Norwegian king Mukubu reigns supreme at U23 Worlds

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 - 23:56 By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (October 19) – When Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) first burst onto the wrestling scene in Norway, he was noticed as a refugee. But as he grew as a wrestler over the years, Mukubu has proved himself as a force to reckon with in wrestling.

Mukubu became the first male wrestler from Norway to win the U23 World Championships when he won the Greco-Roman 82kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Spain on Wednesday.

The U20 world silver medalist last year, Mukubu made sure he goes home with the title this year, giving no chance to Karlo KODRIC (CRO) in the final gold medal bout which he won 10-1, extending Croatia's wait for a world champion.

And then came out the celebration in which he placed a crown on his head symbolizing him as the king of the [wrestling] world, at least for now.

Exacue MUKUBU (NOR) Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) throws Karlo KODRIC (CRO) for four points. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Mukubu was eight years old when he fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo with his mother and four siblings for Norway. For four years, the family was unaware of the whereabouts of Exauce's father who had been taken to the USA by the United Nations peacekeeping forces.

“In 2013, we received a phone call and my mother was screaming,” Mukubu said. “It had been four years since any news of my father. We did not even know where he was.”

Last year, Mukubu and his family flew to the United States to meet his father after 12 years and first since moving to Norway.

“So many people don't know this history about me,” he said. “It was awesome to see him after 12 years and know my history.”

While his father still cannot stay with the Mukubus in Norway, he remains in constant touch and is interested in his son's wrestling.

Mukubu first trained in the sport when he was 10 years old. One day, his mother lost her patience seeing the siblings fight around the house. Hence, she went up to their neighbor Sheikhrullah, a former wrestler, to take the kids to train.

“He took us to wrestle and I fell in love,” Mukubu recalled.

While the three other siblings moved on to other sports; Gabriel is part of Norway's U18 ice hockey team, Mukubu stayed. It took some time for him to make his mark but in his first championships, he won a bronze medal at the U17 Euros in 2018. The biggest breakthrough came when he reached the final of the U20 Worlds last year.

“I was 8-0 in the final in Ufa but to make it 10-1 here, it feels awesome to finally take the gold medal,” he said.

Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) with his gold medal in Pontevedra. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

In Pontevedra, Mukubu looked a notch above the field as he outscored his opponents 29-1 with a burst of big throws including two in the final Kodric.

“In this tournament, I went in with the belief that I can do it,” he said. “All the work I have put in has paid off with a gold medal.”

In the last year, Mukubu has been training in the Netherlands with the Sterkenburg twins and in Denmark with European champion and world silver medalist Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN). The four first met at the U23 European Championships in Skopje, North Macedonia four years ago.

“We have been in together since,” he said. “We want to build a team and qualify for the Paris Games.”

That's the complex part. Bisultanov and Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) are at 87kg and will try to qualify for that weight. Mukubu is tempted to 77kg but the coaches want him to go for 87kg.

“Coaches want me to go 87kg but I am not big yet so I want to go 77kg,” he said. “Maybe I will try to have some bouts at 87kg. But I will go with the flow. This year I wrestled against wrestlers who have been to the Olympics and World Championships and I think 77kg is better.”

It is yet to be seen if he will be able to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, both Norway and his family are pinning hopes on Mukubu for a brighter future.

Norway failed to qualify a single wrestler for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and it does not want the same to happen this year. The wrestling team is also the subject of an NRK TV documentary 'Hodet i klemme', translation to 'headlock', which shows the wrestling team's journey.

On the other hand, Mukubu's family hopes to get a job through wrestling. He is currently building an app that lets a person reserve car parking in advance, Mukubu has pushed that project for later and set his sights on the Olympic qualification.

“Ultimately, I have to take care of my family,” he said. “It's a different culture. They are happy for me but I have responsibilities. But I don't get money for wrestling. For now, it's all about the Olympics, but one day, I have to return.”

Kerem KAMAL (TUR) ended a four-year wait for a world title. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Kamal wins gold

In other gold medal bouts, European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) ended a three-year wait for a world title. He won the U20 gold in 2019 but has since been able to repeat the same at the senior level.

Wrestling another young star Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) in the final, Kamal never looked in trouble and scored an 8-0 win.

After getting points for stepout and passivity, Kamal got a huge four to lead 6-0 before a caution for two points against Mammadli gave him the gold medal.

Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) won the long gold medal for Azerbaijan in Pontevedra. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

But Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) made sure Azerbaijan finished with a gold medal as he denied another Croatian wrestler the opportunity to create history. He defeated Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO) in the 72kg final as Croatia's wait for the Greco-Roman world champion was extended by another year.

Puklavec scored two points over Gurbanov but never looked in control of the final as the Azerbaijan wrestler scored eight points.

Alex SZOKE (HUN) claimed the 97kg gold with a 3-2 win over Markus RAGGINGER (AUT). (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliksan)

At 97kg, senior world silver medalist Alex SZOKE (HUN) used his experience to win 3-2 against returning bronze medalist Markus RAGGINGER (AUT).

Szoke, who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, was awarded the par terre position and he turned Ragginger to lead 3-2.

When Szoke was put in forced par terre, he fled the hold. After an Austrian challenge, he was cautioned and the bout restarted in par terre with Szoke leading 3-2. But Ragginger failed to score and the bout ended with the same scoreline.

U20 world champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) defeated Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA) 17-7 to win the 67kg gold. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran won the team title with 138 points, 37 points more than second-placed Georgia. Turkey jumped over Azerbaijan to finish third with 93 points.

For Iran, Danial SOHRABI (IRI) won the third gold medal of the tournament by winning the 67kg weight class.

With a sense of calm about him, Sohrabi overcame a 7-0 deficit to win the gold medal 17-7 against Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA).

He was surprised early by a Snjoyan takedown. Sohrabi was put in par terre from which Snjoyan scored a four to lead 7-0. But Sohrabi got a headlock for four, a call which France challenged and lost to make it 7-5.

Sohrabi began the second period with another big four to lead 9-7 and with Snjoyan struggling to match his pace, the U20 world champion used the underhook to perfection to score stepouts.

Once the lead swelled to 13-7, Sohrabi was happy to play out the clock but Snjoyan attempted a big throw which resulted in him giving up another four points and the win to the Iran wrestler.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) reached the final at 50kg without giving up a point. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's wrestling also began Wednesday in Pontevedra and as expected, world and Olympic champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) wasted no time stamping her authority.

In her three bouts, Susaki won without being scored and finished all her bouts inside the first period. She is one win away from completing a grand slam of winning all the world titles along with the Olympic gold, for which she will face Anksuh PANGHAL (IND) in the final Thursday.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN), Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) and Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN) also made it to the gold medal bouts at 55kg, 59kg and 68kg.

Matsuyuki will face Nesrin BAS (TUR) in the final who defeated senior world bronze medalist Irina RINGACI (MDA) 11-6 in a battle.

At 76kg, Dymond GUILFORD (USA) will face returning silver medalist Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) for the gold medal bout.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE), 8-0

BRONZE: Olzhas SULTAN (KAZ) vs. Nurmukhammet ABDULLAEV (KGZ), 8-0
BRONZE: Melkamu FETENE (ISR) df. Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI (GEO), via injury (11-7)

67kg
GOLD: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA), 17-7

BRONZE: Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) df. Julian HORTA (COL), 3-1
BRONZE: Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) df. Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 3-1

72kg
GOLD: Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) df. Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO), 8-2

BRONZE: VIKAS (IND) df. Daigo KOBAYASHI (JPN), 6-0
BRONZE: Amir ABDI (IRI) df. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR), 3-1

82kg
GOLD: Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) df. Karlo KODRIC (CRO), 10-1

BRONZE: Lukas AHLGREN (SWE) df. Ranet KALJOLA (EST), 7-1
BRONZE: Beka GURULI (GEO) df. Ali HUNC (TUR), 9-0

97kg
GOLD: Alex SZOKE (HUN) df. Markus RAGGINGER (AUT), 3-2

BRONZE: Ali ABEDI (IRI) df. Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO), 1-1
BRONZE: NITESH (IND) df. Igor ALVES (BRA), 10-0

Women's wrestling semifinals

50kg
GOLD: Ankush PANGHAL (IND) vs. Yui SUSAKI (JPN)

SF 1: Ankush PANGHAL (IND) df. Nada MOHAMED (EGY), via fall
SF 2: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA), 10-0

53kg
GOLD: Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA) vs. Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)

