#WrestleBucharest

Two Olympic Champs, Two World Champs Headline Wednesday Night’s Freestyle Finals

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 - 19:43 By Eric Olanowski

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BUCHAREST, Romania (April 9) – Olympic champions Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), and two-time world champions Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) won their semifinal matches on Tuesday night and will wrestle for a European gold medal on the third day of wrestling in Bucharest, Romania. 

Rivals Akgul and Petriashvili both scored semifinals wins against opponents who they’ve previously lost to, setting up a rematch of last year’s European finals. 

Akgul, the reigning European champion, avenged his Ivan Yariguin finals loss to Russia’s Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS). In that January meeting, Khizriev used a pair of second-period counter-offensive crotch lifts to win his first Ranking Series title, 7-3. But on Tuesday night, it was a different story when the Turkish superstar took his Russian opponent down four times, inserting himself into the finals with the 8-1 win.  

He’ll wrestle two-time world champion Geno Petriashvili in a rematch of last year’s European finals. 

Petriashvili edged his semifinals opponent Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR), 3-2, and gained the 2-1 match advantage on the Ukranian wrestler. The pair split their two previous career meetings. The Georgian won their 2015 European Games meeting, but most recently, it was the Ukrainian wrestler who came out on top of the pair’s 2018 International Ukrainian Tournament finals meeting. 

On Tuesday night, Petriashvili was able to skate past Khotsianivskyi, 3-2. 

The second Olympic champion that won their Tuesday night semifinals match was Azerbaijan’s  Sharif Sharifov. The Azeri, who dropped last year’s 92kg finals to Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS), defeated Georgia’s Irakli MTSITURI and made his third European finals appearance. 

In his first match of the day, Sharifov defeated Russia’s Magomed KURBANOV, 6-2, then defeated his Georgian semifinal opponent 8-2. 

He’ll wrestle Poland’s Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), who scored the 6-5 come-from-behind win over Turkey’s Ibrahim BOLUKBASI (TUR) with a late takedown. 

At 74kg, Italy’s two-time world champion Frank Chamzio made it back to the European finals for the first time since 2017 after he defeated Azerbaijan’s Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE), 6-2. With that win, Chamzio, the two-time European champion, improved on his third-place finish from a year ago. 

He’ll wrestle Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA), who knocked off Ukraine’s Vasyl MYKHAILOV and Georgia’s Budapest runner-up Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), 3-3.  

Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), who is making his senior-level debut, will wrestle for a European gold medal on Wednesday night. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

The other two finals spots that were claimed came at 61kg and 86kg. 

At 61kg, returning European finalist Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) will meet Armenia's senior-level rookie Arsen HARUTYUNYAN for the gold medal. 

Lomtadze topped Switzerland’s Randy Adrian VOCK on the top half of the bracket, and Hartuyunyan took down Romania’s Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU) on the bottom half of the bracket. 

The final weight of the night, 86kg, featured one of the biggest upsets up the day when Moldova’s Piotr IANULOV flattened reigning world runner-up and current world No. 1 Fatih ERDIN (TUR) to reach the finals. 

He’ll take on 2017 world bronze medalist Vladislav VALIEV (RUS), who stopped Murad SULEYMANOV (AZE) to reach the continental finals. 

Wednesday nights final are expected to begin at 17:15 (local time) and can be followed on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

RESULTS 
61kg 
GOLD - Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Beka LOMTADZE (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU), 10-4 
SEMIFINAL - Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) df. Randy Adrian VOCK (SUI), 10-0 

74kg
GOLD - Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) vs. Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
SEMIFINAL - Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) df. Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE), 6-2
SEMIFINAL - Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) df. Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)  , 4-2 

86kg
GOLD - Vladislav VALIEV (RUS) vs. Piotr IANULOV (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Vladislav VALIEV (RUS) df. Murad SULEYMANOV (AZE), 7-0 
SEMIFINAL - Piotr IANULOV (MDA) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR), via fall 

92kg
GOLD -  Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) vs. Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) df. Ibrahim BOLUKBASI (TUR), 6-5 
SEMIFINAL - Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) df. Irakli MTSITURI (GEO), 6-0 

125kg
GOLD - Taha AKGUL (TUR) vs. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)  
SEMIFINAL - Taha AKGUL (TUR) df. Anzor Ruslanovitch KHIZRIEV (RUS), 8-1 
SEMIFINAL - Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR), 3-2 

#WrestleBudapest

Orta, Kusaka win Ranking Series gold; Esmaeili books Paris 2024 spot

Monday, June 10, 2024 - 00:29 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 9) -- The 67kg weight class in Budapest was supposed to offer some interesting match-ups. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) could have avenged his World Championships loss to Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI). Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) could have qualified for the Paris Olympics if he had defeated Geraei in Budapest. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) could have become a contender in Georgia for the weight class.

But none of that happened as Orta dominated, outsmarted and controlled his way to the gold medal at 67kg in the Ranking Series, making him one of the favorites for the gold medal in Paris. The Paris Games will also present Orta a rare opportunity to win two Olympic gold medals in two different weight classes as he won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 60kg.

