#WrestleHammamet

Showdown Between Long-Time Rivals Amri and Adenity Brewing at 62kg

Thursday, March 25, 2021 - 13:47 By Eric Olanowski

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HAMMAMET, Tunisia (March 25) --- African stars Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) could renew one of the continent’s biggest women’s wrestling rivalries at next week’s Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier (April 2-4). The fellow Rio Olympians are entered at 62kg.

Armi has established herself as one of the greatest African women’s wrestlers ever and is looking to build on that legacy with a potential fourth Olympic berth. The Tunisian great made history in back-to-back years with a bronze-medal finish at the Rio Olympic Games and a silver medal at the ’17 World Championships. She became the first women’s wrestler from Africa to reach the podium at the Olympic Games, then became Africa’s first-ever world finalist.

But Amri’s road to a potential fourth Olympic Games will likely go through a pair of rising stars and the last African wrestler to beat her, Nigeria’s Adeniyi.

Since ’08, Amri has claimed 11/13 gold medals at African continental competitions and has only faced defeat on two occasions. She fell in the final of the ’08 African finals, but her latest loss came against Adeniyi in the opening round at the ’15 All African Games (4-1).

Since that loss, the pair of Rio Olympians have met for African gold in back-to-back years.

In the ’19 finals, Amri hit a sneaky counter-offensive dump in the opening period and pinned Adeniyi and won her tenth African gold. She claimed an 11th African title last year with another victory by fall over Adeniyi. The gold-medal match was scoreless after the first two minutes, but Amri caught Adeniyi off-balance with a single leg, then planted the Nigerian on her back for the fall.

Meanwhile, African rising stars and junior champs Amel HAMMICHE (ALG) and Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR) are also entered at 62kg. Last season, the Algerian made her fourth senior-level appearance and claimed a silver medal at the ’20 African Championships, while the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier will be the Moroccan ’20 African junior champs second senior-level showing.

Wrestling at the Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier kicks off Friday (April 2-4) and can be followed live on www.uww.org.

62kg
Amel HAMMICHE (ALG)
Berthe Emilienne ETANE NGOLLE (CMR)
Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR)
Aminat Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI (NGR)
Fatma INOUBLI (TUN)
Khouloud EL OUNI (TUN)
Marwa AMRI (TUN)

#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.