RUSE, Bulgaria (March 3) – Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER sealed the Dan Kolov team title for the United States (147 points) with a 4-0 shutout win over Ukraine’s Valerii ANDRIITSEV in the 97kg gold-medal bout.
In the finals, Snyder won the position battle and capitalized on four one-point exchanges to join fellow Americans Jordan BURROUGHS and Alex DIEREINGER as Dan Kolov freestyle champions.
A second Olympic champion also claimed a gold medal on the fourth and final day of wrestling in Ruse, Bulgaria.
Iran’s Rio Olympic champion Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) obliterated four-time world medalist Ali SHABANAU (BLR), 16-5 in the 86kg finals and won his first Ranking Series gold medal. Yazdani’s smothering pace and left side underhook proved to be too much for the Belarusian, as he gave up a pair of four-point moves, two takedowns, and a quartet of step-outs.
Iran’s 2018 world bronze medalist Parviz HADI (IRI) closed out the tournament and handed Iran their second gold medal of the night, when he edged Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR), 6-4, for the 125kg gold.
Hadi trailed 3-0 but scored six unanswered points from a takedown and a four-point throw off a high crotch to gain the 6-3 lead. Hadi surrendered a late step out, but his two-point cushion was still enough to give him the win and his first Ranking Series title.
It’s also worth noting that Hadi had to win back-to-back matches over returning world medalist just to make it to the finals. He defeated China’s returning world finalist Zhiwei DENG (CHN), 8-4, and followed that up with a 5-2 win over two-time world bronze medalist Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA).
The United States won the freestyle team title, finishing 32 points ahead of second place Russia (115 points), and 47 points ahead of the bronze-medal winners Turkey. Ukraine (88 points) and Georgia (80 points) rounded out the top-5 respectively.
In women’s wrestling, PANG Qianyu (CHN) and RONG Ningning (CHN) carried China to the team title with their gold-medal performance on the final day of wrestling in Ruse.
In the 53kg finals, Pang Qianyu trailed India’s Vinesh VINESH (IND) 2-0 after the opening frame but scored nine unanswered points and gave China their first Dan Kolov women’s wrestling title of the weekend.
On her lone scoring sequence of the match, Pang grabbed a takedown from a high-level shot and fell right into a left side trapped arm gut wrench. The Chinese wrestler rolled Vinesh with a trio of gut wrenches and gained control of the match, 8-2. A failed Indian challenge brought the score to 9-2, which is where the 53kg gold medal bout ended.
Reigning world champion Rong Ninging handed China their second gold medal of the day when she avenged her U23 world championship loss to Norway’s Grace BULLEN and picked up the fall in the 57kg finals.
Rong was shutting out the Norwegian wrestler 4-0 before stopping a throw attempt and scoring the fall.
The third women’s wrestling gold medalist on the fourth and final day of wrestling in Ruse was Iwona MATKOWSKA (POL), who defeated America's Erin GOLSTON (USA), 4-1, in the 50kg finals.
China won the women's wrestling team title, finishing 20 points ahead of second place Ukraine (92 points), and 35 points in front of third-place the United States (77 points). Turkey (75 points) and India (65 points) finished in fourth and fifth places respectively.
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Freestyle
GOLD - United States (147 points)
SILVER - Russia (115 points)
BRONZE - Turkey(100 points)
Fourth - Ukraine (88 points)
Fifth - Georgia (80 points)
86kg
GOLD - Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) df. Ali SHABANAU (BLR), 16-5
BRONZE - Boris MAKOEV (SVK) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 4 - 4
BRONZE - Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR), via inj. def.
97kg
GOLD - Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) df. Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR), 4-0
BRONZE - Reza YAZDANI (IRI) df. Igor OVSIANNIKOV (RUS), 8 - 4
BRONZE - Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) df. Baki SAHIN (TUR), 10-0
125kg
GOLD - Parviz HADI (IRI) df. Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR), 6-4
BRONZE - Daniel LIGETI (HUN) df. DENG Zhiwei (CHN), 6-1
BRONZE - Said GAMIDOV (RUS) df. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), via inj. def.
Women’s Wrestling
GOLD - China (112 points)
SILVER - Ukraine (92 points)
BRONZE - United States (77 points)
Fourth - Turkey (75 points)
Fifth - India (65 points)
50kg
GOLD - Iwona Nina MATKOWSKA (POL) df. Erin Simone GOLSTON (USA), 4-1
BRONZE - Whitney CONDER (USA) df. Victoria Lacey ANTHONY (USA), 4 - 0
BRONZE - Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) df. Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB), 13-6
53kg
GOLD - PANG Qianyu (CHN) df. Vinesh VINESH (IND), 9-2
BRONZE - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Juan DENG (CHN), via fall
BRONZE - Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Amy Ann FEARNSIDE (USA), 6-4
57kg
GOLD - RONG Ningning (CHN) df. Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR), via fall
BRONZE - Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Sara Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), 10 - 0
BRONZE - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) df. Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL), 8-2
