Weekly FIVE! September 10, 2018

Monday, September 10, 2018 - 11:47 By Eric Olanowski

Taking a look at Russia's World Championship team and Hancocks throw heard around the world. Also reviewing Poland Open results and next weeks Junior World Championship schedule.

1. Russia’s World Team Set After Poland Open
Four Russian wrestlers headed to Warsaw, Poland with hopes of punching their ticket to Budapest, Hungary, but only two left with a spot on the Russian World Team.

In the 61kg semifinals, Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) beat Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS), 2-1 to claim the World Team spot.

In the finals, Rashidov shutout Kuat AMIRTAYEV (KAZ), 5-0 to claim the Poland Open gold medal.

Rashidov, the 2017 world runner-up will represent Russia for the second time on the senior-level and for the sixth time overall.

At 65kg, Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) won the ticket to Budapest after European runner-up Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) missed weight.

Chakaev wrestled out the tournament and took first place after Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) injury defaulted out of the gold-medal bout.

Russia’s World Team
57kg - Z. UGUEV
61kg – G. RASHIDOV
65kg - A. CHAKAEV
70kg – M. GAZIMAGOMEDOV
74kg - Z. SIDAKOV
79kg - A. GADZHIMAGOMEDOV
86kg - D. KURUGLIEV
92kg – B. TSAKULOV
97kg - A. SADULAEV
125kg – A. KHIZRIEV

2. Hancock Sticks Four-time World and Olympic Champion ALEKSANYAN
Tracy HANCOCK (USA) had the most impressive win of his career in the Poland Open semifinals when he stuck four-time world and Olympic champion, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM).

Hancock, who is wrestling in his first individual international competition since taking tenth place at the U23 World Championships went big in the opening 20 seconds of the semifinal bout and threw the six-time world and Olympic medalist to his back for the fall.

Hancock went on to score the 7-0 shutout victory over Bulgaria’s Nikolay BAYRYAKOV (BUL) in the 97kg gold-medal bout.

3. Suchkov defeats Chamzio, Wins #Korkin2018 Gold
Nikita SUCHKOV (RUS), the Russian Nationals bronze medalist defeated current World No. 1 and two-time world champion, Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), 5-3, claiming the 74kg Dmitri Korkin gold medal.

Suchkov, who finished behind Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) and Khetik TSBABOLOV (RUS) at Russian Nationals won the Dmitri Korkin for the second year in a row.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Aylar TYUTRIN (RUS) df. Parviz IBRAGIMOV (AZE), 4-1

61kg
GOLD - Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV (AZE) df. TUVSHINTULGA (MGL), 8-4

65kg
Viktor RASSADIN (RUS) df. TULGA (MGL), 4-2

70kg
GOLD - Evgani ZHERBAEV (RUS) df. BYAMBADORJ Bat-Erdene (MGL), 8-2

74kg
GOLD - Nikita SUCHKOV (RUS) df. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), 5-3

79kg
GOLD - Kakhaber KHUBEZHTY (RUS) df. Jumber KYELASHVILI (GEO), 14-4

86kg
GOLD - Ahmad BAZRIGHOLEI (IRI) df. Arsenali MUSALALIEV (RUS), 4-3

92kg
GOLD - Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) df. Anzor URISHEV (RUS), 3-3

97kg
GOLD - NURMAGOMED GADZHIEV (AZE) df. ULZISAIKHAN Batsul (MGL), 10-0

125kg
GOLD - Komeil GHASEMI (IRI) df. ZOLBOO (MGL), 2-0

China's RONG Ningning won her fourth gold medal of the year at the Poland Open. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

4.Rong Wins Second Ranking Series Gold Medal
The final women's wrestling Ranking Series event of the year wrapped up last weekend and China’s RONG Ningning continued her 2018 hot streak and remained undefeated on the year, winning the 57kg gold medal.

Rong’s win in Warsaw was her second Ranking Series gold medal of the year. She also won the China Open. In addition to her two Ranking Series championships, Rong claimed gold medals at the Ivan Yargin and Asian Championships, while also going undefeated at the World Cup.

In the 57kg finals, Rong was pitted against Norway’s ninth-ranked Grace BULLEN. Trailing 4-0, the Chinese star went on a 10-0 run and picked up the fall and won her fourth gold medal of the year.

Women’s Wrestling
50kg
GOLD - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Ilona SEMKIV (UKR), 13-2

53kg
GOLD - Nanami IRIE (JPN) df. Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL), 2-2

55kg
GOLD - Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 6-2

57kg
GOLD - Ningning RONG (CHN) df. Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR), via fall

59kg
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) df. Marwa AMRI (TUN), 3-2

62kg
GOLD - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) df. Malin Johanna MATTSSON (SWE), 2-1

65kg
GOLD - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN), 3-2

72kg
GOLD - Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) df. Kunming WANG (CHN), via fall

68kg
GOLD - Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 16-5

76kg
GOLD - Erica WIEBE (CAN) df. Aline FOCKEN (GER), 7-0

Click HERE for the full recap

Kamal BEY (USA) and Akzol MAHMUDOV (KGZ) after their epic 2017 finals match-up. (Photo by Marion Stein)

5. Junior World Championships Are One Week Away
One week from today, the Junior World Championships will be underway in Trnava, Slovakia.

Returning Greco-Roman world champions Kamal BEY (USA), Kerem KAMAL (TUR), and Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) kick off the World Championships on Monday, September 17.

Reigning women's wrestling world champions, Sae NANJO (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS), along with reigning senior-level world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN) take the mat on Wednesday, September 19.

