"Wrestler of the Year" Lorincz in Pursuit of Top Seed at Tokyo 2020

Friday, January 31, 2020 - 14:53 By Eric Olanowski

*The highest number of potential points a wrestler can earn if he/she wins gold in a bracket with 20+ competitors at the continental championships (22 points) and Poland Open (18 points) is 40 points.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 31) -- Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), United World Wrestling’s reigning “Wrestler of the Year” in Greco-Roman, made it clear this month that he’s out to defend his well-earned title and win Olympic gold.

Lorincz improved his Ranking Series tournament record to a perfect 23-0 this month with a one-point victory over 2019 Asian silver medalist Kumar SUNIL (IND) in the finals of the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event in Rome. With the win, the Hungarian added 16 points to his second ranking leaving him just four points shy of world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) heading into next month’s continental championships.

But Lorincz is poised to shake up the top spot of the 87kg ranking and gain control of the world's No. 1 spot. Beleniuk elected to sit out of the European Championships, so Lorincz only needs to finish top-eight in Rome to reach the summit of the 87kg rankings.

"I want to win the [European Championships and Poland Open] because it will help my seed for the Olympic Games," said Lorincz, the defending world silver medalist at 87kg. “I will also be in the lead for the Ranking Series again.”

Germany's Denis KUDLA, who is ranked fourth at 87kg, is also expected to miss the European Championships. Without Beleniuk and Kudla, Lorincz needs nine points at the European Championships to ensure a top-four seed in Tokyo.

Mohamed and Muminjon Move into Top-Five at 130kg
Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) and Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) soared into the top-five of the 130kg rankings and will receive an extra boost as Cuba replaces world silver medalist Oscar PINO HINDS with three-time Olympic champion Mijian LOPEZ (CUB). Mohamed and Abdullaev will benefit because Pino Hinds points aren’t transferable to Lopez and would thus bump the Cubans from the rankings at 130kg.

Mohamed pinned Moises PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN) in the Matteo Pellicone finals and moved up five spots to No. 3 heading into the African Championships. He’ll collect 18 points in Alger if he's able to win the five-man 130kg bracket. Those additional points would propel him into the No. 2 spot by at least 10 points.

The Egyptian big man will then travel to El Jadida, Morocco, for the African and Oceania OG Qualifier (March 13-15) to try to qualify Egypt for the Olympic Games.

Abdullaev edged Oskar MARVIK (NOR), 3-3, in the bronze-medal bout at the Matteo Pellicone and is ranked No. 4 with 26 points. Abdullaev is expected to wrestle at the Asian OG Qualifier but will sit out of the Asian Championships. Instead, Daler RAKHMATOV will be Uzbekistan's representative at 130kg.

Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA), at 37-years-old, is looking to make his fourth appearance at the Olympic Games. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Noumonvi Chasing Fourth Olympic Games Appearance
At 37, Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA) has already competed at the Olympic Games in Athens, Beijing and London. If he can put together a good season, Tokyo might be an opportunity for the French great to wrestle in yet another Games..

The 2014 world champion is gearing up to compete in his 14th European Championship in less than two weeks. A month later (March 19-22) he’s scheduled to compete in Budapest at the European OG Qualifier where he'll have to finish in the top two to earn a spot in Tokyo.

If Noumonvi qualifies, he'll be in a position for a top-four seed. He currently sits in the No. 3 spot after earning bronze at the Matteo Pellicone.

Noumonvi's lone loss in Italy came to eventual champion Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), who appeared in this month's rankings at No. 9 with 18 points.

Sailike WALIHAN (CHN), the 60kg Matteo Pellicone gold medalist, will wrestle at 63kg the Asian Championships. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

China Inserted No. 13 Tuo at 60kg and bumped Walihan to 63kg
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) pummeled his biggest in-country rival Erbatu TUO (CHN), 13-4, at the Matteo Pellicone and left no question whether or not he's China's top guy at 60kg. But the entries for the Asian Championships seem to tell a different story.

Now, the question heading into the Asian Championships is how much of a looming factor in China's decision was Walihan's eleventh place finish in Nur-Sultan? Especially after he collected solid wins over Tuo, Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) and Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and debuted in the latest ranking at No. 9.

Either way, the good news for China is Walihan and Tuo are both ranked in the Top 20 and are within distance of earning a top-four seed. That is, of course, if they perform well in New Delhi then qualify the weight at the Asian OG Qualifier.

