#Zagreb2019

Zagreb Open Rosters Released

By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) - The Zagreb Open, United World Wrestlings first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, starts this Saturday in Zagreb, Croatia. Nearly 40 age-group and senior-level world medalists, along with London Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) are set to compete for the all-important Ranking Series points.  

This will be the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event where the revamped point structure will be used. This tournament is especially important because the seeding process at the 2019 Astana World Championships takes into account the number of points competitors accumulate from last year's World Championships, along with the Continental Championships and the Ranking Series events.  

The number of points awarded at a competition will also be impacted by the number of wrestlers entered in each bracket. For weight categories with 10 or fewer entries, an additional six (6) points will be added. For categories with 11-20 wrestlers entered an additional eight (8) points will be added. Ten (10) points will be added to any weight category with more than 20 entries.

The three remaining Greco-Roman Ranking Series events are the Hungarian Grand Prix (February 23)the Sassari (May 24), and the Oleg Karavaev (July 26). 

2019 Ranking Series Point Structure
GOLD - 8 points  
SILVER - 6 points 
BRONZE - 4 points
Fifth - 2 points 

*Please note that these are unofficial entries and are subject to change. Entry will not be official until 24 hours before the competition starts. This goes for every pre-entry list released by United World Wrestling. 

55kg 
Jozsef ANDRASI (HUN)
Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI)
Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)
Cihat Ahmet LIMAN (TUR)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Dogus AYAZCI (TUR)

60kg 
Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL)
Sandro FRANKOL (CRO)
Tony BRALA (CRO)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Mikkel LASSEN (DEN)
Daniel BOBILLO VIGIL (ESP)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Milad Ali REZANEZHAD HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
LEE Jungbaik (KOR)
CHUNG Hanjae (KOR)
KIM Seunghak (KOR)
Ardit FAZLJIJA (SWE)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Dalton James ROBERTS (USA)
Xavier Tramain JOHNSON (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Javokhir MIRAKHMEDOV (UZB)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

63kg 
Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL)
Luka PRIHISTAL (CRO)
Mohsen Fathollah MADHANI (IRI)
Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL)
Dawid Andrzej ERSETIC (POL)
Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL)
Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU)
Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE)
Rahman BILICI (TUR)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Erhan KARAKUS (TUR)
Travis Michael RICE (USA)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)


Korea's two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR) will wrestle at 67kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)  

67kg 
Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ (CHI)
Danijel JANECIC (CRO)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Alejandro Ruslan CONCEPCION CASTILLO (ESP)
Otto LOSONCZI (HUN)
Mate KRASZNAI (HUN)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Mohammad Reza Hojatollah MOKHTARI (IRI)
RYU Hansu (KOR)
KIM Dohyeong (KOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Tamas NAD (SRB)
Danielo Giuseppe DI FEOLA (SWE)
Abdul Samet BASAR (TUR)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Volkan CAKIL (TUR)
Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)

72kg 
Stoyan Stoychev KUBATOV (BUL)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Fran SACIC (CRO)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)
Martin TOTH (HUN)
Yousef Hajiali HOSSEINVAND FATHI (IRI)
Vegard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Dawid KARECINSKI (POL)
Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksandr PAIVIN (RUS)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Oskar Simon ERLANDSSON (SWE)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Murat DAG (TUR)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)


Serbia's 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES is registered to compete at 77kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

77kg
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Laszlo SZABO (HUN)
Martin SZABO (HUN)
Zotlan LEVAI (HUN)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Igor PETRISHIN (ISR)
KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Rafael IUNUSOV (RUS)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Khalid KERCHIYEV (SWE)
Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA)
Peyton Burke WALSH (USA)
Kamal Ameer BEY (USA)
Bilan NALGIEV (UZB)

82kg 
Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN)
Daniel TOLLAR (HUN)
Hosein Jahanbakhsh FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI)
Timotej TRBULIN (SLO)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Emrah KUS (TUR)
John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg 
Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Ivan RATKOVIC (CRO)
Pedro Jacinto GARCIA PEREZ (ESP)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Bertalan PAPP (HUN)
Hasan Jahanbakhsh FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI)
PARK Heageun (KOR)
KIM Junehyoung (KOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Arkadiusz Marcin KULYNYCZ (POL)
Valentin CABI (SRB)
Vladimir STANKIC (SRB)
Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV (SRB)
Aleksandar Georgije STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Patrick Anthony MARTINEZ (USA)
Kevin Dewayne RADFORD JR (USA)
Muhammadali SHAMSIDDINOV (UZB)