Daton FIX (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA), the duo of American freestyle returning champions will close out the 2018 World Championships beginning on Friday, September 21.

Click HERE for the full schedule

World Championship Lineups
Freestyle Lineups
Greco-Roman Lineups
Women's Wrestling Lineups

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday!

2. Happy Monday, wrestling fans. Have a great week. ?: @mokkdiussh1

3. Great match and amazing action all day in Astana!! @unitedworldgrappling ?? -

4. Superman [wrestling version] ? Супермен [борцовская версия] ? ? @krakatauf #wrestling #superman #борьба #дети

5. Viktor LEBEDEV (RUS) / @lebedev57 and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) / @frankchamizo92 in Yakutsk, Russia ?? before the Dmitry Korkin (September 6-8). How many world titles are there between these two? (Lebedev is not wrestling)?: @byastin_news .

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW announces 2024 Hall of Fame inductees

Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - 10:07 By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 31) -- In his earlier life, Steeve GUENOT (FRA) was a railwayman. He juggled his day job with his passion, wrestling, which led him to the Olympics.

There, on the biggest stage of all in Beijing 16 years ago, the Frenchman scripted history—winning a gold medal to end his country's 80-plus-year drought of producing an Olympic champion wrestler. That moment changed his life, and Guenot went on to inspire a generation of wrestlers.

For his path-breaking achievements on the mat and his restoration of belief in an entire nation, the French hero was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame days before the Paris Olympics were declared open.

The Beijing Games gold medallist, who also won a bronze at London 2012 and a bronze medal in the 2007 World Championship, was among the three wrestlers included in this year's list. The other two were freestyle legend Mavlet BATIROV (RUS) and Canadian trailblazer Tonya VERBEEK (CAN).

Additionally, referee Vassilis PAGONIS (GRE) and legendary Armenian coach Levon JULFALAKYAN (ARM), too, were accorded the prestigious honor this year.

The Hall of Famers are permanently recognized on UWW's website, at the organization's headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, and in the international wing of the USA Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Mavlet BATIROV (RUS) is a two-time Olympic champion. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

A 66kg category Greco-Roman champion, Guenot was born to a family of wrestlers in 1985. Both his parents were involved in the sport, and his siblings were, too. Like him, Guenot’s brother Christophe is an Olympic medallist. But no one scaled the heights that Guenot did.

France hadn't won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling since the 1936 Games when Emile Poilve finished on top of the podium.

Guenot broke that hoodoo and went on to win a lot more. After a highly successful playing career, he moved to coaching and was involved in grooming young wrestlers at his club in Dijon, something he has done to date.

Joining him on the list of honors is a Russian legend whose name is synonymous with excellence. One of the true greats of the sport, Batirov won admirers all over the world with his gritty wrestling style. He was one of the most dominant wrestlers in the noughts, particularly in the 55kg men's freestyle category, before he moved to 60 kg due to weight class adjustment.

Born in 1983, Batirov’s first big moment came in 2004, when he won the gold medal in the 55 kg category at the Athens Olympics. He went on to win his second Olympic gold medal four years later while competing in the 60 kg category and during that four-year cycle, he won the world title as well as a world championship bronze at 60kg.

These results, combined with multiple European championship medals, sealed his status as one of the finest wrestlers to ever step on the mat. After he retired from the sport, Batirov gave back to it by mentoring and coaching young wrestlers and sharing his deep insights into the game with them.

Tonya VERBEEK (CAN) was the head coach of the Canadian national team. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Like Guenot and Batirov, Verbeek too has had an outsized influence on the sport, especially in her country.

After the Ontario native picked the sport as a schoolgirl at age 11, Verbeek reportedly remained undefeated throughout her career as a school-level wrestler. She nearly mirrored that level of success as a senior in international wrestling.

Despite the total dominance of Japanese wrestlers, Verbeek carved out a niche for herself with her fearless style of play. She was the first Canadian woman to win a wrestling medal at the Athens Games, a silver, went on to add a bronze to her collection four years later in Beijing and completed the hattrick of medals by clinching the silver medal at the London Olympics. Apart from these, she has multiple worlds, Pan-Am and Commonwealth Games medals.

After retiring, Veerbek would break more barriers, becoming the head coach of both the men's and women's Canada teams. She currently coaches the women's program at the University of Iowa.

Armenia coach Levon JULFALAKYAN (ARM) inducted into UWW Hall of Fame. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

While all these wrestlers across the three events are legends in their own right, few actually come close to doing what Julfalakyan did.

As a wrestler, he has won it all -- Olympic gold, World Championship gold, and European Championship gold. His Olympic title in 1988 was a great exhibition of his art, as he won all his bouts in a one-sided manner to romp through the field and win the gold.

After he hung his boots, Julfalakyan turned to coaching. The academy where he coached turned into a conveyor belt of talented wrestlers. He has produced an Olympic champion, and multiple Olympic silver bronze medallists, as well as seven world and 14 European champions.

His elder son, Arsen, went on to win a silver medal at the London Olympics. In 2011, Julfalakyan was also feted at home after the country's government released postage stamps in his honor.

Vassolos PAGONIS, referee. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Last but not least, referee Pagonis has also been included in the Hall of Fame. The Greek referee has officiated in five Olympics, 20 World Championships, and 25 European Championships. At the 1996 Olympics, Pagonis was feted with a Golden Whistle award.

Weekly FIVE! September 10, 2018

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UWW announces 2024 Hall of Fame inductees