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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 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."