Weekly FIVE! February 12, 2019

Tuesday, February 12, 2019 - 13:35 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the Freestyle World Cup draws and Kazakhstan's National Championships. Also looking at results from the Zagreb Open and how they changed the Greco-Roman rankings.

1. Wrestling Announces Groups for 2019 Freestyle World Cup

United World Wrestling has announced the draw for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup in Yakutia, Russia. The annual dual-meet event is a highlight of the international wrestling calendar and features the top eight teams from the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.

The UWW executive board determined this week that all World Cup competitions, including the Greco-Roman and Women’s World Cup, should follow the same competition format for placement of teams in their respective pools, or groups. With the new system, the No. 1 team will be paired with the No.4, No.5, and No.8 teams from the world championships.

The No.2 team will in a group with the No.3, No.6, and No.7.

The groups for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup:

Group A - RUS (1), CUB (4), JPN (5), TUR (8)
Group B - USA (2), GEO (3), IRI (6), MGL (7)

Kerem KAMAL, two-time junior world champion, led Turkey to the Zagreb Open team title with his 60kg gold-medal performance. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2. First GR Ranking Series Event, Zagreb Open Concludes in Croatia

The first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Zagreb Open, wrapped up in Croatia, and Turkey captured the team title with their solo champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and three runner-ups. They finished 31 points ahead of second place Uzbekistan, who had two champions, and one second-place finisher.

Croatia’s hometown wrestler Bozo STARCEVIC capped off his impressive run to a fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title with a tactical 2-1 victory over Turkey’s Yunus BASAR in the 77kg finals.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV and Russia’s Ilia BORISOV knocked off reigning world runner-up’s Emrah KUS (TUR) and Kiril MILOV (BUL) respectively to with their first Zagreb Open titles.

Daniel Aleksandrov erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7, in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout.

In the 97kg finals, Ilia Borisov also knocked off a returning Budapest world champion to win his Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around returning world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period.

Click HERE for a full recap of the Zagreb Open.

Team Scores
GOLD - Turkey (132 points)
SILVER - Uzbekistan (101 points)
BRONZE - Croatia (91 points)
Fourth - Bulgaria (85 points)
Fifth - Hungary (83 points)

55kg (Round-Robin)
GOLD - Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI)
SILVER - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
BRONZE - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)

60kg - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Milad Ali REZANEZHAD (IRI), 9-3
63kg - Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Xavier JOHNSON (USA), 10-2
67kg - Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) df. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU), 4-1
72kg - Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), via injury default
77kg - Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 2-1
82kg - Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE), 3-1
97kg - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) df. Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL), 9-0
130kg - Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) , 1-0

3. Kazakhstan National Championships

Kazakhstan, the host nation for this year’s 2019 Astana World Championships, wrapped up their National Championships in freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling last weekend.

In freestyle, six of Kazakhstan’s 2018 world representatives captured a medal at last weekend’s Nationals Championships, but only Daulet NIYAZBEKOV and Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV walked away with gold medals. The other five wrestlers who competed in Budapest all took home bronze medals.

Also of note, two of Kazakhstan’s most successful wrestlers from last season, Nurislam SANAYEV and Zhandos ISMAILOV sat out of the competition due to injury.

Sanayev was last year’s world team representative at the Budapest World Championships, where he fell to Russia’s Zaur UGUEV in the 57kg gold-medal bout. Sanayev also had success at the Asian Championships a season ago, capturing the gold medal, though that title-winning performance came at 61kg.

Kazakhstan’s 57kg Asian Championship bronze medalist Zhandos Ismailov sat this weekend due to injury.

Both of these guys were expected to compete for the 61kg title. Instead, it was Kazakhstan’s U23 world representative Bauirzhan TOREBEK who grabbed the gold medal.

Though a win last weekend puts most of the championship wrestlers into the continental championships, it does not guarantee them a spot on the 2019 Astana World Championship team. That decision won't come after several international tournaments.

