Wrestling training, activities return to Oceania

Thursday, August 10, 2023 - 12:58 By United World Wrestling Press

CANBERRA, Australia (August 10) -- United World Wrestling, in partnership with Olympic Solidarity and Wrestling Australia, hosted educational courses and an athlete training camp prior to the Oceania Championships in Canberra, Australia.

After several years of inactivity due to COVID-19, the Oceania region spent eight days (July 30 July to August 6) developing wrestlers, coaches, and referees.

“This training was very important for all the participants," Zach ERRETT, UWW Education Manager, said. "This gave them an opportunity to grow and improve together as a region,"

The training camp was supported by the Sports Development Unit of Olympic Solidarity and led by Gary MAYABB (USA) and Carissa HOLLARD (AUS).

There were over 40 participants in attendance from six different countries namely Australia, New Zealand, Palau, Nauru, Samoa and Tonga. The wrestlers worked on developing basic skills that would help improve their primary and secondary scoring attacks. They also learned proper position and how to defend against leg attacks.

“I learned and grew a lot both as a coach and athlete through this course," Cristian NICOLESCU (PLW) said. "I am grateful to take part in this coaching course and training camp."

The coaches that attended the camp also participated for eight days. The course was supported by the Entourage Unit of Olympic Solidarity. The first part of the course focused on the Level 1 Coaching Course (Introduction to Coaching and Safety) which explained how to introduce techniques and coaching skills. The coaches were able to directly apply what they were learning during the camp.

The second part of the course included the Level 2 Course (Introduction to Practice Planning). This part focused on performance analysis and the development of effective practice plans.

During the week, the coaches pulled double time as they had a two-hour educational session prior to the training camp sessions.

“The group of coaches did an awesome job all week," Errett said. "It is not easy having to spend four hours of training each day in addition to coaching at the training camp. To their credit, they [participants] stepped up and really showed tremendous growth."

The wrestlers and coaches also participated in Anti-Doping and Athlete Safeguarding training which was conducted by Sport Integrity Australia. The Athlete Safeguarding training, completed by UWW, detailed the types of harm and fostered a discussion on what to do if a situation occurs.

“The Olympic Solidarity Youth Athlete Development program, along with the UWW Level 1 & 2 Coaches development and UWW Referees course, has proven to be a truly remarkable opportunity for fostering unity within the Oceania region," Holland said. "This collective endeavor, held in a world-class environment at the AIS, has undeniably contributed to the strengthening of wrestling in our region. Witnessing the positive impact on all participants has been heartening, and I firmly believe that these courses and camps will leave a lasting impression on the growth and progress of wrestling in Oceania. With such empowering experiences, I am confident that our future generations will be inspired to carry the torch forward, propelling the Oceania region towards even greater heights in the realm of wrestling."

AUS Participants of the Referee Course go through in-match scoring situations. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

During the second half of the week, the referees also held an Introduction to Refereeing course. This was conducted over the final four days of the camp. This course was conducted by Stefan RUDEVICS Rudevics (AUS), a IS referee.

During this course, the referees learned the basics of what it takes to be a good referee by improving positioning, scoring, and referee mechanics. This was imparted during the practical sessions in which they could referee simulated matches.

“Participants engaged to learn the techniques and philosophies of refereeing, criteria for scoring points, attack-counter attack situations, as well as critical scoring situations," Rudevics said. "By the end of the course, participants confidently refereed tough matches, in all referee positions, and with good accuracy."

On the final day of the two courses, the referees and coaches held a joint session. This session allowed them to work together to better understand each other and the rules of wrestling. The session allows the two groups to create open communication which will help improve their relationship in the future.

“The Oceania Training Camp was enhanced by the infusion of the coaches from the region who took part in both Level I and II Education Courses while working every session of the camp for their athletes," Mayabb said. "Wrestling Australia and United World Wrestling were outstanding hosts for all participants, making for eight great days of effort from athletes, coaches and referees.

"Every time we connect these stakeholders, we improve and advance our sport. Errett, Rudevics and Holland did an outstanding job blending the talents, skills and efforts of everyone in the Camp."

