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Hungary Today: President Lalovic Accepts Hungarian State Award

Thursday, December 2, 2021 - 16:05 By United World Wrestling Press

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (December 2) --- On Wednesday, President Lalovic traveled to Hungary to accept the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary, Civilian Division award while also signing an agreement for the Hungarian capital city to host competitions, training camps and seminars.

Nenad Lalovic, president of United World Wrestling (UWW), was presented with the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary, Civilian Division on behalf of President János Áder on Wednesday in recognition of his efforts to develop and popularise wrestling in Hungary and worldwide.

At the ceremony at the Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy (KIMBA), the Serbian official also signed an agreement with László Süle, the academy’s curator, on a partnership between KIMBA and the UWW in the global development of the sport. Under the agreement, KIMBA will host several international wrestling events, training camps, seminars and other types of programmes.

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On Tuesday,  President Lalovic spoke at the film premier of the ‘100 years of Hungarian Wrestling Federation’ and received an honorary award.

In his acceptance speech, Lalovic called the award a “great honour”, saying that whereas it was a recognition of the efforts of the past several years, the new agreement between UWW and KIMBA was about the future and a result of the joint efforts of Serbia and Hungary.

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In the featured photo (from left to right): Nenad Lalovic and Szilárd Németh, president of the Hnugarian Wrestling Federation and vice president of Fidesz. Photo by Tamás Kovács/MTI

Read more on the Hungary Today's site ... here

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UWW Comebacks of the Year 2025: Uguev, Maroulis, Amoyan

Friday, December 19, 2025 - 10:30 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 18) -- United World Wrestling’s 2025 Comeback Wrestlers of the Year are three wrestlers who refused to let their careers be defined by defeat and setbacks.

Freestyle Comeback Wrestler: Zaur UGUEV (UWW)

There was a time not too long ago where Uguev career trajectory was pointing him in the direction of becoming the greatest lightweight of this generation, but he hit a slump in 2023 and 2024, finishing fifth at the World Championships.

This year, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist returned to top form. He went from an afterthought to one of the sport's most dominant wrestlers -- reclaiming world gold for a third time in his career and first time since the 2019 World Championships with a 11-2 win over Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) in the 61kg finals.

"This is a very joyful event in my life -- I am once again on the top of the podium," Uguev said. "I am very happy and grateful to my team, my coach, my sparring partners, our national team -- thanks to everyone who played a part in my victory."

Women’s Wrestling Comeback Wrestler: Helen MAROULIS (USA)

For most, 2021 seems like yesterday. But for Maroulis, it’s been a grueling four years of waiting and working to reclaim her spot a top the world ranks. Despite having to completely change her style of wrestling due to lack of conditioning that stemmed from an allergic reaction to antibiotics before the World Championships, Maroulis found a way to bolster her resume with a fourth world title -- adding to her career wins 2015, 2018, and 2021, not to mention her three Olympic medals.

She did so with three quick pins in Zagreb before inside tripping Il-Sim SON (PRK) in dramatic fashion, stealing the world title as the clock expired.

After the match, the 11-time world and Olympic medalist said, "I had to really, really dig deep for that and, I don't know, before the last exchange started, I just had to dig deep and find it. It was just some scramble flurry and just that it came out my way. I'm grateful."

Greco-Roman Comeback Wrestler: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

Like Maroulis’ four-year battle to get back to the top, Amoyan found himself fighting an uphill battle to regain world gold since his last title-winning run in Oslo in 2021. But after moving up from 72kg to 77kg, he struggled. He fell one match short of his goal at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, and again at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where he settled for a bronze medal.

But 2025 was different as the 26-year-old put on arguably the greatest Greco-Roman performance of the Zagreb World Championships, capping off his run to a second world title with an unexpected 9-1 thumping of reigning Olympic gold medalist Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

"I became a world champion back in 2021 [at 72kg], but I really wanted to become world champion at 77kg. For two years, I struggled with injuries, and nothing was going as it should. Thankfully, at this World Championships I was prepared -- mentally, physically, and functionally -- and by God's grace I managed to triumph and become a two-time world champion."