Weekly FIVE! June 25, 2018

Monday, June 25, 2018 - 16:07 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing results from the China Open, Hungarian Grand Prix, and Final X. Also looking at the best-of-three match between Susaki and Irie, along with the relocation of Russian Nationals to Moscow.

1. China Boasts Depth, Wins Four China Open Titles
China boasted their depth last weekend in Taiyuan, China, winning four championships and fifteen overall medals at United World Wrestling's third women's wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, the China Open.

The most impressive Chinese performance came at 57kg where RONG Ningning thumped the competition for the third time this year, winning her third gold medal in as many competitions. This time, it was down 2kg from her Ivan Yaryin and Asian Championship weight of 59kg.

After the competition, Rong said “The 2kg difference was not hard to make. It was just a few extra runs. But, I felt light, and this is going to be my weight moving forward to the Asian Games and the World Championships.”

FULL CHINA OPEN RESULTS

J'den Cox, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist (Photo by Tony Rotundo)

2. USA’s World Championship Team Set
The third installment of the United States’ world team selection process, Final X competed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with the final three freestyle spots being claimed by 2017 world bronze medalists J’den COX and Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) along with first-time world team member, Nashon GARRETT (USA).

Also of note, three-time world and Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) withdrew from Final X due to an unspecified injury and has been granted a wrestle-off for a time to be later determined.

USA’s World Team Line-up
57kg – Thoman GILMAN (USA)
61kg – Nashon GARRETT (USA)
65KG – Logan STIEBER (USA)
70kg – James GREEN (USA)
74kg – Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
79kg – Kyle DAKE (USA)
86kg – David TAYLOR (USA)
92kg – J’den COX (USA)
97kg – Kyle SNYDER (USA)
125kg – Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)

FINAL X – Bethlehem Results

3. Hungarian Grand Prix Wraps up in Gyor
United World Wrestling’s third Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Hungarian Grand Prix wrapped up in Gyor, Hungary, and four different nations had wrestlers claim gold medals.

Kazakhstan was the front-runner, winning four gold medals, while the host nation finished with three champions. Iran’s duo of Mohsen HAJI POUR (IRI) and Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) each claimed gold medals, with the tenth and final gold medal going to Kyrgyzstan’s Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV.

FULL HUNGARIAN OPEN RESULTS

2017 world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN). (Photo by Tony Rotundo)

4. Susaki and Irie Wrestle-off Set for July 7
Defending world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Yuki IRIE’s (JPN) world team spot match-up has been set for July 7. Japan's playoff process for the 2018 World Championships is between the Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup champions, which happens to be Susaki and Irie at 50kg.

Irie, Japan's Asian Championship representative defeated Susaki in December by technical fall in the Emperor’s Cup semifinals, but Susaki claimed revenge and returned the favor by flattening Irie at the Meiji Cup two weeks ago, evening "the series" at one apiece.

Though Irie, the winner of the Emperor’s Cup will represent Japan at the 2018 Asian Games, the winner of the third match-up since December will seal their spot on Japan's world championship team.
Three-time world and Olympic champion, Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS). (Photo by Martin Gabor)

5. Russian Nationals Relocated to Moscow
The Russian National Championships were set to take place in Sochi, Russia, but have since been moved to Moscow, Russia.

The extremely expensive hotel and venue prices for August on the Black Sea in the tourist city of Sochi, the host site for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games have forced the Russian Federation to relocate their National Championships.

Moscow has since stepped up and will now host the Russian Nationals on August 1-5.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday!

2. Selection of photos from the final day of the #2018chinaopen #womenswrestling #unitedworldwrestling #wrestling

3. Happy #OlympicDay!!

4. #TheWinnersWalk // ?? ☺ - #uww #unitedworldwrestling #wrestling #womenswrestling

5. Shot from this morning’s session at the 2018 China Open #womenswrestling #chinaopen2018 #unitedworldwrestling

#AmateurMMA

Amateur MMA: Kutzli wins gold for U.S.; Ukraine best team

Saturday, October 18, 2025 - 15:18 By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 19) -- It was only her fourth-ever bout but Natalie KUTZLI (USA) showed no lack of experience in defeating Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), and become a world champion at the UWW Amateur MMA World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Kutzli, the lone fighter from the United States, won by unanimous decision after three rounds against Stawska who has been on the circuit for a longder time.

"I'm just at a loss of words," Kutzli said. "I just feel so surreal."

In the final against Stawska, Kutzli opened the match with clear striking and controlled the round. She followed a similar strategy and never allowed Stawska to land cleanly. Kutzli won all three rounds in the final.

"She was a challenging fighter for sure," she said. "She was really tough. It's just such a amazing opportunity to be able to fight somebody who has that much experience. I loved every second of it."

Hailing from Michigan, Kutzli began her sports career with taekwondo before switching to wrestling. Her mother, Jeanie, would drive her from one practice to another and supported her when she switched sports.

"First person I talked to was my mom," she said. "She's just so proud of me and amazed by me and what I do and I just I made her proud and my family really proud. I do it for her in hopes of someday being in the UFC and be able to pay for my family and just be able to take care of my loved one, so that's my dream.

"From a young age, I was raised by a single mom. So I'm doing this for her and to be able to thank her and just sort of appreciation to my family."

At 57kg, Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) showed that she belongs to the big league she knocked out Justine TAILFER (FRA) in the 57kg final. The bout went to the second round but Dudakova dominated it throughout.

Dudakova and Tailfer went out of bounds in the second round with the former on top. The referee called it to center and when the bout restarted with Dudakova getting the back mount advantage, she kept her striking with Tailfer not able to defend which forced the referee to call it a knockout.

In other finals, Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) scored a victory via submission against Daria RAMANOVA (UWW) to win the gold medal at 50kg. However, two other Ukraine finalists failed to win.

Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) stormed back after a slow start to beat Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR) via split decision as two judges gave her the win to one who scored it in favor of Melnychuk as Sushina won the 61kg gold.

Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) did not give any chances to the judges to score differently as she defeated Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR) via unanimous decision to win at 65kg and bag the gold medal.

At 80kg, Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) had one of the most dominant wins in the final as she humbled Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), winning via unanimous decision, to claim the gold medal.

Kazakhstan also got a gold medal as Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) dominated the final against Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW) at 53kg to win via unanimous decision. Her strong start in the first two rounds gave her the advantage despite a strong show from Vykhvaten in the final round.

RESULTS

50kg Final
Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) df. Daria ROMANOVA (UWW), via submission

53kg Final
Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) df. Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW), via unanimous decision

57kg Final
Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) df. Justine TAILFER (FRA), via submission

61kg Final
Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) df. Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR), via split decision

65kg Final
Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) df. Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR), via unanimous decision

70kg Final
Natalie KUTZLI (USA) df. Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), via unanimous decision

80kg Final
Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) df. Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), via unanimous decision

Weekly FIVE! June 25, 2018

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

Comments

Amateur MMA: Kutzli wins gold for U.S.; Ukraine best team