#WrestleAthens

Iran survives Uzbekistan scare to win Greco title at U17 Worlds

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 16:59 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 30) -- Four gold medals were not enough for Uzbekistan as they fell short in what could have been a generational team title in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships.

Iran, which won one gold medal out of 10, was crowned team champions as it performed well in placing their wrestlers in the weight classes. It finished with 125 points while Uzbekistan finished seven short at 118 points. Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points.

Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were not far behind and finished fourth and fifth respectively, tied on 100 points. Both countries had one gold medal each but Kyrgyzstan had two silver medals to Azerbaijan's one to finish ahead of them.

Read More: Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history in Athens

Iran had eight wrestlers in the medal-bouts and six of them returned with one. Iran finished with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Uzbekistan, on the other side, had only those four golds to show. Four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team race.

In one head-to-head bout on Wednesday, Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) secured a 7-5 win over Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB) in 60kg bronze-medal bout which proved crucial. A win for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title.

Then it was the gold medal of Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 92kg which helped Iran jump from fourth place to first. He wrestled Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) for the gold medal and began with three stepouts. Kasyan was called passive and put in par terre. Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Uzbekistan's two gold medals came at 51kg and 71kg.

Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) won the gold medal at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Asian U17 bronze medalist Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) added a third Greco gold of the World U17 Championships for Uzbekistan after he defeated Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1, in the 51kg.

Hagverdiyev was about to be called passive and put in par terre but he scored a stepout to avoid that call and lead 1-0. Tursunov answered with a stepout of his own and made 1-1. However, the criteria remained with Hagverdiyev as United World Wrestling is testing a new rule, where in Greco-Roman, if the score is 1-1, the criteria will be with the wrestler who got the first point.

Tursunov, however, got the par terre position in the second period and a 2-1 lead over Hagverdiyev. He defended his lead for the final minute and as the Azerbaijan wrestler tried a throw, he blocked him and landed on top, earning two more points.

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) upgraded his bronze from 2024 to gold in 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) denied the hosts a gold after he defeated Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1, in the final.

Valiev seemed to have taken the burnt from a few tough bouts from Tuesday as he struggled with his attacks against Soulis, who was egged on by vocal home fans.

However, he found enough inside him to turn from par terre and defend from that position in the second period to win the fourth gold medal of the tournament for Uzbekistan.

Ali NAZAROV (AZE)Ali NAZAROV (AZE) scored a 6-1 victory over Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) in the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ali NAZAROV (AZE) showed why gut-wrench is still one of the best techniques to score points in wrestling as he rolled Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) two times from par terre using gut wrench and win the world title at 60kg.

He later defended his par terre position, winning the final 6-1 and handing Azerbaijan the first gold medal for the World U17 Championships in Athens.

An action-packed match kicked off the medal bouts with Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) and Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) did not hold back their attacks as soon as the final began.

Zhangazhol did not waste much time to get going in the final against Kumarbekov as he used an arm throw to score the first four points but it was removed after he was warned for using his leg.

But he scored a takedown for a 2-0 and then hit a front headlock throw to make it 6-0. Kumarbekov answered with a four-pointer as well and both wrestlers used arm-rolls in the same sequence to score points. When they broke off at the break, Zhangazhol led 8-6.

After the blazing first half, both wrestlers had a subdued second and no more points were scored despite desperate attempts from Kumarbekov. Zhangazhol celebrated his win a split-second early but there was no harm done.

Kyrgyzstan challenged for fleeing in the final five seconds and on review, Zhangazhol was it with a caution for defensive foul, it only got Kumarbekov a point, making Zhangazhol's winning score 8-7.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ), 9-6

BRONZE: Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) df. Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA) vs. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-3

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 11-0
BRONZE: Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) df. Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB), 7-5
BRONZE: Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 5-2

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1

BRONZE: Hossein KAZEMI (IRI) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE: Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ) df. Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN), 7-1

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), 8-0

BRONZE: Ahmet UZUN (TUR) df. Said PASHAYEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: David CALKINS (USA) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 4-0

#WrestleCoralville

Welker Pins World Champ Reasco to Win Pan-Am Gold

Sunday, May 10, 2026 - 09:57 By Vinay Siwach

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CORALVILLE, IOWA, United States (May 9) -- Olympic bronze medalist, world bronze medalist and world champion. That was the hit-list of Kylie WELKER (USA) as she defended her Pan-American 76kg title in Coralville on Saturday.

