UWW

UWW Renews Commissions, Committees

Tuesday, February 1, 2022 - 17:55 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- United World Wrestling announced the renewed Commissions and Committees for the '24 Paris Olympic cycle after the Bureau meeting that was held last week. 

With the recent elections of the Athletes Commission, all continents are represented in the UWW Commissions and an overall increase of women representation amongst the commissions was prevalent in the changes. Six Bureau members were elected Commissions presidents, while one was given the responsibility to preside over a Committee.

Daulet Turlykhanov will continue his duty as President of the Scientific Commissions, while Mikhail Mamiashvili will hold the role of the President of the Technical Commission. Stan Dziedzic, together with Don Ryan will preside over the Coaches, while Akhroldjan Ruziev will be in charge of the Media Commission. 

Pedro Gama Filho has assumed a new position as the President of the Marketing Commission. Nataliya Yariguina has been tasked with the continuation of heading the Gender Equality Commission.

The Legal and Ethics Commission will be fronted by Belcho Goranov. Georgy Bryusov will assume the role as the President of the Sport for All Commission, as Dr. Babak Shadgan will serve as the head of the Medical Commission.

For the Refereeing Commission, Antonio Silverstri remains at the helm.

UWW also elected four Committee presidents at the Bureau meeting, starting with Pedro Silva being named the head of the Beach Wrestling Committee. 

Rizvan Bochkaev will be responsible for the Grappling Committee, as Alexei Savchuk was named the President of Pankration while Cholpon Sultanbekova will preside over the Belt Wrestling Committee.

During the meeting, the Bureau also discussed the ongoing plans to start the implementation of the Five-Year Strategic plan presented during the Belgrade Congress. The plan outlined UWW's focus on Youth, Women’s Wrestling, Associated Styles, Image of Wrestling and the Digital Transformation in the Olympic cycle and how to prioritize them at each competition from 2022-'26.

For more details about UWW's Five-Year Strategic Plan, click here or see https://uww.org/organisation/strategy.

COMMISSIONS

Scientific
President: Daulet Turlykhanov (KAZ) 

Dr. David Curby (USA)
Dr. Nabil Hosny Elshorbagy (EGY)
Prof. Jose Maria Lopez Guillon (ESP)
Prof. Dr. Georgii Korobeinikov (UKR)
Prof. Dr. Ümit Karli (TUR)
Dr. Tibor Barna (HUN)
Assist. Prof. Ioannis Barbas (GRE)
Dr. Bahman Mirzaei Ghaziani( IRI)
Assoc. Prof. Mario Baic (CRO)

Legal and Ethics
President: Belcho Goranov (BUL)

Francisco Gonzales Pineda (GUA)
Aurélie Aim-Tuil (FRA)
Michael Smith (CAN)
Roman Kudinov (SUI)
Rouzbeh Vosough Ahmadi (IRI)
Osamu Shimizu (JPN)
Carla Morais (POR)
Laura Peeters (USA)
Houcine Kharrazi (TUN)

Technical 
President: Mikhail Mamiashvili (RUS)

Alin Grigore (ROU)
Finizio Salvatore I(TA)
Peter Bacsi (HUN)
Şeref Eroğlu (TUR)|
Zhang Ye (CHN)
Daniel Igali (NGR)
Paul Ragusa (CAN)
Rich Bender (USA)

Coach
President: Stan Dziedzic USA, with Don Ryan (CAN)

Andras Sike (HUN)
Dr. Mehmet Özal (TUR)
Mindaugas Ežerskis (LTU)
Mohsen Kaveh (IRI)
Paulin Kouakou (CIV)
Yury Shakhmuradov (RUS)
Evangelia Nikolaou (GRE)

Refereeing
President: Antonio Silvestri (GER)

Halil Ibrahim Cicioglu (TUR)
Kamel Bouaziz (TUN)
Cassey Goessl (USA)
Noravard Arustamyan (RUS)
Koike Kuninori (JPN)
Sherif Halawa (EGY)
Carlos García (ESP)
Tsong-rong Jang (TPE)
Stanislav Sernek (SLO)
Ferenc Gyarmati (ROU)
Gary Bird (CAN)
Mohammad Mosalaeipour (IRI)
Rui Marta (POR) (Beach Wrestling)
Vito Paolillo (ITA) (Grappling)

Sport for All
President: Georgy Bryusov (RUS)

Samim Miya Ansari (NEP)
Gérard Santoro (FRA)
Pablo Rubén Pintos Figueroa (ESP)
P.M.D. Sandamali Chandrasena (SRI)
Jean Claude Niyukuri (BDI)
Andy Barth (USA)
Milan Pavelic (CRO)

