#WrestleBelgrade

2023 World Championships 61kg, 70kg, 86kg, 125kg semis set

Saturday, September 16, 2023 - 08:12 By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 16) -- The biggest wrestling event is here! The 2023 World Championships begins today in Belgrade. 90 Olympic quotas are on offer in 18 Olympic weight classes with 5 wrestlers, 4 medalists and one playoff winner, earning the quota.

The first day will see wrestlers from 61kg, 70kg, 86kg and 125kg with the last two being Olympic weight classes.

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15:27: Living legend Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) seems content to score his points in dribs and drabs. Against Olympic bronze medalist Myles AMINE (SMR), Yazdani had four stepouts, along with a slick double-leg takedown, in a 7-2 victory to make the 86kg semifinals. He also gave up a takedown for the second time on the day, which may or may not be of concern. The way his right shoulder is heavily taped could be more of a factor. We will see how he holds up against Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB), who used some nasty counter-wrestling in a 15-5 win over Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN).

15:23: David TAYLOR (USA) gives up his first points of the tournament against Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) but still manages a technical superiority 12-2 win over Sharipov to move into the semifinals at 86kg. He will face returning bronze medalist Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) who rolls Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) 10-0

15:13: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) has set up a semifinal against Mason PARRIS (USA). Petriashvili works a 3-1 win over Robert BARAN (POL) while Parris survives a big move against Zhiwei DENG (CHN) to win 8-4

15:15: We have the first dream match-up of the tournament as Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Amir ZARE (IRI) will go at again in the semifinals at 125kg. Defending champion Akgul scored an activity point and two stepouts in a 3-0 win over Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR). Zare gave up a 4-point takedown to fall behind Daniel LIGETI (HUN) in their quarterfinal, but stormed back against the exhausted Hungarian for an 11-4 win. Last year, Akgul beat Zare 4-2 in the semifinals.

14:57: Asian champion Tairybek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) gives up a takedown early in the second period to fall behind against European bronze medalist Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR), but comes back with a takedown and a stepout for a 4-2 win and a spot in the 61kg semifinals.

14:56: Jahongirmirza TUROBOV (UZB) challenges for fleeing by Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO) in the last 10 seconds but no fleeing and he loses the challenge the match 5-3.

14:50: 2021 world champion Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) with a big four over V. BLIASETSKYI (UKR) and then gets the pin at 61kg. He moves into the semifinals. Top performance from Magomedov

14:42: World U23 champion Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) more than met the challenge of two-time world senior medalist Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), he pummeled him. Yazdani twice scored four points off a driving double-leg tackle before finishing off an 11-0 technical fall with a stepout to advance to the 70kg semifinals. Next up is Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL).

14:41: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) will think about the last 10 seconds of his quarterfinal against Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM). Leading 3-2, he went into defensive and Andreasyan tried a big throw. Aoyagi tries to use that momentum to throw over but Andreasyan falls on top of the Japanese and gets two points. Japan challenges the call but the challenge is lost. A 5-3 win for Andreasyan

14:39: Returning silver medalist Zain RETHERFORD (USA) is into the semifinals with a 9-2 win over ABHIMANYOU (UWW). Retherford looks so much in control of his wrestling.

14:30: The quarterfinals' actions begin with 70kg on all four mats. Watch out Mat B with Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) wrestling Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI).

14:25: Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) is looking like a force to be reckoned with at 86kg. After knocking off top-seed Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL), he rolled into the quarterfinals with an 11-0 rout of Osman GOCEN (TUR). 

14:13: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) puts the pressure on Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL) but has to settle for four stepouts in their 86kg clash. But when the three-time champion finally gets the Mongolian onto the mat, it's lights out with a quick 11-0 technical fall and a place in the quarterfinals.

14:13: David TAYLOR (USA) with a 40-second win in the 1/8th finals. A cradle to gut-wrench for the technical superiority. Who will stop the Magicman?

14:10: Myles AMINE (SMR) with a hard-fought win over Zushen LIN (CHN) at 86kg. Just the workhorse he won, Amine looks solid here

14:02: Reigning champion Taha AKGUL (TUR) has his hands full with Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE), but forges a 2-0 victory to advance to the 125kg quarterfinals. Akgul received an activity point in the first period and had a stepout in the second, but was never in danger in a staid bout.

14:00: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will be thanking his stars as he survives a final second takedown attempt from Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN). Petriashvili wins 6-5 to make the quarterfinals at 125kg. He came back from 4-0 down to win this.    

13:50: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) gets the gut-wrench and moves into the quarterfinals with a 10-0 win over Jonovan SMITH (PUR). Just before this match, the 2021 world champion Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) dominated Weiyu LI (CHN) to win at 61kg

13:28: Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) up against Intigam VALIZADA (AZE) on Mat A at 61kg. He runs to a 5-0 with a four-pointer and secures the pin over Valizada.