Please go to UnitedWorldWrestling.org for the updated competition calendar and guidelines for accumulating points during the Ranking Series.

Top-Ten Greco-Roman Rankings

55kg
1. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) - 58
2. Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ) - 38
3. Max Emiliano NOWRY (USA) - 30
4. Shota OGAWA (JPN) - 23
5. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) - 23
6. Liguo CAO (CHN) - 18
7. Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) - 16
8. Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL) - 14
9. Dogus AYAZCI (TUR) - 14
10. Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB) - 12

60kg
1. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) - 60
2. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) - 40
3. Ali Reza Ayat Ollah NEJATI (IRI) - 25
4. Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) - 25
5. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) - 20
6. Lenur TEMIROV (UKR) - 20
7. Ivo Serafimov ANGELOV (BUL) - 18
8. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) - 16
9. Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) - 16
10. Victor CIOBANU (MDA) - 14

63kg
1. Shinobu OTA (JPN) - 58
2. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) - 38
3. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) - 23
4. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) - 23
5. Tynar SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) - 18
6. Meysam Karamali DALKHANI (IRI) - 18
7. Ryan Robert MANGO (USA) - 16
8. Jinwoong JUNG (KOR) - 14
9. Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU) - 14
10. Rahman BILICI (TUR) - 12

67kg
1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) - 60
2. Artem SURKOV (RUS) - 40
3. Frank STAEBLER (GER) - 25
4. Mate NEMES (SRB) - 25
5. Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) - 20
6. Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN) - 20
7. Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) - 18
8. Hansu RYU (KOR) - 16
9. Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) - 16
10. Deyvid Tihomirov DIMITROV (BUL) - 14

72kg
1. Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) - 60
2. Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) - 40
3. Balint KORPASI (HUN) - 25
4. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) - 25
5. Michael Felix WIDMAYER (GER) - 20
6. Jiyeon LEE (KOR) - 20
7. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) - 18
8. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) - 16
9. Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) - 14
10. Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) - 14

77kg
1. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) - 60
2. Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE) - 40
3. Mohammadali Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) - 25
4. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) - 25
5. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) - 20
6. Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) - 20
7. Paulius GALKINAS (LTU) - 18
8. Roman VLASOV (RUS) - 16
9. Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) - 16
10. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) - 14

82kg
1. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) - 60
2. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) - 40
3. Haitao QIAN (CHN) - 25
4. Saeid Morad ABDVALI (IRI) - 25
5. Iurii SHKRIUBA (UKR) - 20
6. Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB) - 20
7. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) - 18
8. Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) - 16
9. Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) - 14
10. Singh GURPREET (IND) - 14

87kg
1. Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) - 60
2. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) - 56
3. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) - 25
4. Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER) - 25
5. Mikalai STADUB (BLR) - 20
6. Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) - 20
7. Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB) - 18
8. Ivan HUKLEK (CRO) - 16
9. Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ) - 14
10. Kumar SUNIL (IND) - 14

97kg
1. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) - 60
2. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) - 40
3. Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA) - 26
4. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB) - 25
5. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) - 25
6. Giorgi MELIA (GEO) - 20
7. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) - 20
8. Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI) - 18
9. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) - 18
10. Artur OMAROV (CZE) - 16

130kg
1. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) - 60
2. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) - 40
3. Abdellatif mohamed ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) - 32
4. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) - 26
5. Heiki NABI (EST) - 25
6. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) - 25
7. Eduard POPP (GER) - 20
8. Amir Mohammadali GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI) - 20
9. Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) - 18
10. Moises Salvador PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN) - 14

#WrestleBucharest

Stadnik wins 10th European title; Adar makes golden return

Thursday, February 15, 2024 - 19:17 By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 15) -- A lot of focus before the European Championships this year was on Riza KAYAALP (TUR) going past Aleksandar KARELIN's record of 12 European gold medals. Understandable as those are the only two wrestlers with European titles in double digits.

But on Thursday, a woman joined the two legends with her 10th European gold medal -- Mariya STADNIK (AZE).

At the age of 35 years, Stadnik remains unbeaten in Europe winning the gold medal at 50kg at the European Championships in Bucharest, Romania.

The fact that she did that without conceding a point in three matches speaks volumes about her level even so later in her career which has spanned over 15 years now.

Mariya STADNIK (AZE) pins Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) in the 50kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Stadnik wrestled former European champion Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) in the final and never faced a real threat. Demirhan tried to hit a whizzer but Stadnik stopped her and scored two points. That made Demirhan cautious of attacking Stadnik and kept her distance. Stadnik led 3-0 at the break for a passivity point.