Freestyle Results

57kg
GOLD - Meirambek KARTBAY
SILVER - Akbar KURBANOV
BRONZE - Rakhat KALZHAN
BRONZE - Berdakh PIRIMBAYEV

61kg
GOLD- Bauirzhan TOREBEK
SILVER - Rasul KALIYEV
BRONZE - Kuat AMIRTAYEV
BRONZE - Vladidmir KUDRIN

65kg
GOLD - Daulet NIYAZBEKOV
SILVER - Sayatbek OKASSOV
BRONZE -Ilyas ZHUMAY
BRONZE - Meirzhan ASHIROV

70 kg
GOLD - Nurgozha KAIPANOV
SILVER - Azhikul NURDAULET
BRONZE - Kanat MUSABEKOV
BRONZE - Amandik BAKEYEV

74 kg
GOLD - Daniyar KAISANOV
SILVER - Nurlan BEKZHANOV
BRONZE - Bolat SAKAYEV
BRONZE - Azamat OMIRZHANOV

79 kg
GOLD - Galymzhan USSERBAYEV
SILVER - Shamil MURTAZOV
BRONZE - Zhaksibek KARABALAYEV
BRONZE - Abilay NURSULTANOV

86 kg
GOLD - Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV
SILVER - Azamat DAULETBEKOV
BRONZE - Zhiger ZAKIROIV
BRONZE - Elkhan ASADOV

92 kg
GOLD - Yerali ABDRASHEV
SILVER - Abdumanap BAIKENZHEYEV
BRONZE - Abubakr TORGAYEV
BRONZE - Shamil MAGOMEDOV

97 kg
GOLD - Alisher YERGALI
SILVER - Bakdaulet ALMENTAY.
BRONZE - Mamed IBRAGIMOV
BRONZE - Bakhitkhanov SERIK

125kg
GOLD - Oleg BOLTIN
SILVER - Yusup BATYRMIRZAYEV
BRONZE - Duman BOLTIRIKOV
BRONZE - Daulet SHABANBAY

*Kazakhstan's 2018 national team members listed in bold.

Click HERE to review Kazahkstan's Greco-Roman and women's wrestling results.

4. Vlasov and Staebler Train Together in Sochi

The Russian Federation welcomed teams from Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, and Uzbekistan, to attend their first training camp of the 2019 season in Russia’s Olympic host city of Sochi.

The camp in Sochi brought together two Greco-Roman superstars in two-time Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) and three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER), who was a part of a German squad that brought ten wrestlers to train with Russia’s No. 1 Greco-Roman National Team.

Staebler told United World Wrestling that a highlight of the camp was training with Vlasov. “It’s been very hard, but great fun and we both learn from each other and get stronger together. Staebler hopes to one day return to Russia to train, saying, “There’s a great respectful friendship between Germany and Russia, and I hope we can return as soon as possible.”

Staebler, who trained out of a barn for the finals three months leading up to Budapest after he got kicked out of his previous gym, reflected on how improbable his run to a third world title was. The German said he now realizes “How incredible it is that I’ve achieved what I have with my opportunities in Germany. My options compared to what Russia has are ridiculous. Thus, I learned to be even more proud of my German success.”

Oskar MARVIK (NOR) won the 125kg title at the Zagreb Open and moved up to No. 4 in the rankings. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

5. New Greco-Roman Rankings Released

The first set of updated Greco-Roman rankings have been updated after the Zagreb Open and are up on United World Wrestling’s homepage.

The biggest movers in the first set of Greco-Roman rankings were:

55kg - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) takes sole ownership of the No. 3 spot after a runner-up finish at the Zagreb Open. Ozturk now has 37 points after the Zagreb Open and fifth place finish at the world championships.

67kg - Danijel JANECIC (CRO) leaps Budapest bronze medalists Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) (25 points) and Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) (25 points) with his fifth-place finish at the Zagreb Open. He now has 30 points.

72kg - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) was tied with fellow world bronze medalist Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) for the third spot with 25 points, but broke that tie with his bronze-medal finish at the Zagreb Open. MNatsakanian now has 39 points.

77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) took possession of the No. 3 ranking with his third-place finish at the Zagreb Open. Kim has 37 points.

