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 .

#WrestleZagreb

Saravi returns to final; Ganizade, Ghanem rematch for 72kg gold

Friday, September 19, 2025 - 16:52 By Ken Marantz

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 19) -- Paris Olympic champion Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) safely negotiated the minefield that was the draw of the stacked 97kg division, advancing to the final to earn a shot at capturing a second world title.

Saravi defeated Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW) 3-1 in the semifinals Friday at the World Championships in Zagreb, putting him in Saturday's gold-medal match against Artur SARGSIAN (UWW) as the finals were set in three Greco weight classes.

In other finals, Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) and Alisher GANIEV (UZB) will battle it out at 60kg, while the 72kg match will be a rematch of last year's final between defending champion Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) and Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA).

Saravi, who avoided the upset bug that hit the legendary Artur ALEKSANYAN (AZE) and 2023 world champion Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) earlier in the day, executed a gut wrench from par terre against Maskevich, then hardly budged when he was put on the bottom in the second period.

The victory gives Saravi, who won his third straight Asian title and fourth overall this year, a shot at regaining the world title he won in 2021. He also has an Olympic bronze and world silver and bronze medals to his credit.

Sargsian, a 2021 bronze medalist, earned his place in the final with a 1-1 victory over Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE), prevailing on the criteria of receiving the first of two passivity points.

Following an opening victory by technical superiority, it was Sargsian's third straight victory by a 1-1 scoreline, an aspect that is totally irrelevant to him.

"I don’t care about the score, the important thing is that they raised my hand," Sargsian said. "All my life I tried to win ahead of time, to get 8-0 in every match -- and for what? It didn’t lead to anything good. I’m 27 years old and I still have only world championship medal. So for me, three times 1-1 is the same as three times 8-0."

For Sargsian, the final gives him a chance to avenge a loss to Saravi from the 2021 World Championships, when the Iranian defeated him 6-4 in the first round in Oslo.

"I’m very glad that tomorrow I’ll finally have my long-awaited rematch with Saravi," Sargsian said. "It adds extra excitement that now he is not only a world champion, but also an Olympic champion."

At 60kg, Asian silver medalist Ganiev will get a chance to become just the second Uzbekistan wrestler to win a world Greco title after holding on to win a 5-5 thriller
over European silver medalist Georgij TIBILOV (SRB).

Ganiev was on top in par terre, trailing on criteria because he received the second passivity point, when he lifted Tibilov and executed a nifty cartwheel for a 4-pointer and a 5-4 lead.

But Tibilov, a world bronze medalist at 63kg in 2023, was not going down easily, and he pressured Ganiev at the edge for a takedown, then added a second one. But
that was all he could get, and Ganiev won on big-point criteria.

The victory avenged a 6-4 loss to Tibilov in the final of the Zagreb Open in the same arena back in February.

Uzbekistan's lone title in Greco came back in 2001, when Dilshod ARIPOV (UZB) won the 58kg gold in Patras, Greece.

Sultangali, who has world bronze medals from 2018 and 2022, will get a shot at his first gold after putting on a late surge and defeating Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
10-2 in the other semifinal.

Sultangali trailed 2-1 when he bulled Shavadze over for a 4-point takedown with :30 left, then added a gut wrench. An unsuccessful challenge made it 8-2 before Shavadze gave up the fight and allowed a stepout with fleeing penalty point with :03 left.

Kazakhstan has won five Greco world golds through three wrestlers, but hasn't had put one on the top of the medal podium since 1999, when Mkhtar MANUKYAN
(KAZ) won the second of his back-to-back titles at 63kg in Athens.

At 72kg, a second potential Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan match-up failed to come to fruition when both countries' wrestlers lost in the semifinals. Instead, it will be
Ganizade and Ghanem going at it for the second consecutive year.

Ganizade scored all of his points in the first period in a 5-0 victory over Asian silver medalist Abdullo ALIEV (UZB). He slipped behind for a takedown, then added a gut wrench before getting the lone passivity point to cap the first period.

In the other semifinal, Ghanem was leading a close match 3-2 as it was winding down when he countered Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) for 4-point throw.

Maulitkanov just remained lying on the mat, officially giving Ghanem a victory by fall in 5:49.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg (25 entries)
SF 1: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) df. Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) by TF, 10-2, 5:57
SF 2: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Georgij TIBILOV (SRB), 5-5

72kg (30 entries)
SF 1: Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) df. Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 5-0
SF 2: Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) df. Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) by Fall, 5:49 (7-2)

97kg (29 entries)
SF 1: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW), 3-1
SF 2: Artur SARGSIAN (UWW) df. Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE), 1-1

Weekly FIVE! September 10, 2018

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Saravi returns to final; Ganizade, Ghanem rematch for 72kg gold