranking Series kicked off in Zagreb, Croatia. Seven finalists from the Zagreb Open are expected to compete in Alexandria, including two champions and five runners-up.

Looking for their second Ranking Series gold of the season are Anastasia Nichita at 59kg and Skylar GROTE (USA) at 76kg. Nichita won gold at the 2022 senior World Championships and also has a 2018 U20 gold medal. Additionally, Nichita won last year’s Yasar Dogu as part of the 2022 Ranking Series. Grote, who won the Zagreb Open at 72kg, is bumping up to 76 kg for action in Egypt. Overall, she has competed in three Ranking Series events and medaled in all three. In addition to gold last month, she collected a gold and bronze medal last season.

Silver medalists from the Zagreb Open registered to compete in Egypt include Jiang ZHU (CHN) at 50kg, Yongxin FENG (CHN) at 57kg, Bullen at 62kg and Dalma CANEVA (ITA) at 72kg.

Samar HAMZA (EGY)Samar HAMZA (EGY) will lead the host nation's charge in Alexandria. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Egypt to host first Ranking Series event

Next week will mark Egypt’s first time hosting a Ranking Series tournament. Egypt has held the African Championships and Arab Championships in the past. The host country will have great representation in the women’s field with 16 athletes registered. Among them is multiple-time World Championships medalist Samar Hamza at 76kg, who is the first and only Egyptian woman to win a world medal at the senior level. She is joined by two-time age-group world medalist Nada MOHAMED (EGY) at 50kg and several senior African Championships medalists, including Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY), Louji YASSIN (EGY), Farah HUSSEIN (EGY), Mentalla BADRAN (EGY), Eman MOHAMED (EGY) and Mona AHMED (EGY).

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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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

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.