Demirhan tried pushing Stadnik out in the second period but the latter blocked her again and tripped her for a four-pointer. Turkiye challenged the call and won as the jury ruled it was only a stepout, making the score 4-0 in Stadnik's favor. But Stadnik did not take long to hit a four-pointer and secure the fall in four minutes and two seconds.

In her earlier bouts, Stadnik defeated Milana DADASHEVA (AIN) in two minutes and 12 second while Oksana LIVACH (UKR), the finalist last year, managed to hold Stadnik for six minutes but dropped her semifinal bout 6-0.

Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) celebrates after winning the 59kg gold medal in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Azerbaijan won a second gold medal at 59kg as Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) defeated Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) 3-3 in the final. With that, Kolesnik won her first career championship title ever.

Kolesnik led Filipovych 1-1 on criteria as both wrestlers were given activity time and both failed to score. As soon as her activity time ended, Filipovych hit a single-leg attack and scored a takedown with a minute and 26 seconds remaining in the match.

But still time left in the bout Kolesnik hooked Filipovych's leg using her own and tried coming on top. The referee did not confirm any control but did caution the Ukrainian athlete for blocking. Azerbaijan challenged asking for a takedown and it was confirmed by the jury, giving Kolesnik a 3-3 criteria lead and 24 seconds to defend.

She would go on to defend her lead and win the gold medal, becoming the second woman wrestler from Azerbaijan to win the senior European title.

The defending champion at 59kg and the favorite to repeat Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) pulled out of the competition after suffering an injury in her quarterfinal against Tamara DOLLAK (HUN). Nichita was reported to have broken ribs.

Yasemin ADAR (TUR) won her seventh European title on Thursday. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Yasemin ADAR (TUR) became the second most successful woman wrestler in Europe after she won her seventh gold medal, only behind Stadnik's 10. She won her first title in 2016 and has since won in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. She also has a silver medal from 2020.

Wrestling in the final against Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR), Adar did not contact much in the first period, giving Shustova a passivity point and a 1-0 lead at the break. But she shifted gears in the second period, hitting a double-leg for a takedown and a turn to lead 4-1 while Shustova was on the activity clock. As the clock expired, Adar led 5-1.

As Shustova attempted a desperate low single, Adar got around and threw her for a four which Ukraine challenged. Shustova seemed to have control on Adar and Ukraine asked that its wrestler should get the four. It lost the challenge and Adar led 10-1. Adar would finish the final with a takedown and a 12-1 score with a minute remaining.

World champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) won her first European title. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

World champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) gave Turkiye a second gold medal, winning her first European title after she won the 68kg gold medal against Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR).

Tosun won silver medals in the last two editions of the European Championships but managed to cross the final hurdle, five months after becoming a world champion at 68kg.

After a minute of little action, Tosun hit trip on Sova and got while Sova rolled over Tosun to get two points for herself, making the score 4-2 in Tosun's favor. Sova was called passive in the second period which awarded Tosun another point to make it 5-2.

Andreea ANA (ROU) won her third straight European title and first at home. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Andreea ANA (ROU) defended her 55kg gold medal dominantly in front of her home crowd to give Romania a gold medal at this European Championships. This was Ana's third consecutive European gold medal.

Wrestling Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) in the final, Ana built a 4-0 lead. She hit a counter in the second period and got a takedown which Moldova challenged but lost making it 7-0 for Ana. She would hit a snap takedown and a counter to finish the bout 11-0 with 22 seconds remaining on the clock.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Milana DADASHEVA (AIN) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 17-15
BRONZE: Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) df. Ana PIRVU (ROU), 10-0

55kg
GOLD: Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 11-0

BRONZE: Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), via fall (8-11)
BRONZE: Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 7-3

59kg
GOLD: Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) vs. Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR), 3-3

BRONZE: Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN) df. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Patrycja GIL (POL) df. Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU), via fall (7-2)

68kg
GOLD: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR), 5-2

BRONZE: Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) df. Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU), via fall
BRONZE: Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) df. Khanum VELIEVA (AIN), via fall (8-8)

76kg
GOLD: Yasemin ADAR (TUR) df. Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR), 12-1

BRONZE: Bernadett NAGY (HUN) df. Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA), 8-3
BRONZE: Enrica RINALDI (ITA) df. Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU), 5-2

"Wrestler of the Year" Lorincz in Pursuit of Top Seed at Tokyo 2020

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Stadnik wins 10th European title; Adar makes golden return