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U20 World Championships Day 1 semis set

Monday, August 15, 2022 - 07:25 By Vinay Siwach

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SOFIA, Bulgaria (August 15) -- The U20 World Championships return to Bulgaria with the Arena Armeec Sports Hall hosting it in Sofia. The tournament begins with freestyle and five weight classes will be in action. Wrestlers from 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg and 97kg will be on the mat.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

14:00: Here are the semifinals for the evening session

57kg
Heorhii KAZANZHY (UKR) vs. Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Jore VOLK (USA) vs. Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)

65kg
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) vs. SUJEET (IND)
Robert CORNELLA (USA) vs. Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) vs. Mulaym YADAV (IND)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM) vs. Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)

79kg
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ) vs. Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO) vs. Sobhan Hooshang YARI (IRI)

97kg
Rifat GIDAK (TUR) vs. Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Luka KHUTCHUA (GEO) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA) 

13:40:  Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) with another come-from-behind win for the USA. He trailed Hossein AGHAEI (IRI) in the 70kg quarterfinal but completely broke the Iranian and won the bout 9-7. He will now wrestle Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM) in the semifinals as Papikyan beat Harun SOYLER (TUR) 8-2

13:30: Jore VOLK (USA) continues his winning run and has reached the semifinal at 57kg with an 8-2 win over Azizbek NAIMOV (UZB). In the other quarterfinals, U20 Asian champion Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ) scores a late takedown and lace to beat Abhishek DHAKA (IND), 5-1 

13:16: Mohammad Reza SHAKERI (IRI) was leading 5-2 with 15 seconds left when Robert CORNELLA (USA) hits a four-pointer and lead 6-5 and wins the quarterfinal at 65kg. The USA team likes it. Huge win for Cornella who will now face U17 world champion Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB).

In the other semifinal, U20 Asian champion SUJEET (IND) beats 11-0 Ayub MUSAEV (BEL). He sets up the semifinal against returning silver Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) 

13:10: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) looks strong at 97kg. He wins via technical superiority over Zelimkhan MUSSIKHANOV (KAZ). Benjamin KUETER (USA) beats NIRAJ (IND) 8-1 to enter the semifinals as well

12:57: At 79kg, Sobhan YARI (IRI) controls most of the bout against Braydew THOMPSON (USA) and wins 6-1. He will wrestle Bekir OVEC (TUR) in the quarterfinal as the Turkey wrestler beat Johannes HATTINGH (RSA) 10-0

12:53: We have another quarterfinalist at 57kg as Abhishek DHAKA (IND) beats Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) 11-3. On Mat A, Tolga OZBEK (TUR) pins Harutyun HOVHANNISYAN (ARM) to move on as well

12:40: Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) and Jore VOLK (USA) wrestling for a spot in the 57kg quarterinal. Volf with exposure and he gets two points. Javan with a reversal and roll to lead 3-2 but Volk also gets a reversal. In the second period, Volk takes the lead 5-3 but Javan scores a takedown with 36 seconds left. He tries to defend the criteria lead but Volk has a sequence where he got Javan's one knee on the mat. He wins 7-7

12:03: Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) giving France a good start at 57kg. He rolls over Ivaylo TISOV (BUL) 10-0 and into the pre-quarterfinals.

11:45: A top bout at 57kg on Mat C. Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) wrestling U20 European champion Simone PIRODDU (ITA). Piroddu is called passive and Javan scores a takedown in the activity period to lead 3-0 at the break. Another takedown in the second period as Javan wins 5-0 

11:35: Here are the results from the qualification round of 65kg

Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG), via fall
Robert CORNELLA (USA) df. Olzhas OLZHAKANOV (KAZ), 8-0
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) df. Myrza ZHYRGALBEK UULU (KGZ), 10-2
SUJEET (IND) df. Jonnathan PEREZ (GUA), via fall 

11:14: A solid start for the USA. Benjamin KUETER (USA) with a technical superiority win over Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA). That bout is followed by U20 Asian champion Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) beating Toyoki HAMADA (JPN) 11-0. He will face NIRAJ (IND) who got past Joobin PARK (KOR) 11-0

11:00: Welcome to the first morning of the U20 World Championships in Sofia. Some young stars in action with Iran, the USA, India, Azerbaijan bringing strong teams to the competition

#WrestleSofia

Bonka Produces Historic Night for Belarus at #WrestleSofia

Saturday, August 3, 2019 - 17:50 By Taylor Miller

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Photo of Dzmitry BONKA (BLR).

