#WrestleSamokov

U20 Worlds: After two heartbreaks, Kassimbek is world champ

Monday, August 18, 2025 - 19:08 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 18) -- Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) had lost two World U17 Championships finals, denying him the world champion tag.

He got his third chance to be a world champion on Monday at the World U20 Championships in Samokov and third time proved to be lucky for the Kazakhstan wrestler.

Wrestling a familiar opponent in Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) in the final, Kassimbek seemed in  no trouble during the six minute bout and captured the gold medal and his first world title with a 4-1 victory.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) turns Abofazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) for match-winning two points in the 125kg final. (Photo: United World Wresting / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The 18-year-old had previously wrestled Mohammad Nezhad three times in his career and won all three. Kassimbek defeated the Iranian at the 2023 Asian U17 Championships, 8-1, in their first meeting. In 2024, he defeated him twice, in the semifinals at the World U17 and Asian U17 Championships, 4-3 and 2-2, respectively.

"I am very happy," Kassimbek said. "I have been waiting for this day for a long time, and I am glad [to win]. In the future, I will become an Olympic champion. I am already slowly preparing for this goal."

Mohammad Nezhad thought he may have a chance to change that record when he went up 1-0 in the final after Kassimbek failed to score after being put on the activity clock. But the second period was all about Kassimbek as he got a takedown and then turned the Iranian, wrapping Mohammad Nezhad's legs around his head, for two points.

The 4-1 lead and some defensive wrestling was enough for Kassimbek to win the final and claim his gold medal, making him the first wrestler to win the heaviest weight class at any World Championships.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)World U20 champion at 125kg -- Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

"Even though I have defeated the Iranian wrestler more than once, I take every opponent seriously," he said. "But when I stepped on the mat, I was confident in my victory."

While Kassimbek will have more age-group tournaments, he has ambitions to be at the senior level in quick time with some added strength and weight.

"I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I am still not strong enough," he said. "I need to work harder. I am eighteen years old, but I already want to compete at senior level, I just need to gain a little bit more weight."

PJ DUKE (USA)PJ DUKE (USA) celebrates after winning the 70kg gold medal in Samokov. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

U.S. wins 2 golds

Two returning bronze medalists from the U.S. -- PJ DUKE (USA) and Justin RADEMACHER (USA) -- upgraded their medals to gold.

Duke, a recent high school graduate, was the first world champion on Monday as he won a slugfest against Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA), 7-5. Duke's gold comes a month he wrestles at the senior World Championships in Zagreb.

He scored the first five points against Gaidarli's one but the Moldovan a takedown and turn from Gaidarli made it 5-5 with him leading on criteria and 1:20 left on the clock.

Duke, however, remained composed and managed to get on a leg-attack and convert it into a takedown for a 7-5 match-deciding lead. Gaidarli's attempts to score at the end where easily negated  by Duke.

With the win, Duke denied Gaidarli a historic title which would have made him the first Freestyle world U20 champion since 1999 for Moldova.

PJ DUKE (USA)PJ DUKE (USA) scores a takedown over Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) in the 70kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

"One thing I never really thought about, like obviously I've dreamed about winning a world title, but that feeling you get when you're on the podium when they're playing the national anthem. It's something I've never felt before and it's just so cool," Duke said.

Duke will have one month to rebound and wrestle in Zagreb, a competition much tougher than the U20 level.

"I got to definitely have a few things I need to tweak, easy fixes and minor technical changes," he said. "My body's is in good shape, I feel fine. I'm not too beat up on this."

Duke had to beat Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) in a best-of-three series to win the spot on the U.S. senior. While he celebrated his victory there, Duke had a subdued celebrations when he won in Samokov.

"The Final X was just a little different for me," he said. "I was definitely a bigger underdog there. It's just being on that senior team is my main goal. Coming from last year after losing the U20s. I just had to get that done. I tried not to show too much emotion but sometimes it's big deal, like final X, it comes out."

Justin RADEMACHER (USA)Justin RADEMACHER (USA) attempts a leg attack against Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) in the 97kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Rademacher had a rather straightforward final against Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) at 97kg. The match was majorly a one-move finish as Rademacher got on a leg attack and forced Magomedov towards the zone before throwing him in danger for four points.

From there on, Rademacher was happy to play the clock while Magomedov, struggling with his conditioning, never really got a chance to score until a late stepout to get on the board.

European U23 champion Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) got his world title to his name after he won the 74kg final against Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ). Khaniev blanked Akylbekov, 11-0, with a series of takedowns.

In the first period, Khaniev had two takedowns, a turn and a stepout to lead 7-0. He finished the bout quickly in the second period with takedown and an exposure to win.

"This was my goal for the year," Khaniev said. "I needed to accomplish it, and I did. I rate my performance at this tournament 4 out of 5 because there is always room to grow, I still made some mistakes."

Khaniev had a tough bracket to go through, wrestling returning silver medalist Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) and European U20 champion Manuel WAGIN (GER), a wrestler he recently lost to at the European U20 Championships.

