#Grappling

Spain dominates European Grappling with team titles

Monday, March 13, 2023 - 11:20 By Vinay Siwach

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BUCHAREST, Romania (March 13) -- Spain's women's team emerged victorious at the European Grappling Championships, held in Bucharest, Romania, over the weekend. Led by Anna CASTELLS' (ESP) two gold medals, the Spanish team showcased their skills and determination to claim the team title.

The Spain women's team outplaced grappling powerhouse Ukraine in both the styles -- Grappling and Gi. Castells won gold medals in both events.

Grappling at 64kg, Castells took on Sandra PNIAK (POL) in the final of Grappling. After a slow start, Castells scored a takedown when Pniak slowed down. In the same scramble, Pniak managed to reverse the position and Castells gave up two points. Pniak cleverly broke the lock with 30 seconds remaining and decided to defend her 2-2 criteria lead.

However, in the final 20 seconds, Castells managed to throw Pniak and score exposure for two points to win 4-2.

A day later, she grappled another Poland grappler. In the 64kg final of the Gi event, Joanna ZABULEWICZ (POL) challenged Castells but met the same fate as her teammate Pniak.

Zabulewicz decided to go to the mat first which gave Castells two points. The Spaniard was penalized for being passive after going on top as Zabulewicz got her first point. Zabulewicz continued to engage Castells who was clearly not in the mood to engage. She was once again called for passivity and her lead now was 2-2 on criteria.

In the final minute, realizing that she may be called passive for the third time, Castells decided to be more active. She did not score a point but was enough to continue to grapple Zabulewicz and win 2-2.

Castells' success at the European Grappling Championships is just the latest achievement. Last year, she won the World Championships in Grappling at 64kg in front of her home crowd.

Four other European champions were crowned in Grappling with Pnina ARONOV (ISR) winning at 53kg, Melissa BENEDINI (ITA) winning the gold at 58kg, world champion Kateryna SHAKALOVA (UKR) winning the 71kg gold and Janina CZYCZYN (POL) claiming the gold at 90kg.

Janina CZYCZYN (POL)Janina CZYCZYN (POL) won two gold medals at the European Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Czyczyn won the gold medal in the Gi event as well, claiming the title at 90kg over teammate Magdalena ZASZCZUDLOWICZ (POL).

In the Gi event, Spain had an even better performance with three gold medalists. Apart from Castells, Naiomi MATTHEWS (ESP) won the 53kg gold and Micaela COMPANY (ESP) won the 71kg gold. Shakalova decided to give the Gi event a miss.

But Ukraine still had a champion as Viktoriia SYNIAVINA (UKR) won the gold medal in the 58kg weight class.

Roman KIZIUK (UKR)Roman KIZIUK (UKR) won the 92kg gold medals in both competitions. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Kiziuk stars

Roman KIZIUK (UKR) lit up the arena in Bucharest with two exceptional performances over two days, winning the 92kg gold medals at both Grappling and Grappling Gi events.

Undoubtedly the biggest star of the competition, Kiziuk continued where in left in Pontevedra, Spain last year and dominated the competition in Bucharest, adding two European golds to his World Championships golds.

In the Gi format, Kiziuk faced Roy DAGAN (ISR) in the final and was on the offensive from the word go. While Dagan tried to get Kiziuk in a headlock using his legs, the Ukrainian kept searching for scoring options. Dagan gave up after two minutes which allowed Kiziuk to move into headpinch position which gave him three points in the 5-0 win.

Earlier in the day, Kiziuk got two walkovers and one win via submission to enter the final.

In the Grappling event, Kiziuk was even more lethal, beginning with a 5-0 win over Avraham IBRAGIMOV (ISR), an 18-0 thrashing of Eduard ORAC (FRA) in the quarterfinals and beating Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL) 2-1 in the semifinal.

He faced teammate Mykhailo MUZYCHENKO (UKR), he scored a 3-1 victory but did most of the attacking. In the final minute, he got penalized a point for passivity but that did not do too much harm.

His win in Grappling Gi helped Ukraine win the team title with 120 points, four more than second-placed Israel.

Ukraine finished second in the Grappling event with Poland dominating the show and finishing with 133 points. Ukraine finished second with 104 points.

Andrzej IWAT (POL)Andrzej IWAT (POL) won gold medals at 100kg in both Grappling and Grappling Gi events. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Jakub NAJDEK (POL), Mateusz MAZUR (POL) and Andrzej IWAT (POL) were the European champions for Poland in 77kg, 84kg and 100kg respectively.

