#WrestleRome

Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series entries

By Eric Olanowski

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)

#WrestleTirana

World Championships: Five years after third, Kinjo earns shot at fourth gold

By Ken Marantz

TIRANA, Albania (October 29) -- Two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO (JPN) earned a shot at a fourth world title and first in five years, but Jia LONG (CHN) denied the powerful Japanese team a potential sweep of the women's golds.

Kinjo broke open a tight semifinal at 59kg against Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN), scoring eight points in the second period for a 9-0 victory at the Non-Olympic Weight Categories World Championships on Tuesday in Tirana.

Japanese hopes of winning all four of the women's titles on Wednesday ended when Asian champion Long rode a second-period surge to an 11-1 victory over Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg, avenging a loss to the Japanese in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

The two other Japanese in action, Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) at 55kg and Ami ISHII (JPN) at 72kg, had little trouble advancing to the finals of their respective weight classes.

At 59kg, Kinjo earned just an activity point in the first period against Lipatova, but came out firing in the second, scoring a takedown off a low-ankle shot that she topped off with an exposure and gut wrench for a 7-0 lead. Kinjo then added a double-leg takedown.

Kinjo, who needed a dramatic last-second victory in a domestic playoff with 18-year-old Sakura ONISHI (JPN) to earn her ticket to Tirana, will be aiming to add to her consecutive world titles from 2017 to 2019 in Wednesday's final against veteran Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL).

Sukhee, a world champion in 2014 and silver medalist in 2015, scored a late takedown to clinch a 4-1 victory over MANSI (IND) in the other semifinal. Both Kinjo and Sukhee were bronze medalists this year at the Asian Championships, with the Mongolian's coming at 62kg.

Kinjo could have been expected to retire after failing to make Japan's team to Paris 2024 in a bid for an Olympic three-peat, but she has often said that she wants her daughter, now 2 1/2, to see
how good her mother was, not just hear about it.

The 30-somethings Kinjo and Lipatova's careers had crossed paths before, meeting in the semifinals at the 2018 World Championships. Kinjo won that one 10-0 en route to the second of her three consecutive gold medals.

Kiyooka, winner of both the world U23 and U20 golds in 2022, will be aiming to capture her first senior global title, after seeing her brother Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ikuei University teammates Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) and Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) all strike gold at the Paris Olympics.

She got the parade into the final started by scoring a takedown in each period for a 4-0 victory over reigning European champion Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN), who was the losing finalist to Kinjo in the 57kg final at the Tokyo Olympics.

In the final, Kiyooka will face world U20 champion Jin ZHANG (CHN), who advanced with a victory by fall over Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA). Zhang got in on a deep single for a takedown that led to two quick exposures, then levered the American over before securing the fall.

At 65kg, Morikawa was ahead 1-1 on criteria in the second period when Long used a counter lift for 2 points (originally ruled 4, but later changed on the challenge). She had Morikawa's arm locked and used that for three rolls. After the match was resumed following the challenge, Long ended it with 43 seconds left with another counter lift.

In the final, Long will face European silver medalist Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), who scored a second-period fall over Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN) after building up an 11-6 lead.

Morikawa and Long were meeting for the second time, but one round earlier than before. Morikawa edged the Chinese 2-0 in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

The two finalists at 62kg at the World U23 Championships held last week at the same venue, champion Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and runnerup Macey KILTY (USA), lost to Morikawa and Zelenykh, respectively.

Ishii, the 2022 world 68kg silver medalist, won a battle of newly crowned world U23 champions by overwhelming Kylie WELKER (USA) with a 12-1 technical fall that she concluded in the final seconds. Ishii had won the U23 68kg title, while Welker had triumphed at 72kg.

In the final, Ishii will face three-time former Asian champion Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ), who will be looking to take home a first world gold after winning two silvers and a bronze over the past three years.

Bakbergenova prevailed in an entertaining 8-6 victory over Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), scoring 4 points in a first-period scramble and clinching the win with a late takedown in the second.

Both Morikawa and Ishii lost out on the place at the Paris Olympics at 68kg to Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), who ended up with a bronze medal.

For Ishii, the pain of missing out on Paris was particularly sharp, as she had earned the quota for Japan by placing fifth at the 2023 World Championships, only to lose in the last second of a playoff against Ozaki.

Morikawa rebounded from her disappointment by making the team at 72kg to the 2023 worlds, from which she took home a bronze. Now she is back at her normal weight class, in which she won the world gold in 2022 and finished second in 2021.

Women's Wrestling Results

55kg (18 entries)
SF: Jin ZHANG (CHN) df. Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA) by Fall, 1:28 (8-0)
SF: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN), 4-0

59kg (22 entries)
SF: Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) df. MANSI (IND), 4-1
SF: Risako KINJO (JPN) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN), 9-0

65kg (19 entries)
SF: Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) df. Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN) by Fall, 1:59 (11-6)
SF: Jia LONG (CHN) df. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) by TF, 11-1, 5:17

72kg (18 entries)
SF: Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) df. Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), 8-6
SF: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Kylie WELKER (USA) by TF, 12-1, 5:58