#WrestleAcapulco

Saturday Night's Pan-American Finals Set

By Eric Olanowski

ACAPULCO, Mexico (May 7) --- The third day of action at the Pan-American Championships is underway in Mexico. Today, fans will see wrestling at FS 79kg and 92kg, and WW 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg. 

ICYMI:  Day Two photos | Godinez stuns two world champs for Pan-Am title

Saturday's final matchups:

Women's Wrestling 
50kg: Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) vs. Madison Bianca PARKS (CAN) 
53kg:  Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) vs. Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA) 
57kg: Yaynelis SANZ VERDECIA (CUB) vs. Alma Jane VALENCIA ESCOTO (MEX) 
62kg: Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) vs. Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) 
68kg: Hangelen LLANES ECHEVARRIA (CUB) vs. Soleymi Antonieta CARABALLO HERNANDEZ (VEN) 
76kg: Dymond Precious GUILFORD (USA) vs. Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU) 

Freestyle
79kg: Nordic-style bracket 
92kg: Nordic-style bracket 

1:45: That'll do it for our morning session coverage. We'll see you back here at 17:00 for the Day Three finals.

1:32: Parrish trailed 4-0 but scored five unanswered points and upset world bronze medalist Stewart, 5-4. She'll wrestle Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) in the 53kg finals. 

1:21: Quick note: Gilberto Segundo AYALA RODRIGUEZ (VEN), who is wrestling on Mat A, is 41-years-old.

1:18: Valencia cruised to an 18-7 win over on Mat A. That'll bring up two-time world champion J'den Cox of the United States. 

1:15:
JB does it again. He quickly finished Rivera, 10-0. His three wins have been 12-1, pin (up 10-0 at the time) and 10-0. 

1:13: I feel like he's wrestled seven times today already, but Burroughs is back on Mat B. He's wrestling Colombia's Juan Sebastian RIVERA GARCIA (COL).

1:09: Alma Jane VALENCIA ESCOTO (MEX), Mexico's first-ever women's wrestling Olympian, is up now on Mat A. She's wrestling Camila Agustina AMARILLA (ARG) for a spot in the 57kg semifinals. 

1:08: U23 world champ Alexandria Rebekkah TOWN (CAN) started her day with an easy 10-0 tech over Tatiana HURTADO LERMA (COL). She scored a takedown and transitioned into a trapped-arm gut wrench.

12:51: With so many stars in action today, I forgot that Kayla MIRACLE (USA) was wrestling. The reigning world silver medalist just demolished Yolanda Mercedes CORDERO VARGAS (CUB), 10-0, in 63 seconds and reached the 62kg semifinals.

12:44: There's the upset of the day! Reasco closed out the match with a third takedown, ending Di Stasio's hopes of becoming a five-time Pan-Am champion. The Ecuadorian won the match, 10-4.

12:32: What an opening two minutes for Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU). She's leading Canada's world champion and four-time Pan-Am gold medalist Justina Di Stasio 7-2 heading into the break.

12:15: World bronze medalist Sam Stewart just suffered a cut on her forehead but is continuing to wrestle. They taped her up and she's back in on a single while holding the 5-0 lead. It looks like she'll hang on and will wrestle Parrish for a spot in the 53kg finals. 

12:04: Dom Parrish just said, "Not today, Karla." The Mexican corning won the challenge, making the score 3-1 with seven ticks left. When the action resumed, the American picked up a takedown and stole the match as time expired. She'll await the winner of Sandy Yalixa PARRA PARRA (COL) and Samantha Leigh STEWART (CAN).

11:57: Things are heating up over on Mat B between Karla Abigail ACOSTA MARTINEZ (MEX) and Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA), The Mexcian wrestler had the 3-1 lead but there's an exposure under review right now which pushed the American in front on criteria.

11:38: No surprise here. Hildebrandt picked up an early takedown and........four laces to win the match, 10-0.

11:35: We'll go from one Olympic bronze medalist to another. The "Lace Queen" Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) is wrestling Shammilka Alondra MIRANDA DIAZ (PUR) on Mat A.

11:32: Cox looks like he's in top shape. He scored three takedowns -- two of which were from counter offense -- a pair of exposures and a stepout to win the bout, 11-0.

11:26: You know there's a star coming up when you see all the photographers scramble to one mat. That star is J'den Michael Tbory COX (USA) and he's wrestling Jeremy Adam POIRIER (CAN) on Mat A.

11:16: That was quick. Burroughs blasts through Victor J SANTOS ACOSTA (PUR) 10-0 in 69 seconds. Classic Burroughs with some solid transition offense. He's moving his feet well today and picking his shots with purpose.

11:05: Justina Renay DI STASIO (CAN) kicked off her quest for a fifth Pan-Am title with a quick 12-0 win over Luz Maria HERNANDEZ HERNANDEZ (MEX). She'll wrestle Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU) in her next bout.

10:56: In our premier match of the morning, U23 world runner-up Tatiana RENTERIA RENTERIA (COL) edged junior world champion Milaimys de la Caridad MARIN POTRILLE (CUB), 4-3. The Colombian will take on Emelyn Anyelina BAUTISTA CORCINO (DOM) next.

10:42: Yes, Mat B will house a lot of the stars, but I'll show Mat A some love. Here are a few wrestlers to pay attention to that'll wrestle on Mat A:

Bout 144 - J'den COX (USA) - World champion and Rio Olympic bronze medalist
Bout 146 - Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) - Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist 

10:36: It seems that Mat B is going to be the mat to watch. Here are the upcoming stars that'll be wrestling on the mat:

Bout 181 - Justina Renay DI STASIO (CAN) - '18 world champion
Bout 182 - Milaimys de la Caridad MARIN POTRILLE (CUB) - '19 junior world champ
Bout 185 - Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA) - World and Olympic champion
Bout 190 - Samantha Leigh STEWART (CAN) - '21 world bronze 
Bout 195 - Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) - '21 world silver 
Bout 197 - Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) - '21 U23 world champ

10:29: I'm back to my perch after shooting some rapid-fire question videos with Zahid VALENCIA (USA) and Forrest MOLINARI (USA), so be on the lookout for those on all of our social media channels! 

10:10: Burroughs picks up a quick 10-1 win over Barmish. The 79kg bracket is a Nordic-style chart, so the American will have next round off but will jump back to action in the third round against Juan Sebastian RIVERA GARCIA (COL).

10:00: World and Olympic champion  Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA) will kick off the day against Samuel Jacob BARMISH (CAN) on Mat A.

 

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.