Weekly FIVE! March 19, 2019

Tuesday, March 19, 2019 - 13:04 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing Russia winning the Freestyle World Cup on home soil and looking at theThor Masters results. Also looking at the upcoming U23 Asian Championships, "Hollywood wrestles Bollywood" and the European Championships.

1. Russia Wins Freestyle World Cup on Home Soil
The Russian Federation closed out the Freestyle World Cup with an impressive 9-1 win over Iran to claim their first team title since the 2011 Makhachkala World Cup. This was their seventh Freestyle World Cup title, but first in eight years.

Overall, Russia went 4-0 on the weekend and compiled a combined individual record of 36-4 over their 40 matches. In addition to their finals win over Iran, they also picked up wins over Cuba (10-0), Japan (8-2), and Turkey (9-1).

Meanwhile, in the third-place bout, the defending champion the United States edged Japan, 6-4.

The pair traded blows and were tied three-all after the first six matches. Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN) broke that tie after his 14-3 routing of Samuel Joseph BROOKS (USA), but three consecutive American wins from Hayden ZILLMER, Kyven Ross GADSON, and Anthony NELSON gave the Stars and Stripes the 6-4 advantage, and ultimately the third-place finish.

Cuba finished fifth place after they defeated Mongolia, 6-4, and Georgia claimed seventh place after beating Turkey, 8-2.

RESULTS
GOLD - Russia df. Iran, 9-1
BRONZE - United States df. Japan, 6-4
Fifth - Cuba df. Mongolia, 6-4
Seventh - Georgia df. Turkey, 8-2

2. U23 Asian Championships Starts Thursday
The U23 Continental Championships train continues to roll this weekend and will make its stop in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for the 2019 U23 Asian Championships.

The four-day tournament begins on Thursday and will go through Sunday.

SCHEDULE

Thursday (March 21)
9:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in GR - 60,67,72,77,82,97,130kg
11:30 - Qualification rounds and repechage GR - 60,67,72,77,82,97,130kg
14:45 - Draw - GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg
17:30 - Opening Ceremony
18:00 - Finals GR – 60,67,72,77,82,97,130kg

Friday (March 22)
9:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in (GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg)
11:30 - Qualification rounds and repechages - GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg
14:45 - Draw WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg
18: 00 - Finals GR - 55,63,87kg / WW - 55,59,72kg / FS – 61,92kg

Saturday (March 23)
19:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in - WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg
11:30 - Qualification rounds and repechages - WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg
14:45 - Draw WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg
18: 00 - Finals WW – 50,57,65,68kg / FS – 57,65,74,125kg

Sunday (March 24)
9:30 - Medical examination and Weigh-in - WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg
11:30 - Qualifications rounds and repechage WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg
18:00 - Finals WW – 53,62,76kg / FS – 70,79,86,97kg

Roland SCHWARZ was one of three German wretlers who won a gold medal at the 2019 Thor Masters last weekend. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

3. Germany win Three Thor Masters Golds
The Thor Masters, an all-Greco-Roman tournament, wrapped up last weekend in Nykobing Falster, Denmark, and Germany was the frontrunner, winning three of the ten gold medals. Denmark and Ukraine had a pair of gold medalists, while Finland, Norway, and Sweden each had a solo gold medalist.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD - Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
SILVER - Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
BRONZE - Anders ROENNINGEN (NOR)

60kg
GOLD - Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
SILVER - Christoph KRAEMER (GER)
BRONZE - Lauri MAEHOENEN (FIN)

63kg
GOLD - Stig ANDREW BERG (NOR)
SILVER - Lenur TEMIROV (UKR)
BRONZE - Nasrullakh NASIBO (UKR)

67kg
GOLD - Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
SILVER - Ruslan KUDRYNETS (UKR)
BRONZE - Aleksey KALINICHENKO (UKR)

72kg
GOLD - Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
SILVER - Vegard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
BRONZE - Michael WIDMAYER (GER)

77kg
GOLD - Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
SILVER - Florian NEUMAIER (GER)
BRONZE - Vladimir YAKOVLEV (UKR)

82kg
GOLD - Raibek BISULTANOV (DEN)
SILVER - Hannes WAGNER (GER)
BRONZE - Bogdan KOURINNOI (SWE)