Bulgaria's 2018 world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) is expected to compete at 97kg. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne) 

97kg
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
Adam VARGA (HUN)
Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN)
Robert ERSEK (HUN)
Abolfazl Naser SEYEDMAHDAVI (IRI)
LEE Seyeol (KOR) 
KIM Seungjun (KOR)
Ilia BORISOV (RUS)
Pontus Johan LUND (SWE)
Fatih BASKOY (TUR) 
Abdul Kadir CEBITUR)
Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR)
Nicholas Allen BOYKIN (USA)
Daniel Collett MILLER (USA)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)

130kg 
Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Ante MILKOVIC (CRO)
Balint LAM (HUN)
Armin Mozes MAJOROS (HUN)
Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI)
KIM Minseok (KOR)
LEE Seungchan (KOR)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

#WrestleTirana

Ukraine Puts Four in Women's Finals at Europeans

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (April 22) -- Ukraine kicked off Women's Wrestling at the European Championships with four finalists in five weight classes, including two defending champions in Tirana.

Oksana LIVACH (UKR), defending champion at 50kg, and Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), defending champion at 76kg, returned to the finals, while Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) and Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) made it to the 55kg and 59kg gold-medal bouts.

At 68kg, the only weight class in which Ukraine did not get a finalist, a blockbuster final is set between U23 world champion Nesrin BAS (TUR) and defending champion Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW).

Livach used her aggressive style to score multiple stepouts in her 6-2 victory over Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW), setting up a rematch of the 2025 European final against Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), who was at her defensive best against Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU) and won 6-0.

Alpyeyeva reached the final after a clinical 4-0 victory over Martina KUENZ (AUT) in the semifinal. She will now face former European champion Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU), who moved past Enrica RINALDI (ITA), 3-1, in a low-scoring semifinal.

Malanchuk at 55kg came alive in the second period, scoring six points and securing a fall over U23 world silver medalist Tuba DEMIR (TUR). She led 1-1 on criteria at the break, then hit a double-leg attack and tried to hold Demir on the mat for a fall, but she survived.

Demir tried a leg attack, but Malanchuk countered and held her on the mat to secure the fall with 1:45 remaining.

She will now face former European champion Andreea ANA (ROU), who saw off Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA), 10-0, in the other semifinal.

Vynnyk, who was all but beaten in the semifinal against Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE), 6-2, tripped the Azerbaijan wrestler with less than 10 seconds remaining to claim a stunning victory and reach the 59kg final. After the trip, Vynnyk also scored exposure points.

She will now face Jowita WRZESIEN (POL), who defeated Svetlana LIPATOVA (UWW), 4-2, in a low-scoring bout. Wrzesien led 3-1 and was in danger of giving up a takedown when Lipatova attacked on a single leg. However, the Polish wrestler defended well and gave up only a stepout. Lipatova challenged but lost, conceding one more point to Wrzesien.

Bas vs Shauchuk

Defending champion at 68kg, Shauchuk defeated Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 4-3, scoring two second-period takedowns. She had beaten the Romanian in last year’s final. For gold this year, Shauchuk will face Bas, a U23 world champion and returning silver medalist from 72kg.

Bas had no trouble completing a 12-1 technical superiority win over Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW) in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

50kg
SF 1: Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) df. Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU), 6-0
SF 2: Oksana LIVACH (UKR) df. Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW), 6-2

55kg
SF 1: Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) df. Tuba DEMIR (TUR), via fall
SF 2: Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA), 10-0

59kg
SF 1: Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE), 6-2
SF 2: Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (UWW), 4-2

68kg
SF 1: Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 4-3
SF 2: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW), 12-1

76kg
SF 1: Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) df. Martina KUENZ (AUT), 4-0
SF 2: Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) df. Enrica RINALDI (ITA), 3-1