AUS Attendees go through a drill session during one of the training sessions in Australia. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The participants in different courses expressed themselves after the courses.

Charlize CHANDRA (NZL)

"I really enjoyed meeting and training with different wrestlers from various countries and learning tips from them to make me a better wrestler. The coaches were absolutely amazing and pushed us to get out of our comfort zones so we could expand our wrestling skills. Overall, the training camp was such an enjoyable experience, and I loved every moment of it."

Josh ALOFIPO (SAM)

“I enjoyed the fellowship and exchanging new knowledge on wrestling. We’ve repeated our primary and secondary movements in order to correct our flow. We also made so much progress and gained new experiences every day as time went by. It has helped us understand wrestling a lot more and that is something we can take home."

William RIDDIFORD (AUS)

"I have liked all the cool wrestling techniques we have learned while training at this camp and the food and activities at the Australian Institute of Sports."

Tianna FERNANDEZ (PLW)

“I appreciate being able to come out to Australia for this wrestling camp. I have learned so much from coaches Gary, Zach, Carissa, and others. They reminded me of the importance of the basics and positioning and how much of a difference it really makes.”

Alex RADDY (NZL)

"It’s been a great learning opportunity with awesome people from Oceania and some amazing coaches that have really helped me understand the basics and given me the ability to take my wrestling to the next level."

Blesam TARKONG (PLW Coach)

“The course has been enlightening. Showing things that I have not considered to teach my athletes and myself. Nothing but positive feedback from me. Thank you!”

Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM Coach)

“I would like to thank my coach for giving me the lecture. This time I took a coaching course and my coaching skills improved. I would like to continue to improve as a coach.”

#WrestleTirana

World Championships: Sadulaev caps golden return with 92kg title

Tuesday, November 26, 2024 - 00:20 By Ken Marantz

TIRANA, Albania (October 31)--After a long absence from the mat forced by a combination of injuries and extenuating circumstances beyond his control, two-time Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) returned in triumph.

It wasn't at his usual weight class and he has no plans to remain there, but for now the Russian great can be satisfied with adding yet another global gold medal to his formidable collection.

Sadulaev won his sixth world title in a third different weight class when he defeated Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 6-0 in the final at freestyle 92kg on Thursday, the final day of the Non-Olympic Weight Categories in Tirana.

"I can’t express what I feel yet," Sadulaev said. "I am very happy to be back on the top place of the podium of the world championships. This time it was a bit more difficult than the previous ones. There were many things that didn’t depend on me. I am glad."

Meanwhile, up-and-coming Masanosuke ONO (JPN), following up on Japan's success in the lightest weights at the Paris Olympics, completed a dominant run to the 61kg gold, while Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) and Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) ended long waits to return to the medal podium by making it to the top step at 70kg and 79kg, respectively.

Sadulaev, wrestling at 92kg for the first time in his career and down from 97kg for the first time since winning the 86kg gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, put up his usual granite wall of defense, while also showing the combination of speed, power and agility on the attack that sets him apart from his peers.

"I was about 98kg when I started the preparation," Sadulaev said. "The weight cut was not so difficult. I stopped eating flour and sweets, and the weight started to go down. Only the last two kilograms were a bit difficult to cut.

"The only problem was that I had the weigh-ins at 8 a.m. in the morning, then we arrived at the venue and I started wrestling in 30 minutes, I didn’t even have any time to rest. All the matches were just happening one by one with no rest. That’s why I got a bit tired in the semifinal match."

In the final, Sadulaev was on the activity clock in the first period when he scored a takedown, then added a pair of gut wrenches to build a 6-0 lead. From there, he held off everything that Maisuradze threw at him to add to the five world titles he won starting in 2014.

The last time the world saw Sadulaev, he suffered a serious neck injury and was beaten in the semifinals at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade by Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), a former member of Sadulaev's wrestling school in Dagestan now competing for Bahrain who won the gold in Paris.

Sadulaev was declared ineligible to defend his Olympic 97kg title in Paris as part of sanctions on Russia and Belarus, and skipped what would have been his return at this year's European Championships in February due to injury.

"I found out that I will be wrestling at 92kg at the worlds only at the end of September," Sadulaev said. "I talked to the president of the federation. I was preparing to compete at the Olympic Games, but unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to enter, that’s why I decided to give it a try here...One and a half months was enough for me to prepare."

