#WrestleWarsaw

Live BLOG: European C'ships, Day One

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (April 19) -- We're live from Warsaw, Poland for the opening day of wrestling at the European Championships.

Monday’s Freestyle Schedule:
11:30 - Qualification rounds
17:15 - Opening ceremony 
18:00 - Semifinals

19:19: It'll be Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) and Israil KASUMOV (RUS) wrestling for gold at 70kg. Masumov making the finals at 70kg means Russia is three-for-three in semifinal matches. 

18:30: Russia puts their second wrestler into the finals. Zagir SHAKHIEV (RUS) outscored Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE), 8-1 to close out the match and moved into the 65kg finals. 

18:23:  Atli will see Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) for 57kg gold. The Russian picked up a pair of inactivity points and moved into the finals with the 2-0 shutout win over Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE). 

18:04: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) and Mikyay NAIM (BUL) traded inactivity points, but a first-period takedown from the Turkish two-time world medalist was the difference in punching his ticket to a second consecutive European final.

 

 

14:22: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll see you back here at 17:15 for the opening ceremony, which will be followed by the freestyle semifinals at 18:00.

Semifinals Matchups (As they come in)

57kg
SEMIFINAL - Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) vs. Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Mikyay NAIM (BUL)vs. Suleyman ATLI (TUR)

65kg
SEMIFINAL - Maxim SACULTAN (MDA) vs. Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
SEMIFINAL - Zagir SHAKHIEV (RUS) vs. Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)

70kg
SEMIFINAL - Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) vs. Israil KASUMOV (RUS)

SEMIFINAL - Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR) vs. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)

79kg
SEMIFINAL - Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA) vs. Rashad YUSIFLI (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) vs. Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO)

97kg
SEMIFINAL - Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) vs. Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Radoslaw BARAN (POL) vs. Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RUS)

13:27: Odikadze narrowly escapes an upset. He scored a takedown, but gave up two one-point moves and hung on to defeat Aliaksandr Hushtyn, 2-2, on criteria.

13:20: Atli looked in mid-season form in his quarterfinals match against Kerymonv. He only need four minutes to pick up the 11-0 win over the Ukrainian wrestler. Atli will take on the winner of Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL) and Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO) in the 57kg semifinals.

13:01: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) medaled at the '18 and '19 World Championships. Last year's European silver medalist will make his '21 debut on Mat B next against Kamil KERYMOV (UKR). 

12:50: World bronze medalist Elizbar ODIKADZE ?? has a few European medals. He's coming up in three matches on Mat A.

Odikadze's European Resume:
'15 Euro Games ?
'16 Euro C'ships ?
'17 Euro C'ships ?
'18 Euro C'ships ?
'19 Euro C'ships ?
'20 Euro C'ships ?

12:45: The lone returning champion that'll be in action today is Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR). He's coming up next on Mat A against Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE).

12:37: Kentchadze eases his way into the quarterfinals with a 10-5 win over Babii. 

12:33: Russian national champion and two-time European bronze medalist Israil KASUMOV (RUS) will wrestle Mihail SAVA (MDA) next on Mat A. 

12:12: U23 world champion Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) is coming up next on Mat B. He'll wrestle Valentyn BABII (UKR).

11:57: Tsiutryn lost a challenge after giving up a four-point chest wrap and fell to Mongush, 7-6.

11:53: We have ourselves a battle going on over on Mat B. Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) and Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR) and tied, 6-6, with 90 seconds left to go!  

11:46: Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) starts his day off with a 5-0 upset over Italy's '18 world bronze medalist Abraham CONYEDO (ITA).

11:38: HERE. WE. GO! We're hearing whistles, which means the first day of wrestling is officially underway.

#WrestleBudapest

Tosun triumphant, Godinez clinches gold at Budapest Ranking Series

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 8) -- World champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) sent a stern warning to her competitors two months before the Paris Games by winning the 68kg gold medal at the Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary.

In her three bouts, Tosun blanked Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB) 10-0, pinned Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) in the rematch of the World Championships final and held on to her 2-0 lead to beat Soleymi CARABALLO (VEN) in the final.

Tosun won the World Championships in Belgrade last year to become only the second female wrestler to win the gold at the marquee event. She will now enter the Paris Olympics as the top-seeded wrestler at 68kg.

PodiumAna GODINEZ (CAN), center, with the other medalists at 62kg in Budapest. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 62kg, Ana GODINEZ (CAN) came on top of a packed bracket, winning the gold medal after world bronze medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) pulled out of the final due to injury.

But before the walkover in the final, Godinez was solid on the mat beating Lais NUNES (BRA) 6-2 before humbling European champion Grace BULLEN (NOR) 11-7 in the semifinal. Bullen was leading the semifinal before Godinez continued her relentless attacks and broke Bullen down. Trailing on 7-7 criteria, Godinez scored two takedowns to win the bout.

"Even though I didn't wrestle my final, it feels good. I did want to wrestle Iryna [Koliadenko]. It's a little disappointing," Godinez said. "I am satisfied with the two matches I had. I did want to wrestle at least three, maybe four.  We came here to see what's good, what's bad, what's new."

Godinez expressed her satisfaction with her performance in Budapest but said that she could perform better on any other given day.

"I come with the same mindset every time. I want to win obviously, but it's every position," she said. "I did not feel my greatest today but it's nice to know that I can perform when I don't feel great. I have to be able to perform even when I don't feel great and that can happen any day, even at the Olympics."

World Championships bronze medalist Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) clinched the gold medal at 76kg with three wins in four matches. World U23 champion REETIKA (IND) also had three wins from four bouts but Renteria clinched the gold as she defeated Reetika in their direct clash in the group.

Reetika and Renteria clashed in the second round and it was the Indian who had a 2-1 lead going into the last minute of the match. Both wrestlers were struggling with their breath but the Colombian continued her attacks and eventually got a takedown over Reetika to win 3-2.

She suffered a loss to Justina DI STASIO (CAN) while beating Genesis REASCO (ECU) and Zainab SGHAIER (TUN) in the other group stage bouts. Reetika defeated Di Stasio, Reasco and Sghaier for her three wins.

sdfgd

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 5-2

BRONZE: Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 11-2

62kg
GOLD: Ana GODINEZ (CAN) df. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Lais NUNES (BRA), via fall
BRONZE: Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) df. Alina KASABIEVA (AIN), 8-2

65kg
GOLD: Iryna BONDAR (UKR) df. Nesrin BAS (TUR), 10-4

BRONZE: Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN) df. Eniko ELEKES (HUN), via inj. def.

68kg
GOLD: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Soleymi CARABALLO (VEN), 2-0

BRONZE: Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) df. Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB), 13-4
BRONZE: Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) df. Kseniia BURAKOVA (AIN), 7-2

76kg
GOLD: Tatiana RENTERIA (COL)
SILVER: REETIKA (IND)
BRONZE: Genesis REASCO (ECU)