87kg
GOLD - Zakarias BERG (SWE)
SILVER - Denis KUDLA (GER)
BRONZE - Amer HRUSTANOVIC (AUT)

97kg
GOLD - Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
SILVER - Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
BRONZE - G'Angelo HANCOCK (USA)

130kg
GOLD - Nikolai  KUCHMIY (UKR)
SILVER - Eduard POPP (GER)
BRONZE - Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)

4. "Hollywood wrestles Bollywood" Begins March 31
Women's Wrestling stars from the United States and India will face off against each other on Sunday, March 31 in the 'Hollywood Wrestles Bollywood' at Los Angles' historic Wiltern Theater.

According to www.beatthestreets-la.org, "The dual will be apart of Beat the Streets Los Angeles’ 5th Annual Benefit and International Competition, which is a yearly fundraising and awareness event for the LA-based wrestling non-profit."

There will be eleven top-15 ranked wrestlers in action, with six of those being ranked in the top-5 of the latest world rankings. (The latest rankings can be found on www.unitedworldwrestling.org 's homepage)

Of the ten star-studded bouts, the most intriguing matchup comes at 53kg, where returning world runner-up and top-ranked Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) will take on No. 11 Vinesh VINESH (IND).

This will be a rematch of last months Dan Kolov semifinals, where Vinesh stuck Hildebrant to put herself in the Ranking Series tournament finals. She ultimately fell to China's PANG Qianyu in the finals.

The dual starts at 15:00 on March 31.

United States vs. India
50kg: No. 15 Whitney CONDER vs. Sheetal TOMAR
53kg: No. 1 Sarah HILDEBRANDT vs. No. 11 Vinesh VINESH
55kg: No. 6 Jacarra WINCHESTER vs. Pinki PINKI
57kg: Jenna BURKERT vs. No. 6 Pooja DHANDA
59kg: Alli RAGAN vs. No. 4 Sarita SARITA
62kg: No. 5 Mallory VELTE vs. Sakshi MALIK
65kg: No. 2 Forrest MOLINARI vs. Navjot KAUR
68kg: No. 2 Tamyra MENSAH vs. Divya KAKRAN
72kg: Rachel WATTERS vs. No. 12 (at 76kg) Kiran KIRAN
76kg: No. 1 Adeline GRAY vs. Sudesh SUDESH

Abdulrashid SADUALEV (RUS) is expected to compete for Russia at the 2019 European Championships. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

5. European Championships Less Than Three Weeks Away
In less than three weeks, 20 days to be exact, Bucharest, Romania, will be the host site for the 2019 European Championships. Europe proves year in and year out to be the deepest wrestling continent in the world when it comes to placing wrestlers on the podium at the World Championships.

In total, eighteen of last year’s thirty world champions hailed from Europe. Ten Greco-Roman, five freestyle and three women’s wrestling world champions came from Europe.

The tournament begins on April 8 and will go until April 14 and can be watched on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

SCHEDULE

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media
1. Big Move Monday -- Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) -- 2019 U-23 Europe
2. Big Move from Day 2 at the Freestyle World Cup • Yakutsk 2019
#wrestleyakutsk
3. Big Move from Day 1 at the Freestyle World Cup • Yakutsk 2019
#wrestleyakutsk
4. MARGHZARI (IRI) comes back from near loss with a throw straight into a pin!! ?? ? #unitedworldwrestling #wrestling #wrestleyakutsk
5. Big Throw in round 3 from GHIASI CHEKA (IRI) ???#wrestleyakutsk #uww #wrestling

#WrestleNoviSad

Eriomenco, Farokhi run through U23 Worlds field to reach finals

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 00:57 By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 20) -- Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) has already won the gold medal at the U23 World Championships. The Moldovan won gold in the 63kg weight class in Tirana, Albania last year.

In a bid to repeat, Eriomenco entered the 2025 edition as well, making it his fifth appearance the season-ending World Championships. Now, Eriomenco is one win away from defending his world title.

The recent bronze medalist in Zagreb, Eriomenco made it to the 63kg final at the U23 Worlds in Novi Sad, Serbia on Monday and will face a familiar opponent in the final in Ziya BABASHOV (AZE).

The two met in the U23 European Championships final earlier this year which Eriomenco won 3-1. However, Babashov had defeated the Moldovan in the final of the same tournament in 2024.

