#wrestlenursultan

Dilmukhamedov Thrills Home Crowd, Takes Down Titans to Make Greco 77kg Semis

Monday, September 16, 2019 - 10:25 By Ken Marantz

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NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Sept. 16)--- Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) got the crowd roaring by knocking off a two-time Olympic champion. For an encore, he topped a former world champion to earn a place in the semifinals and earn his country a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Dilmukhamedov defeated Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Viktor NEMES (SRB) in succession to make the semifinals of 77kg and highlight the qualifying rounds of the three remaining weight classes in Greco-Roman at the World Championships.

The Barys Arena crowd went crazy as Dilmukhamedov defeated double Olympic gold medalist Vlasov 3-0, then managed to get even louder when he held on for a 4-3 win over Nemes. That puts him into the semifinals against Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), the silver medalist a year ago in Budapest.  

Amir GHASEMI (IRI) knocked off reigning world champion on his way to the 130kg semifinals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

For Iran, after coming away empty-handed from the first two days of action, the tournament finally started going its way when two of its wrestlers advanced to the semifinals and all three knocked off top seeds.

Alireza NEJATI (IRI) and Amir GHASEMI (IRI) made it to the semifinals at 60kg and 130kg, respectively, to also clinch spots for their country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The top six finishers in each weight class earn tickets for their nation. 

The young Nejati, a world junior bronze medalist last year, topped second seed KIM Seunghak (KOR) 7-0 in the third round, then earned a spot in the final four against 2017 world champion Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) by edging Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) 3-1.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) took down returning world silver medalist Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 12-5 en route to the semifinals. (Photo: Tony Rotundo) 

Fumita advanced with a hard-fought 12-5 win over 2018 silver medalist Victor CIOBANU (MDA). Earlier, Fumita won a third-round showdown with Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB), the 2018 world silver medalist at 63kg, winning by 9-1 technical fall.

The other semifinal will be a clash between defending champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS), who stormed his way through with three technical-fall victories without surrendering a point, and local star Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ). 

At 77kg, Mohammedali GERAEI (IRI) whipped top seed and 2018 silver medalist KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) by 8-0 technical fall en route to the quarterfinals, but his run to gold was ended by Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), who won by technical fall and will face Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) in the semifinals.

Asian 130kg champion Ghasemi made his mark by beating defending champion and top seed Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) 6-4 in the second round, then advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 win over Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) in a rematch of the final from the Asian Championships. 

Riza KAYAALP (TUR) has outscored his three opponents 13-1 on his way to making the world semifinals. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

He will next face Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), while the other semifinal pits European champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) against Eduard POPP (GER).  

The day session also included the repechage for places in the bronze-medal matches in the three weight classes that went through the qualifying phase on Sunday. Six more wrestlers secured berths for their country at Tokyo 2020 by advancing to the third-place playoffs.

The feature repechage match came at 67kg, where three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) forged out a 2-1 victory over two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR), with the decisive point coming on a stepout.

Both Staebler and Ryu had lost to Olympic champion Ismael BORREO (CUB) in one of the most stacked brackets of the tournament. Staebler will face Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) for the bronze.

In the night session, the semifinals will be followed by the medal matches at 67kg, 87kg and 97kg.   

Day 3 results

Greco-Roman Pairings

60kg (39 entries)
Semifinal – Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ)
Semifinal – Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) vs Alireza NEJATI (IRI)

67kg (41 entries)
Gold – Artem SURKOV (RUS) vs Ismael BORREO (CUB) 
Bronze –Mate NEMES (SRB) vs Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Bronze – Frank STAEBLER (GER) vs Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)

77kg (38 entries)
Semifinal – Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) vs Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Semifinal – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) vs Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)

87kg (39 entries)
Gold – Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) vs Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) 
Bronze – Mikalai STADUB (BLR) vs Denis KUDLA (GER)
Bronze – Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) vs Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

97kg (37 entries)
Gold – Musa EVLOEV (RUS) vs Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 
Bronze – Tadeuz MICHALIK (POL) vs Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Bronze – Cenk ILDEM (TUR) vs Giorgi MELIA (GEO)

130kg (31 entries)
Semifinal – Amir GHASEMI (IRI) vs Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Semifinal – Eduard POPP (GER) vs Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

#WrestleAthens

Iran survives Uzbekistan scare to win Greco title at U17 Worlds

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 16:59 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 30) -- Four gold medals were not enough for Uzbekistan as they fell short in what could have been a generational team title in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships.

