#WrestleBudapest

LIVE BLOG: European Olympic Qualifier, Day Four

Sunday, March 21, 2021 - 16:49 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 20) --- The fourth and final day of wrestling at the #WrestleBudapest European Olympic Qualifier gets underway at 18:00 (local time).

19:10: That'll do it for our coverage of the European Olympic Qualifier. Congratulations to everyone who helped their nation reach the Olympic Games. Until next time, so long, wrestling fans. 

19:03: Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) rolled up Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) with a pair of second-period side headlocks and claimed Russia's second gold of the night. 

18:47: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) and Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN) finals opponents forfeited so they were awarded the gold medals at 87kg and 97kg, respectively.

18:23: The next finals match will be the 87kg finals between '19 world champion Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Islam ABBASOV (AZE).

18:22: From the looks of things, Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) is sitting out of the finals, too. That'll give Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) the 77kg gold.

18:16: It looks like Balint KORPASI (HUN) has elected to sit out of the finals, which means the 68kg gold goes to Georgia's Ramaz ZOIDZE.

18:11: The 60kg title goes to the 21-year-old Turk, Kamal. He scored a four-point throw in the first and an inactivity in the second to defeat Kinsinger, 5-1. It's his second gold of the year. Kamal also won gold at the Heni Deglane in January. 

18:02: Here we got with Day Four action from Budapest. The first gold-medal match of the day will be at 60kg. It'll be Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Etienne KINSINGER (GER) wrestling for gold.

#UWWAwards

UWW Comebacks of the Year 2025: Uguev, Maroulis, Amoyan

Friday, December 19, 2025 - 10:30 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 18) -- United World Wrestling’s 2025 Comeback Wrestlers of the Year are three wrestlers who refused to let their careers be defined by defeat and setbacks.

Freestyle Comeback Wrestler: Zaur UGUEV (UWW)

There was a time not too long ago where Uguev career trajectory was pointing him in the direction of becoming the greatest lightweight of this generation, but he hit a slump in 2023 and 2024, finishing fifth at the World Championships.

This year, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist returned to top form. He went from an afterthought to one of the sport's most dominant wrestlers -- reclaiming world gold for a third time in his career and first time since the 2019 World Championships with a 11-2 win over Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) in the 61kg finals.

"This is a very joyful event in my life -- I am once again on the top of the podium," Uguev said. "I am very happy and grateful to my team, my coach, my sparring partners, our national team -- thanks to everyone who played a part in my victory."

Women’s Wrestling Comeback Wrestler: Helen MAROULIS (USA)

For most, 2021 seems like yesterday. But for Maroulis, it’s been a grueling four years of waiting and working to reclaim her spot a top the world ranks. Despite having to completely change her style of wrestling due to lack of conditioning that stemmed from an allergic reaction to antibiotics before the World Championships, Maroulis found a way to bolster her resume with a fourth world title -- adding to her career wins 2015, 2018, and 2021, not to mention her three Olympic medals.

She did so with three quick pins in Zagreb before inside tripping Il-Sim SON (PRK) in dramatic fashion, stealing the world title as the clock expired.

After the match, the 11-time world and Olympic medalist said, "I had to really, really dig deep for that and, I don't know, before the last exchange started, I just had to dig deep and find it. It was just some scramble flurry and just that it came out my way. I'm grateful."

Greco-Roman Comeback Wrestler: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

Like Maroulis’ four-year battle to get back to the top, Amoyan found himself fighting an uphill battle to regain world gold since his last title-winning run in Oslo in 2021. But after moving up from 72kg to 77kg, he struggled. He fell one match short of his goal at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, and again at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where he settled for a bronze medal.

But 2025 was different as the 26-year-old put on arguably the greatest Greco-Roman performance of the Zagreb World Championships, capping off his run to a second world title with an unexpected 9-1 thumping of reigning Olympic gold medalist Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

"I became a world champion back in 2021 [at 72kg], but I really wanted to become world champion at 77kg. For two years, I struggled with injuries, and nothing was going as it should. Thankfully, at this World Championships I was prepared -- mentally, physically, and functionally -- and by God's grace I managed to triumph and become a two-time world champion."