Welker, a world bronze medalist herself last year, was among the three United States wrestlers who won gold medals as Women's Wrestling came to a close at the Pan-American Championships. The U.S. was the best team of the tournament with 235 points as all 10 wrestlers won medals including eight golds. Canada finished second with 136 points while Mexico was third with 128 points.

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Welker's path to gold medal was nothing short of a minefield as she faced Paris 2024 bronze medalist Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) in the quarterfinals. But Welker got to work straightaway scoring a stepout to lead 1-0. She then countered Renteria's attack and scored a takedown to extend the lead to 3-0 before adding another to go into the break leading 5-0. She took 30 seconds in the second period to score her third takedown and then rolled Renteria twice to finish the match 11-0.

Up against world bronze medalist Milaimy MARIN (CUB) in the semifinals, Welker finished the bout with 1:18 remaining. Marin was put on the activity clock in the first period before Welker rushed her into a takedown to lead 3-0. Welker then overpowered Marin when the Cuban tried reaching for Welker's legs. It was scored four points as Marin fell straight from standing. A go-behind and then an arm-bar exposure was enough for an 11-0 win but Welker held Marin on the mat for the fall.

 

World champion Genesis REASCO (ECU) reached the final from the other side of the bracket with hopes of avenging her 10-0 loss to Welker from last year's Pan-Am semifinals. But the final did not start in Reasco's favor as she was put on the activity clock in the first period which gave Welker a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Welker was put on the activity clock but with seconds left in the 30-second clock, she tried reaching Reasco's leg.

The Ecuadorian world champion thought it was ideal moment to drag Welker towards the zone, but as she did that, Welker whizzed her for a two-point exposure and then held her on the mat for a fall which was confirmed just before Reasco went out of wrestling area.

With the gold medal, U23 world champion Welker is now a two-time Pan-Am champion.

The two other champions for the U.S. were former world medalist Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and Abigail NETTE (USA) at 65kg and 59kg respectively.

Miracle, returning to wrestling since Paris 2024, won both her bouts via technical superiority. She defeated Alexis GOMEZ (MEX), 10-0, in Round 1 and then Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN), 10-0, in Round 3. Rowbottom defeated Gomez 6-4 in Round 2 to win the silver medal.

Nette had to win three bouts for the gold medal. She began with a 12-2 win over defending champion Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN) and then secured two falls, first over Daniela MARTINEZ (MEX) and then against Mayara RAMOS (BRA) to confirm her title.

Beauregard, a four-time Pan-Am champion and world bronze medalist, defeated both Martinez and Ramos to secure the silver medal. And since Ramos defeated Martinez earlier in the day, she won the bronze medal.

 

Yepez Wins Fourth Straight Gold

Olympic and world silver medalist Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) captured her fourth straight Pan-American title at 53kg as she won the gold medal after beating Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN), 12-2, in the final.

Yepez scored first in the final when Di Benedetto tried a snap down and Yepez quickly turned it into a leg attack. She scored a takedown and then a turn to lead 4-0 before adding a stepout to lead 5-0. But she missed one of her attack and Di Benedetto scored a go-behind to make it 5-2.

If that takedown gave any hopes to Di Benedetto, Yepez quickly quashed then hitting a double-leg for four points and then a turn to lead 11-2. The two wrestlers split for the break but on return, Yepez took just 20 seconds to score the match-winning takedown, taking her score to 13-2.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, Yepez defeated former U20 world champion Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA), 11-0.

Zahid VALENCIA (USA)Zahid VALENCIA (USA) outscored his opponents 31-0 en route his third Pan-Am title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Valencia Defends 86kg Gold

Freestyle commenced on Saturday at the Pan-Ams and the U.S., like in Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling, dominated it.