Other champions in Grappling included Omri HAVIV (ISR) at 62kg, Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) at 66kg, Alessio SACCHETTI (ITA) at 71kg and Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) at 130kg.

Alessio SACCHETTI (ITA)Alessio SACCHETTI (ITA) was a double champion in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Apart from Kiziuk in the Gi event, Sacchetti and Iwat also claimed twin gold medals. Sacchetti defeated Iker CAMARA (ESP) in the Grappling 71kg final 8-0 and Viki DABUSH (ISR) 4-2 in the Gi final.

Iwat faced Ivan Malin in the two finals and managed to win close bouts. In the Grappling final, he defeated Malin 4-2 and in the Gi final, he won 6-4.

Other champions in Gi were Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM) at 62kg, Alejandro CARRERAS (ESP) at 66kg, Pavlo MAKSYMCHUK (UKR) at 77kg, Nimrod RYEDER (ISR) at 84kg and Wojciech WILK (POL) at 130kg.

Results

Men's Grappling

62kg
Omri HAVIV (ISR)
Mykola NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Dmytro BARANOV (UKR)
Loris ZANOLINI (ITA)

66kg
Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA)
Yarin CHRIKI (ISR)
Sergio RIQUELME (ESP)
Wojciech PAJAK (POL)

71kg
Alessio SACCHETTI (ITA)
Iker CAMARA (ESP)
Viki DABUSH (ISR)
Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER)

77kg
Jakub NAJDEK (POL)
Djabrail DJABRAILOV (FRA)
Pierre MANZO (FRA)
Kamil ROSIAK (POL)

84kg
Mateusz MAZUR (POL)
Saar SHEMESH (ISR)
Pawel JAWORSKI (POL)
Nimrod RYEDER (ISR)

92kg
Roman KIZIUK (UKR)
Mykhailo MUZYCHENKO (UKR)
Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL)
Jose MORA (ESP)

100kg
Andrzej IWAT (POL)
Ivan MALIN (UKR)
Mourad BENGHOUNE (FRA)
Guglielmo CECCA (ITA)

130kg
Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE)
Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA)
Ivan SNIHUR (UKR)
Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO)

Women's Grappling

53kg
Pnina ARONOV (ISR)
Carlota PRENDES (ESP)
Kristina RAU (GER)
Anca CUBLESAN (ROU)

58kg
Melissa BENEDINI (ITA)
Lina GROSSET (FRA)
Viktoriia SYNIAVINA (UKR)

64kg
Anna CASTELLS (ESP)
Sandra PNIAK (POL)
Antonia KANEW (GER)
Joanna ZABULEWICZ (POL)

71kg
Kateryna SHAKALOVA (UKR)
Alycia QUENEE (FRA)
MERYXELL GONZALEZ CORREA (ESP)

90kg
Janina CZYCZYN (POL)
Magdalena ZASZCZUDLOWICZ (POL)
Claudia FORNES (ESP)

Men's Grappling Gi

62kg
Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM)
Omri HAVIV (ISR)
Tal PISTINER (ISR)
Dmytro BARANOV (UKR)

66kg
Alejandro CARRERAS (ESP)
Sergio RIQUELME (ESP)
Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA)
Wojciech PAJAK (POL)

71kg
Alessio SACCHETTI (ITA)
Viki DABUSH (ISR)
Iker DOMINGUEZ (ESP)
Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO)

77kg
Pavlo MAKSYMCHUK (UKR)
Nikolaos POLYDOROS (GRE)
Djabrail DJABRAILOV (FRA)
Pierre MANZO (FRA)

84kg
Nimrod RYEDER (ISR)
Pawel JAWORSKI (POL)
Andrii BARKAR (UKR)
Matteo VERMIGLIO (ITA)

92kg
Roman KIZIUK (UKR)
Roy DAGAN (ISR)
Francisco MARTINEZ VILA (ESP)
Claudiu PATRU (ROU)

100kg
Andrzej IWAT (POL)
Ivan MALIN (UKR)
Mattan CHAZEN (ISR)
Martin NUSSMANN (GER)

130kg
Wojciech WILK (POL)
Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA)
Guglielmo CECCA (ITA)
Michal PIWOWARSKI (POL)

