#Trnava2018

Returning Freestyle World Champs Steveson, Fix Enter #Trnanva2018 Field

By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 4) - Daton FIX (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA), the duo of American returning champions lead a freestyle #Trnava2018 field that boasts 245 wrestlers from 40 different nations. 

Fix, the 55kg champion from a year ago enters the Junior World Championships at 57kg, while Steveson, the 120kg gold-medal winner enters at 125kg. 

Steveson will be looking for his fourth age-level world title. Since stepping on the international scene in 2015, Steveson has yet to drop a match on his way to claiming two Cadet World titles, and a Junior World gold medal. 

Fix, the three-time world medalist will be trying to win back-to-back Junior World titles while competing in his fifth age-level World Championship. Since taking tenth place at the 2014 Cadet World Championships, Fix has rallied to win two bronzes, and most recently, a gold medal. 

Freestyle action begins on Friday, September 21 and will close the Junior World Championships. 

ALB
65kg - Eriglent PRIZRENI 
125kg - Paris KAREPI 

ALG
57kg - Salah Eddine KATEB 

65kg - Fares LAKEL 
79kg - Oussama ABDELLAOUI 
97kg - Mohammed FARDJ 

ARM
57kg - Arsen HARUTYUNYAN
61kg - Vazgen TEVANYAN
65kg -  Gegham GALSTYAN
70kg -  Arman ANDREASYAN
74kg - Hrayr ALIKHANYAN 
79kg -  Arman AVAGYAN 
86kg -  Mher MARKOSYAN 
125kg - Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN 

AUT
74kg -Simon MARCHL

79kg -Benjamin GREIL

AZE
57kg -  Aliabbas RZAZADE 
61kg -  Intigam VALIZADA 
65kg -  Royal AGHAMALIYEV 
70kg -  Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV 
74kg -  Ismail ABDULLAEV 
79kg -  Orkhan ABASOV 
86kg -  Magomed ASIYATILOV 
92kg -  Askhab HAMZATOV
97kg -  Alimagomed ALIKHMAEV 
125kg - Rahid HAMIDLI 

BLR
57kg -  Uladzislau KOIKA 
61kg -  Dzmitry HERASIMENKA 
65kg -  Mikita STRAKH 
70kg -  Aliaksandr KURYSHTA
86kg -  Arkadzi PAHASIAN 
92kg -  Vasil PAULIUCHENKA 
97kg -  Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI  
125kg - Uladzislau ASIPENKA

BUL 
61kg -  Alish Gyoksel ALISH 
65kg -  Nikola Delchev LEVENOV 
70kg -  Veselin Georgiev PETROV 
74kg -  Dzhemal Rushen ALI 
79kg -  Oktay Ruzhdi HASAN 
86kg -  Ivan Kostadinov STEFANOV
125kg - Daniel Milanov VESELINOV 

CAN 
57kg -  Brayden TODD 
61kg -  Marco PALERMO 
65kg -  Connor MCNEICE 
70kg -  Gunnar SALES
74kg - Ty BRIDGWATER 
86kg - Connor PATTISON 
92kg - Hunter LEE 
97kg -  Richard DESCHATELETS
125kg - Aly BARGHOUT 

CHN
57kg -  Wanhao ZOU 
61kg -  Minghu LIU 
65kg -  Chao ZHENG 
70kg -  Jun ZHAO 
74kg -  Yi LI 
79kg -  Gangsuhe GANGSUHE 
86kg -  Danan XU 
92kg -  Awusayiman HABILA 
97kg - Qirui BING 
125kg - Benxin DUAN 

Vojtech PISKOR (CZE), two-time World Team represenative. 

CZE
61kg -  David KOPRIVA 
86kg -  Vojtech PISKOR 
92kg -  Matous VONDAL 

EGY
57kg -  Gamal MOHAMED 
74kg -  Samy MOUSTAFA 
86kg -  Hassan FOUAD 

EST
65kg -  Marek KUETT 
74kg -  Erik REINBOK

FRA
61kg -  Arman ELOYAN 
79kg -  Charles AFA 

GEO
57kg -  Teimuraz VANISHVILI
61kg -  Ramaz TURMANIDZE
65kg -  Giorgi ELBAKIDZE        
70kg -  Iveriko JULAKIDZE       
74kg -  Goga MAMIAURI        
79kg -  Tornike KVINIKADZE   
86kg -  Demur MEGENEISHVILI          
92kg -  Beka NADASHVILI       
97kg -  Zuriko URTASHVILI     
125kg - Aleksi ZHORZHOLIANI