In the three weight classes in action on Saturday, the U.S. won two golds medals through world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) at 86kg and Austin DE SANTO (USA) at 61kg. The third Freestyle gold of the night went to Geannis GARZON (CUB) who denied Phillip WEBSTER (USA) in the 74kg final.

Valencia, the defending champion at 86kg, went 31-0 in his three bouts. He began with a 10-0 win over Nestor TAFUR (COL) before beating Pedro GONCALVES (BRA), 11-0, in the semifinals.

In the final, Valencia opened the scoring against Christopher FOCA (DOM) using a snap down takedown and then scored another at the edge to lead 4-0. He then used a single-leg attack to lift Foca and slam him on the mat for four points and double the lead to 8-0. Foca attempted a head pinch but Valencia defended it and scored two points as Foca landed on the mat, giving Valencia the win with 2:31 remaining.

De Santo won his first two bouts in the Nelson bracket and then the semifinal, all with the score of 10-0, before blanking Caleb SMITH (PUR), 9-0, in the final. While Smith was pace-setter in the first period, it was De Santo who counter efficiently to lead 4-0 at the break.

But De Santo changed it in the second period, scoring a takedown and turn in the first 34 seconds and lead 8-0. He defended his lead without engaging much with Smith and also scored a stepout late in the final to clinch the gold medal.

Geannis GARZON (CUB)Geannis GARZON (CUB) won the 74kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

At 74kg, Garzon made amends after being disqualified for brutality last year, by winning the gold medal this year. Facing Webster in the final, Garzon led 4-0 at the break. In a back-and-forth second period, Garzon tried using a chest wrap to defend an attack from Webster. It was initially scored two for Garzon and one for Webster's reversal, giving Garzon a 6-1 lead.

The U.S. challenged the decision and after the review, the scoring was changed to four points for Garzon and two points for Webster with the former lead 8-2. Webster got a clean takedown soon after to trim the lead to 8-4 but as he was working on the next takedown, Garzon scored exposure lift for two points and Webster got a reversal for one point.

Garzon led 10-5 when Webster scored stepout to make it 10-6 but the U.S. challenged, saying the score should be 10-7. The scoring was deemed correct and Garzon body locked Webster in the final eight seconds to score a takedown and confirm his victory.   

Photo

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

53kg
GOLD: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) df. Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN), 13-2

BRONZE: Sabrina GAMA (BRA) df. Antonia VALDES (CHI), 8-2
BRONZE: Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA) df. Alexa ALVAREZ (VEN), 7-2

59kg
GOLD: Abigail NETTE (USA)
SILVER: Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
BRONZE: Mayara RAMOS PEREIRA (BRA)

65kg
GOLD: Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
SILVER: Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN)
BRONZE: Alexis GOMEZ (MEX)

76kg
GOLD: Kylie WELKER (USA) df. Genesis REASCO (ECU), via fall

BRONZE: Milaimy MARIN (CUB) df. Tatiana RENTERIA (COL), 7-0
BRONZE: Edna JIMENEZ (MEX) df. Neirili BANGUERO (VEN), 9-5

Freestyle

61kg
GOLD: Austin DE SANTO (USA) df. Caleb SMITH (PUR), 9-0

BRONZE: Garette SAUNDERS (CAN) df. Alex VEGA TUN (GUA), 12-5

74kg
GOLD: Geannis GARZON TAMAYO (CUB) df. Phillip WEBSTER (USA), 12-6

BRONZE: Ibsen AGUILAR (VEN) df. Luis BARRIOS (HON), 8-6
BRONZE: Adam THOMSON (CAN) df. Raul PALACIOS (MEX), 10-0

86kg
GOLD: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) df. Christopher FOCA (DOM), 10-0

BRONZE: Ethan RAMOS (PUR) df. Jose PINERO (VEN), 10-0
BRONZE: Nestor TAFUR (COL) df. Pedro GONCALVES (BRA), 11-0