Sebie, Hafizov set sights on Greco-Roman bronze at Zagreb Open

ZAGREB, Croatia – The final day of action at the Zagreb Open, United World Wrestling’s first Ranking Series event of the Olympic year, saw six U.S. Greco-Roman athletes compete and two advance to the bronze medal match in Olympians Ildar Hafizov (60 kg) and Mahmoud Sebie (82 kg). Medal matches are slated to begin at Noon (ET) in Zagreb.

Sebie will wrestle Deni Nakaev of Germany for bronze in today’s later session. Sebie opened his tournament with a victory, besting 2021 World bronze medalist two-time European medalist Roland Schwarz of Germany, 7-3. However, in the quarterfinals, Sebie faced a setback, falling to Alperen Berber of Turkey, 4-2.

Hafizov started strong by defeating 2023 European bronze medalist Denis Mihai of Romania, securing an 8-0 victory in his opening match. Hafizov fell to 2021 Senior World champion Victor Ciobanu of Moldova in the quarterfinals. Ciobanu advanced to the finals, pulling Hafizov into a repechage match where he defeated Leo Tudezca of France by 10-2 technical fall. Hafizov will face three-time European medalist Edmond Nazaryan of Bulgaria.

Past World Team member and 2023 Pan American bronze medalist Alan Vera went 1-1 on the day at the Zagreb Open, earning a win over Serhii Omelin of Ukraine in the round of 16. Vera dropped his following match to Alex Szoke of Hungary, who failed to reach the finals, ending Vera’s tournament.

There were three U.S. Greco-Roman athletes faced early exits and were not pulled into repechage when their opponent failed to reach the finals: Hayden Tuma (60 kg), Josef Rau (97 kg) and Adam Coon (130 kg). Tuma was eliminated from the tournament after Haodong Cao of China failed to reach the finals. Rau fell to Peter Oehler of Germany in a narrow 2-0 decision. Oehler dropped a close match in the quarterfinals, eliminating Josef Rau from the Zagreb Open. Coon lost his opening match to Oleksandr Chernetsky of Ukraine. Chernetsky fell in his following match, ending Coon’s tournament.

Complete brackets and match-by-match results for all three international styles are available through UWW Arena. A live stream of the event is available to the U.S. audience on FloWrestling.com.

ZAGREB OPEN

At Zagreb, Croatia, January 10-14

U.S. Greco-Roman Results

60 kg: Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP), in bronze medal match

WIN Denis Mihai (Romania), 8-0

LOSS Victor Ciobanu (Moldova), fall 5:16

WIN Leo Tudezca (France), 10-2

vs Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria), bronze medal match

60 kg: Hayden Tuma (Suples), eliminated

LOSS Haodong Cao (China), 9-1

82 kg: Mahmoud Sebie (Florida), in bronze medal match

WIN Roland Schwarz (Germany) , 7-3

LOSS Alperen Berber (Turkey), 4-2

vs Deni Nakaev (Germany), bronze medal match

97 kg: Alan Vera (New York AC), eliminated

WIN Serhii Omelin (Ukraine), 5-5

LOSS Alex Szoke (Hungary), 8-0

97kg: Josef Rau (Titan Mercury WC/USOPTC), eliminated

LOSS Peter Oehler (Germany), 2-0

130kg: Adam Coon (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC), eliminated

LOSS Oleksandr Chernetsky (Ukraine), 3-2