#WrestleCoralville

USA, Ukraine win World Cups

By Vinay Siwach

CORALVILLE, Iowa (December 11) -- The USA claimed its 15th World Cup after beating Iran 6-4 in the final Sunday. In a thrilling dual, It was tied at 3-3 after Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) stunned everyone by beating Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) at 79kg. But Kyle SNYDER (USA) sealed it with a 5-0 win over Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) at 97kg,

Earlier, Ukraine defeated China 6-4 to clinch the women's World Cup. A story that will be told for years to come.

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19:50: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) hands Hayden ZILLMER (USA) a 6-1 loss at 125kg but it only makes the scoreline closer. The USA wins the World Cup with a 6-4 score, its 15th World Cup title. What a final. It went down to the wire and a historic moment at 79kg.

19:35: Time for Kyle SNYDER (USA) vs Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) at 97kg. Ghasempour needs to win this to keep Iran in the final. Snyder is the aggressive wrestler and is rewarded for that with a point for Ghasempour's passivity. He leads 1-0 at the break. Ghasempour is feeling the heat of this weight class. Snyder is warned for passivity but he scores a stepout soon. Snyder with another stepouts to lead 3-0. Snyder brings Ghasempour forward but picks the ankle for a takedown. He leads 5-0. That will be the win and the World Cup for the USA!

19:22: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) needs to win this bout against Nathan JACKSON (USA) at 92kg. Jackson with a double leg for four before giving up a stepout. He leads 4-1. Firouzpour circles over Jackson in the danger zone and gets two. The USA challenges the call. It's just one point and par terre for Firouzpour. He tries the gut and gets stuck, reversal for Jackson. He leads 6-2 at the break. Firouzpour is getting tired and is unable to finish his attacks. A lift for two but he gives up a takedown late in the bout and goes down 8-4. The USA now leads 5-3.

19:15: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) gets two takedowns and an activity point. He leads 5-0 against Alireza KARIMI (IRI). Karimi gets a stepout. A late takedown for Karimi but he cannot get the turn. Valencia wins 5-3 at 86kg.

19:00: Now at 79kg. Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) and Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) are on the mat. Iran is thinking about that Yasar Dogu match in which Burroughs won by only a point. Savadkouhi begins well and Burroughs put on the clock. With 2 seconds remaining, Burroughs hits the double and gets a turn. 4-0 lead at the break for Burroughs. Savadkouhi gets a takedown in the second period. He cuts the gap to 4-2. He adds another and a turn to lead 6-4. His teammates are pumped now. Burroughs has around a minute to score two points. Savadkouhi is holding his lead. Burroughs with a stepout and fleeing. Savadkouhi holds criteria 6-6. He wins. Savadkouhi has beaten Burroughs!

18:52: This is a huge win for Iran! U23 world champion Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (IRI) beats Jason NOLF (USA) 2-1 at 74kg. Nolf led 1-0 for passivity but Firouzpour scored a takedown in the second activity period and kept the lead. USA 3-2 Iran.

18:38: Alec PANTALEO (USA) and Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) at 70kg. This is not a great match-up for Yazdani as Pantaleo is a very physical wrestler with no passive wrestling. He gets on the single leg first and scores a takedown. Stepout for Yazdani. Pantaleo scores another takedown to start the second period. Yazdani needs to up his attack with just a minute remaining. Pantaleo attacks in the dying seconds but Yazdani reverses it and is looking for a turn and he gets it. 5-4 for Yazdani. Pantaleo challenges saying his head was out. The USA wins the challenge. Pantaleo wins 4-3. The USA leads 3-1

18:25: Rematch of the World Championships final as Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) takes on John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA). Amouzad fails to get his underhook but gets to a single leg and scores the first takedown. He leads 2-0 at the break. Diakomihalis gets outside and converts it into a takedown. He goes duckunder. Another two for Diakomihalis. That was quick. Another attempt but this time Amouzad was ready, he gets exposure. Amouzad leads 4-4 on criteria. A minute remaining now. Amouzad with a stepout. Diakomihalis almost got the takedown but Amouzad wins 5-4.

