#Zagreb2018

Three Past World Champions Land Spots in #Zagreb2018 Women’s Freestyle Semifinals

Wednesday, July 4, 2018 - 14:18 By Taylor Miller

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ZAGREB, Croatia – The first half of the 2018 Cadet World Championships women’s freestyle semifinals have been determined and feature three 2017 World champions, including Shahana NAZAROVA (AZE), Honoka NAKAI (JPN) and Yuka KAGAMI (JPN).

Nazarova, the 2017 World champ at 38 kg, navigated through the first half of the 43 kg bracket with ease, knocking off two-time Cadet Asian champion Anna UENO (JPN) in the first round. In her semifinal, Nazarova, who took silver at this year’s cadet European Championships, will face Amina PONOMAROVA (UKR), who finished fifth at last year’s Worlds.

The other semifinal will be 2017 Cadet World silver medalist Emily SHILSON (USA) taking on three-time Cadet Euro medalist Viktoria ALEKSANDROVA (RUS).

At 65 kg, 2017 World gold medalist and 2018 Cadet Asian champ Nakai opened her tournament with a fall and advanced to the semifinals after a close 3-1 bout with Sonam SONAM (IND). Nakai will face two-time Cadet World bronze winner and two-time Cadet Euro champion Oksana CHUDYK (UKR) in tonight’s semis.

On the opposite side, there will be a battle of continental runner-ups with Cadet Asian silver medalist Xinru ZHOU (CHN) going up against Noemi SZABADOS (HUN), the 2018 Cadet European silver medalist.

The final returning World champion sits in the semifinals at 73 kg. Kagami of Japan put up a pair of tech falls to advance in the tournament. Tonight, she’ll face Valeria TRIFONOVA (RUS), who took fifth at the 2017 Cadet European Championships.

The top side of the bracket pits 2018 Cadet European bronze medalist Marion BYE (NOR) against two-time Cadet Asian medalist Qian JIANG (CHN).

While 49 kg and 57 kg may not have a returning World champ in the bracket, each features a Cadet World bronze medalist.

At 49 kg, World bronze winner and three-time Pan American medalist Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) raced to the semifinals with three convincing wins, including two tech falls.

Yepez will take on 2018 Cadet Asian champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN), while the other semifinal will have Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL) going head-to-head with Polina LUKINA (RUS).

World bronze medalist and two-time Cadet European champion Anna SZEL (HUN) advanced to the 57 kg semis, where she will see Yaping ZHU (CHN), who finished fifth at this year’s Cadet Asian Championships.

The other semi at the weight will put European bronze medalist Aryna MARTYNOVA (BLR) against Cadet Asian champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN).

The semifinal matches begin at 11:30 p.m. ET on unitedworldwrestling.com.

Semifinals pairings

43 kg
Viktoria ALEKSANDROVA (RUS) vs. Emily SHILSON (USA)
Amina PONOMAROVA (UKR) vs. Shahana NAZAROVA (AZE)

49 kg
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL) vs. Polina LUKINA (RUS)
Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) vs. Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)

57kg
Aryna MARTYNOVA (BLR) vs. Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Yaping ZHU (CHN) vs. Anna SZEL (HUN)

65 kg
Xinru ZHOU (CHN) vs. Noemi SZABADOS (HUN)
Oksana CHUDYK (UKR) vs. Honoka NAKAI (JPN)

73 kg
Marion BYE (NOR) vs. Qian JIANG (CHN)
Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) vs. Valeria TRIFONOVA (RUS)

#UWWAwards

UWW Comebacks of the Year 2025: Uguev, Maroulis, Amoyan

Friday, December 19, 2025 - 10:30 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 18) -- United World Wrestling’s 2025 Comeback Wrestlers of the Year are three wrestlers who refused to let their careers be defined by defeat and setbacks.

Freestyle Comeback Wrestler: Zaur UGUEV (UWW)

There was a time not too long ago where Uguev career trajectory was pointing him in the direction of becoming the greatest lightweight of this generation, but he hit a slump in 2023 and 2024, finishing fifth at the World Championships.

This year, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist returned to top form. He went from an afterthought to one of the sport's most dominant wrestlers -- reclaiming world gold for a third time in his career and first time since the 2019 World Championships with a 11-2 win over Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) in the 61kg finals.

"This is a very joyful event in my life -- I am once again on the top of the podium," Uguev said. "I am very happy and grateful to my team, my coach, my sparring partners, our national team -- thanks to everyone who played a part in my victory."

Women’s Wrestling Comeback Wrestler: Helen MAROULIS (USA)

For most, 2021 seems like yesterday. But for Maroulis, it’s been a grueling four years of waiting and working to reclaim her spot a top the world ranks. Despite having to completely change her style of wrestling due to lack of conditioning that stemmed from an allergic reaction to antibiotics before the World Championships, Maroulis found a way to bolster her resume with a fourth world title -- adding to her career wins 2015, 2018, and 2021, not to mention her three Olympic medals.

She did so with three quick pins in Zagreb before inside tripping Il-Sim SON (PRK) in dramatic fashion, stealing the world title as the clock expired.

After the match, the 11-time world and Olympic medalist said, "I had to really, really dig deep for that and, I don't know, before the last exchange started, I just had to dig deep and find it. It was just some scramble flurry and just that it came out my way. I'm grateful."

Greco-Roman Comeback Wrestler: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

Like Maroulis’ four-year battle to get back to the top, Amoyan found himself fighting an uphill battle to regain world gold since his last title-winning run in Oslo in 2021. But after moving up from 72kg to 77kg, he struggled. He fell one match short of his goal at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, and again at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where he settled for a bronze medal.

But 2025 was different as the 26-year-old put on arguably the greatest Greco-Roman performance of the Zagreb World Championships, capping off his run to a second world title with an unexpected 9-1 thumping of reigning Olympic gold medalist Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

"I became a world champion back in 2021 [at 72kg], but I really wanted to become world champion at 77kg. For two years, I struggled with injuries, and nothing was going as it should. Thankfully, at this World Championships I was prepared -- mentally, physically, and functionally -- and by God's grace I managed to triumph and become a two-time world champion."