Marketing
President: Pedro Gama Filho (BRA)

Jean-Carl Fossati (FRA)
Lajos Virág (HUN)|
Morten Sandnæs (NOR)
Prof. Dr. Süleyman Şahin (TUR)
Ali Eftekhari (IRI)
Michael Faller (GER)
Morgan Rabine (USA)
Sahif Mustapha (MAR)
Yury Federov (RUS)

Media
President: Akroldjan Ruziev (UZB)

Didier Favori (FRA)
Ali Feizasa (IRI)
Darren Matte (CAN)
Ikuo Higuchi (JPN)
Przemysław Kaliski (POL)
Taylor Gregorio (USA)
Waffa Fadou (TUN)

Medical
President: Dr Babak Shadgan (CAN)

Dr. Camillieri Gianluca (ITA)
Dr. Mika Lehto (FIN)
Dr. Szabolcs Molnár (HUN)
Dr. Francisco Salvador Lee Guandique (GUA)
Dr. Radivoj Filipov (SRB)
Dr. Loukas Konstantinou (GRE)
Dr Stefan Strugarov (BUL)
Dr. Elena Abaeva (UZB)}
Dr. Dorsaf Methni (TUN)
Dr. Irina Doulepova (RUS)

Gender Equality
President: Nataliya Yariguina (RUS)

Lise Legrand (FRA)
María Teresa Méndez Mayo (ESP)
Milica Vukasinovic Vesic (SRB)
Yareni Guerrero (AUS)
Fatemeh Dearkhshani (IRI)
Rosalie Benie (CIV)
Tamara Medwidsky (CAN)
Eri Tosaka (JPN)
Nikolay Stanchev (BUL)

COMMITTEES

Beach Wrestling
President: Pedro Silva (POR)

Magomed Magdiyev (UKR)
Gabriella Sleisz (HUN)
Mohamed Mahmoud Aly (EGY)
Jian Wang (CHN)
Marian Berbec (ROU)
Konstantinos Papakonstantinou (GRE)
Ed Duncan (USA)
Eugeny Abarius (RUS)

Grappling 
President: Rizvan Bochkaev (RUS)

Antonio Garcia Morales (ESP)
Kanat Alin (KAZ)
Serhiy Cherednichenko (UKR)
Richard Tado (USA)}
Azad Askerov (AZE)

Pankration
President: Alexei Savchuk (BLR)

Anastasia Tukmachova (UKR)}
Italo Morello (ITA)
Konstantin Klimov (RUS)
Edmar Abdoelaev (NED)
Amatto Zaharia (ROU)
Ron Hill (USA)
Pavel Pokatilov (MDA)
Evangelos Koutras (GRE)

Belt Wrestling
President: Cholpon Sultanbekova (KGZ)

Alik Shpekbayev (KAZ)
Edmar Abdoelaev (NED)
Artur Ayramidi (UKR)
Jahja Madjid (INA)
Somayeh Khani Bakhtiari (IRI)
Omarmukhtar Chandpasha Tamboli (IND)
Marian Berbec (ROU)

#WrestleSamokov

Greco trained Sokolovska wins women's 76kg gold

Friday, August 22, 2025 - 09:07 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 21) -- "Have you ever seen her shoot for the legs? You haven’t!"

Vladimir SOKOLOVSKI has long been Greco-Roman coach in Ukraine. So when he put his daughters in wrestling, he trained them in Greco-Roman. Both Krystyna SOKOLOVSKA (UKR) and Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR) would perform upper body moves in competition and tried to complete the matches with fall.

In 2019, Krystyna won a bronze medal at the World U17 Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Out of her four wins, two were via fall and one via technical superiority.

Six year's later and back in Bulgaria for the World U20 Championships, Sokolovski's younger daughter Nadiia went a step further and won the gold medal at 76kg in Samokov on Thursday.

Just like her father had taught her Sokolovska performed those arm-drags to perfection. She scored takedowns, big throws and falls. Out of her four wins to gold, three victories were via fall, including one in the final. It was only her quarterfinal against Elmira YASIN (TUR) that the Ukraine wrestler won 5-2.

"I won three out of four bouts by fall," Sokolovska said after the final. "I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to mess around with opponents for too long. I like to finish earlier, I always do things the way it’s comfortable for me. If I need to work on endurance, then I work on it. But if I get a chance, why not finish earlier?"

