Books

New Book Released on the Educational Value of Wrestling

Wednesday, July 18, 2018 - 13:43 By United World Wrestling Press

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SOFIA, Bulgaria (July 18) -- The Secretary General of the Bulgarian Olympic committee and President of the UWW Ethical and Legal Commission Mr. Beltcho GORANOV  and professor Lozan MITEV presented their book, "The Educational Values of Wrestling" at the National Museum of Archeology in Sofia, Bulgaria.

"You will not find any techniques, tactics or ranking in this book,” said Goranov. "It is about the human qualities and shows how this ancient sport leads you to struggle to overcome yourself and your own fears. If you manage to overcome them, you are the winner!"

The completion of the project has taken almost a year of researching and enhanced work. The idea emerged when Mr. Goranov and Prof. Mitev worked on a study on the occasion of the Bulgarian participation in the First Modern Olympic Games Athens 1896. "Then Prof. Lozan Mitev discovered the first interview of Panayot Belev, leader of the Bulgarian delegation and that is how it all started...", the General Secretary of the Bulgarian Olympic committee added.

The book studies the history of wrestling worldwide and its impact on those who have got in touch with it. It tracks its development as an educational tool during the centuries. Other accents are an overview of the educational systems and the Olympic concept as a part of the modern athlete’s education. The book was published in French, English and now also in Bulgarian and Russian.

“This book is a synthesis of the best in Sport, Art and Pedagogy. It tells us about the moral, human and sport maturing and education of young people as a continuous process, subject to two main factors – Will and Dream. The main merit of this book is that it follows the development of this unity through the centuries as one of the paths of Humanism, as a constant struggle for perfection, development, triumph and unity of will and dream”, Assoc. Prof. Efrem Efremov, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass communications of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” said in his speech during the presentation.

The ceremony was attended also by the Minister of Youth and Sport Mr. Krasen Kralev. “The contemporary values that we speak so much about in our United Europe like integrity, morality, tolerance are at the same time core values in Sport and in Wrestling. Therefore, I endlessly admire those researchers who managed to explore in such depth the main processes in the public life and to describe them, and  to narrate them to us,” Minister Kralev said.

He pointed out that the wrestling is not only the most successful Bulgarian sport but also the oldest Olympic sport.

“Our ancient predecessors discovered the magic and values of this sport millennia ago. Wrestling needs people like professor Mitev and Beltcho Goranov. You probably remember how only several years ago the big wrestling family managed to preserve this magnificent sport for the Olympic Family,” Mr. Kralev added. He congratulated the authors on the completion of this project and the enormous effort, as well as their overall contribution to the development of Bulgarian sport.

"This book is another look at the struggle, but also the Sport, based on the human values of the personality. It shows us the fighting of two persons, the sense of self-realization, but also the respect to the opponent. The book presents variants of training and education, and also shows that Sport is a tool of overcoming difficulties and challenges, but also a way of realizing the personality. It is very useful and interesting book", said Mr. Tzeno Tzenov, President of the UWW European Council.

Among the guests of the event were the double Olympic champions in Wrestling Mr. Boyan Radev and Mr. Petar Kirov, the Secretary General of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation Mr. Valentin Raychev, the Rector of the National Sports Academy Prof. Pencho Geshev, sports officials and media.

#Grappling, World Grappling Championships

Crane defends as U.S. takes charge at Grapping World Championships

Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 11:19 By Vinay Siwach

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WARSAW, Poland (August 23) — It may have only won two finals out of the five its grapplers reached, but the result was good enough for the United States to win the team title over Kazakhstan for the second straight year at the Grappling World Championships in Warsaw.

Led by defending champion Kevin CRANE (USA), the U.S. accumulated 135 points to win team title while Kazakhstan finished second with 108 points. Home team Poland stepped on the podium at third with 91 points.

Crane defended his gold medal at 84kg by beating Defending champion Kevin CRANE (USA) home favorite and returning bronze medalist Mateusz MAZUR (POL), 5-4, in a thrilling final. Crane got the final underway with two points as Mazur decided to play from the bottom. Crane was called passive on the top and a point was added to Mazur’s score.

Mazur, the European champion, managed to get Crane off the top and brought him down on his back to score two points. As time passed, Mazur failed to continue his active grappling and was cautioned for stalling which gave a point to Crane who now led 3-3 on criteria.

With just over a minute left, Crane got a single leg for two while Mazur tried to match his pace. Crane was happy to concede a point for stalling but Mazur gave it one final go with 15 seconds on the clock. He got out of the bottom position and tried getting Crane down. However, Crane managed to survive a slip and kept Mazur on his back as the clock ran out.

Perhaps that win hyped up compatriot Mario GONZALEZ (USA) as he dominated the 130kg final against Lukasz OLECH (POL), winning the gold medal 12-1. In earlier rounds, Gonzalez upset returning world champion John HANSEN (USA) 6-2.

For the first two minutes of the final, both Gonzalez and Olech seemed to be playing the waiting game and it was after two minutes that Gonzalez got a point for Olech’s passivity. He scored two stepouts to make it 3-0.

With the clock ticking, Olech tried building some forward pressure but Gonzalez was quick to get out of the underhooks. As Olech fell because of his forward movement, Gonzalez scored two points by Olech on his back. With Olech’s shoulders touching the mat, Gonzalez was awarded three points and later awarded four as he continued to lock Olech. Only in the final seconds was he called for stalling, giving up a point in the 12-1 win.

Poland won a gold medal as defending champion at 100kg Andrzej IWAT (POL) won via submission against Eliot KELLY (USA), who was sporting a full-sleeve, in the final. Kelly finished fifth last year while Iwat has not lost in United World Wrestling’s Grappling competitions since the Grappling Gi loss in Pontevedra last year.

