#Zagreb2018

Iran Bookends 2018 Cadet World C’Ships with Freestyle and Greco Team Titles

By Taylor Miller

ZAGREB, Croatia – The 2018 Cadet World Championships wrapped up on Sunday night in Zagreb, Croatia, with five wrestlers crowned Greco World champions and Iran awarded the top team prize in the Greco-Roman discipline.

Iran won the team race, putting up 130 points with four finalists and two Greco World champions. Russia took second with 108 points, and rounding out the top five was Turkey in third with 91 points, Georgia in fourth with 89 points and Uzbekistan in fifth with 83 points.

Iran also won the freestyle team title earlier this week.

It was an action-packed title bout at 45 kg as two-time World finalist Hennadii ZAVERTAILO (UKR) took on Cadet European bronze medalist Ilias IANDAROV (RUS).

Iandarov held a 2-0 lead at the break, but the two went back and forth, trading leads in the second period. Eventually Iandarov took down the 2017 Cadet World silver medalist and rattled off three gut wrenches for a technical fall win, 17-7. 

At 51 kg, this year’s two Asian bronze medalists went head-to-head for World gold.

Lazizkhon UZBEKOV (UZB) struck first against Laishram MEITEI (IND) and held onto the lead throughout the bout. The Uzbek used two sets of exposure to win the World title at 51 kg, 6-2.

In the final at 60 kg, points were only scored on passivities, cautions and failed challenges as Serhat KIRIK (TUR), who finished fifth at the European Championships, knocked off Asian silver medalist Shahin BADAGHI MOFRAD (IRI), 4-1.

At 71 kg, Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) became only the second Cadet Greco-Roman World champion for Moldova on Sunday night when he defeated Asian champion Shu YAMADA (JPN) with a dominant 12-2 technical fall.

Gutu, who won silver at 2018 Euros, drew first blood with a duck under for a takedown, followed by a correct throw. Gutu took his momentum and a 6-2 lead into the second period. There, he extended his lead with a throw by and finished off the bout with a big lift for four points to end the match in a tech fall.

The winner at 92 kg was determined in the final 20 seconds of the match.

Aleksei MILESHIN (RUS) held a 3-0 advantage at the break over Asian champion Mohammad NOSRATI (IRI), thanks to a correct throw he executed after Nosrati was put down in par terre.

In the second period, Nosrati got a chance on top after a Mileshin passivity call. With only 20 seconds left, the Iranian scored on a gut wrench and held the Russian off for a 3-3 win on criteria and the gold medal.

That bout concluded the 2018 Cadet World Championships.

Team standings
1. Iran - 130
2. Russia - 108
3. Turkey - 91
4. Georgia - 89
5. Uzbekistan - 83
6. Azerbaijan - 79
7. Kazakhstan - 62
8. India - 57
9. Armenia - 55
10. Ukraine - 48

Finals results
45 kg
GOLD - Ilias IANDAROV (RUS)
SILVER - Hennadii ZAVERTAILO (UKR)
BRONZE - Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
BRONZE – Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)

1st - Ilias Iandarov (Russia) TF Hennadii Zavertailo (Ukraine), 17-7
3rd - Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria) dec. Amirreza Dehbozorgi (Iran), 2-0
3rd - Gurban Gurbanov (Azerbaijan) dec. Mizuki Araki (Japan), 2-0

51 kg
GOLD - Lazizkhon UZBEKOV (UZB)
SILVER - Laishram MEITEI (IND)
BRONZE - Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
BRONZE – Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)

1st - Lazizkhon Uzbekov (Uzbekistan) dec. Laishram Sayon Meitei (India), 6-2
3rd - Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) dec. Robert Karapetyan (Armenia), 4-2
3rd - Merey Maulitkanov (Kazakhstan) dec. Baktiiar Akberdiev (Kyrgyzstan), 2-1

