#WrestleRome

Matteo Pellicone Entries

By Eric Olanowski

ROME, Italy (January 4) -- The road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games officially kicks off January 15-18 in Rome, Italy at the first Ranking Series event of the year, the Matteo Pellicone. And though entries are not official until 24 hours before the tournament begins, there are seven reigning world champions and 33 world medal holders from the 2019 World Championships that are expected to compete in Rome. 

Freestyle

57kg
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Kumar RAVI (IND)
Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA)
Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB)
Andrii YATSENKO (UKR)
Taras MARKOVYCH (UKR)
Joseph Daniel COLON (USA)
Daton Duain FIX (USA)
Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA)
Pedro Jesus MEJIAS RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

61kg
Zhandos ISMAILOV (KAZ)

65kg
Agustin Alejandro DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Zhenguang TIAN (CHN)
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Behnam Eshagh EHSANPOOR (IRI)
Abdellatif MANSOUR (ITA)
Jose Javier RODRIGUEZ COLON (PUR)
Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)
Selim KOZAN (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
Gor OGANNESYAN (UKR)
Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR)
Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA)
Zain Allen RETHERFORD (USA)
Joseph Christopher MC KENNA (USA)

70kg
No entries

Kyle DAKE (USA), the reigning two-time 79kg world champion, will be making his debut at the Olympic weight class of 74kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

74kg
Azamat NURYKAU (BLR)
Jasmit Singh PHULKA (CAN)
Adanabasier ADANABASIER (CHN)
Yin LUO (CHN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Jitender JITENDER (IND)
Yones Aliakbar EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI)
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR)
Sheng Yu LI (TPE)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Enes USLU (TUR)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Denys PAVLOV (UKR)
James Malcolm GREEN (USA)
Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA)
Jason Michael NOLF (USA)

79kg
Salvatore DIANA (ITA)
Carmelo LUMIA (ITA)
Akhmedkhan TEMBOTOV (RUS)

86kg
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Ethan Adrian RAMOS (PUR)
Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR)
Fatih ERDIN (TUR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)
Oleksii DOMANYTSKYI (UKR)
Alexander David DIERINGER (USA)
James Patrick DOWNEY III (USA)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Rashid KURBANOV (UZB)
Pedro Francisco CEBALLOS FUENTES (VEN)

92kg
William RAFFI(ITA)

Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA), the two-time world and Olympic champion, headlines the entries at 97kg. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

97kg
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR)
Jordan STEEN (CAN)
Chaoqiang YANG (CHN)
Georg Gabriel STARK SEREGELYI (GER)
Erik Sven THIELE (GER)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Pavel OLEJNYIK (HUN)
Ravi RAVI (IND)
Mohammadhossein Askari MOHAMMADIAN (IRI)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Evan Amadour RAMOS (PUR)
Fatih YASARLI (TUR)
Ibrahim BOLUKBASI (TUR)
Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Hayden Nicholas ZILLMER (USA)
Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA)
Bo Dean NICKAL (USA)
Jose Daniel DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN)

125kg
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Er SONGBU (CHN)
Nick MATUHIN (GER)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Amir Hossein Abbas ZARE (IRI)
Charles Zachary MERRILL (PUR)
Bilial MAKHOV (RUS)
Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR)
Gable Dan STEVESON (USA)
Anthony Robert NELSON (USA)
Luis Felipe VIVENES URBANEJA (VEN)

United World Wrestling's Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) begins his quest for Olympic gold at the Matteo Pellicone, where he'll compete at 87kg. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Dogus AYAZCI (TUR)
Serif KILIC (TUR)
Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR)
Max Emiliano NOWRY (USA)

60kg 
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Erbatu TUO (CHN)
Haithem Mahmoud Ahmed Fahmy MAHMOUD (EGY)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Manish MANISH (IND)
Sachin RANA (IND)
Giovanni FRENI (ITA)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Ahmet UYAR (TUR)
Ihor KUROCHKIN (UKR)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)

63kg
Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU)
Christopher Josef KRAEMER (GER)
Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR)
Jui Chi HUANG (TPE)
Dmytro TSYMBALIUK (UKR)

U23 world champion Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) headlines the entries at 67kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