Orta began his day with an 8-0 win over David MANYIK (HUN) before using a four-pointer to beat Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) 7-1 to set up a semifinal against Esmaeili. No one would have expected the Asian champion Esmaeili to challenge the world champion but the Iranian had different ideas.

Esmaeili raced to a 7-0 lead in the first period and was one point away from winning the bout. However, Orta managed to keep himself in the bout and began the second period with a front headlock for four and got one more for a lost challenge from Iran. Still, Esmaeili did well to defend the lead until the last three seconds.

As the bout entered the final 10 seconds left, Orta almost gave up and Esmaeili, thinking that Orta had accepted defeat, turned his back and began walking towards the Iranian corner to celebrate. Just the whole stadium gasped as Orta, realizing there was still time left, ran towards Esmaeili and threw him for four.

Midway through the throw, an air-borne Esmaeili knew he messed up. He pleaded that the time was over. Referees initially did not award points to Orta but Cuba challenged and it was clear that the move was completed with 0.1 seconds left. Orta was awarded four points, helping him win 9-7.

An inconsolable Esmaeili had to be helped to the warm-up area. For he thought his Paris 2024 dream was over. 

Orta, fueled by that unthinkable win and his Cuban teammates including Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) in the stands, went on to beat Abuladze in the final to claim the gold medal. He, however, will remain second in the seeding for the Olympics as Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) has already locked up the top seed.

Jafarov was wrestling in Budapest but was up at 72kg. He may have changed his weight class but had no trouble winning the gold medal at the higher weight as well.

Back to Esmaeili who had his task cut out in the evening session. He needed to beat Geraei in two bouts to earn the Paris 2024 spot on the Iran team. He gathered himself from that loss to Orta and scored a final second takedown against Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) to clinch a 6-5 win while Geraei defeated Andres MONTANO (ECU) 3-3 to claim the other bronze.

The two stepped on the mat for the wrestle-off for the Olympic spot with Geraei holding an advantage that if he won the first match, he would book his spot for Paris but Esmaeili had to do it in a best-of-three format. But Esmaeili did not let it go to that third as he defeated Geraei in two straight bouts in a tennis-like scoreline, 6-0 and 6-4, to earn a spot on the Iran team for the Paris Olympics and maybe a rematch with Orta in the French capital which on Sunday witness Carlos ALCARAZ win his first French Open.

David LOSONCZI (HUN)David LOSONCZI (HUN) celebrates after securing a fall over Ali CENGIZ (TUR). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

There was more drama in Budapest as David LOSONCZI (HUN) made sure he pinned Ali CENGIZ (TUR) when the two met in the 87kg semifinal. The two were awarded a shared World Championships title in September after Cengiz defeated Losonczi but the Hungarian wrestler won an appeal for judges' errors and was also awarded the gold medal.

Losonczi admitted that he was waiting for the rematch and though relieved to get the gold medal in Belgrade, he did not really celebrate it. So when he faced Cengiz this time, Losonczi stepped over when the Turkish wrestler was trying to finish a headlock throw. The local fans in Budapest were ecstatic and so was Losonczi who missed his final against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) due to an injury, a deep cut on his chin.

Nao KUSAKA (JPN)Nao KUSAKA (JPN) defeated Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) in the 77kg semifinal in Budapest. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Nao KUSAKA (JPN) has now beaten World Championships gold and silver medalists at 77kg in the past two months. After his win over world champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) at the Asian Championships in April, Kusaka handed World Championships silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) a 2-1 defeat in the semifinal. Suleymanov was leading 1-1 on criteria but Kusaka managed to score a stepout just in time to claim the win.

In the final, Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) defaulted due to injury and Kusaka won the gold medal that will take him past Suleymanov as the top-ranked wrestler in the world. Suleymanov would have remained the top-ranked wrestler if he had won a bronze medal but pulled out due to injury. Kusaka will now have 67200 points while Suleymanov will have 67100 points.

At 97kg, World Championships bronze medalist Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) had no issues beating whoever tried to challenge him. In the final Alex SZOKE (HUN) led 1-1 on criteria but Saravi scored a takedown.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
SILVER: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
BRONZE: Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)

67kg
GOLD: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 4-0

BRONZE: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN), 6-5
BRONZE: Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) df. Andres MONTANO (ECU), 3-3

72kg
GOLD: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), 5-2

BRONZE: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), 7-3
BRONZE: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df. Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA), 2-1

77kg
GOLD: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Yosvanys PENA FLORESS (CUB) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mohammad Reza MOKHTARI (IRI) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), via inj. def.

82kg
GOLD: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO), 3-1

BRONZE: Karlo KODRIC (CRO) df. Spencer WOODS (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Mihail BRADU (MDA) df. Peter DOEMOEK (HUN), 3-0

87kg
GOLD: Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Mohammadhossein MAHMOODI (IRI) df. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 10-4
BRONZE: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Istvan TAKACS (HUN), via forfeit

97kg
GOLD: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Alex SZOKE (HUN), 3-1

BRONZE: Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Josef RAU (USA), 11-4
BRONZE: Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI) df. Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON), via inj. def.