"Against Lockett, I was focused and really wanted to beat him, just like the German wrestler to whom I lost at the Europeans," he said. "I was very well prepared for the match [against Lockett], and I managed to win with full confidence."

Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) won his first world title on Monday. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Khaniev had lost to Wagin in Italy, 5-4, in a close semifinal but their rematch in Samokov followed a different storyline as Khaniev won via technical superiority.

"At the U20 European Championships I wasn’t fully prepared, I had injuries, although that is not an excuse," he said. "Here I really wanted to take revenge, I prepared very hard, did everything possible on my side, and it worked out."

Khaniev called the 74kg weight class as the "royal" one and wants to continue his career in it for the time being.

"I believe that if I continue to work hard, then even in such a competitive weight class I will be able to withstand the competition," he said. "This is considered the 'royal' weight. It will be very interesting for me to keep competing in this weight, unless my weight increases and I have to move up to a higher category."

RESULTS

70kg
GOLD: PJ DUKE (USA) df. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA), 7-5

BRONZE: Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 4-0
BRONZE: Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI) df. Abdoullah NAKAEV (FRA), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) df. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ), 11-0

BRONZE: Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ) df. Raul CASO (ITA), 6-3
BRONZE: Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN) df. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA), 10-0

97kg
GOLD: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW), 4-1

BRONZE: Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Ibrahim BENEKLI (TUR), 8-3
BRONZE: Samir DURSUNOV (KAZ) df. VISHAL (IND), via fall

125kg
GOLD: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) df. Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), 4-1

BRONZE: Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE) df. Levan LAGVILAVA (FRA), 3-1
BRONZE: Cole MIRASOLA (USA) df. Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL), 12-2

'I was destroyed, couldn't sleep': Ghasempour recalls painful loss to Sadulaev

Monday, March 10, 2025 - 10:53 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (March 10) -- "I've thought about it a lot. Of course, it's in the past and thinking about it won't change anything. But I've thought a lot about why I made a mistake in those four seconds and I could have managed the wrestling differently and finished it very easily."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) stares at the empty walls of the interview room as he recalls the heartbreaking and shocking 5-3 loss to Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) in the semifinal of the World Championships last October.

The images of Ghasempour holding his head in hands after the loss went viral on social media. Sadulaev was praised for his champion mindset and his ability to script a remarkable late turnaround. Ghasempour was consoled by his fans, who urged him to not lose heart.

Those comforting words felt hollow at that point and Ghasempour felt 'lost'.

"The reality is that the fighting spirit and the feeling I had on the first day of the competition caused all those feelings to disappear and I was destroyed. I couldn't control myself and I just wanted the competition to end and go back," Ghasmepour says, with his voice breaking as he recollects his thoughts.

For 5 minutes and 55 seconds, Ghasempour controlled the 92kg semifinal against Sadulaev, a two-time Olympic champion known for his must-win attitude. A loss would have reinforced the belief that the Sauldaev aura was fading. A win for Ghasempour, a two-time world champion at 92kg, would make him only the third wrestler to beat Sadulaev.

But with five seconds remaining, Sadulaev snapped the Iranian down, spun behind, then managed to fling him to the mat for a 4-point takedown.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), behind, hits the match-winning takedown on Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

"It was also very difficult for me to come to terms with the loss," Ghasempour recalls. "After the match, I felt very bad and didn't sleep all night. I was awake from the intensity of thought and pressure, and it was very difficult for me. Due to the pressure I was under, I took four painkillers after the match."

A few hours of sleep was never going to be enough for Ghasempour to return for his bronze-medal bout against David TAYLOR (USA), which he lost 6-2.

Four months have passed since that day in Tirana, a city Ghasempour returned for the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series last week and captured the gold medal. Though not the World Championships and there was no Sadulaev in the field, Ghasempour managed to bring a smile on his face as he stood on the podium.

However, memories flashed back.

"When I was going up to the podium [after winning gold], I thought again that I could have been standing on the Worlds podium a few months ago, not this tournament," he said. "But that's how sports is, and if a professional athlete wants to continue their path, they must know that winning and losing are part of sports."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won the 92kg gold medal at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in February. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Ghasempour did take comfort from the messages he received. Yet, he is unable to move on from those five seconds of lapse in concentration.

"People gave me a lot of good energy and praised me constantly, which shows the kindness of the people," he says. "But what I wanted didn't happen and the result wasn't as I wanted. It would have been better if it ended with a good result."

As the new Olympic cycle begins, Ghasempour wants to make amends. There will be many pit stops before he can be at his first Olympics and he wants to capture every gold medal that comes his way.

"There are three more World Championships left before the Olympics [in 2028]," he says. "The World Championships are very important to me, and after that, it's the Olympic medal that I want to have in my medal showcase. In the year leading up to the Olympics, I will make the decision and compete in a weight class so that I can participate in the Olympics."