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Record number attend India's Introduction to Referee Course

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 - 13:37 By United World Wrestling Press

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SONEPAT, India (November 30) -- The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) organized an Introduction to Referee course on November 18-20 in Sonepat. This was the largest-ever course with 96 participants (86 men and 10 women).

“The course was very useful for developing skills and knowledge of the Indian national referees. WFI organizes 25 domestic competitions in a year. After this course, we have enough national referees to conduct these competitions as this group will serve as referees at many of those events,” said Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, WFI President.

This course was led by Carlos GARCIA (ESP) and assisted by Ashok KUMAR (IND). Both are IS Referees and certified UWW Educators.

During the three-day course, the participants concentrated on several areas that are important to the development of referees. After an initial assessment, the main topics were focused on referee mechanics, positioning, referee team duties, and athlete safeguarding.

The morning sessions centered around the theory, mainly through videos or direct examples from their practical sessions. The afternoon sessions were dedicated to practicing on the mat by refereeing short matches. These practical sessions allowed participants to apply what they learned and improve their performance.

“I learned a lot from this course and even things that I did not know about including the latest rules and regulations of the competition. This course was very useful for me, and I really enjoyed this course," Shivaji, a referee, said.

“I would like to thank the Wrestling Federation of India for organizing the course and their hospitality. It is very motivating when you see so much interest and passion which may not be everything, but it gets you to your goals faster. The young Indian referees have a passion that could drive Formula 1 cars at maximum speed," Garcia said.

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UWW History Makers of 2025: Kougioumtsidis, Reasco, Sultangali

Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:29 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 22) -- United World Wrestling has announced the History Makers of the Year 2025. The performance of these three wrestlers transcended competition and produced a once-in-a-generation accomplishment.

Freestyle’s History Maker 2025: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)

If there’s one nation that’s draped in sports tradition, it’s Greece, but surprisingly enough, the nation had never produced a male wrestling world champion.

Prior to 2025, wrestlers from Greece were 0-3 in gold-medal matches and had not reached a world finals since 1991. Then came 23-year-old Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS who stunned the world by defeating Levi HAINES (USA) 3-2 in the 79kg final to become his nation’s first-ever world champion.

Up until Kougioumtsidis' victory, Georgios ATHANASSIADIS (GRE) lost both of his world finals matches and Iraklis DESKOULIDIS (GRE) lost the final in 1991. The lone Greek woman to ever step to the top of the medal podium at the World Championships was Sofia POUMPOURIDOU (GRE), who won the women's 51kg gold on home soil in 2002.

"I'm very lucky that I am Greek," Kougioumtsidis said. "So I feel like I made all Greeks proud. I am Greek and I love my country." He continued, saying, “I'm the first male [from Greece] who won a gold medal at the World Championships. It's my dream come true. I think this year is a good achievement. I achieved my goal."

Women’s Wrestling History Maker: Genesis REASCO (ECU)

Reasco made history by becoming Ecuador's first-ever world champion, which came two years following Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) silver-medal finish at the 2023 World Championships where she still become the Ecuador's first-ever world medalist.

Reasco reached the pinnacle of the sport with a 4-2 victory in the 76kg final over two-time world medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), which came one match removed from knocking off Paris bronze medalist Milaimy MARIN (CUB) in the semifinals.

"I went in, gave my all, and it worked," Reasco said. "That’s how the gold medal was achieved, because honestly, I have a lot of respect for all my opponents. They gave everything out there on the mat, and they were really good matches -- both yesterday’s and today’s. Everything was very tough, very close."

Greco-Roman’s History Maker: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)

Sultangali ended a 26-year Greco-Roman drought, giving Kazakhstan their first Greco world champion since 1999 with a very quick victory over Uzbek youngster Alisher GANIEV (UZB) in the 60kg finals at the World Championships.

Sultangali, who won two world bronze medals between 2018 and 2022, only needed 1:07 to cap off masterful first-period 9-0 win over Asian runner-up GANIEV (UZB).

"I didn’t plan to win the final match so easily and quickly," Sultangali said. "But it happened. Today is a historic day for our country because the last gold medal for Kazakhstan came in 1999, 26 years ago," said Sultangali, "I am happy that my country is happy."