GER
57kg -  Horst Junior LEHR       
70kg -  Tino RETTINGER         
74kg -  Kevin LUCHT   
86kg -  Johannes DEML           
92kg -  Ertugrul AGCA

HUN
57kg -  Rajmund FARKAS        
70kg -  Botond GULYAS          
74kg -  Botond LUKACS          
79kg -  Milan MESTER
86kg -  Patrik SZUROVSZKI

Naveen NAVEEN (IND), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

IND
57kg -  Naveen NAVEEN         
61kg -  Suraj Rajkumar KOKATE          
65kg -  Karan KARAN  
70kg -  Vishal KALIRAMANA   
74kg -  Sachin RATHI  
79kg -  Sachin GIRI      
86kg -  Deepak PUNIA
92kg -  Somveer SOMVEER    
97kg -  Hussain NASIR
125kg - Mohit MOHIT  

IRI
57kg -  Reza ALIJANZADEHJOUYBARI
61kg -  Mehdi ESHGHIVASOUKOLAEI
65kg -  Amirhossein MAGHSOUDI     
70kg -  Amirhossein KAVOUSI
74kg -  Ali SAVADKOUHI         
79kg -  Sajjad GHOLAMI         
86kg -  Seyedabolfazl HASHEMIJOUYBARI    
92kg -  Abbas Ali FOROUTANRAMI
97kg -  Sajad AZIZI      
125kg - Amir YARI        

ISR
79kg - David LABKOVSKY        
86kg -  Uri KALASHNIKOV       
125kg - Lior ALTSHULER          

JPN
57kg -  Daiki ARAKI
61kg -  Kodai OGAWA
65kg -  Takuma TANIYAMA    
70kg -  Jintaro MOTOYAMA   
74kg -  Yuto MIWA     
79kg -  Hayato ISHIGURO      
86kg -  Shutaro YAMADA        
92kg -  Takuma OTSU
92kg -  Shohei YAMAZAKI       
97kg -  Hiroto NINOMIYA       
125kg - Akiho MORI / Kota TOYAMA  

Serik BAKYTKHANOV (KAZ), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

KAZ
57kg -  Rakhat KALZHAN        
61kg -  Syrbaz TALGAT           
65kg -  Kuanysh DUISENKUL  
70kg -  Nurkozha KAIPANOV  
74kg -  Aibar ZHYLKAIDAROV
79kg -  Daniyar MELDEBEK     
86kg -  Aslan DZICOEV            
92kg -  Alisher YERGALI          
97kg -  Serik BAKYTKHANOV  
125kg - Omar EYUBOV

KOR
57kg -  Hyeonsu CHO  
61kg -  Minsu CHO      
65kg -  Sangho HAN   
70kg -  Jinwoo MOON
74kg -  Gihwan LEE     
79kg -  Jaegyun GO     
86kg -  Jayong JIN       
92kg -  Myeongseok CHOO    
97kg -  Hyunsu HAN   
125kg - Ki Bum KIM     

KSA
57kg -  Tuorki HAZOAZI
61kg -  Hassan M WADDAN       

LTU
65kg -  Gytis JOVAISA
79kg -  Dominykas VILIUSIS    

MDA
57kg -  Ion BUTNARU
61kg -  Leomid COLESNIC       
65kg -  Nicolai GRAHMEZ       
70kg -  Vasile DIACON
74kg -  Piotr CARASENI
79kg -  Andrian GROSUL        
86kg -  Ivan NEDEALCO           
92kg -  Gheorghe ERHAN
125kg - Samhan JABRAILOV    

BYAMBASUREN Bat-Erdene (MGL), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

MGL
57kg -  Tumentsogt BOLD       
61kg -  Jamsranjav DUGERKHOROL   
65kg -  Bud BATBAATAR        
70kg -  Tergel TUMURKHUYAG          
74kg -  Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN   
79kg -  Tserendash BAASANDORJ      
92kg -  Altangerel CHINBAT   
97kg -  Mungunshagai TUMURBAT   
125kg - Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR     