Iwat began from the bottom but never let Kelly get control from the top. As the two scrambled, Iwat got hold of Kelly’s leg and locked it despite them rolling over twice. With 3:40 left in the match, Kelly tapped out giving Iwat his second gold medal at the World Championships.

Poland could have had another world champion but Saar SHEMESH (ISR) came back to beat Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL) 5-5 in the 92kg final after the two dominated their runs to the final.

Expectedly, both did not give an inch to each other in the gold medal match which went down to the wire. Frechowicz scored the opening two points as he controlled Shemesh from the top and tried to lock Shemesh. But Shemesh took the 2-2 criteria lead by putting Frechowicz on the mat.

Shemesh was called for passivity and Frechowicz got the one point. But his lead was short lived as Shemesh went on top again and kept Frechowicz’s back on the mat with control. The referee did not award two points but Shemesh challenged and got the three points on review to lead 5-3 with 2:51 left on the clock.

Frechowicz did not give up and scored two points for control on top and took the 5-5 criteria lead and remained on top for the rest of the bout. Shemesh challenged the criteria as he had a three-point technique. Shemesh was declared the winner which left Frechowicz in complete disarray.

At 62kg, Temerlin AZIZOV (FRA), a freestyle wrestler till two years ago, won the gold medal over Gavin TEASDALE (USA), beating the U.S. grappler via submission. Azizov won three out of his four bouts before the final via criteria decisions but was a completely different force in the final against Teasdale.

Azizov used his wrestling traits in the final by putting collar ties and trying single-leg attacks. But Teasdale locked him from behind and looked to put him down. However, Azizov got a trip with headlock to control Teasdale before a headchoke got him the submission with 2:37 left in the match.

Kazakhstan crowned a world champion last year’s bronze medalist at 77kg  Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ) stepped up on the podium after beating Brady WICKLUND (USA) via submission in the final.

Wicklund remained on top for majority of the final scoring two points and Madayev got two points for Wicklund’s stalling. But Madayev got Wicklund’s arm and rolled over with his legs across Wicklund’s head, forcing the American to tap out instantly.

Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ), however, could not repeat his compatriot’s exploits and ended up with a silver medal at 66kg after Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) defeated him in the final.

Razmadze began the gold medal bout with a stepout and got another as Kapashov tried to evade one of his attacks. Kazakhstan challenged the second stepout call but lost, giving Razmadze two more points.

Kapashov got Razmadze in control quite a few times but was never able to control him on the mat. Razmadze reversed one of Kapashov’s attack with a toss and got the control to lead 6-0. Kapashov tried a head lock submission but failed to get it as Razmadze ran out the clock.

In one of the most entertaining weight classes, European Championships silver medalist Iker CAMARA (ESP) won gold over Euro bronze medalist Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO) in the 71kg final 7-2 decision.

Razmadze, who defeated returning champion Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ) in the semifinals, opened the scoring with an ankle pick but was called for stalling, giving Camara his first point. As the two remained in the same position, Camara tried different locks but Razmadze was happy blocking which cost him another point.

The bout had to be restarted in neutral with Razmadze on top but failed to show activity and the referees score another point for Camara who now led 3-2. Propelled by the lead, Camara reversed the positions and scored two points in the final 20 seconds to lead 5-2 as the clock expired. Razmadze challenged only to see two more points added to Camara’s score.

The grapplers will return on Thursday, the final day of the World Championships, for the Grappling Gi competition.

RESULTS

62kg
GOLD: Temirlan AZIZOV (FRA) df. Gavin TEASDALE (USA), via submission (2-0)

BRONZE: Arulan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) df. Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM), 8-3
BRONZE: Loris ZANOLINI (ITA) df. Farhad BAGIROV (AZE), 13-2

66kg
GOLD: Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Omri HAVIV (ISR) df. Wojciech PAJAK (POL), via disqualification
BRONZE; Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) df. Yeldos UALI (KAZ), via submission

71kg
GOLD:  Iker CAMARA (ESP) df. Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO), 7-2

BRONZE: Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER) df. Donat DEMETER (HUN), 2-2
BRONZE: Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ) df. Hamid HAMIDLI (AZE), 8-3

77kg
GOLD: Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ) df. Brady WICKLUND (USA), via submission (2-2)

BRONZE: Evyatar PAPERNI (ISR) df. Sergio IBARRA (USA), via submission (4-4)
BRONZE: Nahman BITON (ISR) df. Djabrail DJABRAILOV (FRA), via forfeit

84kg
GOLD:  Kevin CRANE (USA) df. Mateusz MAZUR (POL), 5-4

BRONZE: Pawel JAWORSKI (POL) df. Dmitrii TKACHENKO (UKR), via cautions (4-2)
BRONZE: Aurel PIRTEA (ROU) df. Manuel PILATO (ITA), via submission (5-2)

92kg
GOLD:  Saar SHEMESH (ISR) df. Piotr FRECHOWICZ (POL), 5-5

BRONZE: Pawel NEDZI (POL) df. Roman KIZIUK (UKR), 4-4
BRONZE: Paul ARDILA (USA) df. Levente LAKY (HUN), via submission (0-3)

100kg
GOLD:  Andrzej IWAT (POL) df. Eliot KELLY (USA), via submission (0-2)

BRONZE: Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO) df. Mourad BENGHOUNE (FRA), via submission (2-0)
BRONZE: Kamil WOJCIECHOWSKI (POL) df. Ramazan ABDRAKHIMOV (KAZ), 5-3

130kg
GOLD: Mario GONZALEZ (USA) df. Lukasz OLECH (POL), 12-1

BRONZE: John HANSEN (USA) df. Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE), via submission (6-0)
BRONZE: Talgat ZHIYENTAYEV (KAZ) df. Wojciech WILK (POL), 8-1