News and Notes: Greco-Roman Wrestling 59kg and 75kg

By United World Wrestling Press

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12:42: Roman VLASOV (RUS) will wrestle for his second straight Olympic gold medal after picking up a 6-3 win over surprise semifinalist Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) at 75kg. Vlasov, a returning world champion, scored all six of his points in the opening period. 

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12:37: Mark MADSEN (DEN) advanced to the gold-medal match at 75kg with a 1-0 victory over 2014 world champion Peter BACSI (HUN). Madsen has been a silver medalist four times at the World Championships. He becomes the first Olympic gold medal finalist for Denmark since 1932. 

12:22: Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB), a returning world champion, proved that he's more than a one-hit wonder by reaching the finals at 59kg. In the semifinals he claimed a 4-1 victory over two-time world bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB).

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12:17: Shinobu OTA (JPN) reached the finals with a stunning fall over world champ Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) in the first period. Bayramov scored first to go up 2-0 before Ota used a front headlock to throw the Azerbaijan wrestler to his back and earn the fall. Earlier in the tournament Ota knocked off Olympic champion Hamid SORYAN (IRI). Ota's victory kept the Iranian alive for a chance at a bronze medal. 

12:10: Four-time world silver medalist Mark MADSEN (DEN) topped Viktor NEMES (SRB) 4-0 at 75kg. 

12:07: Peter BACSI (HUN), a 2014 world champion, shut out 2014 bronze medalist Elvin MURSALIEV (AZE) 5-0 to advance to the semifinals.

11:58: Wildcard Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) topped two-time world bronze medalist Andy Bisek (USA) 2-0 at 75kg. Earlier in the competition Starcevic defeated three-time world champion Selcuk CEBI (TUR). 

11:53: Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) broke open a scoreless match with some big throws to earn an 8-0 technical fall over YANG Bin (CHN) at 75kg. 

11:46: Shinobu OTA (JPN) advanced to the semifinals by blanking Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) 4-0. He will now face world champ Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) in the semifinals. 

11:41: Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE), a world champ and two-time Olympic silver medalist, used multiple turns to cruise to an easy 8-0 technical fall over Jesse THIELKE (USA) in the quarterfinals at 59kg. 

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11:35: World champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) punched his ticket to the semifinals with an 8-0 technical fall over WANG Lumin (CHN) at 59kg. 

11:31: Two-time world bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) earned a quick 9-0 technical fall over YUN Won-Chol (PRK) in the quarterfinals at 59kg. 

11:25: In a battle of world bronze medalists, Elvin MURSALIEV (AZE) defeated Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) 5-1. 

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11:23: Peter BACSI (HUN) dominated Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) 8-0 at 75kg, which eliminated four-time world medalist Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) from the competition.

11:13: Five-time world medalist Mark MADSEN (DEN) edged 2011 World champion Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) 1-1. 

11:12: Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO), who qualified by wildcard, knocked off three-time world champion Selcuk CEBI (TUR) 2-1 at 75kg. Cebi was a world champion in Las Vegas at 80kg.

10:58: Two returning Olympic champions Roman VLASOV (RUS) and KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) met in the first round at 75kg. Kim scored first to take a 2-0 lead. Vlasov came back strong with a two-point turn before executing a four-point throw to lead 6-2 after the opening period. Kim cut the deficit to 6-3 late, and then executed a throw and was awarded two points. The call was challenged and upheld, and Vlasov held on for the 7-5 victory. 

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10:53: Two-time world bronze medalist Andy BISEK (USA) claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Yurisandy HERNANDEZ (CUB) at 74kg. 

10:44 Jesse THIELKE (USA) used four gut wrenches to cruise to a quick 8-0 technical fall over Mehdi MESSAOUDI (MAR) at 59kg.  

10:39: Shinobu OTA (JPN) stayed on a roll at 59kg. After beating six-time world champ Hamid SORYAN, he blanked world bronze medalist Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) 6-0. 

10:28: World champ Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) topped Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) 6-3. Molina jumped out to a 6-0 lead before ERALIEV battled back to make it 6-3, which is how the match would end. 

10:19: Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) stunned Olympic silver and four-time world medalist Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) 3-2 at 75kg. Aleksandrov jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Bulgarian battled back with a turn to knot the score at 2-2 at the break, and then added a point in the second period to take the victory. 

10:11: In a first-round matchup at 59kg, Shinobu OTA (JPN) knocked off six-time world champion Hamid SORYAN (IRI) 5-4 at 59kg. It was Ota's second win over Soryan. He defeated Soryan 7-4, in the opening bout of the Asian Olympic qualifier in Astana and later earned qualification for Rio 2016. Soryan jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Ota battled back to claim a one-point victory.

10:07: World bronze medalist Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) blanked Ibragim LABAZANOV (RUS) 4-0 at 59kg.