SF 1: Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA) df. Alisha HOWK (USA), 9-8
SF 2: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) df. Virginie KAZE GASCON (CAN), 10-0

59kg
GOLD: Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) vs. Magdalena GLODEK (POL)

SF 1: Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) df. Lexie BASHAM (USA), 9-0
SF 2: Magdalena GLODEK (POL) df. Ramina MAMEDOVA (LAT), 8-2

68kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) vs. Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN)

SF 1: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Sienna RAMIREZ (USA), 9-4
SF 2: Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN) df. Noemi SZABADOS (HUN), 6-5

76kg
GOLD: Dymond GUILFORD (USA) vs. Tatiana RENTERIA (COL)

SF 1: Dymond GUILFORD (USA) df. Inkara ZHANATAYEVA (KAZ), 11-0
SF 2: Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), 4-1

#JapanWrestling

Wrestling prodigy Ono takes big strides, with family's support

Wednesday, January 8, 2025 - 14:23 By Vinay Siwach

JAPAN (January 8) -- Ben ASKREN calls him the 'best wrestler on the planet.' Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) invited him as a special guest to his academy. Kids are lining up to take his autograph. Wrestling social media pages have numerous highlights of him.

No wrestler has been talked about as much as Masanosuke ONO (JPN) in recent times, and not because he has a soy sauce named after him.

Two months have passed since he won the World Championships on the first attempt, but Ono remains the hottest topic in wrestling. Currently in the United States for various commitments, Ono first broke out by winning the U20 World Championships in October, and two weeks later, he rocked the world with his run at the World Championships in Tirana.

The 20-year-old, using his speed and a lethal gut wrench, dominated Olympic champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN), blanked world champion Vitali ARAJAU (USA) and posted three other technical superiority wins en route to the gold medal at 61kg. All that with a broken ankle.

"One month ago, I broke my ankle, and I couldn't practice at all," Ono had said after winning the gold in Tirana. "The Uguev match was my first live wrestling match after the fracture, and I was very unsure how I would do."

"It's like a dream for us," said Noriko, Ono's mother, who watched her son in the arena in Tirana. She was joined by her husband Masaharu, who was equally elated with his son's success.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN) with his with sister Konami, left and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (center).

This was not the first time the couple had traveled with the Ono for a wrestling tournament. Well before Masanosuke became a world-known wrestler, the Ono household had been traveling for wrestling. In 2015, they traveled to Las Vegas for the World Championships. Photos of Ono with Burroughs and other wrestlers went viral on social media after he won.

Masaharu has several anecdotes of his son Ono's childhood, especially from wrestling tournaments.

"We stayed at the same hotel as the wrestlers in 2015," Masanharu recounts. "One day, he was missing. We searched for him in the hotel and later found that he was eating with Haji Aliyev and going around wrestlers' rooms to get autographs."

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) poses for a picture with Masansuke and Konami ONO in 2015.

Ono's parents were not the only ones surprised. Former world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), who was wrestling at 57kg in the 2015 World Championships, heard a rumor that a little wrestler from Japan had come to Las Vegas to watch the World Championships.

"It's very rare in Japan, and he's the only little wrestler I've ever known who has traveled all the way overseas to watch matches like this," Takahashi says. "That was the first time I saw him, in the hotel. I was the same age at the time as he is now, a third-year university student. I don't remember talking to him directly, but I remember feeling very happy watching him running around with a big smile on his face."

Takahashi, a two-time Olympian for Japan, is now a coach at Yamanashi Gakuin University, the school that produced Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and where Ono is a third-year student now.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN) wrestling in school.

His story, however, begins way back -- when Ono was in kindergarten. Or, more specifically when he was removed from a music class.

Unable to sit still and constantly interrupting his teacher, Ono was asked to leave the class. "The teacher was angry and told him to take up wrestling," Masaharu says.

Turns out, music's loss is wrestling's gain.

Ono's father Masaharu had no experience in wrestling, he practiced Kendo, a form of martial arts that uses sticks. Yet, he trained Ono, and himself fell in love with the sport.

"Wrestling, a sport in which you don't use any equipment, you compete using only your body," he says. "It's a fair competition. Whether you win or lose, you are solely responsible. There are no excuses. The match starts and ends with a handshake. I love that about it. I incorporated elements of Kendo into Masanosuke's wrestling. So I coached him, even though I had no experience."

