28. 01. 2016
Sofia, Košice (28-31.01.2016) Our representatives have had their first test at a high-quality tournament in Bulgaria. The 54th edition of the "Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov" international tournament was held in Sofia, and the Košice wrestlers were not absent. The Universiada sports hall welcomed male and female wrestlers in both Olympic wrestling styles from 27 countries from Africa, Asia, America, and Europe. Košice was represented in the 74kg – Jakub Sciranka, 86kg – Michael Bodnár, and 97kg – Gabriel Tysz weight categories. Mišo Bodnár was the most successful.
The delegation traveled with the Slovak senior elite and the national team coach on January 18 to attend a two-week training camp in Teteven, Bulgaria. From there, they moved to Sofia, the venue of the international tournament.
On the first day of the competition, Jakub Sciranka joined the fights in the 74kg weight category against 19 wrestlers. In the first match, Kubo lost to the Bulgarian Muhamed Bakar; after the first half, he was losing 0:2, but he could not reduce his deficit and eventually lost 0:6 on points and said goodbye to the competition.
On the second day, Mišo Bodnár competed in the 86kg weight category (15), where he won 5th place. In the preliminary round, he met the Pole Zbygniew Baranowski, to whom he lost 0:11. However, his opponent and later finalist pulled Mišo into the repechage, where he dealt with the Bulgarian wrestler Evelin Rusev. After a successfully executed "koršun" and a technical superiority of 12:2, Mišo could look forward to a fight for a medal. In the match for bronze, the oldest of our wrestlers met a Mongolian, an Olympic participant, Uitumen Orgodol, whom he could not match and lost 0:11.
On the last day of the competition, the youngest member of the delegation, but the current Slovak Champion, Gabriel Tysz, competed in the 97kg weight category (14). In his debut among seniors at such a high-quality tournament, Gabi paid for his inexperience and lost in both matches by fall. In the first match, Gabi was no match for the Pole Maciej Balawander, and in the repechage, for his national team colleague Jozef Jaloviar, both medalists from this tournament.
The tournament showed our boys where world wrestling is headed and was a perfect demonstration of what still needs to be improved in training. Experience from such tournaments can move us forward. js