#WrestleAmman

U20 World Championships day six GR semis set

Saturday, August 19, 2023 - 07:17 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 19) -- Entering another day of wrestling at the U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan. Five Greco-Roman weight classes in action as 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg wrestlers take the mats. Saturday is the final full day of wrestling at the tournament.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

The semifinals for the evening session

60kg
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ) vs. Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) vs. SUMIT (IND)

67kg
Nestori MANNILA (FIN) vs. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI) vs. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)

72kg
Levente LEVAI (HUN) vs. Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) vs. Imran ALIEV (AIN)

82kg
Yasin YAZDI (IRI) vs. Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO) vs. Alperen BERBER (TUR)

97kg
Rostislav COVALI (MDA) vs. Gor AYVAZYAN (GEO)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) vs. Kevin USPENSKI (EST)

15:15: Kevin USPENSKI (EST) with a fall over Sebastian WARCHOL (POL) at 97kg and he moves into the semifinals against Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)

15:10: Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) with a monster five-point throw over Magomed MUKHTAROV (AIN) and he then secures a takedown to win 11-3. Mukhtarov challenges for a foul but the review sees a clean takedown. Khaslakhanau wins 12-3 at 97kg

15:00: Alperen BERBER (TUR) marches on at 82kg. He wins 3-1 over Ivan CHMYR (UKR) after scoring from par terre and sneaking out when he was put in par terre

14:40: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) once again has this crowd on its feet! He has two big suplexes as he beats Azat SARIYAR (TUR) 11-0 and moves into the 67kg semifinals. 

14:25: Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM) pins Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE) to move into the 60kg quarterfinals. He will take on U20 European champion Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) who beats Kuvonchbek YAKHSHIBOEV (UZB) 7-5.

14:15: Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) looking for a second U20 world gold. He beats Huangsheng WU (CHN) 6-0 in the pre-quarterfinals at 60kg. 

14:05: Alperen BERBER (TUR) with a 10-0 win in his first bout against Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL) at 82kg. Berber is a former U17 world champion

13:40: Yasin YAZDI (IRI) survives an early onslaught from Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) to come back and win at 82kg. He moves into the quarterfinals against Reon KAKEGAWA (JPN).

13:15: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) gets the crowd involved as he upsets returning champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) 7-5 at 72kg. Alameldin got a big throw from par terre and Abdullazade was left to play catch up

12:35: U20 world champion from 2021 Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) gets going with an 11-0 win over Kemal SEVGILI (TUR) at 67kg. Dehbozorgi looks solid 

12:15: Amirreza AKBARI (IRI) takes out former U17 world silver medalist Darius KIEFER (GER) 6-1. Kiefer failed to turn Akbari from par terre while Akbari kept the pressure to beat Kiefer

11:45: Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) allowed Gunhee LEE (KOR) to score four points against him but manages to score nine of his own to win his 72kg opening-round bout.

11:35: That bout took ages but Hajime KIKUTA (JPN) won 14-13 against Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) at 72kg. Kikuta led 13-7 with just 15 seconds on the clock and Aliev got a takedown, a back roll and a gut wrench for six points to tie it 13-13. Kikuta, however, had criteria for a four-pointer he hit earlier.

11:20: Defending champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) trailed 2-2 against UMESH (IND) but he scores two pushouts on Umesh's attacks to win 4-2 at 72kg. That bout took a lot out of Abdullazade there. 

11:10: Former U17 world champion Joel ADAMS (USA) suffers an opening round loss to Artur JEREMEJEV (EST) at 67kg. Adams will look to improve his strength for the U20 level after his first year at this level

10:55: Zsolt TAKACS (HUN) thought he has a chance against Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI) but the latter rolls to a 10-2 win at 67kg after Takacs got an initial takedown

10:40: What better start we could have asked for? A thriller between Nika BROLADZE (GEO) and Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL) saw the Poland wrestler win 11-11 on criteria. Broladze used a big four-point throw to make it 11-9 but in the final second, Salimov scored a stepout for one point. Broladze was cautioned for fleeing which made the score 11-11 and gave Salimov the win.

10:30: Done with the first round of repechage bouts and we are moving into the qualification rounds of five Greco-Roman weight classes -- 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg. 

10:00: Five days of high-paced wrestling have flown by. But welcome to another day of wrestling as Greco-Roman continues in Amman.

#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."