#WrestleIstanbul

Seven Statement Wins from #WrestleIstanbul

Thursday, March 3, 2022 - 13:42 By Eric Olanowski

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (March 2) -- The first Ranking Series event of the season just wrapped up in Istanbul and there were loads of unexpected upsets. We laid out seven statement wins from Turkey that wrestling fans have to see.

No. 7: Chance MARSTELLER (USA) df. Hetik CABOLOV (SRB), 10-5

Coming into the Yasar Dogu, Marsteller's only senior-level appearance came at the '19 Alexander Medved, where he finished in ninth place.

In Istanbul, Marsteller showed significant improvement en route to the 79kg finals where he fell to Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) in the finals. Of the American's four wins, his most significant hand-raising performance came in 1/8 finals when he outclassed Serbia's former world champ Hetik Cabolov, 10-5.

No. 6: Mohammadbagher YAKHKESHI (IRI) over Suleyman ATLI (TUR),7-5

Yakhkeshi sent two-time world medalist Atli packing early after he scored arguably the most memorable last-second win from Istanbul. 

Yakhkeshi trailed 5-1 with under a minute to go but continued to attack as his Turkish opponenet put the match in cruise control. The Iranian picked up a takedown near the 45-second mark and closed cut Atli's lead to 5-3. With less than 10 seconds left, Yakhkeshi jacked up an underhook on the Tokyo Olympian and tossed him to his back for four points with a perfectly timed hip toss, stealing a spot in the 61kg semifinals.

 

No. 5: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB), 8-4

Abbasov came into Instanbul needing a signature win that would get him back on the winning course. He was coming off abysmal performances at the Olympic Games and World Championships, where he finished in 13th and 25th place, respectively.

Abbasov earned that trajectory-changing win after he defeated defending world champ and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Zatunashvili to win the 87kg Ranking Series title.

No. 4: Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) df. Taybe YUSEIN (BUL), via fall

It seems that '14 world champion Sukhee has put the disappointment of missing the Tokyo Olympic Games behind her. That was evident in Istanbul, as she reached the top of the podium with a trio of wins over Olympic bronzes medalist Sakshi MALIK (IND), Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Taybe YUSEIN (BUL).

Without a doubt, Sukhee's biggest win came in the 1/8 final when she pinned world champion and Tokyo bronze medalist Yusein. The Mongolian led the match by one point but kept her foot on the gas. She dumped the Bulgarian to her back and scored the fall, punching her ticket to the quarterfinals before ultimately winning her second gold medal of the year (Ivan Yariguin in January).

No. 3: Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 8-0

From a team standpoint, Uzbekistan's Greco-Roman squad had one of the hottest showings in Turkey. They were led by newly-retired Olympic bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB), who cornered Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB),  Mahmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) and Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) to gold-medal victories.

Without a doubt, the most impressive run of the three came at 63kg, where Bakhramov breezed past reigning world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 9-0, in the finals.

No. 2:  Beka KANDELAKI (AZE) df. Riza KAYAALP (TUR), via fall

In jaw-dropped fashion, Kandelaki not only picked up one of the biggest upsets of the competition, but his Istanbul win will go down as one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Kandelaki hand fought hard in the first against Turkey's modern-day legend Riza Kayaalp but was placed in the par terre position after being hit with passivity. After surrendering the inactivity point, the Azeri conceded a gut wrench and trailed 3-0, before doing the unthinkable. He halted a second gut-wrench from the four-time world champion and planted the Turkish great on his back for the fall. He ended Kayaalp's hopes of winning an eighth Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament gold medal and reached the finals of an international competition for the first time since 2016.

No. 1: Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) df. Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), 8-0

Nunes De Oliveira took her wrestling to another level in the 1/8 finals against two-time world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ). Whatever her game plan was, it worked to a tee. The Brazilian wrestled a perfect bout against the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, scoring a pair of stepouts and three takedowns, blanking the Kyrgyz star, 8-0.

#WrestleBudapest

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

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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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.