#WrestleKrasnoyarsk

Saturday's Ivan Yariguin Freestyle and Women's Wrestling Finalists Determined

Friday, January 28, 2022 - 16:50 By Russian Wrestling Federation

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KRASNOYARSK, Russia (January 27) -- The second day of action at the '22 Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin just wrapped up. The stage is set for Saturday's finals matchups 65kg, 79kg and 125kg, as reported by www.wrestrus.ru.

At 65kg, Olympic medalist and world champion Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) and the world and European champion Zagir SHAKIEV (RUS) did not fly to Krasnoyarsk due to illness. The winner of the European championship Nachyn KUULAR did not come out on the mat either. World and European meadlist Akhmed CHAKAEV(RUS)  lost in the quarterfinals to Ramazan FERZALIEV (RUS), who reached the final. His opponent in the main fight will be Shamil MAMMADOV (RUS).


In the non-Olympic weight of 79kg, Radik VALIEV (RUS) and Malik SHAVAEV (RUS) will meet in the final. Valiev defeated the American Alex DIERINGER (USA) in the semifinals, and before that, he was stronger than the world medalist Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS). Shavaev overcame Akhmed USMANOV (RUS) and Dmitry ZAIDINOV (RUS) (who defeated Kakhaber KHUBEZHTY (RUS)) during the tournament.

At heavyweight, the Russian final will take place between, Anzor KKIZRIEV (RUS) and Vitaly GOLOEV (RUS). It should be noted that the winner of the 2020 World Cup Shamil SHARIPOV (RUS) lost in the 1/8 finals to Vitaly GOLOEV (RUS), and the medalist of the European Championship Alan KHUGAEV (RUS) lost to Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ). Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (RUS) did not take part in the competition after being removed by a doctor.

On the women's wrestling side of the competitions, the finalists were determined at 53kg, 57kg and 62kg.

Saturday's Women's Wrestling Finals Matchups:
53kg: GANBAATAR Otgonzhala (MGL) vs. Bolortuya BAT-OCHIR (MGL)
57kg: Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Helen MAROULIS (USA)
62kg: Macy KILTY (USA) vs. TSERENCHIMED Sukhee (MGL)

Saturday's Freestyle Finals Matchups
65kg: Shamil MAMMADOV (RUS) vs. Ramazan FERZALIEV (RUS)
79kg: Radik VALIEV (RUS) vs. Malik SHAVAEV (RUS)
125kg: Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS) and Vitaly GOLOEV (RUS)

Friday's Final Results:
57kg. Ramiz GAMZATOV (RUS) df. Akhmed IDRISOV (RUS), 5-2
61kg - Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS) df.Fedor BALTUEV (RUS), 9-8
70kg - Victor RASSADIN (RUS) df. Anzor ZAKUEV (RUS), 9-4

For up-to-date news, highlights results from this year's Ivan Yariguin, visit www.wrestrus.ru.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.