#Grappling

Warsaw to host 2023 Grappling World Championships

Friday, December 16, 2022 - 08:34 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (Switzerland) -- The 2023 Grappling World Championships will be held in Warsaw, Poland.

The United World Wrestling awarded the tournament to the Poland capital which will host it from August 21 to 24 after the wrestling U20 World Championships which runs from August 14 to 20.

Grappling is one of UWW's fastest-growing styles, with events and participation numbers growing each year. The 2022 edition in Pontevedra, Spain saw grapplers from more than 30 countries.

It is one of the top events on the calendar for combat sports and will host grapplers from around the world.

In Warsaw, grapplers from the U17 and U20 will also be on the mat with an eye on the medals. The competition will begin with the U17 World Championships before moving to the U20 age group and ending with the senior World Championships.

The first Grappling competition for the year will be the European Championships which will be held in Bucharest, Romania on March 11 and 12. This will precede the U23 European Championships to be held in the Romanian capital.

Grappling, formerly organized by UWW’s Associated Styles office in Istanbul, Turkey, has been brought back to UWW Headquarters in Switzerland with hopes of progressing the sport to the next level.

For the full list of events on the Grappling calendar and all other styles can be accessed at uww.org/events.

#BeachWrestling

Youth Olympic quotas in focus as Katerini hosts U17, U20 BW Worlds

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 - 08:47 By United World Wrestling Press

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KATERINI, Greece (September 23) -- Thirty countries, close to 300 wrestlers, a global glory and a Youth Olympic dream.

Over two days this week, on September 25 and 26, the world’s best age-group beach wrestlers descend upon the scenic Katerini Beach, where the sun sets behind the imposing Mount Olympus. In this postcard-perfect surroundings, they will hope to write their scripts at the U17 and U20 World Championships.

The tournament will be live on the YouTube channel of United World Wrestling's Beach Wrestling channel.

The championships will be taken into consideration for quotas for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games qualifier, adding another layer of significance to the U17 event.

United World Wrestling has received a request for quotas from more than 100 National Olympic Committees with a total of 300 male and 269 female wrestlers. Currently, there are 48 quotas per gender. In this context, the World Championships in Katerini will add excitement to the race for the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Dakar.

The U17 and U20 World Championships will be held across eight weight classes each in men’s and women’s categories. Last year, Ukraine and the United States reigned supreme in the men’s and women’s events, respectively, of the U17 World Championships. This year, too, they will be among the favorites to lift the team titles.

Once again, this year, Ukraine has entered a jumbo team with eight wrestlers in the U17 men’s competition. Only hosts Greece (12), Georgia (11), and Moldova (9) have a contingent bigger than theirs. On the women’s side, the USA has fielded the largest delegation among the 24 teams, with 9 wrestlers. In Beach Wrestling, a country can register a maximum of 3 athletes per weight category.

It won’t be so straightforward for both teams to retain their titles, with challengers emerging from other nations, particularly hosts Greece, who would hope to put on a good show in front of their home crowd. Romania, Moldova, Georgia and Iran will remain strong contenders despite Ukraine's legacy in the competition, especially the women's.

Earlier this month, the U15, U17 and U20 African Beach Wrestling Championships were held in Casablanca, where Algeria bagged the U17 men’s and women’s titles. The serene Ain Diab beach in the Moroccan capital hosted the age-group tournaments before the Beach Wrestling World Series, marking the first time the event was held in an African city.

Soon after the U17 and U20 Beach World Championships, the Katerini Beach will host the World Series on September 27 and 28. The penultimate stop of the event is set to be the biggest of the 2025 season so far in terms of participation. There have been a record number of entries, underlining the sport’s continued global growth.

The World Series will return to Africa in October for its final instalment of this season, when the tournament will be held in Alexandria, Egypt, on October 18 and 19.