#WrestleBudapest

Chekhirkin to Replace Vlasov at European OG Qualifier

By Eric Olanowski

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 15) -- Two-time Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) has been replaced as Russia's 77kg representative at the  European OG Qualifier by Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS). 

Coincidentally, the last time Chekhirkin replaced Vlasov as Russia's guy, was also in Budapest. Vlasov tore his knee less than two weeks before the '18 World Championships, and Chekhirkin stepped in and claimed world gold at 77kg. He won six bouts en route to gold and captured wins over world medalists Viktor NEMES (SRB), Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE), Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) before edging eventual '19 world champion Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), 3-1, in the finals.

If Chekhirkin does qualify this weekend, there hasn't been any indication of who will receive the nod for Russian when the Tokyo Olympics roll around. That will be determined at a later date.

In addition to Russia's Greco-Roman update at 77kg, they also removed Olympic champion Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) and inserted Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS) at 87ikg. And at 130kg, they confirmed that '18 world champion Sergei SEMENOV (RUS) will be their man.

For a full list of updated European OG Qualifier entries, please click HERE.

#BeachWrestling

UWW Adds First Online Beach Wrestling Course

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 24) -- Beach Wrestling is the fastest-growing style in United World Wrestling.  Each year, more and more federations introduce the style and compete at the events.  As a result, UWW is launching the Introduction to Beach Wrestling course on the UWW Academy platform.  This course is designed to provide an overview of beach wrestling.  Topics include the benefits of beach wrestling, basic rules and scoring, differences between beach wrestling and the Olympic styles, how competitions are organized, how bouts are organized and conducted, and the Beach Wrestling World Series.

If you are looking to learn more about the fun and exciting style of BeachWwrestling, please check out the course at the UWW Academy.  https://academy.uww.org/

The UWW Academy is the official educational site for United World Wrestling. The Academy is an all-encompassing online portal designed to educate, provide information, necessary learning tools and resources to be able to assist different stakeholders and enhance the knowledge and value of wrestling. Access to the Academy and all its resources are free. Registration only requires a working email to confirm your account. UWW encourages all stakeholders to get registered and utilize all of the free resources.