18:18: Seth GROSS (USA) at 61kg against Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI). Gross was fifth at the World Championships while Elahi was the U17 world champion. Gross with a go behind and gets the two. Gross works his position and gets the turn. He adds three more and wins 10-0. The USA leads 2-0.

18:08: Zane RICHARDS (USA) and Reza MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI) wrestle at 57kg. Richards gets the first takedown. Momenijoujadeh ends the period with a stepout. Richards leads 2-1 at the break. Momeni with a duck under but Richards stands on his feet and exposure! Richards leads 4-1 now. Momeni has got in good positions time and against but Richards with some crafty defense. He ends the bout with another takedown and the win.

18:00: Time for Iran vs USA. Big news -- it's Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) vs Kyle SNYDER (USA)

What a story this has been for Ukraine. After all the difficulties, the women's team has won the World Cup to cap off a stunning year in which it finishes on the podium of two World Championships and top-five in Belgrade. First World Cup title for Ukraine. All the players are emotional.

17:40: Ukraine wins the World Cup! What an incredible performance from the team. A 6-4 win over China in the final. Juan WANG (CHN) needed a fall but Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR) won the 76kg bout 9-5.

17:25: QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN) gave it all against Alla BELINSKA (UKR) at 72kg and secured a 9-1 win for three classification points. But Juan WANG (CHN) will need to beat Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR) via fall at 76kg to win this for China.

17:12: China is without its veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) at 68kg. Will this hurt it? Tetiana  RIZHKO (UKR) takes on Yue HAN (CHN), who has been in Zhou's shadow for a long time. Rizhko with a takedown to lead 2-0. But Han also scores one and gets a turn from lace to lead 4-2 at the break. Rizhko with an inside trip for two and a caution against Han for finger-grabbing. Rizhko leads 5-4 with under a minute remaining. Han cannot find a way and Rizhko wins it. Fifth win for Ukraine and it has more or less sealed it.

17:00: 12 points in the first 90 seconds of the 65kg bout between Jia LONG (CHN) and Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR) who leads 8-4. But Long closes the gap to 8-6 with a takedown. A double leg from Zelenykh for two more. She leads 10-6 at the break. Zelenykh locks Long's arm and drags her down for another takedown to extender her lead 12-6. Long with two go-behinds to bring the match down to 12-10 with 40 seconds remaining. A few fake shots and Zelenykh loses her balance and Long capitalizes by putting her on the back. Zelenykh leads 12-12 but Long gets the fall with 2 seconds remaining. What a twist.

16:53: Olympic bronze medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) gets Xinyuan SUN (CHN) into a cradle and gets the fall in two minutes and 16 seconds. Ukraine is running away with this now. It now leads 4-2. China has to win all remaining four bouts

16:45: The action moves to 59kg. Iryna BONDAR (UKR) takes on Qi ZHANG (CHN) to take Ukraine closer to the title. She opens the scoring with a takedown in the danger zone. Zhang answers with a grand-amplitude move for five! She catches Bondar and launches a suplex. She scores a takedown in the second period to win 7-2. An important win for China as it cuts the lead to 3-2

16:37: A 90-second fall for Yulia TAKCH (UKR)! The veteran stepped over Yongxin FENG (CHN) and managed to pancake her long enough for the referee to call the fall. Ukraine with 5 classification points and a 3-1 lead in this World Cup final.

16:32: The wrestlers are leaving it all on the mat. At 55kg, Qianyu PANG (CHN) and Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) did not let either score any points. Hrushyna led 2-1 on passivity with 30 seconds remaining and Pang needs a point to win. She tried head pinching but gave up a takedown and Hrushyna won 4-1 at 55kg. Ukraine leads 2-1.

16:22: Another thrilling bout and China has pulled back things. Li DENG (CHN) scored a takedown in the first period and decided to defend that 2-0 lead against Albina RILLIA (UKR). She was called passive in the second period for one point but Deng won 2-1.

