Beach wrestling, beach, World Championships, Pakistan, gold medal, oil wrestling

Beach Wrestling World Champ’s Delivers High-Flying, Fan-Friendly Action

Monday, October 30, 2017 - 12:33 By Tim Foley

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DALYAN, Turkey (October 24) – Muscular bodies and postcard sunsets met with top-level international wrestling and sprays of sand last week on the beaches of Dalyan, Turkey as United World Wrestling hosted the 2017 Beach Wrestling World Championships.

The championships were a celebration of the sport’s reemergence around the globe and the kickoff event for what the wrestling body believes will be the next big global sports phenomenon.

“Beach wrestling is an exciting area of development for our organization,” boasted United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “The appeal is right there for everyone to see. We are in the sun, and wrestlers are very fit people so when they compete everything is pleasing to the spectators no matter how much they know about wrestling.”

Wrestlers in the Cadet, Junior and Senior age groups competed in a total of 20 weight categories across the three-day event. Iran, Ukraine and Pakistan all took home gold medals in men’s beach wrestling, while Norway and Italy proved to be the dominant powers on the women’s side.

Beach wrestling is an especially appealing competition style for wrestlers from nations like Pakistan, India, Vietnam and dozens in Africa since their local styles are very similar. With constant growth Mr. Lalovic and others believe that the sport will help wrestling reach millions more young wrestlers and continue growing interest in the Olympic styles as well.

“Beach wrestling has a lot of potential. We want to see it in more countries in 2018 and are planning for a new event series to make sure that we inspire our young athletes to get out and be active in our sport,” said Lalovic.

The Beach Wrestling World Championships latched on to local excitement for oil wrestling and held a joint event on the final day of wrestling, combining the men’s freestyle 90kg and +90kg finals with a Turkish Oil Wrestling competition. Known as “yagli gures” the sport dates back more than a thousand years and holds an annual championship known as “Kirkpinar” which attracts more than 100,000 fans and is considered the longest continually running athletic event in history.

With big eyes for the future, beach wrestling will expand its offerings in 2018 with a tentatively approved global tour of five cities capped by an annual prize event.

For more information on beach wrestling and more follow United World Wrestling on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and on our homepage.

Men’s Senior Beach Wrestling

Men’s 70kg

GOLD:  RADULOV SEMEN (UKR) df. Mohammad NADERI (IRI), 3-2 
BRONZE:  Veli YANTIR (TUR) df. Michael PETERS (USA), 4-2 
BRONZE:  Aimar ANDRUSE (EST) df. Arouzmanidis NIKO (GRE), 2-1 

Men’s 80kg

GOLD: Sayed Jafar GHASEMI (IRI) df. Omid Hassan TABAR JELODAR (IRI), 3-0 
BRONZE: Serkan CAVUSOGLU (TUR) df. VELIKSAR SERGII (UKR), 1-0 

Men’s 90kg

GOLD:  Muahammad Inam (PAK) df. Pejman Fazlollah TABAR NAGHRACHI (IRI), 2-1 
BRONZE:  Pavlidis THEODOSIOS (GRE) df. Petridis CHRISTOS (GRE), 3-0 
BRONZE:  Savvinov PLATON (RUS) df. Kerimkulov CHYNGYZ (KGZ), 3-0 

Men’s 90kg+

GOLD:  Pouga RAHMANI (IRI) df. Hakan AYDOGAN (TUR), 3-0 
BRONZE:  Ivanov FEDOR (RUS) df. Kargiotakis IOANNIS (GRE), 2-2 
BRONZE:  Engin DAGLI (TUR) df. GABRIEL ARMAND (USA), 2-0 

Senior Women’s Beach Wrestling

Women’s 60kg

GOLD: Francesca INDELICATO (ITA) df. CHRISTINA DEMIRKAN (GRE), 4-0 
BRONZE: Florine SCHEDLER (AUT) df. Nadir UGURUN PERCIN (TUR), 2-0 

Women’s 70kg

GOLD: Charlotte SKAVNER (NOR)
SILVER: Cesilie MAGNUSEN (NOR)
BRONZE: Meral KAYA (TUR)

Women’s 70kg+

GOLD: Cathrine FRILSETH (NOR) df. Pesnille ROJAR (NOR), 4-0 
BRONZE: Pistiava AIKATERINI EIRIR (GRE) df. F Zehra KANLIADA (TUR), 3-0  
Gallery
Beach Wrestling World Championships Dalyan

#WrestleBuenosAires

Pan-Am Championships Greco-Roman Preview

Tuesday, May 2, 2023 - 14:21 By Jimmy Pawelski

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (April 26) -- The 2023 Pan-American Championships is scheduled to kick off May 3 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Greco-Roman wrestlers being the first competitors to take the mat.

