#WrestleRome

Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series entries

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 - 12:04 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (June 14) -- The third stop on the Ranking Series calendar will travel through the cobblestone-lined streets of Rome starting next Wednesday (June 22-25) for the Matteo Pellicone. The competition will feature nearly 320 athletes from 34 different nations stretching across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

This will be the fourth consecutive year that the Italian Wrestling Federation's Matteo Pellcone has been featured on the Ranking Series calendar. The event was held on the Italian island of Sardinia in 2019 before relocating to the Pala Pellicone Italian Olympic Training facility in early 2020.

Next Wednesday's opening day of wrestling starts with seven Greco-Roman weight classes. The final trio of Greco and the first four women's wrestling weights will be contested on Thursday. Friday's action closes out the women's categories and welcomes in the two heaviest freestyle weights, 97kg and 125kg. The final day of the competition will be on Saturday, when the remaining eight freestyle golds will be handed out.

SCHEDULE | EVENT PAGE 

Freestyle

57kg
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Abhishek DHAKA (IND)
Madhushika DE SILVA (SRI)
Mehmet YUCE (TUR)
Saban KIZILTAS (TUR)

61kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Tural Ebdul HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Teimuraz VANISHVILI (GEO)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Ravi KUMAR (IND)
Kenneth KOECH (KEN)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Ahmet TAS (TUR)
Recep TOPAL (TUR)

65kg
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Beka LOMTADZE (GEO)
Tornike KATAMADZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Anuj KUMAR (IND)
Shamil OMAROV (ITA)
Daniel PACINO (ITA)
Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)
Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU)
Sandaruwan GUNAWARDANA (SRI)
Hamza ALACA (TUR)

70kg
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Joshgun AZIMOV (AZE)
Murad EVLOEV (AZE)
Marwane YEZZA (FRA)
Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO)
Mulayam YADAV (IND)
Gianluca COLETTI (ITA)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Daniel CHOMANIC (SVK)
Cuneyt BUDAK (TUR)
Servet COSKUN (TUR)

74kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Otari BAGAURI (GEO)
Dimitri JIOEVI (GEO)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Mathayo MAHABILA (KEN)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)

79kg
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE)
Gadzhimurad OMAROV (AZE)
Nestor TAFUR (COL)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO)
Giorgi SULAVA (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
DEEPAK (IND)
Raffaele MATRULLO (ITA)
Mark ONGUYESI (KEN)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Jakub SYKORA (SVK)
Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR)

86kg
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO)
Zaur BERADZE (GEO)
Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Sanjeet KUNDU (IND)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Georgii RUBAEV (MDA)
Krzysztof SADOWIK (POL)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Saba CHIKHRADZE (GEO)
AKASH (IND)
John OMONDI (KEN)
Andrian GROSUL (MDA)
Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)

97kg
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN)
Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Erik Sven THIELE (GER)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Sahil SEHRAWAT (IND)
Abraham CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Dan CHEPTAI (KEN)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Mustafa SESSIZ (TUR)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Mohit GREWAL (IND)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Anil KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)


Reigning world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA) will compete at 63kg at the Matteo Pellicone. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Arjun HALAKURKI (IND))
Mohammad HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
Giovanni FRENI (ITA)
Florin TITA (ROU)
Max NOWRY (USA)

60kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Gyanender DAHIYA (IND)
Teodor HORATAU (ROU)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)

63kg
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
ANIL (IND)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Jesse THIELKE (USA)

67kg
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Kenedy MORAES (BRA)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Sajjad IMENTALAB (IRI)
Mohammad REZAEI (IRI)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Furkan YILDIZ (TUR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)

72kg
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Vikas VIKAS (IND))
Filippo BIONDI (ITA)
Brian OLOO (KEN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Patrick SMITH (USA)

77kg
Joilson DE BRITO (BRA)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)
SACHIN (IND))
Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Ali Mohammad GHOLAMI (IRI)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Abdurrahman KALKAN (TUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)

82kg
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Roni PUROLAINEN (FIN)
Harpreet SINGH (IND))
Rasoul Sadegh GARMSIRI (IRI)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Daniel CATARRAGA (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Hasan KILINC (TUR)

87kg
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Manoj KUMAR (IND))
Hossein Ahmad NOURI (IRI)
Simone FIDELBO (ITA)
Nicu Samuel OJOG (ROU)
Kristoffer BERG (SWE)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Emincan ENEZ (TUR)
Mehmetali KUCUKOSMAN (TUR)
Alan GARCIA (USA)