But as he showed over the two days in Tirana, he could be as competitive as ever. He started by handily defeating fellow superstar David TAYLOR (USA) in a classic matchup in the first round, then showed that his fire for success still burned bright within him when he scraped together a 4-point takedown in the final seconds to edge Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) 5-3 in the semifinals.

"It didn’t really matter if I had to wrestle Taylor in the final match or in the qualification round," Sadulaev said. "It would have been more interesting if it was a final match. It would have been very spectacular if we wrestled in the final.

"In the semifinal match, I missed an attack, and in the end, I had to get a last-second score. I think it made the match even more interesting."

Looking ahead, Sadulaev said he will be heading back up to 97kg. "This was the only one time for me wrestling at 92kg. This is not my weight class, I will be back at 97kg again. I just used this opportunity not to lose another year. I had to make history to win the world championships in three different weight classes."

The dynamic Ono, who won the world U20 gold in September, never let up on the gas in storming to a quick 10-0 victory in the 61kg final over Ahmet DUMAN (TUR).

As he did throughout the tournament, Ono transitioned immediately to a gut wrench from a takedown, scoring six quick points before Duman knew what hit him. Ono then used a snap-down to a low ankle for another takedown, then a gut wrench to finish the rout in 1:22.

Ono, who started his golden run with a 10-2 win over Tokyo Olympic and former two-time world champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN), reeled off 12-0, 11-0 and 12-0 victories to advance to the final.

The senior Asian bronze medalist this year at 65kg, he later revealed that an injury had hampered his preparations. "One month ago, I broke my ankle and I couldn't practice at all," Ono said. "The Uguev match was my first live wrestling after the fracture, and I was very unsure how I would do."

For Ono, currently a student at Yamanashi Gakuin University, the school that produced Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN), the question is where does he go from here?

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), who followed Otoguro by winning the 65kg gold in Paris, beat Ono in the final at the 2023 All-Japan Championships during the Olympic qualifying process. Going down to 57kg, where Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) won the Paris gold, seems unlikely.

Wherever he ends up, he will go with confidence. "I don't know if I'll go to 65kg and face him [Kiyooka]," Ono said. "If I do, I'm definitely going to win."

As for celebrating his triumph in Tirana, that will have to wait. "In five days, I have the Japan University championships," he said.

In the 70kg final, Kaipanov scored all of his points in the second period to defeat Asian silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) 5-3 and add the gold to the world silver he won in 2019 and become just the second world freestyle champion in Kazakhstan history -- and second in two years.

Kaipanov, a two-time former Asian champion, twice scored 2-point exposures by stopping body-lock throw attempts by Aoyagi, a former teammate of Ono's at Yamanashi Gakuin who was coming off a bronze-medal finish at the World U23 Championships held a week ago in the same venue.

Kaipanov's victory came a year after Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) captured the 92kg title in Belgrade to become their country's first-ever freestyle gold medalist.

Kentchadze, a four-time European bronze medalist whose only previous world medal was a 74kg silver won in 2015, scored six takedowns in a 13-4 victory over 2023 world U23 champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN) to take the 79kg gold.

Kentchadze, who was fifth at the 74kg at last year's worlds in Belgrade, gave up an opening takedown, but responded by scoring two himself to go ahead. After the second, however, he got stuffed attempting a roll to go behind 4-4, but righted the ship and added two more takedowns before the break to lead 8-4.

In the second period, Kentchadze sandwiched two more takedowns around a stepout to pull away and emerge victorious in the tournament's most crowded weight class with 33 entries.

Taylor claims emotional bronze

Taylor didn't get the gold that he came out of retirement to get in Tirana, but he did show a bit of his old magic in claiming a bronze medal at 92kg with an impressive 6-2 comeback victory over Ghasempour.

"When you're good for so long, you never know when it's time to be done," said an emotional Taylor, the Tokyo Olympic and three-time world champion at 86kg. "I just got an opportunity to go out the way I wanted to."

