#WrestleSofia

Wrestlers from Six Different Countries Advance to Women’s Finals at #WrestleSofia

Thursday, August 1, 2019 - 19:17 By Taylor Miller

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Photo of Yulia LESKOVETS (UKR)

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Japan and China each put three athletes in gold-medal matches for the last day of women’s freestyle action at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. India, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and USA also have wrestlers in the finals.

There will be two head-to-head matchups between Japan and China in tomorrow’s gold matches.

2017 Cadet World champion Hanano SAKURAI (JPN) looks to win another gold medal but will have to face Xueing LIANG (CHN) at 46 kg.

The last bout of the night will feature two-time Cadet World champion Honoka NAKAI (JPN) at 69 kg, facing off against 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Cun LIU (CHN). The two did not meet up in the Asian Championships as Nakai did not go.

Nakai won her last two gold medals at 65 kg.

Japan is also featured in the final at 61 kg, where 2018 Youth Olympic champion and 2018 Cadet World champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) will face off against 2019 Cadet European champion Yulia LESKOVETS (UKR).

At 53 kg, the third representative from China, Zhaojing SHI (CHN), will battle for gold. Shi, a 2018 Cadet World bronze medalist, takes on Kalmira BILIMBEK (KGZ), who was fifth in the world last year.

Shi and Bilimbek were at different weights last year.

The finals will take place on Friday at 6 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Finals matchups
40 kg: Sterling DIAS (USA) vs. Komal KOMAL (IND)
46 kg: Xueing LIANG (CHN) vs. Hanano SAKURAI (JPN)
53 kg: Zhaojing SHI (CHN) vs. Kalmira BILIMBEK (KGZ)
61 kg: Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) vs. Yulia LESKOVETS (UKR)
69 kg: Honoka NAKAI (JPN) vs. Cun LIU (CHN)
 

#CanadaWrestling

Former world champion Di Stasio of Canada retires

Thursday, March 13, 2025 - 17:45 By United World Wrestling Press

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OTTAWA, Canada (March 13) -- After nearly 15 years of representing Canada, Justina DI STASIO (CAN) has decided to retire.

During her career, Di Stasio built an impressive resume that will go down as one of the all-time greats in Canadian wrestling history. The 32-year-old represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Di Stasio won gold medal at the World Championship in 2018, a Pan-American Games gold medal in 2019 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022. In addition, she is a multiple-time Pan-Am Championships gold medalist.

While there have been many memorable moments, a few stood out to Di Stasio, including her start with the national team, her win at the 2018 worlds, being coached on the national team by two-time Olympic medalist Tonya VERBEEK (CAN), and making her first Olympics in 2024.

“Winning worlds was a special moment, especially because I could hear my parents cheering from the stands," Di Stasio said. "It reminded me of my tournaments as a kid. It also helped me frame everything in my life better. I realized it is about the journey and not the destination. It was amazing to feel the way I did on that one day, but it was only one day. I had worked so hard in the lead up, but I realized I had to enjoy those days too. I still wanted to be the best in the world and I never didn’t train like it, but from that point, I made sure to enjoy my wrestling every day.”

That love for the sport kept Di Stasio going despite setbacks that stalled her dream of competing at the Olympics. After failing to qualify for the Rio and Tokyo Games, Di Stasio qualified for Paris 2024, eventually finishing 12th.

“Making it to the Olympics came with lots of pressure, but good pressure. I had won everything else and trained every day thinking I could be an Olympic champion. Even though it was a heart-breaking result, I know I couldn’t have worked harder and that helped me accept the result. I would have loved to make it there when I was younger, but I think I needed to be more mature to handle the result.”

Read full news on Wrestling Canada Lutte website.