SOFIA, Bulgaria – On Saturday night, Dzmitry BONKA (BLR) became the first Cadet World Greco-Roman champion for Belarus since 1997, winning the 65 kg bracket at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In his gold-medal match, Bonka scored two takedowns and two points on exposure to defeat 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK), 6-2.

The last to win a Cadet World title for Belarus was Alexander RUTSCHKO (BLR) at 57 kg at the 1997 Cadet World Championships in Maribor, Slovenia.

Iran produced two gold medalists in the first night of Greco-Roman finals on Saturday.

The first champ of the night was Amirreza Mohammadreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI), who added a Cadet World title at 48 kg to his resume.

Dehbozorgi, a 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion and two-time European champion, outwrestled Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) for a 3-1 victory and a gold medal.

Also collecting gold for Iran was 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Shahrokh Abouzar MIKAEILI (IRI), who won the 110 kg weight class, grinding out a 1-0 decision against Razmik KURDYAN (ARM), who was fifth at 2019 European Championships.

Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE) finally topped the World podium on Saturday night at 55 kg. A 2017 Cadet World runner-up and European Youth Olympic Festival bronze medalist, Mammadli defeated Asian bronze medalist Pravin Pandurang PATIL (IND) with a dominating 9-0 performance.

Also winning a gold medal with a technical superiority was Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR), who overpowered 2018 Cadet Balkan champion Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA), 12-3, in the 80 kg title match.

Alieksieiev greatly improved upon his 2018 Cadet World finish as he went from seventh place to first.

At 65 kg, Dzmitry BONKA (BLR) became the first Cadet World Greco-Roman champion for Belarus since 1997.

In his gold-medal match, Bonka scored two takedowns and two points on exposure to defeat 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK), 6-2.

Finals matchups                   
48 kg
GOLD - Amirreza Mohammadreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) dec. Ziya BABASHOV (AZE), 3-1
BRONZE – Rupin RUPIN (IND) dec. Riehan BOTHA (RSA), 5-0
BRONZE - Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ) dec. Alibek AMIROV (RUS), 6-1

55 kg
GOLD - Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Pravin Pandurang PATIL (IND), 9-0
BRONZE – Abror ATABAEV (UZB) dec. Seyitcan BEYTEKIN (TUR), 6-4
BRONZE – Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK) dec. Omar BUDAEV (RUS), 6-5

65 kg
GOLD - Dzmitry BONKA (BLR) dec. Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK), 6-2
BRONZE – Arman KHACHIKYAN (ARM) dec. Hojat Hassan REZAEI (IRI), 9-8
BRONZE – Attila Tamas TOESMAGI (HUN) df. Neeraj NEERAJ (IND), 10-2

80 kg
GOLD - Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR) df. Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA), 12-3
BRONZE – Maksat SAILAU (KAZ) df. Jonni Kunnari SARKKINEN (FIN), 8-0
BRONZE – Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) dec. Kamran Abdolreza ARGHASH (IRI), 5-3

110 kg
GOLD - Shahrokh Abouzar MIKAEILI (IRI) dec. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM), 1-0
BRONZE – Mate GOKADZE (GEO) df. Dominik Tomasz KRAWCZYK (POL), 8-0
BRONZE – Adolf BAZSO (HUN) dec. Grigorios KONTOVOUNISIOS (GRE), 4-0