#WrestleBudapest

#WrestleBudapest Day Four Finals Preview Show

Thursday, March 31, 2022 - 11:57 By Eric Olanowski

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Freestyle wrestling is in the rearview, which means we’ll crown women’s wrestling champions tonight at 50kg, 55kg, 59kg 68kg and 76kg.

In the 50kg finals, you’ll see European champion Miglena SELISHKA ?? and world bronze medalist Evin DEMIRHAN ??.

At 55kg, Ukraine’s 19-year-old star Oleksandra KHOMENETS ?? will square off against reigning U23 world and European champion Andreea ANA ??

Anastasia NICHITA ?? is looking for her eighth European title across all age-grou[s and second on the senior level. She’ll compete against Jowita WRZESIEN ?? in the 59kg finals.

You’ll see the reigning world and European champion IrinIrina RINGACI ?? wrestle Pauline LECARPENTIER ?? of France in the 68kg gold-medal bout.

We’ll close out the night with the premier match of the night as Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Yasemin ADAR ?? will look to add a fifth European gold to her resume. She’ll wrestle Estonia’s reigning European champion Epp MAE ?? for gold at 76kg.

Tonight’s finals begin at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.uww.org.

Thursday Night’s Finals:
50kg: Miglena SELISHKA ?? vs. Evin DEMIRHAN ??
55kg: Oleksandra KHOMENETS ?? vs. Andreea ANA ??
59kg: Anastasia NICHITA ?? vs. Jowita WRZESIEN ??
69kg: Irina RINGACI ?? vs. Pauline LECARPENTIER ??
76kg: Yasemin ADAR ?? vs. Epp MAE ??

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.