125kg - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) and Oskar MARVIK (NOR) moved up to the third and fourth spot after being eighth and tenth respectively. Marvik won the gold medal, while Acosta finished in third place.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- RUBAEV G. (MDA) -- 2018 Dan Kolov
2. Here are some of our favorite shots of @kadircaliskan ‘s from the #Zagreb2019.
3. Two time World Champion Geno Petriashvili training with the national team in the mountains of Bakuriani @petro700
4. Images from the historic wrestling room in Gori, Georgia.
5. Best match of FR Takhti Cup- 79kg final: Bahman Teymouri (IRI) df. Jabrayil Hasanov (AZE), 6-4

#WrestleMonterrey

Blades, Godinez sisters cruise to Pan-Am golds

Saturday, May 10, 2025 - 07:02 By Vinay Siwach

MONTERREY, Mexico (May 9) -- Olympic silver medalist Kennedy BLADES (USA) made a golden debut at Pan-American Championships, winning gold medal at 68kg in Monterrey, Mexico.

Blades, who won silver medal in Paris at 76kg, led a spirited performance from the United States which claimed three gold medals out of the six Women's Wrestling weight classes in action on Friday.

Apart from Blades, Audrey JIMINEZ (USA) and Tiffani BAUBLITZ (USA) won gold medals at 50kg and 72kg respectively. Canada won two other gold medals through the Godinez sister -- Karla and Ana -- at 55kg and 62kg, respectively. Cuba won the remaining gold at 57kg through Yaynelis SANZ (CUB).

Blades wrestled in a Nelson bracket and after dominating her way to the final, she faced Nathali GRIMAN (VEN) for the gold medal. It was Griman who opened the scoring with a stepout but Blades blasted a double-leg attack for a takedown to take a 2-1 lead. On restart, Griman was on her heels and Blades hit another double-leg, this time for four points.

The big moves continued as Blades used her strength for another double-leg takedown for four points and lead 10-1. Griman countered a Blades move and flung her for four points on the edge to cut the lead to 10-5.

In the second period, Blades got a two-point takedown and moved closer to victory with a 12-5 lead. Griman gave her the perfect opportunity when she missed a deep shot and Blades scored a go-behind for a 14-5 victory.

Jiminez downed Paris Olympic silver medalist Yusneylis GUZMAN (CUB), 18-8, in the 50kg semifinal before pinning Madison PARKS (CAN) in the final.

Parks got a point as Jimiez was put on the 30-second activity clock. But she answered with a two-pointer to lead 2-1 at the break. Parks scored a stepout in the second period before Jiminez launched a cradle and kept Parks' back on the mat to secure the fall with two minutes remaining in the match.

In the semifinal, Guzman led with a takedown before a clumsy ankle-pick and throw made it 6-0. Jiminez got on the board with a takedown but the joy was short-lived as Guzman countered a low attack and scored two more points to lead 8-2 at the break.

The second period was all about Jiminez as she snapped Guzman and scored a go-behind. She transitioned into a leg-lace and turned Guzman four times to pull off an unprecedented, 18-8, win and enter the final.

The third gold medal came through Tiffani BAUBLITZ (USA) who won both her bouts in round-robin system. Baublitz faced off Nyla BURGESS (CAN) in the second round and the winner would win gold.

Baublitz scored takedown in the opening 10 seconds to lead 2-0. Burgess got a stepout to cut the lead to 2-1 but Baubtiz got a stepout to make it 3-1 at the break.

Burgess turned the tide in her favour with two clutch takedowns in the second period to lead 5-3. Baubtiz managed to get a single-leg attack to exposure for two points but a reversal added one point to Burgess' score and she led 6-5.

Baubtiz never gave up to get the lead back. As the two wrestlers engaged, she flung Burgess and got a stepout to take a 6-6 criteria lead with 57 seconds remaining. She defended her lead and clinched the gold at 72kg.

Godinez Sisters Golden

Karla and Ana GODINEZ (CAN) claimed gold medals to give Canada two champions in Women's Wrestling. Karla, wrestling at 55kg, outscored her opponents 31-0 in three bouts. She was in a four-wrestler round-robin bracket and won her matches 10-0, 11-0 and 10-0 for the gold medal.

The elder Godinez, Ana, returning to competition for the first time since finishing a heartbreaking fifth at the Paris Olympics, secured a fall in the 62kg final against Astrid MONTERO (VEN) to win gold medal.

