Award Season

2017 Greco-Roman Matches of the Year

By Eric Olanowski

The top three Greco-Roman matches from 2017 included two age-level bouts and a bronze medal match from the 2017 World Championship.

60kg Asian Junior Championship QUARTERFINAL: Tynar SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) v. Seydylla TAZAYEV (TKM)
Tynar Sharshenbekov and Seydylla Tazayev put on a show in the the 60kg Asian Junior Championship quarterfinals that lit up the scoreboard with 27 points.

Tazayev was behind 4-0 early in the first but was able to capture the 9-8 lead heading into the break. Tazayev outscored Sharshenbekov 9-2 in the second period on his way to a 17-10 win.

74kg Junior World Championship GOLD:  Kamal Ameer BEY (USA) df. Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) Makhmudov took the early 1-0 lead off a pushout. BEY (USA) went on to score 11 points, ending the first period with a combined 17 points. With 30 second left, Makhmudov closed the gap and got the match to within two points. A final takedown for Bey with three seconds left sealed the match which ended with a total of 27 points.

71kg World Championship BRONZE: Mohammadali Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) v. Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Mohammadali Abdolhamid Geraei trailed Daniel Cataraga by seven points heading into the second period of the 71kg bronze medal match at the World Championships. Geraei would outscore Cataraga 10-1 in the final three minutes to pick up his first world medal.

Akgul elected President of Turkish Wrestling Federation

By Eric Olanowski

ANKARA, Turkiye (December 18) --- Taha AKGUL (TUR) today was elected the President of the Turkish Wrestling Federation at the 6th Regular and Financial General Assembly of the Turkish Wrestling Federation held at the Anadolu Hotels Esenboğa Thermal in Ankara.

Akgul retired from his wrestling career four short months ago at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after successfully winning his third Olympic medal. The 34-year-old native of Sivas, Turkiye, won Olympic gold in Rio 2016 and then back-to-back bronze medals at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. Akgul is also a three-time world gold medalist and 11-time European champion.

"I am very happy to have been elected president by the representatives. Together, with my team, I will do my best for the sport of wrestling with passion and hard work,” Akgul stated to United World Wrestling shortly after the elections.

According to the Turkish Wrestling Federation’s Instagram page, Akgul received 189 out of 288 votes. Former three-time world champion Celcuk CEBI (TUR) received 92 of the remaining 99 votes, while the remaining seven were nullified.

“The full members of the new board of directors of the federation under the presidency of Akgul are as follows: Mesut Ozarslan, Abdullah Şanli, Arslan Narin, Murat Şahin, Huseyin Kaya, Şems Sezal, İsmail Yagbat, İhsan Gurol Guey, İbrahim Demirturkoğgu and Ahmet Yildirim,” stated the TWF.

For more information regarding Akgul's election and other news from Turkiye, see the Turkish Wrestling Federation's Instagram page.