97kg
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Igor DE QUEIROZ (BRA)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Ondrej DADAK (CZE)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
RAVI (IND))
Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Spencer WOODS (USA)

130kg
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
SATISH (IND))
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)


Reigning world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) will return to the mat for the second time this season. Earlier this year, she won gold at the European Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Shivani PAWAR (IND))
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Shriyanthika NIROSHANI (SRI)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Emine CATALOGLU (TUR)

53kg
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Oriana DI STEFANO (ITA)
Emma Nekesa WANGILA (KEN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Chamodya KESHANI (SRI)
Emma MALMGREN (SWE)
Lilia MALANCHUK (UKR)

55kg
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Sushma SHOKEEN (IND)
Vinesh PHOGAT (IND)
Alice BEVILACQUA (ITA)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Ahinsa FERNANDO (SRI)
MARIIA VYNNYK (UKR) 

57kg
Giullia RODRIGUES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Mansi Ahlawat (IND))
Sophia AYIETA (KEN)
Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR)

59kg
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Sarita MOR (IND))
Nairomi SPERANDIO (ITA)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Abigail NETTE (USA)
Solomia VYNNYK (UKR)

62kg
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Ana GONZALEZ (CAN)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Sakshi MALIK (IND))
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Sara LINDBORG (SWE)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)

65kg
MANISHA (IND))
Veronica BRASCHI (ITA)
Winrose ALIVISA (KEN)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Emma BRUNTIL (USA)
Rfteryna ZELENYKH (UKR)
Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)

68kg
Grabriela PEDRO DA ROCHA (BRA)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Nisha DAHIYA (IND))
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
Natalia STRZALKA (POL)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

72kg
Anna SCHELL (GER)
MANJU (IND))
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR)
Skylar GROTE (USA)
Marilyn GARCIA (USA)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Epp MAE (EST)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Pooja SIHAG (IND))
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Mehtap GULTEKIN (TUR)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)

#WrestleZagreb

Onishi encounters rough waters before sailing to 59kg gold

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 22:50 By Ken Marantz

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- Looking over at her coach was enough to inspire rising teenage star Sakura ONISHI (JPN) after she suffered a rare lapse early in the match. Having a four-time Olympic champion in your corner will have that effect.

Onishi bounced back from an early deficit to pile on points before notching a late victory by fall over Maria VYNNYK (URK) in the 59kg final at the World Championships in Zagreb on Tuesday, when the first two golds were awarded in women's wrestling.

"I'm really happy," said Onishi, who fell behind 6-1 before building up a 17-8 lead and ending the match with :09 left, giving her the gold in her senior world debut a month after winning a second straight world U20 title.

In a battle between continental champions for the other gold up for grabs, Asian titlist Kyong Ryong OH (PRK) needed less than a period to rout European winner Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) 10-0 and become the second women's world champion in her country's history.

Also Read: Amouzad avenges Paris loss to Kiyooka

The 19-year-old Onishi currently attends powerhouse Nippon Sport Science University, where among her teammates is Paris Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN). And one of her coaches is four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN), who is also among the Japanese team staff in Zagreb and was in Onishi's corner on Tuesday.

When Vynnyk, a three-time European U23 bronze medalist, scored an arm-drag takedown and added two gut wrenches to take a 6-1 lead, Onishi looked for the best source of inspiration she could find.

"I panicked a little, 'What should I do?'" Onishi said. "But I was determined to get the points back. Even if I give up a lot of points, it was still within what I had imagined might happen. There was still time and I thought it was alright.

"I looked at Kaori's face and thought, 'OK, just do it.'"

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN), left, congratulates Sakura ONISHI (JPN) after the 59kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

From that point, Onishi went on a rampage, scoring a double-leg takedown and gut wrench combination, an ankle-pick takedown, then a snapdown takedown to finish the first period with a 9-6 lead.

She opened the second period with another takedown, but then gave up points -- awarded on challenge -- when Vynnyk hit a counter lift. That made her wary and more precise with her attacks after that.

"I thought that that was what she was aiming for," Onishi said. "I had practiced stopping it. I knew if I used my hand fighting and feints well, I could definitely get the points. Up to the end, as I was dealing with that, I thought to keep penetrating."

After adding another takedown, Onishi thwarted a reverse counter lift to score 4 points and land Vynnyk on her back, where the Japanese met little resistance in securing the fall.

