#WrestlePontevedra

Nitu Notches Win Over World Silver Medalist Zakharcheno, Makes 72kg Finals

By Eric Olanowski

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (June 6) – Romania’s Maria NITU stunned defending junior world runner-up Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS), 9-8 in the semifinals and will take on two-time European champion Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR) in Friday night’s 72kg gold-medal bout. 

In the semifinals, Nitu surrendered the first takedown of the match, but never trailed after giving up that first takedown. Nitu scored back-to-back counter-offensive takedowns and grabbed the 4-2 lead. The Romanian gave up a stepout shortly before the first period ended and carried the 4-3 lead into the second period. 

After the break, Nitu stopped another shot attempt from Zakharchenko and scored her third takedown of the bout, extending her lead to 6-3. Nitu’s lead was cut to a point after Zakharchenko scored her second takedown; but that was only short-lived, as Nitu’s fourth takedown extended her lead to 8-5. 

The match got interesting with 15 seconds left when Nitu gave up a four-point inside trip and trailed 9-8. Shortly after awarding the four points, the referees came together and changed the call, giving two instead of the four. The change in points meant Nitu still had the 8-7 lead. A failed Russian challenge gave the Romanian her ninth point and the two-point lead.

Nitu back peddled and surrendered a stepout as time expired, but held on to the 9-8 upset victory. 

Nitu will meet Belarus’ two-time European champion Anastasiya Zimiankova in the gold-medal match. The Romanian’s win stopped a rematch of the 2019 U23 European finals between Zimiankova and Zakharchenko, which was won by the Belarusian. 

Zimiankova, who'll be making her fifth age-level European finals, reached the Friday night finals after head locking last year’s cadet European bronze medalist Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) in the semifinals. 

The Friday night finals begin at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org

RESULTS

53kg 
GOLD - Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) vs. Mariia TIUMEREKOVA (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) df. Emma MALMGREN (SWE), 7-2

SEMIFINAL - Mariia TIUMEREKOVA (RUS) df. Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA), 10-0 

57kg 
GOLD - Maryia HULIDA (BLR) vs. Alina AKOBIIA (UKR
SEMIFINAL - Maryia HULIDA (BLR) df. Gaëlle RUIZ (FRA), 6-1  
SEMIFINAL - Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) df. Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (RUS), via fall 

62kg 
GOLD - Mariia LACHUGINA (RUS) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Mariia LACHUGINA (RUS) df.  Ramina MAMEDOVA (LAT), 10-0 
SEMIFINAL - Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR), 6-2 

65kg 
GOLD - Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) vs. Anastasiia LAVRENCHUK (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) df. Viktoria VESSO (EST), 10-3 
SEMIFINAL - Anastasiia LAVRENCHUK (UKR) df. Noémi SZABADOS (HUN), 7-2 

72kg 
GOLD - Maria NITU (ROU)  vs. 
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)

SEMIFINAL - Maria NITU (ROU) df. Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS), 9-8 
SEMIFINAL - Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), via fall

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW partners with Spring Media for worldwide distribution

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 12) — United World Wrestling has appointed Spring Media as the global media rights partner for all its events across the 2025-2032 cycle, excluding the United States and other specific territories. This includes international wrestling competitions for Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Women’s Wrestling, with its flagship Senior World Championships, the Ranking Series, and the Senior Asian and European Championships.

“We are pleased to announce a partnership with Spring Media that holds immense potential to expand our broadcast reach across new countries and elevate wrestling’s global profile. This collaboration not only strengthens our commitment to bring world-class wrestling to a broader audience but also positions us to grow the sport internationally, engaging fans like never before,” said Gordon Templeman, UWW Commercial & Communications Director. “Together, we are ready to take wrestling to the next level and inspire a passion for wrestling in every corner of the globe."

Spring Media facilitates a range of distribution in selected territories for Olympic federations like Karate, Judo, Taekwondo and Gymnastics, and holds a world-leading position as a distributor of fight sports through its sub-brand, Fight Globe.

“We are thrilled to be part of shaping the continued growth of these thrilling events through our global distribution arm,” said Sabine Kesseler, Commercial Director, Spring Media. “We see great potential in wrestling and applaud the new concepts that the UWW is introducing in the next cycle, making it even more eye-catching to its millions of fans - existing and new alike.”

About Spring Media group
Spring Media is an international full-service sports agency that serves some of the biggest leagues, federations, teams and broadcasters in the world. Its business is built around four core areas including Rights Management, Production Services, Streaming Solutions and Growth Marketing. Spring Media group has more than a hundred employees and global reach with offices throughout the Nordics, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia. The group distributes, sells and produces more than 100 000 hours of live sports annually and works with over 500 broadcast partners. More info at: https://www.spring.media/
 

About UWW
UWW is the international governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) for the sport of wrestling. The organization oversees approx. 7000 matches per year in different wrestling styles. With its vision “to be globally recognized as an inspiring, innovative and leading Olympic Federation”, its mission is to lead the growth of Wrestling, competitive and recreational, around the world. More info at https://uww.org/about-uww/