Poland Prise Pair of Women's Golds at #PolandOpen

Saturday, September 8, 2018 - 20:09 By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (September 8) – Roksana ZASINA (POL) and Agnieszka WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) helped the host nation, Poland, capture two of the possible five women’s wrestling gold medals that were up for grabs on the second day of the final Ranking Series event of the year.

Roksana Zasina, the No. 8 ranked wrestler in the world, gave Poland their first gold medal of the day after scoring a 6-2 win over U23 world bronze medalist Tetyana KIT (UKR) in the 55kg gold-medal match.

Zasina won her second straight Poland Open title, but more importantly, she stopped Kit from capturing her first Ranking Series gold medal. Kit has competed in three of the four Ranking Series events and has finished with two silvers and a bronze medal.

At 72kg, Wieszczek-Kordus handed Poland their second women’s wrestling gold medal after sticking WANG Kunming (CHN) in the gold-medal match. It took Wieszczek-Kordus four tries, but she finally grabbed the gold medal that she’s been chasing since 2012.

Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) knocked off the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world to win the Poland Open title at 65kg. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN), Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), and Mariya STADNIK (AZE) won the final women’s wrestling gold medals.

In the 65kg finals, Danielle Lappage stunned the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world, Petra OLLI (FIN), 3-2. Lappage handed Olli her first loss since January’s Ivan Yarygin. Since January, Ollie has won gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the European Championships.

Stadnik gabbed her second gold medal of the season, defeating Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) in the 50kg gold-medal bout. Stadnik, the Klippan Lady Open runner-up, and European Championship gold medalist scored her fifth technical superiority victory of the tournament, improving her 2018 record to 12-1. Her only loss in 2018 was against reigning world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN).

Svetlana Lipatova claimed the final gold medal with an injury default win over 2017 world runner-up, Marwa AMRI (TUN).

RESULTS
Women's Wrestling
50kg
GOLD - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Ilona SEMKIV (UKR), 13-2

BRONZE - Whitney CONDER (USA) df. Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS), 6-4
BRONZE - Jessica Anne Marie MACDONALD (CAN) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), via injury default

55kg
GOLD - Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 6-2

BRONZE - Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR) df. Olga SHNAIDER (UKR), 4-0
BRONZE - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) df. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), 10-0

59kg
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) df. Marwa AMRI (TUN), 0-0

BRONZE - Olena KREMZER (UKR) df. Hanna VAHER (BLR), 4-0
BRONZE - Lingling BAO (CHN) df. Laura Sofia AAK (NOR), via fall

65kg
GOLD - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN), 3-2

BRONZE - Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), via fall
BRONZE - Moa NYGREN (SWE)df. Chuying TANG (CHN), 6-2

72kg
GOLD - Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) df. Kunming WANG (CHN), via fall

BRONZE - Catalina AXENTE (ROU) df. Patrycja SPERKA (POL), 3-1
BRONZE - Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) df. Nikoletta Renata SZMOLKA (HUN), 10-0

Freestyle
57kg
GOLD - Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) df. Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA), 10-0

BRONZE - Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) df. Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV (USA), 12-6
BRONZE - Nurislam (Artas) SANAYEV (SANAA) (KAZ) df. Adrian Jakub WAGNER (POL), via fall.

65kg
GOLD - Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) df. Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO), via injury default

BRONZE - Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL) df. Jordan OLIVER (USA), , via forfeit
BRONZE - Dimitar Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL) df. Hasibagena HASIBAGENA (CHN), 6-2

74kg
GOLD - Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Wei WU (CHN), 12-2

BRONZE - Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) df. Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ), 7-1
BRONZE - Andrzej Piotr SOKALSKI (POL) df. Jonatan ALVAREZ DIAZ (ESP), via forfeit.

