#WrestlePontevedra

Russia and Azerbaijan to Meet Twice in Saturday's Freestyle Finals

Friday, June 7, 2019 - 18:07 By Eric Olanowski

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (June 7) – Russia’s Greco-Roman squad won 14 of 15 matches on their opening day of competition and inserted four wrestlers into the finals. Their freestyle team matched their Greco-Roman countrymen, placing four wrestlers into the finals, but did so by winning 12 out of 13 matches. 

Russia’s four Day 6 finalists are Nachyn MONGUSH, Muslim SAIDULAEV, Magomed ABDULKADYROV, and Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV. The quartet will wrestle for gold medals at 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, and 79kg, respectively. 

Russia will take on Azerbaijan in two of their four gold medal bouts on Saturday night

The first Russian and Azerbaijan finals meeting will be at 65kg where Muslim Saidulaev will wrestle defending cadet world and European champion Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE); and the second meeting between Russia and Azerbaijan will happen at 79kg, where Amkhad Tashukhadzhiev will meet 2016 cadet world champion Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE). 

Returning junior world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) is one of two Moldovan wrestlers competing in Saturday night's freestyle finals. He'll wrestle in the 70kg gold-medal bout. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Similar to Azerbaijan, Moldova and Turkey will also have two representatives in Saturday night’s finals. 

Junior world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) and 2015 cadet European bronze medalist Radu LEFTER (MDA) will wrestle for Moldova in the 70kg and 97kg finals, respectively; and Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) and Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR), the 2015 cadet European champion, will compete in the 57kg and 97kg gold-medal matches, respectively.

The Day 6 freestyle finals will start at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 

57kg 
GOLD -Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) vs. Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS)
SEMIFINALS - Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) df. Kamil KERYMOV (UKR), 8-5
SEMIFINALS - Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) df. Ioannis MARTIDIS (GRE), 11-0 

65kg 
GOLD -Muslim SAIDULAEV (RUS) vs. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
SEMIFINALS - Muslim SAIDULAEV (RUS) df. Dzianis SALAVEI (BLR), 10-0 
SEMIFINALS - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA), 3-1 

70kg 
GOLD -Vasile DIACON (MDA) vs. Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS)
SEMIFINALS - Vasile DIACON (MDA) df. Omer CAYIR (TUR), 2-2 
SEMIFINALS - Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS) df. Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM), 2-2 

79kg 
GOLD -Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS) vs. Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
SEMIFINALS - Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS) df. Arman AVAGYAN (ARM), 9-8 
SEMIFINALS - Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Erik REINBOK (EST), 10-0 

97kg
GOLD -Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) vs. Radu LEFTER (MDA)
SEMIFINALS - Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) df. Artur VEGH (HUN), 13-0  
SEMIFINALS - Radu LEFTER (MDA) df. Aleh MATORNY (BLR), 10-0 

#UWWAwards

UWW Most Dominant Wrestlers 2025: Amouzad, Motoki, Esmaeili

Thursday, December 25, 2025 - 11:08 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) -- There were several dominant performances in 2025 on the wrestling mat. But it was three wrestlers who remained at the top of their weight classes and racked up dominant wins one after another. Two were Olympic champions while one was an Olympic silver medalist. All three became world champions in Zagreb.

Freestyle Most Dominant Wrester: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)

- 14–0
- Rank 1 at 65kg 
- 58,000 RS points 
- Outscored world and Olympic medalists 42–4
- World Championships, Tirana RS and ISG golds

Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) was about as perfect as you could be in a season, returning to prominence with title-winning efforts at the World Championships, Islamic Solidarity Games and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and finishing the season as the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg with 58,000 Ranking Series points.

The Paris silver medalist, collected an unblemished 14-0 record in 2025 -- with five of those wins coming against top-level opponents who have world or Olympic medals on their resumes in Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and Real WOODS (USA). The craziest part about those five matches against the world’s best, Amouzad outscored 42-4.

But without a doubt, the highlight of Amouzad’s season came in Zagreb when he finally got his long awaited rematch, beating Kotaro KIYOOKA in a revenge match from the Paris 2024 Olympic finals.

The scariest part about Amouzad’s dominance -- he’s only 23 years old and he’s still getting better.

Women's Wrestling Dominant Wrestler: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)

- 9-0
- Five pins, two technical superiorities
- 45,000 RS points 
- 8/9 bouts finished before regulation
- Completed Golden Grand Slam (U17, U20, U23, Senior World and Olympic gold)

Coming into the 2025 season, Motoki made her goals crystal clear -- become the third wrestler in history of the sport to win wrestling’s Golden Grand Slam -- and for those who don’t know, that is gold medals at the U17, U20, U23, Senior World Championships and the Olympic Games.

The only two missing from the Olympic champ's resume were the U23 and Senior World golds.

At the 2025 U23 and senior World Championships, Motoki showed that she’s in a league of her own, as she went 9-0, with eight  matches finishing before time expired. She scored five falls and two technical superiority wins.

Her win in the final of the World Championships will be one that will be talked about for ages as the most dramatic win of the season. Motoki scored a buzzer-beating takedown against Ok Ju KIM (PRK) with a 10-second flurry that consisted of a head outside single, arm throw, over-under knee pick, before head locking Kim with four tenths of a second left to keep her history making hopes alive.

In the end, Motoki’s heart and courage under fire helped her close out the year as the third wrestler to complete the Golden Grand Slam and she did it with a level of dominance we may not see again for a very long time.

Greco-Roman Dominant Wrestler: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)

- Rank 1 at 67kg 
- 58,000 RS points  
- 11–0 Record
- World Championships, Asian Championships and  ISG golds

In a 2025 campaign that saw him become a world champion, Esmaeili's season was immaculate, as he cemented his place among the sport’s top pound-for-pound wrestler with a season full of titles, stacking gold-medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships and Islamic Solidarity Games, rounding out the season ranked No. 1 in the world at 67kg.

The Paris Olympic champion remained unbeaten in 2025, winning all 11 bouts of his bouts in dominant fashion -- scoring eight shutout wins, with seven technical falls -- including a pair of 9-0 win against world champions Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) and Sebastian NAD (SRB). The reigning Olympic gold medalist also collected two victories over Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), one in the world final and one in the Islamic Game gold-medal match, where he tossed his Azeri opponent for four as time expired to rob his rival of the title.

His opponents should not ease up because at just 22 years old, Esmaeili is still sharpening his tool set and leveling up his skills.