Granma y Cerro Pelado

Lugo Cabrera Tops Pino Hinds In Colossal Clash At Granma Cup

Monday, February 19, 2018 - 01:51 By

Share this article
Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB)

HAVANA, Cuba – The behemoth battle at 130kg between top-flight Cubans Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) and Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) was a fight to the finish, and a fitting conclusion to the Granma Cup Greco-Roman competition.

Returning world bronze medalist Pino Hinds appeared comfortable after building a strong 2-0 lead heading into the second period. However, two subsequent caution points against Pino Hands was all it took for 2016 Olympic silver medalist Lugo Cabrera to come away with the criteria win.

Both heavyweight finalists earned gold at the Pan American Championships the past two years. Lugo Cabrera, specifically, has collected seven Pan American titles dating back to 2009.

Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB)

Rio Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) won decisively over rival countryman Miquel MARTINEZ (CUB) for the 67kg gold medal. Borrero Molina built his lead early with a collection of trapped arm gut-wrenches and remained strong in the 8-4 win. This was a rematch from yesterday’s preliminary bout between the two, also won by Borrero, 3-2.

Host nation Cuba grabbed two additional gold medals from top talents Luis ORTA (CUB) at 60kg and Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) at 97kg. Orta held off Javier DUMENIGO (CUB) for a 2-2, criteria win in the finals. Rosillo fared slightly better, cruising to a comfortable 5-2 decision over Luigi PEREZ (VEN) for gold.
Balint KORPASI (HUN)

Greco-Roman power Hungary capped off a nice performance with three tournament champions on Sunday.

Two-time world bronze medalist and reigning European champion Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) upended U23 world champion Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) in the 87kg final, 1-1. Each man earned one caution point, Szilvassy in the first period and Lorincz in the second frame, giving Lorincz the criteria advantage.

Today marks the second time in the past month Lorincz and Szilvassy have squared off in the gold-medal match of a major international competition. The two battled it out two weeks ago in the Grand Prix of Zagreb finals with Lorincz once again holding the upper hand.
Peter BACSI (HUN)

2016 world champion Balint KORPASI (HUN) won with apparent ease in the 72kg final over two-time defending Granma Cup champion Yosvani PENA (CUB). He was never in danger throughout the much-anticipated showdown, running to a 6-0 victory.

Peter BACSI (HUN), another past world champion from Hungary to take the mat in Cuba, stood atop the 82kg podium without wrestling a match on Sunday. Bacsi finished his tournament 2-1 in the four-man round-robin bracket yesterday and was pushed to the gold due to Antonio DURAN (CUB) upsetting Lazlo SZABO (HUN), 5-1, in today’s session.

Kamal BEY (USA)

The most dominant performance of the Granma Cup came from reigning junior world champion Kamal BEY (USA). In the 77kg finals, Bey proved too much for rising Cuban Ariel FIZ (CUB). He capped off another superb tournament with a 9-1 finals win.  

The action continues in Cuba with the first day of women’s freestyle competition at the Cerro Pelado International. The tournament is expected to begin at 10 a.m. (ET).

Complete results and a live stream of the event can be found at unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS: http://uww.io/NQ6AU

MEDAL MATCHES

60kg

Gold – Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Javier DUMENIGO (CUB) by VPO1, 2-2

Bronze – Dalton ROBERTS (USA) df. Andrej GINC (GER) by VPO1, 6-1

67kg

Gold – Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) df. Miquel MARTINEZ (CUB) by VPO1, 8-4

Bronze – Wilexys RIVAS (VEN) dec. Alejandro SANCHO (USA) by VPO1, 9-3

72kg

Gold – Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Yosvani PENA (CUB) by VPO, 6-0

Bronze – Anthony SANDER (GER) df. Logan KASS (USA) by VFA

77kg

Gold – Kamal BEY (USA) df. Ariel FIZ (CUB) by VSU1, 9-1

Bronze – Luis AVENDANO (VEN) df. Juan ESCOBAR (MEX) by VPO1, 5-1

87kg

Gold – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) by VPO1, 1-1

Bronze – Geovanis CARRERAS (CUB) df. Friedrich FOUDA (GER) by VFA

Bronze – Kevin RADFORD (USA) df. Daniel GREGORYCH (CUB) by VIN

97kg

Gold – Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) df. Luigi PEREZ (VEN) by VPO1, 5-2

Bronze – Monteaqudo REINIER (CUB) df. Hayden ZILLMER (USA) by VPO, 3-0

Bronze – Kevin MEJIA (HON) df. Pablo REINIER (CUB) by VIN

130kg

Gold – Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) df. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) by VPO1 2-2

Bronze – Balint LAM (HUN) df. Diego ALMENDRA (CHI) by VPO, 8-0

Bronze – Franz RICHTER (GER) df. Eduardo MORRELL (PUR) by VIN

#WrestleZagreb

In 68kg debut, Blades suplexes her way to gold

Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 06:55 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 8) -- Kennedy BLADES (USA) may have changed her weight class but there was no change in her style. Wrestling at 68kg, down from 76kg in which she won the Paris Olympics silver medal, Blades won the gold medal at Zagreb Open Ranking Series on Friday.