67kg
Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR (BRA)
Qiye TIAN (CHN)
Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY)
Abouhalima Mohamed Elsaid ABOUHALIMA (EGY)
Ashu ASHU (IND)
Ignazio SANFILIPPO (ITA)
Ruben MARVICE (ITA)
Xavier Tramain JOHNSON (USA)
Jamel Rasheed JOHNSON (USA)
Peyton Louis OMANIA (USA)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)
Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB)
Anthony Javier PALENCIA PUENTES (VEN)

72kg
Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Raymond Anthony BUNKER III (USA)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

77kg
Angelo Rafael MARQUES MOREIRA (BRA)
Bin YANG (CHN)
Ridong ZHANG (CHN)
Wael Hamdy Mohamed ABDELRAHMAN (EGY)
Sajan SAJAN (IND)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Fatih CENGIZ (TUR)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
Emrah KUS (TUR)
Patrick Harrison SMITH (USA)
Kamal Ameer BEY (USA)
Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA)
Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB)
Wuileixis de Jesus RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN)

Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB), a 77kg world bronze medalist, will be moving up to 82kg for the Matteo Pellicone (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

82kg
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Florian NEUMAIER (GER)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Zotlan LEVAI (HUN)
Singh GURPREET (IND)
Bing Hong LIN (TPE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Salih AYDIN (TUR)
Dmytro GARDUBEI (UKR)
John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Ronisson BRANDAO SANTIAGO (BRA)
Junjie NA (CHN)
Mohamed Moustafa Ahmed Abdall METWALLY (EGY)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Fabio PARISI (ITA)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Simone FIDELBO (ITA)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Josef Patrick RAU (USA)
Patrick Anthony MARTINEZ (USA)
Luis Eduardo AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Yan LIU (CHN)
Yanan CHEN (CHN)
Noureldin Hany Mohamed Gomaa HASSAN (EGY)
Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA)
Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER)
Jan ZIRN (GER)
Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO( HON)
Hardeep HARDEEP (IND)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR)
Semen NOVIKOV (UKR)
Daniel Collett MILLER (USA)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Muhammadali SHAMSIDDINOV (UZB)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)
Temur Mirzo MAMAJANOV (UZB)
Luillys Jose PEREZ MORA (VEN)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Di XIAO (CHN)
Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Tuomas Heikki Juhani LAHTI (FIN)
Konsta Johannes MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND) 
Luca GODINO (ITA)
Samuele VARICELLI (ITA)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Vladyslav VORONYI (UKR)
Adam Jacob COON (USA)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
Moises Salvador PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN)

The list of women's wrestling entries is highlighted by five-time world champion Adeline Maria GRAY (USA). (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Kseniya STANKEVICH (BLR)
Viyaleta REBIKAVA CHYRYK (BLR)
Kamila BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA (BRA)
Jessica Anne Marie MACDONALD (CAN)
Yanan SUN (CHN)
Jacqueline Del Rocio MOLLOCANA ELENO (ECU)
Nada Medani Ashour Abdalla MOHAMED (EGY)
Ana Maria TORRES RUBIO (ESP)
Oihane VALLEZ PEREZ (ESP)
Julie Martine SABATIE (FRA)
Tabatha Helene Laurence GRUNEWALD (FRA)
Emilia Alina VUC (ROU)
Veronika GURSKAYA (RUS)
Milana DADASHEVA (RUS)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA)
Whitney CONDER (USA)
Victoria Lacey ANTHONY (USA)

53kg
Samantha Leigh STEWART (CAN)
Qianyu PANG (CHN)
Lannuan LUO (CHN)
Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU)
Aintzane GORRIA GONI (ESP)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Mercedesz DENES (HUN)
Pinki PINKI (IND)
Vinesh VINESH (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Carmen DI DIO (ITA)
Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (RUS)
Meng Hsuan HSIEH (TPE)
Yuliia KHAVALDZHY BLAHINYA (UKR)
Katherine Grace SHAI (USA)
Areana Louise VILLAESCUSA (USA)
Betzabeth Angelica ARGUELLO VILLEGAS (VEN)

55kg
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Iryna HUSYAK (UKR)

Canada's 59kg world champion Linda MORAIS will make her debut down at 57kg at the Matteo Pellicone. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

