#YasarDogu

Superstars Burroughs and Chamizo to Clash on Sunday for Yasar Dogu Gold

Saturday, July 13, 2019 - 12:30 By Eric Olanowski

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (July 13) --- Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA) and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) will meet on Sunday night for the Yasar Dogu gold medal at 74kg. It’ll be the second consecutive year the two have met in the 74kg gold-medal bout at the Yasar Dogu. 

Their Sunday night meeting will be their fifth time squaring off against each other since Chamizo, the two-time world champion, made the jump up to the Olympic weight of 74kg last season. The American holds the 3-1 match advantage after winning their Beat the Street’s matchup, the bronze-medal bout of last year’s World Championships, and their second-round match-up at the Dan Kolov earlier this year. 

Chamizo’s lone win came at last year’s Yasar Dogu, where he outlasted the four-time world and Olympic champion in a 20-point shootout, winning 10-10 on criteria. 

Chamizo’s Sunday night finals appearance seals up his No. 1 ranking for the World Championships because the Rio bronze medalist only needed four points to dethrone the current world No. 1, Russia’s reigning world champion Zaubek SIDAKOV. 

With Chamizo grabbing the No. 1 seed from Sidakov, the Italian will be pitted against Budapest world runner-up and fourth-ranked Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) in the top-side semifinal in Nur-Sultan, and Sidakov and Burroughs in the bottom side semifinal. That is, of course, if the seeds hold true in Kazakhstan. 

Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) defeated two top-three opponents on her way to the 76kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan) 

Meanwhile, Erica WIEBE (CAN) has been wrestling on another level over the past two months and continued to do so on Saturday by knocking off a third world or Olympic champion in the last two eight weeks. 

Wiebe, the Rio Olympic champion, won the Sassari City Tournament in late May with a fall over Olympic champion Natalie VOROBEIVA (RUS), then added a win over reigning world champion Justina DI STASIO (CAN) to win the Canada Cup title two weeks ago. 

On Saturday, she successfully navigated the bottom side of the bracket that included 2017 world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR) and Aline FOCKEN (GER), who are ranked second and third, respectively, at 76kg. 

Wiebe opened her day up with a 10-0 routing of Kiran KIRAN (IND). Then, she dominated her way to a 6-2 win over second-ranked Yasemin Adar -- setting up a semifinals match against third-ranked Aline Focken. 

In her semifinals against Focken, Wiebe scored an inactivity point and used a peak out to pick up a 3-0 victory in the semifinals -- inserting herself in the finals, where she’ll take on Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) for the gold medal. 

The Day 4 finals begin 12:30 (local time) and will be broadcasted live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 

74kg 
GOLD - Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) vs. Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
SEMIFINAL - Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) df. Enes USLU (TUR), via injury default 
SEMIFINAL - Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) df. Yakup GOR (TUR), 12-2

86kg 
GOLD - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE) vs. Deepak PUNIA (IND)
SEMIFINAL - Deepak PUNIA (IND) df. Osman GOCEN (TUR), 7-4 
SEMIFINAL - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE) df. Boris MAKOEV (SVK), 2-0 

92kg
GOLD - J'Den COX (USA)
SEMIFINAL - J'Den COX (USA) df. Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE), 11-0 
SEMIFINAL - Viky VIKY (IND) df. Bendeguz TOTH (HUN), 4-0 

97kg
GOLD - Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) vs. Kyle SNYDER (USA)
SEMIFINAL - Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) df. Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE), 10-0 
SEMIFINAL - Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN), 10-0 

Women’s Wrestling
72kg
GOLD - Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR) vs. Buse TOSUN (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR) df. Nilufar GADAEVA (UZB), 12-2 
SEMIFINAL - Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Alena STARODUBTSEVA (RUS), 15-4 

76kg
GOLD – Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) vs. Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA)
SEMIFINAL - Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)  df. Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER), 3-0 
SEMIFINAL - Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) df. Iselin Maria Moen SOLHEIM (NOR), 2-0 

#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.