#WrestleBelgrade

How to watch 2023 Wrestling World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 15) -- The World Championships kick off September 16, 2023, in Belgrade Serbia with close to 1000 wrestlers in three styles -- Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling.

Fans around the world can watch the 2023 Wrestling World Championships live on UWW+, a subscription-based platform. The tournament will be like on uww.org and the official UWW App.

For wrestling fans based in the United States, the Wrestling World Championships will be live on FloSport/FloWrestling.

The World Championships will kick off with Freestyle on September 16 at 10:30 local time with the semifinals scheduled at 16:45 local time after a change in schedule (Earlier the article said that the semifinals will begin at 18:00 local time on the first day). On the second day, the qualification will begin at 10:30, the semifinals at 16:45 and the medal bouts at 18:00.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2023 Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia

How to watch the 2023 Wrestling World Championships?

The 2023 Wrestling World Championships will be live on uww.org and the UWW App. Wrestling fans need to subscribe to UWW+ to watch the World Championships.

To watch the Wrestling World Championships in the United States, viewers need to go on FloSport/FloWrestling.

How to subscribe to UWW+?

You can subscribe to UWW+ here or UWW+ Subscribe Now.

What is the schedule of the 2023 Wrestling World Championships?

The schedule of the UWW Wrestling World Championships is it starts on September 16 and ends on September 24.

Which are the official broadcasters of Wrestling World Championships?

Vietnam - VTVCab
Slovakia – Arena TV
Czech Republic – Arena TV
Malaysia – RTM
China – CCTV
Maccau – CCTV
Indonesia - EMTEK
Philippines - EMTEK
Timor-Leste – EMTEK
Mongolia – Premium Sports Network

Which weight classes are competing today in the Wrestling World Championships?

The schedule of the different weight classes is as follows:

September 16: FS 61, 70, 86 & 125kg
September 17: FS 79, 92, 57 & 74kg
September 18: FS 65 & 97kg; WW 55 & 59kg
September 19: WW 65, 50, 57 & 76kg
September 20: WW 72, 53, 62 & 68kg
September 21: GR 55, 82, 77 & 130kg
September 22: GR 72, 60 & 97kg
September 23: GR 63, 67 & 87kg
September 24: GR 63, 67 & 87kg

Are there Paris Olympic quotas at the Wrestling World Championships?

Yes, the 2023 World Championships in wrestling offers 90 Paris Olympic quotas, 30 in each of Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling.

How can wrestlers win the 2024 Olympic Games quotas?

Wrestlers can qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics by earning a quota at the 2023 World Championships. The four medal winners in each of the Olympic weight classes will receive a Paris Olympic quota for the respective National Olympic Committee. The fifth quota in that weight class will be decided by a playoff between the losers of the bronze medal bouts.

Which are the Olympic weight classes in wrestling?

There are 18 Olympic weight classes in wrestling. These are as follows:

Freestyle: 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg
Women's Wrestling: 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, 76kg
Greco-Roman: 60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg, 130kg

How to follow all the action from the World Championships 2023?

The best to follow the World Championships is to follow United World Wrestling's Instagram, Facebook, X.com, Tiktok and YouTube.

#WrestleNoviSad

Mesenbrink takes steady steps to win U23 Worlds gold

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 25) -- Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) remembers his last year's U23 World Championships campaign. He won a bronze medal, left Tirana a little frustrated and missing his training room in Penn State.

With lessons from that tournament and surrounded by his Penn State teammates and coaches, Mesenbrink made sure he did not return home without a medal. The former U20 world champion became U23 world champion after beating Halit OZMUS (TUR), 12-2, in the 74kg final.

Mesenbrink was a leg-attack machine in the final and Ozmus did little to defend those, giving up the final in 2:59, just on the stroke of the break.

"It's just about constantly getting better, technically, and emotionally, too," Mesenbrink said. "If I'm just running in there, trying to grab onto his head, he can get in. So just being able to constantly improve. I think that's a strong testament to the people around me and to the coaches that I have and the teammates that I have at Penn State."

Seven wrestler out of the 10 on the United States Freestyle team are part of the same training center -- the Nittany Lions Wrestling Club, Penn State, which Mesenbrink said made a lot of difference this year.

"It's fun, because last year I came by myself. It was just me at the U23s. So it was fun this year that we had seven out of 10 guys," he said. "Last year, I knew the guys, but it wasn't my teammates, right? Now it's my teammates, the guys that I'm literally in the room with every day. We go over and it's almost like, are we even in Serbia right now? It feels like we're in America, because we got so many guys here."

In Tirana, the American wrestler lost to Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) in the quarterfinals but bounced back to win the bronze medal. But in Novi Sad on Friday, Mesenbrink faced Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) in the semifinals and came out on top 6-4, with a buzzer beating takedown.

The win boasted Mesenbrink's confidence who was close to make the U.S. senior team for World Championships in Zagreb where Takahashi won gold, but lost to David CARR (USA) domestically.

However, that loss made Mesenbrink think about his aims and how he wants to improve his wrestling on the mat.

"I think the big thing of not making the world team, it was just, I got to get better in those specific areas," he said. "That's the most fun part. I thought this is all this is, is a title. This is gonna be fading so quick. So I thought I'm going to go out there and I'm going to work on the things that I've been working on and I've been working really hard since Final X to get those improvements."

Mobin AZIMI (IRI)Mobin AZIMI (IRI) celebrates after winning the 92kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

In the only other final of Freestyle, Mobin AZIMI (IRI) earned the first gold medal for Iran after beating Takhir KHANIEV (UWW), 5-3, in the 92kg final. Azimi broken Khaniev down in the final and scored three stepout points to win the gold medal.

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) df. Halit OZMUS (TUR), 12-2

BRONZE: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df. PARVINDER (IND), 8-2
BRONZE: Manuel WAGIN (GER) df. Magomed KHANIEV (AZE), 8-4

92kg
GOLD: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) df. Takhir KHANIEV (UWW), 5-3

BRONZE: Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) df. Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR), 11-1
BRONZE: Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) df. Ion DEMIAN (MDA), 10-0

Semifinals

57kg
GOLD: Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN) vs. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)

SF 1: Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN) df. Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB), 6-1
SF 2: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Aiandai ONDAR (UWW), 7-1

70kg
GOLD: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) vs. Sina KHALILI (IRI)

SF 1: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. PJ DUKE (USA), 14-4
SF 2: Sina KHALILI (IRI) df. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA), 8-2

79kg
GOLD: Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) vs. Levi HAINES (USA)

SF 1: Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) df. Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW), 5-2
SF 2: Levi HAINES (USA) df. Davud DAUDOV (UWW), 11-4

125kg
GOLD: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) vs. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Khabib DAVUDGADZHIEV (UWW), 5-0
SF 2: Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) df. Daniel HERRERA (USA), 12-2