wrestleOaxtepec

Canada, Cuba and USA win Junior Men’s Freestyle Titles at #WrestleOaxtepec

By Taylor Miller

OAXTEPEC, Mexico – Four divisions were contested today in the penultimate day of the Cadet and Junior Pan American Championships in Oaxtepec, Mexico. Champions were crowned in the Junior men’s freestyle, Junior women’s freestyle, Cadet women’s freestyle and Cadet Greco-Roman.

This week, the top-eight in the Olympic weights of the Junior divisions will earn bids to the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, in December.

With Junior men’s freestyle starting today, three countries won gold medals, including Osmany DIVERSENT MARTINEZ (CUB) at 57 kg, Carter YOUNG (USA) at 61 kg, Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN) at 65 kg and Cade DEVOS (USA) at 74 kg.

The Junior women’s freestyle and Cadet women’s freestyle tournaments ended today. Winning the Junior titles were Katerina Sheila LANGE (USA) at 65 kg and Lillian FREITAS (USA) at 72 kg. Champions in the Cadet division included Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX) at 69 kg and Rose CASSIOPPI (USA) at 73 kg.

Cadet Greco-Roman started today with the USA winning each of the weight classes. Earning titles were Bo BASSETT (USA) at 45 kg, Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) at 48 kg, Alan KOEHLER (USA) at 51 kg and Kael LAURIDSEN (USA) at 55 kg.

The tournament wraps up tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. CT live on uww.org.

En espanol
OAXTEPEC, Mexico – Cuatro divisiones se disputaron hoy en la penúltima dia del Campeonato Panamericano Cadete y Juvenil en Oaxtepec, México. Los campeones se coronaron en estilo libre masculino juvenil, estilo libre femenino juvenil, estilo libre femenino cadete y grecorromano cadete.

Esta semana, los ocho mejores atletas en los pesos olímpicos de las divisiones Junior ganarán candidaturas para los Juegos Panamericanos Junior 2021 en Cali, Colombia, en diciembre.

Con el estilo libre masculino junior a partir de hoy, tres países ganaron medallas de oro, incluido Osmany DIVERSENT MARTINEZ (CUB) en 57 kg, Carter YOUNG (USA) en 61 kg, Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN) en 65 kg y Cade DEVOS (USA) en 74 kg. .

Los torneos de estilo libre femenino junior y estilo libre femenino cadete terminaron hoy. Las ganadoras de los títulos Junior fueron Katerina Sheila LANGE (USA) en 65 kg y Lillian FREITAS (USA) en 72 kg. Los campeones en la división cadete incluyeron a Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX) en 69 kg y Rose CASSIOPPI (USA) en 73 kg.

El torneo grecorromano cadete comenzó hoy y USA gano cada una de las categorías de peso. Los títulos ganadores fueron Bo BASSETT (USA) en 45 kg, Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) en 48 kg, Alan KOEHLER (USA) en 51 kg y Kael LAURIDSEN (USA) en 55 kg.

El torneo concluye mañana, a partir de las 9 a.m. CT en vivo en uww.org.

JUNIOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
65 kg
GOLD - Katerina Sheila LANGE (USA)
SILVER - Aylah Mohammed MAYALI (CAN)
BRONZE - Karime Anel MARTINEZ TERAN (MEX)

72 kg
GOLD - Lillian FREITAS (USA)
SILVER - Fernanda MARQUEZ MARTINEZ (MEX)

JUNIOR MEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
57 kg
GOLD - Osmany DIVERSENT MARTINEZ (CUB)
SILVER - Ryan MILLER (USA)
BRONZE - Fotis PAPADOPOULOS (CAN)
BRONZE - Diego ZULUAGA CUEVAS (COL)

61 kg
GOLD – Carter YOUNG (USA)
SILVER - Diego OLVERA RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
BRONZE - Bryan DE OLIVEIRA PEREIRA (BRA)
BRONZE - Kevin CARRASCO ARTEAGA (PAN)

65 kg
GOLD - Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN)
SILVER - Angel TINOCO TORRES (PER)
BRONZE - Chance LAMER (USA)
BRONZE - Leandro VALLEJO CABRERA (DOM)

74 kg
GOLD - Cade DEVOS (USA)
SILVER - Patrik LEDER (CAN)
BRONZE- Orislandy PERDOMO BROOKS (CUB)
BRONZE - Juan Gabriel MARTINEZ (DOM)

CADET WOMEN’S FREESTYLE RESULTS
69 kg
GOLD - Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX)
SILVER - Margaret GRAHAM (USA)
BRONZE - Nataly OVANDO ROJAS (CHI)

73 kg
GOLD - Rose CASSIOPPI (USA)
SILVER - Karime CORTES RESENDIZ (MEX)
BROZNE - Maria DE ALMEIDA DOS SANTOS (BRA)

CADET GRECO-ROMAN RESULTS
45 kg
GOLD - Bo BASSETT (USA)
SILVER - Roger KANTUN KU (MEX)
BRONZE - Joao AMORIM DE MOURA (BRA)

48 kg
GOLD - Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)
SILVER - Abel SANCHEZ JUAREZ (PER)
BRONZE - Marco GARCIA ALVAREZ (MEX)

51 kg
GOLD - Alan KOEHLER (USA)
SILVER - Yan LANDIM RIBEIRO (BRA)
BRONZE - Pedro TORIBIO TORRES (PER)

55 kg
GOLD - Kael LAURIDSEN (USA)
SILVER - Diego TERRIQUEZ IBARRA (MEX)
BRONZE - Patrick RODRIGUEZ QUINTO (ECU)

#WrestleZagreb

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

By Vinay Siwach

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.