With the head-to-head locked at 1-1, Eriomenco and Babashov will clash Tuesday, the second day of the U23 Worlds which kicked off in Serbia on Monday with four Greco-Roman weight classes.

Iran and Ukraine had two finalists each while Georgia and Armenia also managed to get one each on the first day. Iran was led by world 82kg champion Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) who has moved up to 87kg but unbothered by the weight change. Defending champion at 130kg Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) returned to the final as well.

Eriomenco was heads above the field at 63kg as he won his four bouts via technical superiority. In the semifinals, he faced Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ) but had no trouble beating the Kyrgyzstan wrestler 10-1, scoring four turns from par terre.

Babashov on the other hand had to work hard for his 2-1 victory over Servet ANGI (TUR) in the other semifinal. He got on the scoreboard first as he scored a stepout using a two-on-one to lead 1-0. He was given the par terre position soon after but he failed to score. He still had a 2-0 lead going into the break.

Angi got his chance in the par terre in the second period but he failed to score any points over Babashov who defended his 2-1 lead to enter the final. He would now hope to repeat the performance from 2024 U23 Euro final which he won against Eriomenco 3-2.

At 87kg, Farokhi was also in top form, winning all his four bouts via technical superiority. He faced Payton JACOBSON (USA) in the semifinals but took no time as he rolled him four times from par terre to win 9-0 and advance to the final.

He will face Ivan CHMYR (UKR) for the gold medal bout after the Ukrainian defeated a surprise semifinalist in Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 2-1. Chmyr, who finished fifth at the U23 European Championships this year, held his own to beat Ben Labed.

Chmyr began with a win over Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB) before beating Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), 1-1. He then handed U23 Euro silver medalist Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) a 3-1 defeat.

In the semifinals against Ben Labed, who had beaten Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM), Deni NAKAEV (GER) and Brian RUIZ (VEN) to reach last four, Chmyr threw Ben Labed out of bounds from par terre to lead 2-0.

But when Ben Labed got a chance in par terre, there were no points scored and Chmyr booked a place in the final against world champion Farokhi.

Hedayati, the multiple-time age-group world champion, is closer to another title at 130kg after he reached the final. He defeated Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-0, in the semifinals using a stepout and a takedown on either side of the par terre position.

He will face Ramzik KURDYAN (ARM) in the final after the Armenian defeated Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW), 5-1, in the final. Kurdyan, who has a silver from U17 Worlds in 2019, rolled Melekhanov twice from par terre after defending his par terre position to win 5-1.

At 77kg, Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) upset European 72kg champion Levente LEVAI (HUN), 2-2, to reach the final as he looks to better his silver medal from 2022. Levai had a clear 2-1 lead in the semifinals when he scored takedown on the edge.

Levai increased his lead to 4-1 but Ukraine challenged and a foul was confirmed by Levai and he docked a point for stepping out which made the score 2-2 with Mirzoiev lead on last-point scored criteria. He defended that lead to reach the final for the second time in his career.

Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) will try to stop him from winning the gold medal on Tuesday after he got the better of U23 Asian champion Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 6-2.

Nakibov got the first par terre position but was blocked by Orjonikidze who scored a reversal and turn to lead 3-1. Georgia challenged asking for four points and on review it was confirmed that Nakibov fell in danger for four points.

With a 5-1 lead, Orjonikidze went into the passive mode and was put down in par terre in the second period. Nakibov tried to score with a turn but Orjonikidze never came in danger.

Uzbekistan challenged asking for two points but it was lost, giving one more point to Orjonikidze who won 6-2 and reach the final.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) vs. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)

SF 1: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) df. Servet ANGI (TUR), 2-1
SF 2: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ), 10-1

77kg
GOLD: Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) vs. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)

SF 1: Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) df. Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 6-2
SF 2: Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 2-2

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) vs. Ivan CHMYR (UKR)

SF 1: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Payton JACOBSON (USA), 9-0
SF 2: Ivan CHMYR (UKR) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 2-1

130kg
GOLD: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) vs. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) df. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-0
SF 2: Razmik KURDYAN (ARM) df. Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW), 5-1

Weekly FIVE! March 19, 2019

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Eriomenco, Farokhi run through U23 Worlds field to reach finals