#WrestleSofia

#WrestleSofia Weight-to-Watch: 74kg

Friday, April 30, 2021 - 12:32 By Eric Olanowski

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SOFIA, Bulgaria (April 30) --- One of the biggest questions coming into next week's (May 6-9) World Olympic Qualifier: Can Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) keep his hot streak alive and punch Slovakia’s ticket to the Olympic Games?

To do so, Salkazanov will have to reach the finals in one of the must-watch weight classes in Bulgaria, 74kg.

Last weekend, Salkazanov became the third Slovakian wrestler to win a European gold medal, and he did so by scoring improbable come-from-behind-wins against a two-time world champion, a world silver medalist and a U23 world champion.

Salkazanov ran through Switzerland’s Marc DIETSCHE in the opening round, then threw two-time world champion Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) to his back with less than 10 seconds left and won, 6-2. That set up a quarterfinals match against ’18 world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO). With a spot in the semifinals on the line, Salkazanov trailed Kentchadze, 5-0, but scored six unanswered points in the second period and upset the Georgian Tokyo Olympian, 6-5. He then erased a five-point deficit for a second consecutive match and moved into the finals with a surprising 6-5 win over tournament-favorite and Individual World Cup champion Razambek ZHAMALOV (RUS). In the finals, the Slovakian only needed five minutes to uproot Miroslav KIROV (BUL), 10-0 in the finals.

Salkazanov highlights the loaded 36-man bracket in Sofia that features a slew of world and Olympic medalists, including Olympic bronze medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) and world champion Hetik CABOLOV (SRB).

Rio bronze medalist Demirtas will be tasked with trying to book Turkey their fifth Olympic berth. He’s no stranger to being in this position. Demirtas was here in ’12 and ’16. He fell short in ’12 but got the job done and won gold at the Ulaan-Baatar Last Change Qualifier before running to a podium finish in Brazil.

On Wednesday, the IOC Executive Board accepted the application for a change of nationality for Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) -- formally known as Khetik TSABALOV (RUS).

Cabolov defeated two-time world champion Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) in the ’20 Russian National semifinals but fell to Razambek Zhamalov in the finals – ending his hopes of representing Russia at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Shortly after that loss, he transferred to Serbia and competed for them at the ’21 European Championships. Cabolov had a wild back and forth match with Kentchadze but fell, 10-6, and dropped to a 14th-place finish.

Continental champions Ogbonna JOHN (NGR) (Africa), Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ) (Asia) and Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR) (Europe) are also entered at the weight.

Two other dark horses to keep an eye on are Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) and Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR).

In his last showing, Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) reached the semifinals European Olympic Qualifier and was four minutes away from punching Bulgaria’s ticket to the Olympic Games. He led Avtantil Kentchazde 6-0 but got caught in a cradle and surrendered the fall.

Finsilver is coming off a bronze-medal finish at the European Championships. He won three matches and became Israel’s first European medalist since ’91.

74kg
Francisco de Deus KADIMA (ANG)
Jorge Ivan LLANO (ARG)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Elias Lauofo VAOIFI (ASA)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Jasmit Singh PHULKA (CAN)
Leon Juan Carlos PERALTA LANAS (CHI)
Nestor Joaquin TAFUR BARRIOS (COL)|
Julio Rafael RODRIGUEZ ROMERO (DOM)
Jonatan ALVAREZ DIAZ (ESP)
Aimar ANDRUSE (EST)
Nicolae COJOCARU (GBR)|
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Amit Kumar DHANKHAR (IND)
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR)
Mathayo Matonya MAHABILA (KEN)
Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ)
Byungmin GONG (KOR)
Evgheni NEDEALCO (MDA)
Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL)
Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR)
Abdullrahman Ibrahim A IBRAHIM (QAT)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
Mohamed SESAY (SLE)
Malik Michael AMINE (SMR)
Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Tajmuraz Mairbekovic SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Alymuhammet OVEZMYRADOV (TKM)
Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.