Melitopol hosted the 7th Ukrainian Mas-Wrestling Cup

Mas-Wrestling Federation of Ukraine continues the development of this wonderful, dynamic, very spectacular sport in our country. The President of the Mas-Wrestling Federation of Ukraine Valerii Gazaiev speaks about the special importance of these starts: “This Cup of Ukraine is special. It is a selection for the first World Championship among children, youths and juniors, which will take place in the fall. And now we want to identify the best among the best in order to compete in the international arena and claim the World Cup awards. And the Ukrainian national team in the open age category is also preparing for the European Championship, which will be held in Greece in May. And of course, the main event of the season for the national team will be the World Cup, which takes place every two years. We will do our best to prepare well for these competitions in order to once again demonstrate that our team is one of the strongest in the world rankings.”

About the composition of the national team, the most experienced athletes not only represent Ukraine at international competitions, but also form a friendly team that forms the core of the federation. Anastasia Ivchenko, Valentin Burmistrov and Yulia Lebedenko, in addition to refereeing on the platform, constantly carry out a lot of organizational and coaching work. Alexey Kushnir not only created and coaches the team, but also turned into a real paperwork ace. The orderliness of the federation's documentation is his great merit. Alexandra Shvets, in addition to the role of a referee, also helps the head of the press service to promote mas-wrestling in the information space. Moreover, he does it with great imagination and creativity, closely following the fashion and trends of social networks, and attracting the best solutions and novelties to use in favor of the development of our sport. By the way, over the few years that the President of the FMWU Valerii Gazaiev has headed the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Taurida State Agrotechnological University named after D. Motorny, he was able to involve the teaching staff of the department in the organizational work. So, for many years the duties of the competition secretary have been performed by the senior teacher of the department Alexei Nesterov.

Most of the participants in the competition were children and teenagers. It was they who became the main characters of the sports festival. Of the eminent veterans, participants in international tournaments, this time only three came out on the platform - Alexei Kushnir, Vyacheslav Teslyuk and Dmitry Besedin. It was Dmitry who, back in 2015, was the first to win World Cup medals for the Ukrainian team. “I am a judge of the national category in mas-wrestling,” says Dmitry Besedin. – Until 2019, I was a member of the Ukrainian national team. Now, due to the chosen profession, and I am an active policeman, I do not have the opportunity to train as intensively as before. But whenever possible, I take part in competitions both as a judge and as an athlete.” Dmitry notes that in addition to wrestling, the atmosphere of friendship, mutual assistance and support that is invariably present at mas-wrestling competitions, and meetings with friends is very important for him.

In total, 19 sets of medals were played at the Cup of Ukraine in different weight and age categories. In the overall medal standings, the first place was taken by the team of the Zaporozhye region. This time the silver medal of the team championship is taken by the Kherson region. The third result was demonstrated by athletes from the Dnepropetrovsk region. The 7th Ukrainian Mas-Wrestling Cup was timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the Taurida State Agrotechnological University named after Dmitry Motorny.