13:21: Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) fights out of a 0-4 hole and scores 10 points in the second period to advance at 70kg with a 12-6 win over Marc DIETSCHE (SUI). The bronze medalist from last year set up a mouth-watering clash with Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), who defeated Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) 6-0 in a match that had a lot more action than the score indicates.

13:15: Amr HUSSEN (EGY) got the better of the U23 world champion Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) using two four-pointers and win 14-4 at 70kg

13:03: How awesome is David TAYOR (USA)? The defending 86kg champion needs just 15 seconds to end his opening match against Sofiane PADIOU BELMIR (MAR). Taylor counters a tackle attempt by applying a cradle, rolling backwards and putting another overmatched opponent on their back for the fall.

13:01: Asian champion Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), a bronze medalist here a year ago, has little trouble putting away Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU) 9-0 at 86kg. In the round -of-16, he will face Arslan BAGAEV (AIN), a 12-2 winner over Ethan RAMOS (PUR) moments later on an adjacent mat.

12:47: Oceania champion and sometime beach wrestler Jayden LAWRENCE (AUS) will someday be able to tell his grandkids how he scored a takedown on the great Hassan YAZDANI (IRI). And how he lasted until the second period. But the inevitable result was a victory by fall after building an 8-2 lead for Yazdani as he aims for a fourth career world gold.

12:18: Former champion Amir ZARE (IRI), with the loud Irani contingent in the stands spurring him on, gets a takedown and a stepout in each period and easily handles Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN) 7-2 at 125kg. 

12:22: In a battle of Asian giants, Zhiwei DENG (CHN) gets the decisive activity point with 40 seconds to knock out Lkhagvagerel MUKHTUR (MGL) 2-1 at 125kg. Deng was a world silver medalist in 2018, and Munkhtur finished second last year.

12:00: We apologize for the technical difficulties. The Arena and Streams are back up

Flo

11:20: Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN), the 2021 world and European champion, gets his campaign at 61kg off to a flying start with a 10-0 trouncing of Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU). 

10:40: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), one of the favorites in the non-Olympic 70kg, gets over his first hurdle with an 11-1 technical fall over Patryk OLEGCZYN (POL) in the qualification round.

10:30: We are kicking off with 70kg. Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) vs Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ) on Mat A, Patryk OLENCZYN (POL) vs Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) on Mat B, Marc DIETSCHE (SUI) vs Brian OLOO (KEN) on Mat C and Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) vs. Perman HOMMADOV (TKM).

10:00: Welcome to the day one of the World Championships. Little cloudy outside we are ready for some wrestling action.

#WrestleNoviSad

Farokhi, Hedayati lead Iran's golden charge at U23 Worlds

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 15:58 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 21) -- Iran’s Greco-Roman dominance shows no signs of slowing down. After winning team titles at the U17 World Championships in Athens, the U20 Worlds in Samokov, and the senior event in Zagreb, Iran looks poised to complete a clean sweep in Novi Sad as Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) claimed gold medals at the U23 World Wrestling Championships 2025 on Tuesday.

World champion Farokhi and defending champion Hedayati, who celebrated his birthday as well on Tuesday, won gold medals in dominant fashion at 87kg and 130kg respectively.

"I was able to win two back-to-back tough matches at the World Championships and bring home two gold medals," Farokhi said. "These were high-level competitions."

Farokhi, a gold medalist at 82kg in Zagreb, moved up to 87kg for Novi Sad but had no troubles in switching weights. As he did in Zagreb, Farokhi brought his best game in par terre and rolled to his second gold in one month after a 9-0 victory in the final against Ivan CHMYR (UKR), his fifth technical superiority victory.

After being put on top in par terre, Farokhi launched a trap-arm gut and turned Chmyr four times for the win. Ukraine threw one of those ever increasing challenges for no reason but lost it to add one more point to Farokhi's score.

"When you move up a weight class, the opponents are definitely stronger and tougher," Farokhi said. "It was a good experience, and it gave me a better sense of how I can perform at 87 kg -- an Olympic weight class"

Hedayati, who has not lost an international bout since his 2022 U20 World Championships finals loss, showed why he will dominate the 130kg weight class for years to come.

Up against Razmik KURDYAN (ARM) in the final, Hedayati began with takedown on the edge for two points. Kurdyan was put in par terre and from there Hedayati turned him twice to extend his lead to 7-0. With just 23 seconds left before the break, Hedayati scored a stepout to finish the final 8-0 and claim his second straight U23 world title.

At 63kg, Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) upended returning 63kg U23 world champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-3, in the final using a four-point suplex from par terre to score his points.