57kg
Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Linda MORAIS (CAN)
Ningning RONG (CHN)
Lissette Alexandra ANTES CASTILLO (ECU)
Eman Essam Guda EBRAHIM (EGY)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Elena Heike BRUGGER (GER)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Laura MERTENS (GER)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
Emese BARKA (HUN)
Pooja DHANDA (IND)
Arianna CARIERI (ITA)
Francesca INDELICATO (ITA)
Nuraida ANARKULOVA (KGZ)
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)
Marina SIMONYAN (RUS)
Iryna CHYKHRADZE KHARIV (UKR)
Alina AKOBIIA (UKR)
Allison Mackenzie RAGAN (USA)
Jenna Rose BURKERT (USA)
Betzabeth Rebeca SARCO COLMENAREZ (VEN)

59kg
Krystsina SAZYKINA (BLR)
Andrea GRASRUCK (GER)
Anhelina LYSAK (UKR)

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) will compete for the first time since becoming the first wrestler from Kyrgyzstan to win a senior-level world title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (BLR)
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Michelle Christina FAZZARI (CAN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Maria Victoria BAEZ DILONE (ESP)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Luisa Helga Gerda NIEMESCH (GER)
Marianna SASTIN (HUN)
Sakshi MALIK (IND)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Sara DA COL (ITA)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS)
Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS)
Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA)
Mallory Maxine VELTE (USA)
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA)
Nathaly Josefina GRIMAN HERRERA (VEN)

65kg
Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN)
Gabriella SLEISZ (HUN)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Oksana KUKHTA HERHEL (UKR)

68kg
Luz Clara VAZQUEZ (ARG)
Yauheniya ANDREICHYKAVA (BLR)
Maryia MAMASHUK (BLR)
Danielle Suzanne LAPPAGE (CAN)
Feng ZHOU (CHN)
Xiaoqian WANG (CHN)
Koumba Selene Fanta LARROQUE (FRA)
Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER)
Divya KAKRAN (IND)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT)
Anastasiia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS)
Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR)
Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR)
Victoria Christine FRANCIS (USA)
Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA)
Maria Jose ACOSTA ACOSTA (VEN)

72kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)
Nadine WEINAUGE (GER)
Maria SELMAIER (GER)

London Olympic champion and reigning 72kg world champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) will be bumping up to 76kg with hope of adding a third consecutive Olympic medal to her resume. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Kseniya DZIBUK (BLR)
Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR)
Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA)
Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)
Qian ZHOU (CHN)
Paliha PALIHA (CHN)
Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar Amer Ibrahim HAMZA (EGY)
Epp MAEE (EST)
Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Zsanett NEMETH (HUN)
Kiran KIRAN (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Eleni PJOLLAJ (ITA)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS)
Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS)
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Adeline Maria GRAY (USA)
Andrimar Daniela LAZARO DIAZ (VEN)

#WrestleRome

Three Defending Champs Upended on Quest to Repeat as European Champions

By Eric Olanowski

ROME, Italy (February 13) --- Miglena SELISHKA (BUL), Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) and Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) halted Thursday night’s trio of returning European champions from defending their crowns from a year ago. 

At 50kg, Selishka scored the two-point victory over defending European champion Oksana LIVACH (UKR) and flip-flopped the first and second positions on the podium from last year’s European Championships.

“I feel fantastic; I feel good. I can’t say it with words,” Selishka said after her European finals win. 

She trailed 1-0 after the first four minutes of wrestling but adjusted mid-way through the second period and solved the Ukrainian puzzle that stumped her for over half the match. “I was just thinking that I need to keep wrestling and try to score points.” 

Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) and her coach celebrate her 50kg gold-medal win. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

That’s precisely what she did, starting her five-point scoring run with a referee-given inactivity point. 

Selishka added a stepout point and a takedown and extended her lead to 4-1. She surrendered a two-point takedown and only led by a point, but capitalized on a Livach slip and scored her fifth and final point of the match. Selishka avenged her 2019 European finals loss and improved on that 2019 runner-up finish with the 5-3 win over third-ranked Livach.

Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) celebrates after picking up a last-second takedown over Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) in the 59kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Anastasia Nichita scored a dramatic comeback win over Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) and became the first Moldovan woman ever to win a European title.

“Firstly, for me, it means a lot because I train hard every day. I have done everything I could to win that medal,” said Nichita. “I was dreaming of it for so long. It means everything to me.”