60 kg
GOLD - Serhat KIRIK (TUR)
SILVER - Shahin BADAGHI MOFRAD (IRI)
BRONZE - Adam HAJIZADA (AZE)
BRONZE – Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)

1st - Serhat Kirik (Turkey) dec. Shahin Badaghi Mofrad (Iran), 4-1
3rd - Adam Hajizada (Azerbaijan) dec. Pravesh Pravesh (India), 6-3
s3rd - Gagik Snjoyan (France) dec. Vladyslav Yevtushenko (Ukraine), 6-4

71 kg
GOLD - Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
SILVER - Shu YAMADA (JPN)
BRONZE - Veisal EYUBOV (KAZ)
BRONZE – Giorgi SHPETISHVILI (GEO)

1st - Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) TF Shu Yamada (Japan), 12-2
3rd - Veisal Eyubov (Kazakhstan) dec. Petar Gornyashki (Bulgaria), 5-0
3rd - Giorgi Shpetishvili (Georgia) TF Abdullah Ates (Turkey), 13-2

92 kg
GOLD - Mohammad NOSRATI (IRI)
SILVER - Aleksei MILESHIN (RUS)
BRONZE – Jacob KAMINSKI (USA)
BRONZE – Osman AYAYDIN (TUR)

1st - Mohammad Nosrati (Iran) dec. Aleksei Mileshin (Russia), 3-3
3rd - Jacob Kaminski (United States) TF Richard Karelson (Estonia), 9-1
3rd - Osman Ayaydin (Turkey) TF Lasha Tvildiani (Georgia), 9-0

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW finalizes 2026 World, Continental Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 13) -- United World Wrestling has announced the host cities for all the continental and age-group World Championships for 2026.

The three age-group World Championships will be held in three different continents in 2026. Baku, Azerbaijan will kick off the World Championships season next year with the U17 World Championships from July 27 to August 2.

Baku hosted the Greco-Roman World Cup in 2022 and the European Olympic Games Qualifiers in 2024.

Las Vegas, United States will be hosting the U23 World Championships from October 12 to 18, the first time the country will host a World Championships since 2015.

Tirana gets Euros

The UWW Bureau held a meeting on Friday, a day prior to the World Championships, which begins Saturday in Zagreb. It allocated all the tournaments for 2026, barring the 2026 World Championships, to be announced on September 16, Wednesday.

The European Championships will be headed to Tirana, Albania and will be held from April 20 to 26. Tirana will also host the second stop for Ranking Series from February 25 to March 1.

For a second year in a row, Amman, Jordan will host the Asian Championships from April 7 to 12.

Iowa, United States managed to claim the Pan-American Championships for 2026. It will host the senior event in Iowa from May 6 to 9 after getting the rights over Lima, Peru. 

The U17, U20 and Senior Oceania Championships foe 2026 were awarded to Apia, Samoa.

Age-group continentals

Zrenjanin, Serbia will play host to the 2026 U23 European Championships from March 9 to 15. The U20 European Championships will be in Skopje, North Macedonia from July 6 to 12 while the U15 & U17 European Championships were awarded to Samokov, Bulgaria. The U17 event and will be held from May 11 to 17 and the U15 event from May 20 to 24.

For Asia, the 2026 U17 & U23 Asian Championships will once again travel to Da Nang, Vietnam from May 23 to 31. The country hosted the same tournament in 2025 as well. The U15 & U20 Asian Championships will be hosted by Bangkok, Thailand from June 27 to July 5.

The U23 Pan-American Championships will be moving to Miranda, Venezuela . The U20 Pan-American Championships will be held from July 9 to 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Panama City, Panama will be hosting the U17 Pan-American Championships from May 28 to 30. The U15 Pan-American Championships will be in Santiago de Chile, Chile.

As announced earlier, the Ranking Series stops are decided till 2028. For all details about events, refer to uww.org/events.

Note: An earlier version of the article read that the 2026 U20 World Championships will be held in Manama, Bahrain. That has been removed as the host is not confirmed.