Beach wrestling

No Beach, No Problem

By Marc Berman

SARIGERME, Turkey (October 6th and 7th) --  St. Louis, USA to Sarigerme, Turkey is a long trip- don’t tell that to Michael PETERS (USA).  He was happy to make the trip if it would mean another chance to compete for his first world championship title. After being stopped short for a 5th place finish in the Senior Men’s 70kg last year, Peters has his eye on gold.

“This year my strategy is to slow the matches down and be more selective with my shots. The footing is different in the sand, your reaction time is slower.”

Training for the beach style is not always a simple task logistically, with no beaches near by his home, to find sand to practice on Michael makes use of a local volleyball court. “Half of my training time is spent with my college team in folkstyle and half is independently on the sand on the volleyball court. In the sand, I focus on practicing throws that can work on the beach because some throws do not work as well.”

Being used to traveling around the United States to find tournaments in folkstyle and freestyle, Michael is excited for the potential of taking part in the Beach Wrestling World Series starting next year and traveling to beaches around the world.

Watch the medal rounds live tomorrow in United World Wrestling. The matches start at 7am GMT.

 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Live Blog: WW 53kg, 57kg, 72kg, 76kg & GR 77kg, 87kg

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 7) -- The fourth day of the Ranking Series in Zagreb will see the remaining four Women's Wrestling weight classes in action along with two Greco-Roman weight classes 77kg and 87kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 3 RESULTS

12:05: Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE) drops her 72kg bout against Buse TOSUN (TUR), 2-0. Both activity clock points and then Tosun is solid in defense to post the victory

11:50: In an all Hungarian battle perhaps for the European Championships selection, Robert FRITSCH (HUN) gets the better of Levente LEVAI (HUN), 4-1, at 77kg. A turn from par terre for Fritsch in that win.

11:45: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) gets the par terre and wastes no time in getting Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) two reverse bodylock throws and two and four points respectively. He then gets a takedown to win the bout via technical superiority at 77kg

11:40: After a longish battle and review, Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) gets a 15-11 victory over Sydney PETZINGER (USA) at 53kg. 

11:25: Giullia PENALBER (BRA) with a dominant win on U23 world champion Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) at 57kg. Aliyeva never got going and Penalber led 14-4 before getting the fall

11:15: Asian champion at 62kg MASNISHA (IND) has moved down to 57kg. She faces Tindra DALMYR (SWE) in her opening bout and begins well to score a takedown. Dalmyr gets a four-pointer but Manisha controls the rest of the bout and wins 9-4

11:10: Amory ANDRICH (GER) gets a fall over Samantha STEWART (CAN) at 57kg. Stewart has been adjusting to the 57kg weight class but Andrich made short work of Stewart

10:45: Couple of quick results from Greco-Roman. First up is Levente Levai (HUN), European champion at 72kg and now at 77kg, with a 3-0 victory against Mohamed Khalil (EGY). And Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB) holding on for a 3-2 victory against Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) at 77kg

10:30: Another day in the and we will see more wrestlers trying to adjust to the Olympic weight classes.