The final was no different story as Sokolovska finished the match in just 48 seconds, pinning former world U20 champion PRIYA (IND). The Ukraine wrestler first scored a takedown using arm-drag for two points. When Priya attacked after restart, Sokolovska did not let the Indian stand up and locked up a cradle as Priya sat in a squat position.

Sokolovska turned Priya on her back and then secured a fall to be crowned world champion.

"I still haven’t fully realized that I won," she said. "I had only competed once at the World U17 Championships and I placed fifth. This is my second World Championship and I really wanted to wrestle against the Asians and the Americans.

"I didn’t get the chance to wrestle an American, but I did get to wrestle an Asian -- just what I wanted."

Sokolovska is now a European and World U20 champion, with an unbeaten run in nine matches. Even at the European U20 Championships, she won five matches and three of them were via fall.

"I work only with the upper body in standing position. I have a strong upper body," she said.

But Sokolovska said that she will not rush herself to the senior level and plan her debut. Her father, who is also her coach, will devise a program that fits her training.

"I understood that it’s not always necessary to focus only on wrestling," she said. "You need to take psychological breaks. Play rugby or go swimming, take a mental break from the mat."

Momoko KITADE (JPN)Momoko KITADE (JPN) won the 65kg final against Margarita SALNAZARIAN (UWW). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

In other weight classes, the United States, China and Japan won gold medals on day five of the tournament. Japan now has a firm grip on the Women's Wrestling team title.

After two golds medals on Thursday, Japan earned third one as Momoko KITADE (JPN) won the 65kg final. She held off Margarita SALNAZARIAN's (UWW) onslaught in the second period, winning the 65kg final, 9-5, to secure the gold medal.

The first period belonged to Kitade as her speed and strength were no match for Salnazarian who was down 6-0 at the break. But Kitade's conditioning gave way for Salnazarian's comeback. She scored two takedowns to cut the lead to 7-4. However, Kitade still held her positions and scored two stepouts and made the score 7-5.

Salnazarian pressured Kitade towards the zone but she was never able to score as Kitade turned her and scored two stepouts. She got 9-5 lead and defended it for the final 40 seconds.

Everest LEYDECKER (USA)Everest LEYDECKER (USA) celebrates after winning the 55kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The U.S. won its first gold medal in Women's Wrestling at this World U20 Championships through Everest LEYDECKER (USA) who had a dominant run to gold. After winning her three bouts via technical superiority on Wednesday, Leydecker seemed in no trouble in the final.

She raced to an 8-0 lead against REENA (IND) in the final after scoring a takedown using a leg attack. She then cross ankled Reena and turned her three times for the lead. There was little action after that in the match as Leydecker kept her strong defense despite being called passive and cautioned for points as well. But Leydecker had enough lead to not be trouble by those warning.

At 62kg, YANGZHEN (CHN) made a dream international debut by winning the 62kg gold medal in a thrilling final against former world U17 champion Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE). Down 6-0, Yangzhen managed to score six points in the second period and win the final, 6-6, on criteria.

Mammadova, who won World U17 gold in 2022, raced to a 6-0 lead with three counter exposure points and almost pinned Yangzhen. But in the second period, Yangzhen mounted the comeback, scoring a takedown from single leg and then got a turn using a strong gut-wrench.

With the clock ticking, Yangzhen needed one takedown for the win and she scored exactly that to lead 6-6 on criteria. Mammadova had one minute to reclaim the lead but Yangzhen managed to play the clock and win on criteria.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Everest LEYDECKER (USA) df. REENA (IND), 10-2

BRONZE: So TSUTSUI (JPN) df. Tuba DEMIR (TUR), 5-3
BRONZE: Gerda TEREK (HUN) df. Alexandra VOICULESCU (ROU), 6-2

62kg
GOLD: YANGZHEN (CHN) df. Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE), 6-6

BRONZE: Shirin TAKEMOTO (JPN) df. Neevis RODRIGUEZ (MEX), 9-7
BRONZE: Nigina SABIROVA (UZB) df. Busra EFE (TUR), 8-0

65kg
GOLD: Momoko KITADE (JPN) df. Margarita SALNAZARIAN (UWW), 9-5

BRONZE: Iryna BORYSIUK (UKR) df. Mouda HAMDOUN (EGY), 12-2
BRONZE: Beyza AKKUS (TUR) df. Daniella NUGENT (USA), 10-0

76kg
GOLD: Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR) df. PRIYA (IND), via fall

BRONZE: Diana TITOVA (UWW) df. Evelin UJHELJI (SRB), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Cancan LIU (CHN) df. Tuvshinjargal TARAV (MGL), 6-0