#WrestleAmman

UWW President meets King of Jordan Abdullah II

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 18:20 By United World Wrestling Press

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 13) -- United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC met King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday in Amman, the host of the 2023 U20 World Championships from August 14 to 20.

Lalovic HM King Abdullah with United World Wrestling's highest decoration in recognition of his efforts in supporting sports and his belief in its role in strengthening solidarity and friendship among nations.

Jordan has played a significant role in promoting wrestling in the region by hosting world and continental championships, development camps and refugee camps.

"The feedback about the organization by Jordan has been fantastic," Lalovic said. "We are amazed by the hospitality of everyone starting with His Majesty King Abdullah, the Ministry of Sports, the National Olympic Committee and the wrestling federation. It's a major event for Jordan."

Lalovic, along with President of the Jordan Wrestling Federation Mohammed AL-AWAMLEH and the Deputy President of the federation Abdullah QUTAISHAT (JOR), attended the pre-event press conference and wished the participants luck for the tournament.

"We know that the national federation is skilled in the organization of this competition," Lalovic said. "We organized a refugee camp in Jordan five years ago. Since, we have realized that Jordan is an extremely reliable partner. We do believe that Jordan and neighboring countries are interested in combat sport and Jordan is the flagbearer."

Al-Awamleh welcomed Lalovic, confirming that Jordan will exert all its efforts to ensure the success of the championship.

"We look forward to a historic hosting of the most significant event in the history of Jordanian wrestling, and we hope that this event will mark a new beginning for the sport in Jordan," Al-Awamleh said. "Hosting an event of this magnitude is not an easy task, but the confidence of United World Wrestling, especially after Jordan organized the U15 and U20 Asian Championship, has helped."

#UWWAwards

UWW's 2024 Wrestlers of the Year: Petriashvili, Tosun, Kusaka

Monday, December 16, 2024 - 16:45 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 16) -- United World Wrestling has announced the wrestlers of the year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman. UWW’s 2024 Wrestler of the Year award winners are Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Buse TOSUN (TUR) and Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

Freestyle: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

The 30-year-old Georgian finished with a style-best 68,200 Ranking Series points through his finishes at the four point-based events of the year -- Olympic Games, European Championships, Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series -- in which he collected a 13-4 record with 8 wins coming against top 20 ranked opponents.

Petriashvili’s 2024 season didn’t start well, as he finished in fifth place with a 3-2 record at the Croatian Ranking Series. This marked Petriashvili’s sixth consecutive full season in which he started on a losing note before regaining focus and peaking at the most opportune times.

In his next outing, Petriashvili scored three wins before reaching the European finals for the seventh time in his career. However, he fell short against career rival Taha AKGUL (TUR) for silver.

The three-time world champion then went to Hungary for the final tune-up before the Paris Olympics. While at the second Ranking Series event of the year, Petriashvili grabbed three wins, but not before falling to Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) in the semifinals while nursing a left elbow injury.

Petriashvili headed to Paris hungry to improve his 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medal. The father of two did exactly that, picking up four victories including a 10-9 shock win over two-time reigning world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI), becoming Georgia’s third-ever freestyle Olympic gold medalist.
 
Greco-Roman: Nao KUSAKA (JPN)

23-year-old Nao KUSAKA (JPN), finished with a Greco-Roman best 79,200 Ranking Series points after winning golds at the Olympics, Asian Championships, and Hungarian Ranking Series events while also winning a bronze at the Croatian Ranking Series event at the beginning of the season.

After falling in the semifinals of his first competition of the year, Kusaka rallied off 14 consecutive victories -- four of which came against former world champions Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) and Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) -- on his way to winning golds in Paris, Bishkek and Budapest.

Kusaka’s win in Paris at 77kg, alongside his fellow teammate Kenichiro FUMITA’s gold, ended Japan’s 40-year Greco-Roman Olympic gold-medal drought.

Women's Wrestling: Buse TOSUN (TUR)

Buse TOSUN (TUR) is UWW’s Women’s wrestler of the year after topping the rankings with a style best 60,200 points. She narrowly edged Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) by 200 points for the coveted award.

Tosun, the reigning world champion at 68kg, finished 2024 with an impressive 11-2 record. Of those 11 wins during the season, a staggering eight came against wrestlers in the top 15 of the world rankings.

She dropped her first match of the season to Feng ZHOU (CHN) but went on to win 11 of her remaining 12 bouts, falling only at the Paris Olympics to eventual champion Amit ELOR (USA), en route to winning an Olympic bronze which was just Turkiye's second-ever women’s wrestling Olympic medal.

United World Wrestling congratulates Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Nao KUSAKA (JPN), and Buse TOSUN (TUR) for their incredible achievements this year and for being named the 2024 Wrestlers of the Year.