16:10: First up is Oksana LIVACH (UKR) against Jiang ZHU (CHN) at 50kg. Livach uses her strong defense but Zhu with a takedown in the first period. She gets another in the second to lead 4-0. Livach with a four with 30 seconds remaining and winning the opening bout of the final.

15:55: Welcome to the World Cup finals. China is ready. Ukraine is ready. The women's World Cup winner will be decided in about two hours

#WrestleSamokov

U20 World Championships 2025 Day 2 Live Blog

By Vinay Siwach

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 18) -- The U20 World Championships enter the second day with four more Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 65kg, 79kg and 92kg. The competition began Sunday, read the recap here.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RESULTS

The semifinals will begin at 17:00 hours

14:18: Anar JAFARLI (AZE) with a huge four-pointer to trip SACHIN (IND) and then uses a high gut to finish the 92kg quarterfinal 10-0.

14:15: Sumit MALIK (IND) denies Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE) a semifinal place at 57kg. Malik with a four-pointer in his 9-2 win as Baghirov could not match the pace. 

14:06: Another Yamanashi Gaikun University wrestler Reiji UCHIDA (JPN) on the rise! Uchida locks Sanjarbek RUSTAMBEKOV (UZB) in a leg lace and finishes the match 11-0 to reach the 65kg semifinals.

14:02: Luke STANICH (USA) is into the semifinals at 65kg! He hangs on for a 3-3 criteria win over Alessandro NINI (ITA) after scoring a takedown which was latest action in the match. Incidentally, both Stanich and Nini were born in New Jersey and train 100 kilometres from each other -- Stanich at Lehigh and Nini at Rutgers

13:55: European U20 champion Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) built a 3-0 lead but William HENCKEL (USA) bounces back with two takedowns to lead 4-3 at the break in their 79kg quarterfinal. Henckel gets a stepout in the second period to extend his lead to 5-3 while defending those attempted duckunders. Tchetchelashvili hits a takedown to lead 5-5 on criteria with 1:50 left in the match. Henckel hits a takedown to reclaim the lead 7-5 with a minute left in the match. A double-leg from Henckel as he gets two and a turn for a fall gives two more points to make his lead 11-5. Henchkel downs Tchetchelashvili 11-5.

13:40: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) downs defending 79kg champion Alp Arsalan BEGENJOV (TKM) 6-4, avenging his 10-0 loss to the Turkmenistan wrestler from last year. Begenjov had a 1-1 criteria lead after a stepout but Yousefi scored a stepout and Begenjov called for a medical timeout. With a 2-1 lead for Yousefi, the bout restarted in par terre and the Iranian managed to turn Begenjov for two points to lead 4-1 with 1:53 left in the match. Yousefi then stopped a duckunder and scored a takedown but Begenjov managed a takedown to make it 6-3. Yousefi was fleeing during that attack for which he was cautioned and bout restarted in par terre with 6-4 lead for Yousefi. Begenjov failed to turn Yousefi from par terre, ending his title defense.

13:25: World U17 champion Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE) has reached the quarterfinal at 57kg as he looks to add a U20 world title to his name. He will face Sumit MALIK (IND).

13:15: Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ) launched Connor MIRASOLA (USA) for a counter chest wrap four-pointer and then adds couple of stepouts to lead 6-1. Mirasola comes out on top in one of the scrambles to make it 6-3 with a minute left in the bout. Kurugliyev with a stepout and Mirasola with a takedown but the Kazakh returning bronze medalist wins 7-5 and advances to the 92kg quarterfinals.

13:00: Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ), Asian U20 silver medalist, runs off to a 14-3 technical superiority win over Anthony KNOX (USA) at 57kg to enter the quarterfinals. 

12:55: Sumit MALIK (IND) pulls off a last-second victory over Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN), who will be at 57kg for the senior World Championships as well for Japan. Malik was down 10-1 but somehow mounted a comeback in the second period with a four-pointer and a takedown to make it 10-7. He scored another takedown to score 10-9 with 7 seconds left. Sakamoto wins but India challenge for a singlet-foul which on review is confirmed and a 10-10 win for Malik.