MKD
65kg -  Fati VEJSELI     

PAK
70kg -  Ghulam GHOUS          
97kg -  Haroon ABID   

POL
61kg -  Karol Jakub CZEGUS   

70kg -  Szymon WOJTKOWSKI           
74kg -  Pawel Tomasz MALICKI           
79kg -  Jakub SZYMULA          
86kg -  Michal Jan BIELAWSKI
92kg -  Matthew WROBLEWSKI         
125kg - Jakub BRYLEWSKI       

RSA
61kg -  Frederik NORTJE         
74kg -  Matthew BARTLETT   

RUS
57kg -  Akhmed IDRISOV        
61kg -  Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV     
65kg -  Saiyn KAZYRYK
70kg -  Razambek ZHAMALOV           
74kg -  Devid BETANOV         
79kg -  Aslanbek GVARAMIIA
86kg -  Alik SHEBZUKHOV      
92kg -  Khokh KHUGAEV
97kg -  Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV           
125kg - Soslan KHINCHAGOV  

SUI
57kg -  Nino LEUTERT
70kg -  Tobias PORTMANN

SVK
61kg -  Pavol RAPCAN
65kg -  Balazs HAKSZER         
70kg -  Daniel CHOMANIC      
74kg -  Martin HORINEK         
79kg -  Christopher BEDNARIK           
92kg -  Dominik PECHA           
97kg -  Viliam OROSS

TKM
65kg -  Perman HOMMADOV
86kg -  Azat GAJYYEV
97kg -  Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV     

TPE
61kg -  Chia Hung CHANG      
74kg -  Hsiang-Wei WENG     

TUR
57kg -  Ahmet TAS      
61kg -  Ertugrul KAHVECI        
65kg -  Ahmet Salim YIGIT     
70kg -  Hasan KAYA    
74kg -  Isa DEMIR        
79kg -  Ramazan Ishak SARI   
86kg -  Arif OZEN        
92kg -  Erhan YAYLACI
97kg -  Feyzullah AKTURK       
125kg - Oktay GUNGOR          

UAE
125kg -Bader ALALI     

UKR
57kg -  Andrii DZHELEP           
61kg -  Ihor NYKYFORUK        
65kg -  Denys BOROHAN       
70kg -  Stepan LYLYK  
74kg -  Mahomed HADZHYMAHOMEDOV     
79kg -  Adlan BATAIEV           
86kg - Andrii HYKA      
92kg -  Oleksandr BYKANOV  
97kg -  Ruslan HEORHIIEV      
125kg - Yurii IDZINSKYI            

Aaron BROOKS (USA), 2017 Cadet World champion. Photo by Martin Gabor.

USA
57kg -  Brandon COURTNEY    
57kg -  Daton FIX          
61kg -  Josh SAUNDERS     
65kg -  Domonick DEMAS         
70kg -  Brady BERGE      
74kg -  Mekhi LEWIS     
79kg -  Aaron BROOKS
86kg -  Lou DEPREZ        
92kg -  Jacob WARNER     
97kg -  Daniel KERKVLIET JR
125kg - Gable STEVESON

UZB
57kg -  Gulomjon ABDULLAEV           
61kg -  Abbos RAKHMONOV 
65kg -  Ikhtiyor NORMURODOV         
86kg -  Davlatbek ASHUROV  
92kg -  Makhsud VEYSALOV   
125kg - Khasanboy RAKHIMOV          

#WrestleAthens

Turner back on top with second U17 title; India wins 2 golds

By Vinay Siwach

ATHENS, Greece (July 31) -- There have been dominant runs in Women's Wrestling at the World U17 Championships history and now Morgan TURNER (USA) has joined that list as well.

After winning the world title in 2023, Turner had to be satisfied with a bronze medal in 2024. However, that bronze made Turner more determined to end her U17 age-group career on high.

Wrestling at the U17 Worlds for the third time, Turner won her second world title at this age-group. She won the 49kg gold medal in Athens, Greece on Thursday, giving United States the first gold of the tournament.

"I definitely wanted to come back harder coming from bronze last year," Turner said. So my goal was to win it. I just preparing eventually, physically and emotionally. The bronze shadowed over the gold. So I had to come back and I had to get gold. I love it."

Turner, facing Yu KATAOKA (JPN) in the 49kg final, showed how to counter those Japanese low-single attacks. Every time Kataoka tried to go for them, Tuner would sit low and block with counterattacks.

Kataoka even tried getting behind but Turner held such good positions that she was able to counter and score, eventually winning 6-1. In four bouts, the final was the only one in which did not finish with technical superiority.