Iran, which won one gold medal out of 10, was crowned team champions as it performed well in placing their wrestlers in the weight classes. It finished with 125 points while Uzbekistan finished seven short at 118 points. Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points.

Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were not far behind and finished fourth and fifth respectively, tied on 100 points. Both countries had one gold medal each but Kyrgyzstan had two silver medals to Azerbaijan's one to finish ahead of them.

Read More: Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history in Athens

Iran had eight wrestlers in the medal-bouts and six of them returned with one. Iran finished with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Uzbekistan, on the other side, had only those four golds to show. Four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team race.

In one head-to-head bout on Wednesday, Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) secured a 7-5 win over Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB) in 60kg bronze-medal bout which proved crucial. A win for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title.

Then it was the gold medal of Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 92kg which helped Iran jump from fourth place to first. He wrestled Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) for the gold medal and began with three stepouts. Kasyan was called passive and put in par terre. Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Uzbekistan's two gold medals came at 51kg and 71kg.

Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) won the gold medal at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Asian U17 bronze medalist Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) added a third Greco gold of the World U17 Championships for Uzbekistan after he defeated Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1, in the 51kg.

Hagverdiyev was about to be called passive and put in par terre but he scored a stepout to avoid that call and lead 1-0. Tursunov answered with a stepout of his own and made 1-1. However, the criteria remained with Hagverdiyev as United World Wrestling is testing a new rule, where in Greco-Roman, if the score is 1-1, the criteria will be with the wrestler who got the first point.

Tursunov, however, got the par terre position in the second period and a 2-1 lead over Hagverdiyev. He defended his lead for the final minute and as the Azerbaijan wrestler tried a throw, he blocked him and landed on top, earning two more points.

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) upgraded his bronze from 2024 to gold in 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) denied the hosts a gold after he defeated Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1, in the final.

Valiev seemed to have taken the burnt from a few tough bouts from Tuesday as he struggled with his attacks against Soulis, who was egged on by vocal home fans.

However, he found enough inside him to turn from par terre and defend from that position in the second period to win the fourth gold medal of the tournament for Uzbekistan.

Ali NAZAROV (AZE)Ali NAZAROV (AZE) scored a 6-1 victory over Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) in the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ali NAZAROV (AZE) showed why gut-wrench is still one of the best techniques to score points in wrestling as he rolled Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) two times from par terre using gut wrench and win the world title at 60kg.

He later defended his par terre position, winning the final 6-1 and handing Azerbaijan the first gold medal for the World U17 Championships in Athens.

An action-packed match kicked off the medal bouts with Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) and Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) did not hold back their attacks as soon as the final began.

Zhangazhol did not waste much time to get going in the final against Kumarbekov as he used an arm throw to score the first four points but it was removed after he was warned for using his leg.

But he scored a takedown for a 2-0 and then hit a front headlock throw to make it 6-0. Kumarbekov answered with a four-pointer as well and both wrestlers used arm-rolls in the same sequence to score points. When they broke off at the break, Zhangazhol led 8-6.

After the blazing first half, both wrestlers had a subdued second and no more points were scored despite desperate attempts from Kumarbekov. Zhangazhol celebrated his win a split-second early but there was no harm done.

Kyrgyzstan challenged for fleeing in the final five seconds and on review, Zhangazhol was it with a caution for defensive foul, it only got Kumarbekov a point, making Zhangazhol's winning score 8-7.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ), 9-6

BRONZE: Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) df. Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA) vs. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-3

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 11-0
BRONZE: Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) df. Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB), 7-5
BRONZE: Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 5-2

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1

BRONZE: Hossein KAZEMI (IRI) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE: Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ) df. Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN), 7-1

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), 8-0

BRONZE: Ahmet UZUN (TUR) df. Said PASHAYEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: David CALKINS (USA) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 4-0