Wrestling in 55kg, 60kg, 63kg, 67kg, 72kg, 97kg and 130kg will compete on Wednesday, May 3, while 77kg, 82kg, and 87kg participants will compete on Thursday, May 4. Action will begin on both days at 10:00 local time starting with qualification rounds and repechages followed by the finals round at 18:00 local time.

55kg
The lightest weight class of the tournament will be a round-robin style bracket with only three competitors registered to compete at 55kg -- Axel Gabriel ROLON (ARG), Jose RODRIGUEZ (MEX) and Dalton DUFFIELD (USA).

Notably, Rodriguez is dropping down two weight classes from his 2022 Pan-American silver-place finish at 63kg. Duffield is fresh off a fifth-place finish at the 2023 Zagreb Open in January.

60kg
Each of the two returning Pan-American Championships bronze medalists, Dicther TORO (COL) and Joao BENAVIDES (PER), at 60kg are set to take the mat again this year.

Also in contention for a podium finish will be world ranked 14 Ildar HAFIZOV (USA). The 35-year-old previously represented his home country Uzbekistan on the international Greco stage before switching to the USA in 2016.

Luis ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB)Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB) will compete at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

67kg
Tokyo Olympic champion at 60kg Luis ORTA (CUB) will be at the Pan-Ams at 67kg as he bids for another Olympic medal. He has competed at 67kg in two events this year, claiming gold at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix and bronze at the Zagreb Open.

Reigning Pan-American and South American champion Julian HORTA (COL) will aim for back-to-back titles at 67kg while returning bronze medalist Nilton SOTO (PER) is also registered to compete in Buenos Aires. World number 14 Alejandro SANCHO (USA) will also be in Buenos Aires along with Edsson OLMOS (MEX) who was a silver medalist at 72kg last year. 

72kg
Patrick SMITH (USA), a three-time Pan-American Championships gold medalist, will look to once again conquer the 72kg bracket. In last year’s tournament, he finished each match by way of technical superiority with the exception of one, a 4-2 victory over Olmos who is notably registered to compete at 67kg this year. Smith will face tough competition in world number 13 Jose VARELA (GUA), who went 1-1 for an 8th place finish at the 2022 edition of the event at 67kg.

Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB)Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB) and David CHOC (GUA) are expected to have a rematch like the 2022 Pan-Am finals. (Photo: UWW / Osvaldo Aguilar)

77kg
A loaded 77kg bracket features three returning Pan-American medalists -- gold medalist Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB), silver medalist David CHOC (GUA) and bronze medalist Joilson DE BRITO (BRA). The highest world-ranked competitor in the bracket is number 24 Emmanuel BENITEZ (MEX), who is a 2019 Junior Pan-American champion.

All the while, human highlight reel Kamal BEY (USA) will look to put on an exciting show per usual as he marks his return to this tournament after four years.

82kg 
Only five competitors are registered to compete in the 82kg bracket, none of whom are returning Pan-American Championships medalists. Spencer WOODS (USA) is the highest world-ranked wrestler at the weight at number 27 and is riding on a fifth-place finish at the 2023 Zagreb Open.

Daniel VICENTE (MEX)2022 Pan-Am 82kg champion Daniel VICENTE (MEX) is moving up to 87kg. (Photo: UWW / Osvaldo Aguilar)

87kg
The 87kg bracket is the only weight class with multiple returning Pan-American champions as reigning gold medalist Daniel GREGORICH (CUB) will look to defend his title against reigning gold medalist from 82kg Daniel VICENTE (MEX). However, Vicente is no stranger to 87kg as he previously placed second in the 2021 edition at the weight class.

Additionally, Alan VERA (USA), a 2016 Pan-American champion at 80kg when he represented Cuba, is registered to compete along with Johan BATISTA (DOM), a two-time Pan-American finalist.

Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON)Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON) will be aiming for his third straight Pan-Am title. (Photo: UWW / Osvaldo Aguilar)

97kg
Honduras native Kevin MEJIA (pictured above) will be aiming for his third consecutive Pan-American title in Buenos Aires this year. He dominated his way through the tournament in 2022 and has not given up a single point at the championships in the past two years.

His primary challenger will be Carlos ADAMES (DOM), a 2022 Pan-American Championships bronze medalist.

130kg 
The heavyweight bracket is the only weight class with all four returning 2022 Pan-American Championships medalists, highlighted by the reigning champion Oscar PINO (CUB) who is currently ranked 14th in the world. He will be attempting to claim his fifth Pan-American title.

Meanwhile, the highest-ranked competitor registered to compete in this year’s tournament at number 13, Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA), will be his primary challenger. Additionally, both returning bronze medalists are set to compete again this year in Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) and Leo SANTANA (DOM).

How to Follow Along
Fans can track the action on United World Wrestling's mobile app or uww.org. Download #TheHomeOfWrestling, United World Wrestling's mobile app to access real-time match center data, get regular updates on tournaments and receive all the latest wrestling news in a flash.