Granma y Cerro Pelado

Lugo Cabrera Tops Pino Hinds In Colossal Clash At Granma Cup

By

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

#WrestleBudapest

Yazdani: 'I was 60 percent fit in Budapest, want to win Olympic gold'

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 8) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returned to the mat for the first time in eight months. After winning the Asian Games, Yazdani underwent shoulder surgery and returned to training only a month ago. The selection process for the Paris Olympics needed him to participate in the Ranking Series in Budapest to prove his fitness.

Yazdani wrestled like he was never away. Yazdani ended a long day with a 12-2 win over Trent HIDLAY (USA), his fourth win via technical superiority in as many bouts.

"I thank God that I was able to get on the mat in international competitions after seven months and 13 days," Yazdani said. "I started wrestling training a month ago and, it was good. With my relative preparation, I tried to get an acceptable result in this course of competition."

Yazdani said that he still needs to work on a few of his weaknesses which were exposed in the tournament. Yazdani gave up six points in his four matches and was stuck in a danger position a couple of times.

"I had a little preparation and it was around 60 percent," he said. "I hadn’t wrestled for a long time and when they announced my name for this tournament, I had about 25 days to train and it got better as time passed. When you’re not ready, you may face problems. My opponents used this opportunity and scored some points on me."

"I have some weaknesses that I hope I can fix before the Olympics so that I can wrestle better than these competitions and get the gold medal. I hope that until the Olympics, I can eliminate my weaknesses so I can win the best medal for my country and our good people."

For his return to the mat, Yazdani expressed his gratitude to several individuals but was grateful for the support from his family.

"I want to thank all those who have been by my side during this time," he said. "Dr. Rezaei, my physiotherapist and also Samereh Ghanbari as they didn’t leave me alone during this time. Dr. Aslani, my doctor and Javad Rahmani, my bodybuilding coach, and of course, my old coach Mehdi Yegane Jafari, who was by my side during these difficult days after the shoulder surgery. My family has its own place but these loved ones contribute to winning this medal and the Olympics medal. So far everything has been successful, I hope we can get the best result in the future.

RESULTS

Freestyle

74kg
GOLD: Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) df. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), 7-4

BRONZE: Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) df. Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Ali Abbas REZAEI (IRI) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 5-3

86kg
GOLD: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Trent HIDLAY (USA), 12-2

BRONZE: Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 5-1
BRONZE: Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO) df. Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB), 7-3

92kg
GOLD: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
SILVER: Iuza TSERTSVADZE (GEO)
BRONZE: Balasz JUHASZ (HUN)