While Onishi relished reaching the pinnacle on the senior level, she has set her sites even higher -- the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"It was really a fun tournament," Onishi said. "I had always been longed to be here. But this has not been my dream, it is the Olympics. Aiming for that, I have been told this is just a stage along the way. I am glad I could clear this stage.

"I will keep on working to get to Los Angeles. There will be various things that come up, but I will stay focused so that I can stand on the highest step of the podium in Los Angeles."

Kyong Ryong OH (PRK)Kyong Ryong OH (PRK) added a world title to her Asian title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Unlike Onishi, Oh encountered little difficulty in blowing away Verbina and adding the world gold to the Asian one she won in March in Amman.

"When I won the Asian and World Championships, I felt that all the tough training and hard work had finally paid off," Oh said.

Oh, also the Asian silver medalist in 2024, opened with a single-leg takedown, then reeled off three trap-arm rolls for a quick 8-0 lead. Another takedown attempt resulted in both wrestlers in a switch position, and Oh eventually gained control to end the match at 2:50.

"I wanted to show all the skills I’ve been training for in the best way possible," she said. "I thought that if I became a champion, I could make my father proud and bring a smile to his face. He was overjoyed and celebrated our victory in the international competitions, which made us recognized everywhere."

Oh joined Yong-Mi PAK (PRK), who won the 53kg gold in Nur-Sultan in 2019, as the lone women to win golds for DPR Korea. Her victory came a day after Chongsong HAN (PRK) won the freestyle 65kg gold, the country's first in that style since 2014.

Andreea ANA (ROU)The two bronze medalists at 55kg -- Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN), left, and Andreea ANA (ROU). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Ana claims elusive bronze at 55kg

Andreea ANA (ROU), a three-time European champion making her seventh trip to a World Championships or Olympics, finally made it onto the medal podium.

The 24-year-old Ana secured an elusive bronze medal at 55kg, clinching a 6-3 victory over Yaynelis SANZ VERDECIA (CUB) in a late scramble that had to be sorted out after the final buzzer.

Leading 2-1, with all of the points scored on the activity clock, Ana and Sanz Verdecia both gained 2-point exposures in a flurry that ended with the Cuban on top. But Ana reached back and flung Sanz Verdecia to the mat just as time expired for a final 2 that was confirmed on challenge.

Japan picked up the other 55kg bronze when Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN), winner of the world U20 title at 57kg last year, finished up a 10-0 victory over Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) with 33 seconds left.

Uchida opened the scoring with a 4-point counter to a throw attempt in the first period, then methodically scored three takedowns to secure the bronze in her senior world debut.

At 59kg, Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL) rallied to an 8-4 victory over Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW), while Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN) won the other bronze with a second-period fall of Othelie HOEIE (NOR).

Togtokh, second at the Mongolia Ranking Series event in May, had given up a go-ahead takedown with :43 left when she quickly reversed, then gut wrenched Sidelnikova over for a 6-4 lead. She added a takedown just before the buzzer.

Beauregard was trailing 2-0 in the second period when she scored a takedown, then turned Hoeie over and secured the fall in 4:30.

Day 4 Results

Women's Wrestling

50kg
SEMIFINAL: Myonggyong WON (PRK) df. Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN), 3-2
SEMIFINAL: Yu ZHANG (CHN) df. Munkhnar BYAMBASUREN (MGL) by Fall, 4:22 (9-0)

55kg (18 entries)
GOLD: Kyong Ryong OH (PRK) df. Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) by TF, 10-0, 2:50

BRONZE: Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN) df. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) by TF, 10-0, 5:26
BRONZE: Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Yaynelis SANZ VERDECIA (CUB), 6-3

57kg
SEMIFINAL: Helen MAROULIS (USA) df. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW) by Fall, 3:11 (5-0)
SEMIFINAL: Il Sim SON (PRK) df. Kexin HONG (CHN) by TF, 12-2, 3:55

59kg (22 entries)
GOLD: Sakura ONISHI (JPN) df. Maria VYNNYK (URK) by Fall, 5:51 (17-5)

BRONZE: Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL) df. Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW), 8-4
BRONZE: Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN) df. Othelie HOEIE (NOR) by Fall, 4:30 (4-2)

65kg
SEMIFINAL: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) df. Irina RINGACI (MDA) by TF, 10-0, 4:27
SEMIFINAL: Alina KASABIEVA (UWW) df. Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL) by TF, 13-3, 3:32

76kg
SEMIFINAL: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), 10-5
SEMIFINAL: Genesis REASCO (ECU) df. Milaimy MARIN (CUB), 5-3