#WrestlePontevedra

U23 World Championships day six semis set

By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (October 22) -- The U23 World Championships enters day six, the last full day of the tournament with five freestyle weight classes. Wrestlers in 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg will be in action.

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Semifinals for the evening session

61kg
Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO) vs. Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) vs. Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)

74kg
Temuri BERUASHVILI (GEO) vs. Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Vasile DIACON (MDA) vs. Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)

86kg​​​​​​​
Trent HIDLAY (USA) vs. Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) vs. Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO)

92kg
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) vs. Jacob Thomas CARDENAS (USA)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) vs. Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)

125kg
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) vs. Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR) vs. Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)

15:10: In the final bout of the session, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) into the semifinals with a 12-0 win over Tejvir BOAL (CAN).

14:55: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) with a 9-3 win over Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ) and the defending champion is back in the semifinals at 61kg.

14:40: Down goes defending champion Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR). Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO) first made it 5-4 and when Aliiev tried scoring a stepout, Shvelidze countered with a takedown. A big chest lock for four and the fall.

14:30: Temuri BERUASHVILI (GEO) pulls off a stunning win at 74kg against David CARR (USA) in the quarterfinals. Carr led 3-2 when Beruashvili scored a stepout with 11 seconds remaining. Carr tries to get a stepout but Beruashvili circles back and Carr cannot score the takedown as well. A lost challenge makes it 4-3

14:28: Trent HIDLAY (USA) with another controlled win. He moves into the 86kg semifinals with a 6-0 victory over Maksat SATYBALDY (KAZ). A strong arm-trap to the 4 points early in the first period.

14:22: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) is in the 92kg semifinals. Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM) had built an 8-0 lead over Maisuradze but the second period was a completely different story as Sargsyan scored three takedowns before a leg lace got him a 16-8 win.

14:10: Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) and Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR) put on a show in that 61kg quarterfinal. Ormanoglu led 3-2 before a takedown and when Dzhelep got him into a body, Ormanoglu countered with a powerful throw to extend his lead to 7-2, a score by which he won.

14:00: Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) with a solid 10-0 win over U23 European silver medalist Johannes MAYER (GER). He moves into the 92kg quarterfinal against Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE). 

13:40: Two big losses for the USA hurting them for the team race. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) beats Aaron NAGAO (USA) 9-0 at 61kg and Manashvili wins 16-4 against Cassioppi at 125kg.

13:34: Anthony CASSIOPPI (USA), the defending world champion at 125kg, is up against Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO) and in trouble. Manashvili builds up an 8-2 lead before Cassioppi tries a headlock but fails. Manashvili leads 12-4 at the break.

13:30: Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) makes it look so easy. He wins 11-4 against Kodai OGAWA (JPN) to move into the 61kg quarters.

13:15: Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ) shows how it is done against Armin HABIBZADEH (IRI). The Kazakhstan wrestler makes quick moves against a very defensive Habibzadeh to win 9-1. He will take on defending champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) in quarters.

13:00: At 125kg, Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) is a big contender to win the gold. He is into the 1/8 final against Vakhit GALAYEV (AZE). 

12:20: U20 world champion Amirreza MASOUMI ((IRI) turning up the heat here. He storms to an 11-0 win over Adil MISIRCI (TUR) and moves into the 125kg quarterfinals

12:00: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) is on a different level at these age-group World Championships. He beats Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) 11-2 and advances at 92kg. He has unfinished business at U23 Worlds.

11:50: Another defending champion begins with a win. Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) leg laces Yousef EISSA (EGY) to start at 61kg.

11:35: Defending champion at 86kg Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR) was down 9-5 against Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT) in the opening bout but Aliiev rallied for 14 answered points to win 19-9 and advanced.

11:00: This is the start of the day we were looking for. Sajjad GHOLAMI (IRI) had built a 6-0 lead but Trent HIDLAY (USA) never stopped coming at him. Gholami eventually felt the pressure and succumbed to a 13-6 loss at 86kg.

10:30: Welcome to day six of the U23 World Championships as the final five weight classes of freestyle go on the mat. We will move straight into the qualification rounds after repechage.

#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.