Development

Guatemala Hosts Sixty Wrestlers at “More Than Medals” Development Camp

By Tim Foley

GUATEMALA CITY (June 14) – More than sixty wrestlers and coaches from 12 nations congregated at the United World Wresting High Performance Training Center in Guatemala City last month for a five-day “More than Medals” developmental camp.

The camp was aimed at Cadet-level wrestlers and many of those in attendance stayed to compete at the 2018 Cadet Pan American Championships in Guatemala City. The clinicians covered how to plan for training, Olympic values, the Athletes Career Program, and proper nutrition. There was also an anti-doping seminar led by officials from United World Wrestling.

“The clinic was a great success,” said United World Wrestling Americas president Francisco LEE. “The facilities were perfect for them to learn more about techniques and the wrestlers from 12 nations were able to train at ‘More than Medals’ at a high level.”

The clinic was also attended by Ivan IVANOV, founder of the fitness equipment company SUPLES. Ivanov led many of the coaches and wrestlers through strength and condition routines with SUPLES equipment. The equipment was provided to the centre as a benefit of the long-term partnership between UWW and SUPLES..

“This was a very special opportunity for me to learn more about wrestling and how to train smart,” Onid MONTILLA (PUR). “The effort we put into training was really rewarding and we were able to spend time in Guatemala and see places like Antigua. It was a very happy time for me and my team.

“More Than Medals” was deployed on each continent in support of proper training ahead of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The The final “More Than Medals” training camp will take place July 9-15 in Zagreb, Croatia immediately following the Cadet World Championships.

Wrestlers at the camp will be competing at the 2018 Summer YOG which is scheduled for October 12-14 in Buenos Aires.

For more information on the development schedule, including referee and coach’s clinics, please consult the online calendars:

Educational Programs: https://unitedworldwrestling.org/development/educational-programs

Training Camps: https://unitedworldwrestling.org/development/training-camps.

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Munkhtur leads Mongolian charge at Ulaanbaatar Open

By Vinay Siwach

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (June 1) -- Sunday saw the biggest crowd at the Buyant Ukhaa Sports Complex during the four-day Ulaanbaatar Open 2025.

Backed by vocal fans and some top-tier technical wrestling, the host country won three gold medals on the final day of the tournament.

Apart from two-time world medalist Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL), Asian bronze medalist Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL) and veteran Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL) won gold medals.

Paris Olympian Munkhtur was the most assured of the lot, winning the 125kg gold medal with rather ease. In a Nelson bracket, Munkhtur was in Group A with Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) and Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL). He won his first bout against Khramiankou 9-0 before beating Darmaabazar 6-2.

In the semifinals, Munkhtur faced another Mongolian, Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), and won 5-1 to set up the final against Khramiankou who managed to win his semifinal as well.

But the final was a similar story as the group match as Munkhtur won 5-0, scoring two takedowns in the match and captured the third gold medal of the evening for Mongolia.

Earlier, Asian Championships silver medalist Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL) posted a thrilling 6-3 win over Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX), 6-3, escaping a gut-wrench attempt from Bravo Young in last 10 seconds to score two points.

Batkhuyag led 2-0 but Bravo Young scored a takedown and tried to turn the Mongolian, who escaped and got a point to lead 3-2 and then turned the Mexican to make it 5-2. A reversal gave Bravo Young another point but Mexico challenged the scoring.

As the challenge was lost, Batkhuyag won 6-3 and celebrated winning his first Ranking Series gold.

Bravo Young had defeated AMAN (IND) in the semifinals earlier, a thrilling 14-11 win which was ultimately called a pin. Aman led 10-6 when Bravo Young hit a crafty move to score four points and make it 11-10. He scored a takedown via single leg and a turn in the final 10 seconds to win the semifinal. 

Soon after, 32-year-old Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL) added another gold by beating Asian Championships silver medalist UDIT (IND), 6-4, in the 61kg final.

Tumenbileg faked a leg attack and scored a takedown before turning Udit twice to lead 6-0. As Udit tried making a comeback for five minutes, he could only manage four points and lost the final.

Iran won two gold medals as well as Fariborz BABAEI (IRI) at 79kg and Ahmad BAZRI (IRI) claimed the gold medal at 97kg. 

Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) also took a big step at 65kg by winning the gold medal after blanking Dzhambulat KIZINOV (UWW), 6-0 in the final.

Konstantin KAPRYNOV (UWW), the silver medalist at Yarygin tournament, followed his win over Zagir SHAKHIEV (UWW) by winning the gold medal at 70kg. He defeated Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI), 6-0, in the gold medal bout.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL) df. Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX), 6-3

BRONZE: Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL) df. RAHUL (IND), 9-7
BRONZE: AMAN (IND) df. Bekir KESER (TUR), 12-2

61kg
GOLD: Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL) df. UDIT (IND), 6-4

BRONZE: Bekbolot MYRZANAZAR UULU (KGZ) df. Artem GOBAEV (UWW), via fall
BRONZE: Anzor MAZHIDOV (UWW) Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)

65kg
GOLD: Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) df. Dzhambulat KIZINOV (UWW), 6-0

BRONZE: Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ) df. Turbayar DAVAANYAM (MGL), 12-2
BRONZE: Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) df. Junsik YUN (KOR), 10-5

70kg
GOLD: Konstantin KAPRYNOV (UWW) df. Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI), 6-0

BRONZE: Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) df. Mohammadali AMOUZAD (IRI), 7-5
BRONZE: Zagir SHAKHIEV (UWW) df. Usukhbayar BAATARKHUU (MGL), 16-6

79kg
GOLD: Fariborz BABAEI (IRI) df. Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 4-0

BRONZE: AMIT (IND) df. Dalaitseren JAVKHLANKHUU (MGL), via fall (14-14)

97kg
GOLD: Ahmad BAZRI (IRI) df. Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL), 8-0

BRONZE: Resul GUNE (TUR) df. Irbeg TAVGAZOV (UWW), 4-2 
BRONZE: VICKY (IND) df. Uladzislau KAZLOU (UWW), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) df. Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW), 5-0

BRONZE: Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 11-1