12:40: Aliasghar TATHASHTIKEH (IRI) managed to come within one point distance of Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) in the 65kg bout but goes down 10-9. Dzhandubaev, the European U20 champion, led comfortably before his conditioning struggles became evident. Three takedowns for Tathashtikeh to make it 10-8 with 20 seconds left on the clock but the Iranian managed only a stepout.

12:20: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) with a fall over Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM) at 79kg after building an 8-0 lead. On Mat C, defending champion at 79kg Alp Arsalan BEGENJOV (TKM) with two big moves to win 11-0 against Gan Erdene BAATARKHUU (MGL)

12:10: Yerkhan ABIL (KAZ) is too much for returning bronze medalist at 79kg Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) as the Kazakh wrestler wins 6-0. Totally shut down Araujo in that bout.

12:05: European U20 champion Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) pins Antoni MAJCHRZAK (POL) on the mat after a four-pointer and gets the victory via fall.

12:00: In a thrilling repechage bout, returning silver medalist Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) scores a takedown with 3 seconds left to beat European U20 champion Manuel WAGIN (GER) at 74kg. Wagin hit a front headlock four-point throw to lead 5-4 but Lockett somehow managed to overturn the result of a heated bout.

11:40: Anthony KNOX (USA), wrestling internationally for the first time, doesn't waste much time and beats Mykola BRATOV (UKR) via technical superiority at 57kg.

11:30: Anar JAFARLI (AZE) hangs on for a 3-2 win against Orazmuhammet HOJALYYEV (TKM) at 92kg. Tough match for Jafarli, a returning bronze medalist.

11:25: Magomed OZDAMIROV (UWW) with a beautiful arm-throw against Arshia HADDADI (IRI) for four points. Haddadi could never recover and loses his first bout at 57kg 6-1. 

11:15: Viktor BOROHAN (UKR) with a four-pointer to take the lead 4-4 on criteria against ASHWANI (IND) and win at 65kg. The European U20 silver medalist over Asian U20 silver medalist

11:10: Leg lace is what Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) gets to win his first bout at 65kg against Agha GASIMOV (AZE). Dzhandubaev is the European U20 and U23 champion this year.

11:05: Returning 79kg bronze medalist Mohammad YOUSEFI (IRI) warms up with a 10-0 win over Ion MARCU (MDA). Yousefi is a senior Asian champion this year.

11:00: Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) comes out blazing with a takedown and then gut-wrenches Luke STANICH (USA) for an 8-0 lead. Toprak has some conditioning trouble and slowly feels the pressure of Stanich, who now has three takedowns to cut the lead to 8-6 with more than 2 minutes left in the bout. Stanich takedonw takedown to make it 8-8 and take the criteria lead. Toprak keeps going for Stanich's legs but the U.S. wrestler is quick to counter and score. He turns using a lace and now leads 16-8. He finishes with another takedown wins 18-8.

10:55: Muradkhan OMAROV (AZE), who won a silver medal at the European U20 Championships, had a slow start against David KODAKOV GIL (ESP) at 79kg but then jumps to a 9-2 lead as Kodakov Gil was seemingly passive. Omarov wins 9-2 and advances at 79kg

10:40: Defending 79kg champion Alp Arsalan BEGENJOV (TKM) starts off with a technical superiority win over Ivan ANDONOV (BUL). Begenjov gets on the scored with an activity point and then scores a takedown and turn to lead 5-0 at the break. He then counters with two chest wrap throws for four points to win 11-0.

10:35: Pan-Am U20 champion William HENCKEL (USA) raced to 5-0 lead against Maksat TABYLDYEV (KGZ) gets a few points back. Henckel, however, manages to hang on for a 8-5 win at 79kg. 

10:30: European U20 champion Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) and Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN) in a back-and-forth bout at 79kg. But Tchetchelashvili manages to score every time Gharehdaghi scores. Eventually, the Georgian manages to win 12-8.

10:00: The day will start with the repechage from Sunday's weight classes and then move to qualifications of today's weights beginning with 79kg.