Now with two golds, Turner said that Thursday's gold proved that she has evolved as a wrestler and could perform moves other than the double-legs that she has been famous for.

"Two years ago was a lot a lot more nerves. I was on cloud nine. I was 14. I was super nervous," she said. "I feel like I need to grow as a wrestler. I left the double. I don't need to do a double all the time. I can shoot sweeps. I can do little singles. I can do cradles, I can do throws, I can do different things."

With her U17 career finished, Turner will now be focused on U20 and perhaps the senior level as well.

RACHANA (IND)RACHANA (IND) won the gold medal at 43kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Mixed day for India

India, the defending team champions, had a mixed day in the field. It had four wrestlers in the finals but only two came back with gold medals.

Former world U17 silver medalist RACHNA (IND) held her own lead against Xin HUANG (CHN) and secured the gold medal at 43kg. She scored a takedown in the first period to lead 2-0 and Huang was called passive in the second to give one more point to Rachna.

Huang did get a couple of attacks going but was not able to finish. Rachana's gold was the first for India of the night.

Ashvini VISHNOI (IND)Two-time Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) is now a world U17 champion at 65kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Two-time Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) added the second as she defeated Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) at 65kg with a similar score and scoring actions. With the win, Vishnoi also denied Rakhimjonova a chance of history as she could have become the first-ever world champion for Uzbekistan in Women's Wrestling at any level.

Wenjin QIU (CHN)Wenjin QIU (CHN) defeated KAJAL (IND) in the 73kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Returning world U17 champion from 69kg KAJAL (IND), now at 73kg, suffered a loss to Wenjin QIU (CHN) in the final. This was Kajal's second loss in two months to Qiu who had defeated the Indian 10-0 in the Asian U17 Championships final in Vietnam.

Kajal began on an attacking note and raced to a 4-0 lead with two takedowns. However, in the second period, Qiu was able to counter better. Qiu scored a four-pointer and then exposure as she was looking to pin Kajal. After the sequence, Qiu led 6-5. 

Still, Kajal got Qiu locked from behind and was about to throw her for four points but the Chinese managed to block that and land Kajal in danger for two points, extending her lead to 8-5, which became the winning score for her.

The second loss for India came in the 57kg final after a bizarre sequence of events. MONI (IND), who won the Asian U17 gold over Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ), faced her again in the finals in Athens.

Moni scored the first takedown of the bout but Usmanova hit a headlock for four to lead 4-2. The scramble continued and Moni got a point for reversal. However, Usmanov got another exposure for two more points and led 6-3 as the referee asked the wrestlers to return to center.

Moni does a double arm lock throw for two points to cut the lead to 6-5 with just over a minute left in the bout. Moni, who perhaps thought that she was leading the bout, did not engage with Usmanova for the next 50 seconds. Even Usmanova, who was leading, did not bother to get into a tangle.

Ultimately, Moni went for the attack with only 10 seconds left but Usmanova was not letting her score with gold on line. With her 6-5 win, Usmanova became the first Women's Wrestling world champion for Kazakhstan in 13 years and avenged her loss to Moni from the Asian U17 Championships final.

RESULTS

43kg
GOLD: RACHANA (IND) df. Xin HUANG (CHN), 3-0

BRONZE: Madison HEALEY (USA) df. Mareim ABDELAAL (EGY), via fall
BRONZE: Inzhu BAKKOZHA (KAZ) df. Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW), via fall

49kg
GOLD: Morgan TURNER (USA) df. Yu KATAOKA (JPN), 6-1

BRONZE: Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW) df. Azema KALIDINOVA (KGZ), 6-6
BRONZE: Komal VERMA (IND) df. Anhelina BURKINA (UWW), 8-3

57kg
GOLD: Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) df. MONI (IND), 6-5

BRONZE: Sayuki TANADA (JPN) df. Sophie RITTER (ITA), 4-4
BRONZE: Alina BAROEVA (UWW) df. Marta MANKOWSKA (POL), 6-1

65kg
GOLD: Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) df. Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB), 3-0

BRONZE: Feenja HERMANN (GER) df. Alexandra MOISEI (MDA), 4-2
BRONZE: Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW) df. Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL), 9-2

73kg
GOLD: Wenjin QIU (CHN) df. KAJAL (IND), 8-5

BRONZE: Ella Jo POALILLO (USA) df. Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO), via fall
BRONZE: Eylem ENGIN (TUR) df. Deborah GARCIA (MEX), 9-1