READ MORE: Blades shines, Jafarov injured

In a round-robin bracket which had four bouts for each wrestler, Blades was a notch above the rest as she secured two falls and two victory via superiority with none of the four bouts going to the second period.

Blades had moved from 76kg to 68kg for this tournament and is expected to remain at this weight class for the Los Angeles Olympic cycle.

"I feel really good," Blades said about the weight cut. "I ate the night so I'm just happy that I have a lot of energy still, and I was able to use my power, even though same day weigh-in. I'm feeling great."

Kennedy BLADES (USA)Kennedy BLADES (USA) completes a suplex over Karolina POK (HUN). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Blades began the day with a fall over Kendra DACHER (FRA) and another over world bronze medalist Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) before Noémi SZABADOS (HUN) became the victim of her pace. Blades' moment of the day came in the Round 5 in the evening session when she launched a near-perfect suplex against Karolina POK (HUN). She was awarded five points for the suplex.

"I feel like a lot of people overlook wrestling," she said. "So I just want to make it as exciting as possible, and if I can do a big move or make it like, oh, then I just go for the big move."

The move over Pok reminded wrestling fans of the beautiful suplex Blades performed over Catalina AXENTE (ROU) at the Paris Olympics in the first bout itself. Blades went on to win the silver medal, and five months later she has captured her first Ranking Series gold medal using the same move.

"I've just been with my college team at University of Iowa," she said. "After Olympics, I only took about two weeks off because I was like I have college season. So I eased into it. I've just been competing and training hard and I just feel very prepared for what's to come."

At 68kg, Amit ELOR (USA) is the Olympic champion but with a new Olympic cycle, it is expected that she will be at 72kg before moving around to decide which weight class is beneficial for her. Blades hinted she will remain at 68kg for the World Championships.

"Honestly, I'm still deciding what I want to do," Blades said. "But I just feel really good at this whole tournament. I know it was plus two kilos, but I mean, I weighed like 68.9kg and I was like hydrated. So I'm like I'm fine. We'll see. I feel like it might be the move, so I just have to talk to my coaches, I'm going to figure some things out."

The U.S. won another gold medal at 62kg as Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) won three bouts in the round-robin bracket, keeping a clean slate.

Nwachukwu was in trouble of finishing second as former world champion Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) was winning 2-0 with less than 20 seconds left. However, Nwachukwu got a takedown and a turn to win the bout and confirm her gold medal.

In an all Azerbaijan final at 59kg, Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE) defeated Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 4-2, winning the gold medal.

Greco-Roman also began on Friday and Iran had a forgetful day in office. Treating the Zagreb Open as a trial for the Asian Championships, Iran had brought multiple wrestlers in various categories.

But it failed to win gold medal in the two Greco-Roman weight classes in action on Friday and drew a blank at 67kg.

U20 world champion Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) dropped his semifinal against Valentin PETIC (MDA) 6-1 and then lost his bronze medal bout. Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR) stopped Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI), 10-1, in the other semifinal.

Joergensen capped off his day with a stunning 9-1 win over Petic in the 67kg to win the gold medal.

At 63kg, U23 world silver medalist Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN) dominated the field and defeated Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), via fall in the final to win the gold medal.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE) df. Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 4-2

BRONZE: Micheala BECK (USA) df. Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA), via inj. def.

62kg
GOLD: Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
SILVER: Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
BRONZE: Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)

65kg
GOLD: Dinara KUDAEVA (AIN)
SILVER: Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
BRONZE: Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)

68kg
GOLD: Kennedy BLADES (USA)
SILVER: Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
BRONZE: Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)

Greco-Roman

63kg
GOLD: Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Ellis COLEMAN (USA) df. Ziya BABASHOV (AZE), 5-3
BRONZE: AYTJAN KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 5-4

67kg
GOLD: Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 9-1

BRONZE: Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) df. Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI), 5-0
BRONZE: Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) df. Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI), 10-1