Eriomenco, who had defeated Babashov in the U23 European finals, looked very dominant in run up to the final while Babashov had some tough bouts on Monday. But the Azerbaijan wrestler began aggressively and managed to earn first par terre advantage.

He performed a suplex for four points to make his lead 5-0 and take huge step towards winning his first ever world title. He further consolidated his position when he defended from par terre in the second period and gave up only stepout to Eriomenco as the score changed to 5-2.

Babashov then countered an attack from the Moldova wrestler and forced him to stepout outside to extend his lead to 6-2. He gave up one more stepout but held on to the 6-3 lead to win the gold medal.

With the win, he now leads the head-to-head against Eriomenco 2-1 as both have traded victories at 2024 U23 European Championships and its 2025 edition with the Moldovan one being the more recent winner.

Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) holds off Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) in the 77kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

A silver medalist from 2023 at the U23 Worlds, Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) managed to win gold at 77kg as he defeated Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 4-1, in the final.

Orjonikidze was himself to blame for the loss as he committed a defensive leg foul in the first period when Mirzoiev got the par terre position and as he was trying to lift, Orjonikidze blocked him with his leg, giving a 3-0 lead to the Ukrainian.

Georgia challenged the decision but on review, it was confirmed that a leg foul was indeed committed. The lost challenge gave one more point to Mirzoiev.

Orjonikidze got the par terre position in the second period but he failed to score any points and Mirzoiev easily defended his 4-1 lead to eventually claimed the gold medal.

Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) defeated Richard KARELSON (EST) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Yakushenko closer to U23 title

U20 world champion Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) is a win away from winning his second world tittle three months after he reached the 97kg final at U23 World Championships. He defeated European Championships silver medalist Richard KARELSON (EST) 6-3 in the semifinals.

Karelson tried to make a match of it but Yakushenko scored a four-pointer from par terre to lead 5-0 before Karelson scored a takedown. But Yakushenko got a stepout to lead 6-2. He defended his lead despite Karelson getting par terre in the second period.

He will face Asian U23 champion Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) who rolled to a 9-1 win over Maksim AVERIN (UWW), scoring four turns from par terre in the second period.

At 55kg, U23 European champion Alibek AMIROV (UWW) will face Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) in the final after he defeated Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ) in the semifinal. Amirov was down 2-1 when he got the 

Aliyev hit a beautiful headlock for four against 2024 U17 world champion Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) before securing the fall in the semifinal.

Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) will take on Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) for the gold medal at 67kg after he defeated Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 1-1, having the criteria from the first point score in a 1-1 finish.

Andelrehim led 4-1 when his opponent in the semifinal, Attila JOZSA (HUN), injury default for a leg injury.

Seven years after winning the U17 World Championships gold medal, Abror ATABAEV (UZB) will have a chance to win a second world title after he reached the 72kg final. After getting the first par terre and 1-1 lead against Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ), Atabaev defended his par terre position and kept the 1-1 criteria lead.

Maulitkanov threw everything at Atabaev in the final two minutes but the Uzbekistan defended all the attacks. Atabaev was close to giving up a takedown in the final 15 seconds but he managed to keep himself up and then score a pushout to lead 2-1. Kazakhstan challenged the call but it was a clear stepout and the lost challenge made it 3-1 for Atabaev.

He will face former Asian champion Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) for gold after the Iranian defended his 1-1 criteria lead against Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM). The final will be battle of two Asian champion as Atabaev won that title in 2023.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-3

BRONZE: Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (UWW) df. Servet ANGI (TUR), 6-1
BRONZE: Adham ELSAYED (EGY) df. Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ), 3-2

77kg
GOLD: Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) df. Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 4-1

BRONZE: Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) df. Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 3-3
BRONZE: Levente LEVAI (HUN) df. Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN), 4-2

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Ivan CHMYR (UKR), 10-0

BRONZE: Payton JACOBSON (USA) df. Lachin VALIYEV (AZE), 5-3
BRONZE: Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 5-1

130kg
GOLD: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) df. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM), 8-0

BRONZE: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW) df. Artur SARKISJAN (CZE), 9-1

Semifinals

55kg
GOLD: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)  vs. Alibek AMIROV (UWW)

SF 1: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) df. Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), via fall (5-1)
SF 2: Alibek AMIROV (UWW) df. Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ), via fall (7-2)

67kg
GOLD: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) vs. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY)

SF 1: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) df. Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 1-1
SF 2: Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) df. Attila JOZSA (HUN), via inj. def. (4-1)

72kg
GOLD: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) vs. Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

SF 1: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM), 1-1
SF 2: Abror ATABAEV (UZB) df. Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 3-1

97kg
GOLD: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) vs. Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)

SF 1: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) df. Richard KARELSON (EST), 6-3 
SF 2: Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) df. Maksim AVERIN (UWW), 9-1