Ghasempour, the 2021 and 2022 world champion at 92kg, opened the scoring with a takedown while on the activity clock to lead 2-0 at the break. In the second period, Taylor went on the offensive and scored three takedowns against the tough Iranian, the last coming with two seconds left to preserve the victory.

After the match, Taylor remained on the mat for a short while, drinking in the atmosphere and the applause of the crowd. Later, he smile broadly on the medal podium and posed for photo together with Sadulaev.

The 33-year-old had retired after failing to make the U.S. team to the Paris Olympics and took the head coaching job at powerhouse Oklahoma State University. But the chance to face Sadulaev for the first time and possibly add to his gold medal collection was incentive enough to bring him back to the mat. The luck of the draw saw him face Sadulaev in the first round, where he lost 7-0.

"It was a tough decision to wrestle, but I didn't want it to end the way it did in April," Taylor said. "Going into this, I was hyperfocused on wrestling Sadulaev. The game script didn't go as I thought. I should have wrestled [him] like I did [against Ghasempour]. [The bronze-medal match] was a match of redemption. It was a world-final caliber match."

Although they met just that one time, Sadulaev had kind parting words for Taylor. "I want to congratulate Taylor on an amazing career," he said. "He was one of the best wrestlers of the modern time. I wish him good luck. Sooner or later, I will retire as well. But not now."

In the other 92kg bronze-medal match, Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) gave Slovakia a second bronze of the night when he rode a six-point lead to an 8-6 victory over a spirited Benjamin HONIS (ITA), who had been aiming to become Italy's first world medalist not named Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) since 2018.

Vito ARUJAU (USA), denied the chance to defend his world 61kg title by Ono in the semifinals, came away with a bronze medal by taking one of the biggest scalps of his career, beating Ugaev 8-3.

Arujau, shaking off a painful finger injury that caused him to need treatment during the second period, scored four takedowns in toppling the normally 57kg Uguev, who had obvious trouble handling the extra weight.

The other 61kg bronze went to Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL), who came up with a big move to defeat Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) by fall. Tseveensuren started with a 4-point pancake that Norvuzov reversed for 2, then countered a takedown attempt by locking the Azeri in a cradle and securing the fall at 2:30.

Russian-born Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK) ended Tajikistan's 17-wait for a second world medal when he broke open a tight match with a 10-point flurry in the second period to defeat Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) 13-2 in a 70kg bronze-medal match.

Kudiev, a bronze medalist at this year's Antalya Ranking Series at 65kg, followed in the footsteps of another native Russian, Yusup ABDUSALOMOV (TJK), who won a silver at freestyle 84kg in 2007.

European U23 champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN), last year's world U23 gold medalist, claimed his first senior world medal with a 10-0 victory in the other 70kg bronze-medal match over Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR). Sheriev scored three takedowns in the second period to end the match with :08 left.

At 79kg, Asian champion Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI), who knocked off six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) before losing to Kentchadze in the semifinals, overwhelmed young Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) 10-0 to take home a world medal for the third consecutive year.

Takahashi, the world U23 champion at 74kg a week ago in Tirana, did a remarkable job of making it to the bronze-medal match, having come back from massive deficits in both of his repechage matches just a few hours earlier.

Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK), the 2021 European champion, scored a 2-point exposure on a counter in the second period to edge Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL) 2-1 for the other 79kg bronze.

Freestyle Results

61kg (27 entries)
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) by TF, 10-0, 1:22

BRONZE: Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL) df Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) by Fall, 2:30 (8-2)
BRONZE: Vito ARUJAU (USA) df. Zavur UGUEV (AIN), 8-3

70kg (25 entries)
GOLD: Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) df. Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), 5-3

BRONZE: Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) df. Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR) by TF, 10-0, 5:52
BRONZE: Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK) df. Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) by TF, 13-2, 4:39

79kg (33 entries)
GOLD: Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), 13-4

BRONZE: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) df. Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) by TF, 10-0, 3:49
BRONZE: Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) df. Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL), 2-1

92kg (29 entries)
GOLD: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 6-0

BRONZE: David TAYLOR (USA) df. Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), 6-2
BRONZE: Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) df. Benjamin HONIS (ITA), 8-6

Wrestling training, activities return to Oceania

Comments

World Championships: Sadulaev caps golden return with 92kg title