The Ono siblings with Kenichiro FUMITA(JPN) in 2016.

Soon, Ono's sister Konami joined the training. Konami is two years younger than Ono but is already making a name for herself. She won the Japan Queen's Cup in 2023 and won silver at the U17 World Championships at 61kg after she won the prestigious Klippan Lady Open.

In the Ono household, wrestling became a way of life. Masaharu would take his kids to most domestic competitions in Japan. If not competing, they would travel to watch. He even made a "Save Olympic Wrestling" banner in 2013 when wrestling was dropped from the Olympic program.

At the 2012 Japan Championships, Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) made a stunning debut, winning the gold medal. Later that day, Ono recognized Fumita outside the arena and ran to get his first autograph.

Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), center, a coach at the Yamanashi Gakuin University, pictured with Masanosuke ONO (JPN), second from right.

Ono would join Yamanashi Gakuin University, and Takahashi would see him again since the 2015 World Championships.

"He had grown bigger since I came to watch the World Championships, but he looked like he was having fun practicing, and his attitude seemed the same as it was back then," Takahashi says. "My first impression was that he was stronger in defense than in attack. I remember it was hard to score points. We had a lot of sparring, and watching him wrestling with pure joy made me feel young again."

Takahashi says that he expected Ono to be dominant once he is free of injuries and begins competing internationally.

"He had a lot of injuries and was unable to participate in many domestic tournaments for a long time, but when he is not injured and can train normally, he is really strong," he says. "He does not lose to fighters in higher weight classes. When he first entered the school, he was very weak even when sparring with me, but now he is really strong and has good natural ability, so I can feel his strength."

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Ono made his international debut at the 2024 Asian Championships in 65kg and returned with a bronze medal from the Asian Championships after he was pinned by Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) who used a perfect arm throw. He dropped back to 61kg, a weight class more suited to him, and Ono was a menace.

"He doesn't change his wrestling style depending on his opponent but sticks to his own style. I expected him to win both the World Championships, but I didn't expect him to win so overwhelmingly."

The reason for Ono's ability to be the best on the mat comes from his speed. Takahashi explained that Ono researches a lot on his opponent and is quick to understand their gameplan.

"After he returned to Japan, I asked him about his impressions of Uguev. He said that he had done a lot of research and was able to understand what he was going to do just by moving a little," he says. "In terms of technique, it's not flexibility, but his speed that is so fast. There is always an initial movement before a technique, but he can perform the technique right there, so the opponent's reaction is delayed. Also, he predicts this and still performs the technique, so the opponent cannot even react."

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Soy sauce named Masanosuke, after Ono.

While Ono is away in the United States, his father Masaharu is planning for a long 2025 season. He wants to continue his travels with Masanosuke and Konami, which he has done since 2015. An owner of a soy sauce brewing factory in the Shimane Prefecture, Masaharu has even launched a soy sauce named after his son.

"I would be happy if people in the wrestling world around the world liked Masanosuke's interesting character," Masaharu says. "I am happiest when I travel the world to attend wrestling matches with Masanosuke and Konami."

Masaharu has documented his children's journey and is enjoying the love his son is getting so far in wrestling. Whether fans or his opponents, Ono is celebrated. Ono's walk after winning the gold was similar to what Connor McGregor did during his career; it went viral, adding to his celebrations like a fictional character from the manga series Attack on Titan (Shingekino Kyojin).

Masanosuke ONO (JPN) The Ono family in Budapest for the 2018 World Championships.

Masaharu also documented his family's trip to the 2018 World Championships in Budapest. Ono, then 14 years old, would run around to get pictures clicked. He got a few with Kyle SNYDER (USA), Sadulaev, Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Taha AKGUL (TUR) and other stars.

And Masaharu has no plans to stop capturing his children on and off the wrestling mat. And then tell the stories of his travels.

"The viral photo with Burroughs was by chance," Masaharu says. "Ono had wandered off in the hotel and took his autograph. I did not believe that it was Burroughs's autograph. So he took me to his room and asked me to click a photo with Burroughs as evidence. That's how we got the photo. Later that night he won the gold medal at 74kg."

Norwegian king Mukubu reigns supreme at U23 Worlds

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Wrestling prodigy Ono takes big strides, with family's support