She won her first two bouts via technical superiority and the semifinal via fall before Montero challenged her in the final. Montero built a 3-0 lead at the break and Godinez needed something special in the second period.

After giving up another stepout, Godinez got a takedown and then cradled Montero for the fall with 1:50 remaining on the clock to win the gold medal.

Cuba won the gold medal at 57kg as Yaynelis SANZ (CUB) denied home favorite Bertha ROJAS (MEX), 6-0, in the final.

Sanz was put on the activity clock in the first period but she used a duckunder to get behind Rojas. She elevated Rojas's leg and the Mexican tried to hit a cut-back which Sanz defended and fell forward with Rojas on the mat for two points. It became 4-0 when Sanz scored a takedown before the break.

In the second period, Rojas missed an attack and Sanz was quick to go behind but Rojas defended for a while before the scramble resulted in Sanz getting the takedown and a 6-0 lead. Sanz defended that lead and won gold.

U.S. claims Greco title

The United States claimed the Greco-Roman team title with 209 points. After winning five gold medals on Thursday, it added one more as two Greco weight classes were in action on Friday. Mexico finished second with 143 points and Venezuela was third with 90 points. Cuba, which only had three wrestlers entered, finished fourth with 75 points as all three of them won gold medals.

Alejandro SANCHO (USA), who won the gold at 67kg last year, won the gold medal with ease at 72kg this year after beating Nilton SOTO (PER) 8-0 in the final.

Sancho was clearly the aggressor from the word go and scored a stepout. When he got the par terre advantage, he scored two points from a correct throw to lead 4-0.

He kept the pressure in the second period as well and scored a stepout before adding two more stepout and a point for caution against Soto helped him win 8-0, his fourth technical superiority win of the day.

At 97kg, world champion and Paris Olympics bronze medalist Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) defeated Paris Olympian Kevin MEJIA (HON), 5-1, in the final.

Mejia got the par terre but as he tried a turn, Rosillo slipped out and tried a reverse lift. He failed to execute it and Mejia landed with no exposure. Mejia quickly scored a go-behind for a 3-0 lead. However, Cuba challenged the decision and won on review, reverting the lead to 1-0.

In the second period, Rosillo got the par terre and after a little battle as Mejia defended the position, Rosillo scored a body slam and got four points to lead 5-1 which he defended till the end.

The gold medal was Rosillo's only second at the Pan-Am Championships, the first coming back in 2019.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) df. Madison PARKS (CAN), via fall (4-2)

BRONZE: Nohalis LOYO (VEN) df. Kamila BARBOSA (BRA), 4-1
BRONZE: Yusneylis GUZMAN (CUB) df. Yorlenis MORAN (PAN), 12-2

55kg
GOLD: Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
SILVER: Louisa SCHWAB (USA)
BRONZE: Andrea AVELINO (MEX)

57kg
GOLD: Yaynelis SANZ (CUB) df. Bertha ROJAS (MEX), 6-0

BRONZE: Luisa VALVERDE (ECU) df. Ana PEREIRA (BRA), 10-0
BRONZE: Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) df. Mia FRIESEN (CAN), 12-2

62kg
GOLD: Ana GODINEZ (CAN) df. Astrid MONTERO (VEN), via fall (4-4)

BRONZE: Melanie JIMENEZ (MEX) df. Savannah COSME (USA), 3-0

68kg
GOLD: Kennedy BLADES (USA) df. Nathali GRIMAN (VEN), 14-5

BRONZE: Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI) df. Debanhi TAPIA (MEX), 4-4

72kg
GOLD: Tiffani BAUBLITZ (USA)
SILVER: Nyla BURGESS (CAN)
BRONZE: Michelle OLEA (MEX)

Greco-Roman

72kg
GOLD: Alejandro SANCHO (USA) df. Nilton SOTO (PER), 8-0

SILVER: Irving SALAZAR (MEX) df. Cristian MEJIA (GUA), 9-0

97kg
GOLD: Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) df. Kevin MEJIA (HON), 5-1

BRONZE: Michial FOY (USA) df. Dorian TREJO (MEX), 9-0

Weekly FIVE! February 12, 2019

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Blades, Godinez sisters cruise to Pan-Am golds