World Championships

Japan, U.S. Derail Russian Rout in Cadet World Championships Freestyle

By William May

SARAJEVO (August 30) – Japan and the United States came up with three stunning wins to derail Russia’s plans for a rout on the final day freestyle events at the Cadet Wrestling World Championships.

Gable STEVESON (USA), Jarod VERKLEREEN (USA) and Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) scored the only wins against Russian opponents at Sports Hall Amel Beckovic on Sunday, and all three led to gold medals for the victors.

The U.S., meanwhile, rallied Sunday with titles from Steveson (100kg) and Verklereen (63kg) and a bronze medal from Daton FIX (54kg) for 55 points and third place.

 

The U.S., meanwhile, rallied Sunday with titles from Steveson (100kg) and Verklereen (63kg) and a bronze medal from Daton FIX (54kg) for 55 points and third place.

With the Russian juggernaut rampaging through the morning session, Steveson ambushed them with a 10-5 win over Soslan KHINCHAGOV (RUS) in the semifinals at 100kg to cap the morning session.

Steveson went on to forge a 9-0 victory over Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) in the championship finale, assigning his opponent to a silver medal along with twin brother, Khusanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB). Khusanboy won the silver medal at 85kg on Saturday night.

Sunday evening’s medal matches began with Aleksey KOPYLOV (RUS) rolling up a gold medal with three gut wrenches for a 10-0 technical fall over European bronze medal winner Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) in the 46kg final.

Former world bronze medalist Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) created some drama in the 54kg final when he raced out to an apparent, 13-2, technical fall win over Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS). A challenge from the Russian corner, however, adjusted the score to 9-2 as the wrestlers headed into the second period.

“My coaches told me not to worry about it and keep scoring points when I had the chance,” Otoguro said after cobbling together a 13-6 win over an increasingly agitated opponent. “The cheering of my teammates and the people in the arena really raised my spirits.”

Otoguro explained that “A year ago, I tried to protect a lead by being defensive.  So this year I knew I needed to continue scoring points.”

Verklereen followed suit in the 63kg final, securing a cross-ankle lock and converting it to an 11-0 win at 2:51 over Khayrullah NURADINOV (RUS).

Aslanbek GVARAMIA (RUS) secured a second win for Russia, wrapping up his victory over European bronze medalist Ivan STEFANOV (BUL) at 76kg with a takedown to gut wrench for a 10-0 technical fall.

Freestyle

46kg (26 entries)
Gold – Aleksei KOPYLOV (RUS) df. Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) by TF, 10-0, 1:21 
Bronze – Monu MONU (IND) df. Dzmitry YARMOLCHYK (BLR) by TF, 11-0, 3:02 
Bronze – Amir PARASTEH (IRI) df. Dylan DEMILIO (USA) by TF, 15-4, 2:54

54kg (25 entries)
Gold – Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) df. Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS), 13-6
Bronze – Gevorg ABRAMIAN (UKR) by Hamed SIAYHDOOLAN (IRI) by Fall, 2:38
Bronze – Daton FIX (USA) df. Abbas RAKHMONOV (UZB) by TF, 17-2, 3:34

63kg (24 entries)
Gold – Jarod VERKLEREEN (USA) df. Khayrulla NURADINOV (RUS) by TF, 11-0, 2:51 
Bronze – Ahmed MEDHIZADEHMARZAN (IRI) df. Vasili DIACONU (MDA), 11-6 
Bronze – Orkhan ABBASOV (AZE) df. Rui SAKASAI (JPN), 6-2

76kg (26 entries)
Gold – Aslanbek GVARAMIA (RUS) df. Ivan STEFANOV (BUL) by TF, 10-0, 2:25 
Bronze – Arkadzi PAHASIAN (BLR) df. Gabriele DORO (ITA) by TF, 10-0, 1:44
Bronze – Ahliman GULIYEV (AZE) df. Hamed MANAFIAN (IRI) by TF, 10-0, 2:20

100kg (21 entries)
Gold – Gable STEVESON (USA) df. Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), 9-0
Bronze – Yakup YERLIKAYA (TUR) df. Hussain NASIR (IND) by TF, 12-2, 3:07
Bronze – Soslan KHINCHAGOV (RUS) df. Zuriko URTASHVILI (GEO), 10-2

#BeachWrestling

Beach Wrestling World Series sees 30 percent rise in participation

By United World Wrestling Press

(Left to right): Rui MARTA (POR), Mohamed MAHMOUD ALY (EGY), Ed DUNCAN (USA), Pedro SILVA, Jean-Daniel REY, Marian BERBEC (ROU), Jian WANY (CHN), Erol KARACA (UKR), Papakonstantinou KONSTANTINOS (GRE).

SARIGERME, Turkiye (October 16) --- After four stops on three continents, the Beach Wrestling World Series came to an end in Sarigerme, Turkiye this weekend.

The World Series began in Buenos Aires (ARG) before travelling to Singapore (SGP), returning to Saint-Laurent-du-Var (FRA) and Constanta (ROU) and the final stop in Sarigerme.

The 2023 edition of the series saw both the number of participating countries and wrestlers grow exponentially. The number of participating nations doubled from last year with more than 50 nations participating from five continents. There was a growth of 30 percent in the number of wrestlers, both men and women, on the beach.

The Beach Wrestling Committee organized its yearly meeting on the sidelines of the final stop in Turkiye with committee President and United World Wrestling Bureau member Pedro SILVA headed the meet.

Silva presented the report to the committee members, underlining the continuous growth of Beach Wrestling. The report noted the participation of additional countries like Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Singapore, Senegal, Australia, among others, highlighting that Beach Wrestling being on the right path.

“We are very happy with the progress, growth and development that we are witnessing worldwide regarding Beach Wrestling,” said Silva, Beach Wrestling Committee President. "This must leave us all proud of our achievements and also very confident about our future.”

The meeting reviewed the current rules and regulations of Beach Wrestling and Committee members agreed that a few minor adjustments need to be made.

From the next season of Beach Wrestling will see an activity period being added to avoid any subjective decision by the refereeing body in case of negative wrestling with a 0–0 score.

It was also noted that wrestlers should be paired better in a situation with three groups. Bleeding time in Beach Wrestling was also increased to four minutes.

The Beach Wrestling calendar for 2024 was also discussed in the meeting as UWW received many proposals. UWW will do its best to publish the 2024 calendar by the end of this year.

The Committee also spoke about the potential collaborations that can be finalized for next season (producers of rings, wrestlers’ apparel).

Members also brought up the topic of sustainability and climate change and it was unanimously approved that Beach Wrestling should spearhead these projects.

The World Series in 2023, especially the final stop, showed that the discipline has the dedication of people associated with it. With the support of each National Federation, the future is full of hope and bright.

Follow Beach Wrestling on Instagram: @uwwbeachwrestling or on Youtube: @BeachWrestlingWorldSeries.