Women's Grappling Gi

53kg
Naiomi MATTHEWS (ESP)
Pnina ARONOV (ISR)
Kristina RAU (GER)
Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP)

58kg
Viktoriia SYNIAVINA (UKR)
Alesia ABRAMOVA (ISR)
Diana HRYHORENKO (UKR)

64kg
Anna CASTELLS (ESP)
Joanna ZABULEWICZ (POL)
Florika LUCHYCH (UKR)
Snezhana MORAR (UKR)

71kg
Micaela COMPANY (ESP)
MERYXELL GONZALEZ (ESP)
Alycia QUENEE (FRA)

90kg
Janina CZYCZYN (POL)
Magdalena ZASZCZUDLOWICZ (POL)
Giulia SIRTORI (ITA)

2026 Muhamet Malo

'Important Gold’: Sadulaev Relishes Successful 97kg Return

Thursday, February 26, 2026 - 21:58 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 26) -- World champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) could have challenged him. Up-and-coming Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW) could have caused trouble. Or maybe Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) would have caused an upset.

None of that happened. A calm and composed Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) marked his return to the mat with yet another gold medal, winning the 97kg weight class at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event on Thursday in Tirana, Albania.

READ MORE: Khaniev Beats Snyder, Iran Wins 2 FS Golds

It has become increasingly rare to see Sadulaev wrestle internationally, but when he does, the results tend to be a foregone conclusion. Sadulaev last wrestled at a global event at the same Feti Borova Arena in Tirana in October 2024 when he claimed his sixth world title, stunningly dropping to 92kg.

After 15 months, he was back -- at 97kg and, the top of the podium.

"Thank you to everyone who supported me, those in the arena and those watching on TV and smartphones," Sadulaev said. "Everyone who cheered, worried, and prayed for me. I want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to all of you."

When Sadulaev stepped on the mat on Thursday, he rolled back the years. Right hand on his opponent's forehand, circling while standing tall. He would throw himself back if someone tried to attack his legs and then get a front headlock to score.

A true throwback in Tirana would have been a Sadulaev and Snyder clash but Khaniev decided to postpone that for now by beating the United States wrestler in the quarterfinals. Sadulaev got Khaniev in the final.

He was the first on board with a double-leg attack which gave him four points. He then made Khaniev toil to find an opening and when he did, Sadulaev defended like a rock. Khaniev was able to score only through stepouts -- managing four points from it while Sadulaev added three more takedowns to finish the final 10-4.

While the gold medal was a satisfactory result for Sadulaev, there was an added incentive that he was chasing.

"For me, this gold means qualifying for the European Championships, which will take place here in this same arena in two months, in April. It was very important for me to qualify there," he said.

Sadulaev, if he competes, will be at the European Championships after six years having last competed at the tournament in 2020. He won gold medal at 97kg in Rome.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) scores on Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW) in the 97kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The final against Khaniev was a virtual wrestle-off to win the spot for the continental championships, to be held from April 20 to 26. And despite beating Khaniev, Sadulaev was all praise for the youngster.

"Khaniev is young and promising," he said. "I thought we might meet before the final, but [because of the bracket] we faced each other only in the final.

"I know him well, we train in the same region, we’ve been at training camps together and worked side by side. He’s very tough, with a really good stamina. He hasn’t gained that much experience yet, but I believe he has everything ahead of him."

Khaniev, making his debut at 97kg internationally, sprung a surprise when he defeated Snyder 10-4, using some crafty counters in the second period. He also defeated Magomedov in the semifinals.

 Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) completes a fireman's carry move. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

However, Sadulaev isn't reading much into Snyder's loss as the U.S. wrestler had lost to Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) in Tirana but went on to win the world gold in September.  

"At tournaments like this, he [Snyder] usually doesn’t come in at peak form the way he does for the World Championships or the Olympic Games, where he’s been in his best shape," Sadulaev said. "So this loss doesn’t really say much. Maybe he will win the next World Championships."

The World Championships in Manama, Bahrain is scheduled in October and there is a good chance that both Sadulaev and Snyder will be there. But Sadulaev is hoping for a more decorated field.

"If everything goes well and I make it for the World Championships, four Olympic champions could compete in this weight class [in Bahrain] -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kyle [SNYDER] and Ahmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and myself, and other medalists," he said. "I think it will be the most competitive and exciting weight category."

Sadulaev, in his subtle humor, would go on.

"It’s hot enough there [Bahrain], but I think at the World Championships, it will be even hotter."