#WrestleRome

Ten Returning Pellicone Champs Competing at #WrestleRome

Thursday, February 25, 2021 - 15:50 By Eric Olanowski

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The road to #Tokyo202One Olympic Games kicks off on the coast of Italy, in the port city of Ostia, March 4-7. Ten of last year’s 30 Matteo Pellicone champions return to Italy with their sights set on gold for a second consecutive year.

Greco-Roman will play host to five wrestlers, spread across four weights, who are looking to defend their Ranking Series golds from ’20. They are: Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), Singh GURPREET (IND), Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) and Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY). 

Levai (77kg), Lorincz (87kg) and Mohamed (130kg) will compete at their title-winning weights from last year, while El Sayed and Gurpreet are moving down to Olympic weight classes. The Egyptian is dropping from 72kg to 67kg, while the Indian wrestlers is joining Levai down at 77kg after winning 82kg gold a year ago.

In freestyle, the dynamic duo of Kumar RAVI (IND) and Bajrang PUNIA (IND) will be looking to reach the top of the Pala Pellicone podium in back-to-back years. They’ll wrestle at 61kg and 65kg, respectively. 

In women’s wrestling, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR), Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Erica WIEBE (CAN) are the trio ’20 champs who are on a quest to bag gold for a second straight year. They’ll compete at 57kg, 62kg and 76kg, respectively. 

Here are the ’20 Matteo Pellicone gold-medal matches from the ten returning champions that'll be in action March 4-8:

Freestyle 
61kg: Kumar RAVI( IND)
65kg: Bajrang PUNIA (IND)  

Greco-Roman
67kg: Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
77kg: Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
77kg:  Singh GURPREET (IND)
87kg: Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
130kg: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) 

Women's Wrestling
57kg: Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
62kg: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
76kg: Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov Shows No Rust on His Way to Gold

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 21:32 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) --  Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) gave an early preview to what to expect from him at the World Championships in September.

The Paris Olympic champion won the gold medal in the 97kg weight class at the Budapest Ranking Series, outscoring his opponents 44-2 in four bouts and never appearing in trouble on the mat.

"I feel very good," Tazhudinov said. "I'm very happy to be back on the mat. It’s been almost a year I haven’t been competing  and it’s such a pleasure for us when you come back and win a gold medal."

The final Ranking Series event of the season kicked off in Budapest on Thursday with several familiar names winning gold medals. Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN), world silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) and SUJEET (IND) were among the gold medalists on day one.

But none were as dominant as Tazhudinov.

The Bahrain star returned to competition for the first time since Paris Olympics competing last week in Madrid, where he won gold at the Grand Prix of Spain. In Budapest, he followed it up with another flawless run, claiming his second gold medal in as many weeks.

"Overall I’m satisfied with my performance. I would say I’m not yet in full form, so I’m pleased with how I did. I’ll reach 100% form by the World Championships," he said.

Wrestling in just his third career Ranking Series, Tazhudinov capped the day with an 11-0 technical superiority win over veteran Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) in the final.

He opened the tournament with a 14-2 win over Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA), who clearly looked smaller for the weight class and had trouble matching Tazhudinov in every aspect of the game.

Tazhudinov 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.

In the quarterfinals, Tazhudinov needed just one minute to defeat Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW). In the semifinals, he dispatched Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) in 1:48, winning 10-0.

Despite the dominant performance in Budapest, Tazhudinov admitted the World Championships would present a tougher challenge. He’s expected to defend his 97kg world title in Zagreb.

"We’ll have two training camps leading up to the World Championships, and I think after those camps I’ll be fully ready," he said. "There will be very strong, tough opponents. So I’ll prepare thoroughly and focus on performing even better."