86kg
GOLD - Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) df. Samuel BROOKS (USA), 2-2

BRONZE - Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA) df. Lars SCHAEFLE (GER), 10-0
BRONZE - Piotr IANULOV (MDA) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 8-3

97kg
GOLD - Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ), 10-0

BRONZE - Chaoqiang YANG (CHN) df. Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN), via injury default

Greco-Roman
63kg
GOLD - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) df. Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL), 4-0

BRONZE - Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) df. Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE), 8-0

72kg
GOLD - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Denis HORVATH (SVK), 9-0

BRONZE - Daniel Mattias SOINI (SWE) df. Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN), 7-1
BRONZE - Mikko Petteri PELTOKANGAS (FIN) df. Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR (BRA), 5-1

82kg
GOLD - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR), 6-4

BRONZE - Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Edgar BABAYAN (POL), 6-2
BRONZE - Jarno Krister AALANDER (FIN) df. Petr NOVAK (CZE), 4-3

97kg
GOLD - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL), 7-0

BRONZE - Suleyman ERBAY (TUR) df. Mathias BAK (DEN), 13-6
BRONZE - Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) df. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), via injury default

#WrestleTirana

Sadulaev shuts down Taylor in World Championships showdown

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 - 11:59 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 30) -- Two-time world champion at 92kg Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) would have expected his return to the World Championships to make all the noise in Tirana. After all, it had been two years since he last competed at the World Championships.

Enter Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) and David TAYLOR (USA). The former, who last won the world title in 2021, was not able to compete at the Paris Olympics and was injured during the semifinal of the 2023 World Championships.

Taylor, world champion in 2023, missed the Paris Olympics after losing the trials in the United States, announced his retirement and took a coaching job. He came out of retirement and decided to compete at the World Championships and retire.

Both are not 92kg wrestlers. Sadulaev has been a true 97kg for eight years now. Taylor is competing at this weight for the first time after dominating 86kg for years. But the two were pitted against each other in the opening round of the World Championships in Tirana at 92kg.

The small Feti Borova Sports Hall in Tirana did not have space to sit. So where one could, they stood to watch the two wrestle. Saudulaev in a singlet not meant for his 92kg body. Taylor, in his customary elbow on the thigh and waiting for his opponent.

No one knew what was going to happen. Sadulaev was reducing weight, and Taylor was gaining. How would the two match up? It was this lack that prompted the fans to cheer for both. But after the first period, the picture became much clearer. Sadulaev shut down Taylor's offense and came out of the pressure bout 7-0.

After the initial collar ties, Taylor went for the offense. He got on Sadulaev's leg and tried the lift but Sadulaev was swift to get out of the hold. Taylor continued his attack. That's the only way he knows wrestling. Taylor took another offensive shot and Sadulaev, with lessons from the previous attack, pressured forward to neutralize the attack and scored a go-behind for two. Sadulaev resorted to heavy snapdowns and Taylor wasn't able to defend the second one. Within two minutes, Sadulaev was up 4-0.

The speed and power was Sadulaev was impressively superior to that of Taylor who decided to change a little in the second period. He went for the far leg of Sadulaev. But Sadulaev was quick and spun behind Taylor and scored a takedown with less than two minutes left.

By this time, Ghasempour had finished his bout on the other mat. He defeated Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN) 6-0 in a rather slow bout.

Sadulaev now had to defend his 5-0 lead. Taylor continued his aggressive approach and got on Sadulaev's right leg. What he did not expect was the quick counter from Sadulaev who pushed Taylor and scored an exposure for two. It was evident that Taylor could not match Sadulaev.

David TAYLOR (USA) in the warm-up hall after his bout against Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) at 92kg in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

"I did not score on the two times I shot and he did," Taylor said after the bout. "That was the difference. I needed to score on those two occasions."

Taylor and Sadulaev went to the warm-up hall but the former sat for more than 45 minutes in silence. He finally broke his silence and talked to the United States coaches after his leg attacks. After spending 30 more minutes gathering his thoughts, Taylor packed his bags and left.

On the training mats, Ghasempour and Sadulaev jogged before cooling down after their bouts. If both continue to win, they are expected to meet in the semifinals.

The match will be rather important for Taylor as well. He will hope for a Sadulaev win which will give him the chance to wrestle for the bronze medal.

"I expect him to make the finals and come back tomorrow," Taylor said. "I need to wrestle better that is my focus for now."

If he does wrestle Thursday, fans will only be treated to another blockbuster. A Ghasemoour-Taylor bout. The only downside will be that one will go home empty-handed.

Poland Prise Pair of Women's Golds at #PolandOpen

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Sadulaev shuts down Taylor in World Championships showdown