Nichita trailed 2-0 after the first three minutes after she gave up the period's only takedown. The 21-year-old Moldovan evened the match with a takedown of her own with two-minutes left in the second period. 

But Nichita fell behind again after Dudova gained two points from a stepout and a failed challenge. 

When asked what her plan was heading into the final 25 seconds down by two points, Nachita said, “Honestly, I didn’t have any plans. I just wrestled till the very end. I only stopped when I saw 00:00 on the scoreboard.”

She fired off attack after attack, and with three seconds left, finally got to the legs of Dudoba. Nichita snuck behind Dudova and ended her hopes of repeating as European champion. “I didn’t expect it to happen,” Nachita said after scoring the takedown with three seconds left. 

Nichita qualified Moldova for the Olympic Games with a fifth-place finish in Nur-Sultan and will move back down to the Olympic weight of 57kg. “I will go on training hard. I want to win an Olympic medal for our country, for the Republic of Moldova.” 

Ekaterina Bukina finally captured her long-awaited European gold medal with a 4-3 victory over reigning champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR). 

Bukina fell in her previous three trips to the European finals and stopped Adar from adding a fifth consecutive continental crown to her resume. 

“It’s my first win at the European Championships. Even though I have the Olympic bronze, first place is always the first,” Bukina said after her big win. 

In the finals, Bukina blasted Adar in the opening period with an unexpected ankle pick and led 4-0. She said she saw the ankle pick present itself and capitalized on her one opportunity. “I saw that she put her foot close; I tried the chance that was given to me and it was successful.” 

She surrendered three points in the second period but stayed composed and stood atop the European podium for the first time in her career with her one-point finals victory. “I was very happy to win. I was happy that they played the Russian national anthem and gave me the medal,” said Bukina.

Bukina’s European title run puts the Russian coaching staff in a tough position moving forward. London Olympic champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) is moving up from her 2019 world-title winning weight of 72kg to the Olympic weight of 76kg. 

Bukina said she's not sure where this win puts her in the race to represent Russia at the Olympic Games. “It depends on who will be in better shape. Right now, she is wrestling in the other weight category, but we will decide later when it’s closer to the Olympics. It’s too early to talk about it.” 

Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) was one of three Russian women who won gold medals on Thursday night. She won the 68kg title with a 10-0 win over Dalma CANEVA (ITA). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Russia Leads Team Race After Winning Three Golds on Thursday Night 
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) joined Bukina as European champions on Thursday night. The trio of champions helped the Russian Federation (105 points) carry a 31 point lead over Ukraine  (74 points) into the final day of women’s wrestling. 

At 55kg, Khoroshavtseva only needed less than two minutes to pick up the 10-0 technical superiority victory over Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) in the 55kg gold-medal match. She kickstarted the match with a slide-by and ended the match with back-to-back four-point throws. 

Khoroshavtseva's win handed Russia their first gold medal in any style of these European Championships.

Velieva was Russia’s second champion of the day. She put on a dominant display in the 68kg finals and joined Khoroshavtseva atop the continental podium with an 11-0 technical superiority victory over Dalma CANEVA (ITA). 

Bukina rounded out the three Russian gold medalists with her win over world champion Yasemin Adar in the 76kg finals. 

The European Championships resume on Friday morning at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 
50kg
GOLD - Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 5-3
BRONZE - Milana DADASHEVA (RUS) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 10-4 
BRONZE - Kseniya STANKEVICH (BLR) df. Emilia CIRICU BUDEANU (MDA), 10-0 

55kg 
GOLD - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) df. Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR), 10-0 
BRONZE - Sofia Magdalena MATTSSON (SWE) df. Ellen RIESTERER (GER), 10-0 
BRONZE - Bediha GUN (TUR) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 11-4 

59kg 
GOLD - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) df. Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL), 6-5 
BRONZE - Anhelina LYSAK (UKR) df. Laura MERTENS (GER), via fall 
BRONZE - Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) df. Elif YANIK (TUR), 14-3 

68kg
GOLD - Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 11-0 
BRONZE - Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. Hanna SADCHANKA (BLR), via fall 
BRONZE - Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU) df. Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER), 9-0 

76kg
GOLD - Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) df. Yasemin ADAR (TUR), 4-3 
BRONZE - Iselin SOLHEIM (NOR) df. Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR), 6-6 
BRONZE - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) df. Pauline LECA