#Yariguin2019

Yariguin Final Pairings Set for Saturday Night

By Eric Olanowski

KRASNOYARSK, Russia (January 25) -  The Russian Federation inserted at least one wrestler into the finals in six of the seven weight classes that'll be up for the taking on Saturday night. 

In freestyle, Russia continued to plow through the competition and prove why they’re the most dominant freestyle nation in the world. They followed Friday's three gold medal performances by claiming five of Saturday’s six finals spots. 

Turkish big-man Taha AKGUL, a two-time world and Rio Olympic champion, is the only non-Russian freestyle wrestler that'll compete for a gold medal on Saturday night. He'll wrestle Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS) in the 125kg gold-medal match. 

In women’s wrestling, Russia won a pair of gold medals on Friday night and has an opportunity to claim three additional golds on Saturday night when five wrestlers compete in the finals. 

The lone weight class where a non-Russian woman can claim a Yariguin gold medal is at 68kg. This weight class will feature the all-Mongolian battle between 2015 world champion SORONZONBOLD Battsetseg and ENKH AMAR Davaanasan. 

The finals are set to begin on Saturday at 18:00 (local time). 

Finals Matchups

Freestyle 

65kg - Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) vs. Nachyn KUULAR (RUS)
79kg - Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) vs. Magomed RAMAZANOV (RUS)
125kg - Taha AKGUL (TUR) vs. Anzor KHIZRIEV (RUS)

Women’s Wrestling 
53kg - Natalia MALYSHEVA (RUS) vs. Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA)
57kg - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
62kg - Anzhela FOMENKO (RUS) vs. Anna SHCHERBAKOVA (RUS)
68kg -  Battsetseg SORONZONBOLD (MGL) vs. ENKH AMAR Davaanasan (MGL)

#RankingSeries

UWW confirms Ranking Series, World Championships hosts for 2025

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 25) -- United World Wrestling has announced the World Championships and Ranking Series schedule for 2025.

UWW had earlier announced that the Senior World Championships will be held in Zagreb, Croatia from September 13-21. Here are the dates for the age-group World Championships.

U17 World Championships - Athens, Greece (July 28-3)
U20 World Championships - Bulgaria, Sofia (August 18-24)
U23 World Championships - Novi Sad, Serbia (October 20-26)
Veterans World Championships - Budapest, Hungary (October 7-12)

The calendar for the four Ranking Series tournaments for 2025 was also stamped by the Bureau which decided that the same cities will host the Ranking Series till 2027 in an attempt to further simplify the calendar.

Here are the four stops of the Ranking Series for seasons 2025:

1st Ranking Series - Zagreb, Croatia (February 5-9)
2nd Ranking Series - Tirana, Albania (February 26-March 2)
3rd Ranking Series - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (May 29-June 1)
4th Ranking Series - Budapest, Hungary (July 17-20)

In the Olympic year 2028, only two Ranking Series will be held. The two hosts will be Zagreb, Croatia and Budapest, Hungary.

The host for the Asian Championships was also approved with Amman, Jordan confirmed to host the tournament from March 25 to 30.

The U17, U20 and Senior African Championships was already allotted to Casablanca, Morocco. However, the dates of the tournament have been changed to April 29 to May 4. The Senior Pan-Am Championships will now be held from May 6 to 9.

For a detailed 2025 calendar, visit uww.org/events.