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

#wrestlemanama

Bahrain to host 2026 World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- For the first time in history, the World Championships are headed to Bahrain.

The 2026 World Championships will be held in Manama, Bahrain from September 5 to 13, United World Wrestling announced on Tuesday, during the ongoing World Championships in Zagreb.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

Secretary General of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Faris AL-KOOHEJI attended the press conference at the Arena Zagreb for the historic announcement. UWW President Nenad LALOVIC and Al-Kooheji announced the host together and signed the agreement.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Lalovic said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision.

Bahrain won its first-ever gold medal in Olympics in Paris when Tahzudinov ran-through the 97kg weight class and captured the gold medal. A year before that, he won the world title in the same weight class.

Tazhudinov is also an Asian champion, Asian Games champion and winner of other Ranking Series events.

Lalovic on the fact that wrestling wants to change the host continent of the World Championships more regularly.

 "We also want to change the continent regularly," he said. "A state that can organize the Asian [Youth] Games like they will do now in October, they will not face any problem with the championships, especially that we give all the assistance possible for the execution"

Manama, Bahrain will host the Asian Youth Games in which wrestling will be held from October 28 to 30.

Expressing its gratitude to UWW and readiness to host the mega event, Al-Kooheji said that the tournament will help Bahrain take wrestling to the grassroot levels in the country.

"For us, wrestling is a long term project," Al-Kooheji said. "Wrestling is a growing sport. It's a strategic sport for us. We got a gold medal in Paris, and we're looking to getting more medals. That gold medal started to inspire a lot of people, locally, to pursue wrestling, which is why part of the discussions with United World Wrestling is to even help us add wrestling in schools."

The Bahrain Olympic Committee expects that the World Championships will have a positive impact in growing the sport in the country.

"Strong economic impact [from the event]," he said. "We're going to get lots of travel spectators from Iran, the United States, and other countries as well. It's going to encourage the local community. They will understand more wrestling."