#WrestleOslo

Live Blog: Senior World Championships, Day 2 - FS 57kg, 65kg, 79kg, 92kg

By Vinay Siwach

OSLO (October 3) -- More freestyle superstars will be in action on day two of the senior World Championships in Oslo, Norway. Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and J'den COX (USA) will try claim the gold medals while Tokyo bronze medalist Thomas GILMAN (USA) will be a big threat at 57kg. Zagir SHAKIEV (RWF) is the favourite at 65kg. If you missed day one action, here's the wrap -- Hassan Yazdani and David Taylor set up 86kg final

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Another exciting morning session in the books. Iran has four in the semifinals while USA managed to get three wrestlers. Russian Wrestling Federation will be disappointed with only two wrestlers in the semifinals.

1350: We finish out the session with Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) winning his bout 9-4 against Radik VALIEV (RWF) to make the semifinal at 79kg. Can he win his fifth world title?

1345: Ryuki YOSHIDA (JPN) manages to hang on for a 4-4 win over Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE) while Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) rolls through with a 9-5 win over Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE).

1340: Four out of four for Iran! Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) gets a 11-0 win over Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA) and advances to the semifinals.

Finally at 79kg, on Mat A Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE) will take on Ryuki YOSHIDA (JPN).  Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) will face Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA) on Mat B, Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) is up against Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) and on Mat D Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is facing Radik VALIEV (RWF)

1330: Zagir SHAKHIEV (RWF) is swift. He moves on to the semifinals with a 10-0 win over Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR). Tokyo Olympian Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) gets the better of Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) 2-1 to move into the semifinals. Iran continue to dominate and now Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) wins his quarterfinal 4-2 against Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL). In an upset on Mat A, Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ) beats Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR) 5-3 and reach the semifinals

At 65kg, on Mat A will be Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR) vs Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ), Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL) vs Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) on Mat B, Zagir SHAKHIEV (RWF) vs Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) on Mat C and Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) vs Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) on Mat D

1322: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) is unstoppable. He wins 10-1 against Irakli MTSITURI (GEO) to move into the semifinals. In the final quarterfinal, Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) gets a 7-3 win against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

1315: J'den COX (USA) has no trouble in beating Jeremy POIRIER (CAN) 10-0 and he will move into the 92 semifinals. A similar story for Magomed KURBANOV (RWF) as he gets past Amarhajy MAHAMEDAU (BLR) 9-0

Moving on the 92kg quarterfinals, Magomed KURBANOV (RWF) vs Amarhajy MAHAMEDAU (BLR) on Mat A, Irakli MTSITURI (GEO) vs Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) on Mat B, Jeremy POIRIER (CAN) is wrestling J'den COX (USA) on Mat C and Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) is up against Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) on Mat D

1310: World silver medalist Suleyman ATLI (TUR) moves onto the semifinals with a win over Toshiya ABE (JPN). In the final quarterfinal, Horst LEHR (GER) beats Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE) 4-1 to move on

1305: Thomas GILMAN (USA) moves into the semifinals with a 11-1 win over Vladimir EGOROV (MKD). On Mat B, Alireza SARLAK (IRI) manages to comeback from 2-6 down and win a 7-6 bout against Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR) and move on to semifinals

1300: At 57kg, we have Thomas GILMAN (USA) vs Vladimir EGOROV (MKD) on Mat A,  Alireza SARLAK (IRI) vs Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR) on Mat B, Horst LEHR (GER) vs Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE) on Mat C and Toshiya ABE (JPN) vs Suleyman ATLI (TUR) on mat D

1255: We are beginning with the quarterfinals. 57kg will be followed by 92kg and then 65kg. 79kg will be the last set of quarterfinals

1240: A no show from Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) and Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) will move on to the quarterfinals at 79kg with a walkover

1230: Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) is up on mat C against Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) for their pre-quarterfinal at 65kg. Tevanyan gets a stepout and lead 1-0 at the break. Diakomihalis shoots again but it's Tevanyan gets the counter for a takedown and lead 3-0. Once again Tenvanyan manages to drag Diakomihalis out and get two for 5-0. A consolation point for the American but he will drop the bout 5-1.

1200: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) does it in style! He gets a 10-0 win over PANKAJ (IND) and will face junior world champion Toshiya ABE (JPN) in the quarterfinal

1145: Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Thomas GILMAN (USA) with a pin! Abubakar MUTALIEV (RWF) is stunned. Gilman is pumped

1130: Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) debuts at 79kg with a 10-0 win over Samuel BARMISH (CAN) to get going.

1110: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) is wrestling Gabriel JANATSCH (AUT) on mat B and to the delight of the crowd, he gets a takedown with a with gut and leads 4-0. Exposure to gut in the next sequence and he is a 10-0 win at 65kg

1100: Two-time defending world champion at 92kg J'den COX (USA) begins his title defence against Orgilokh DAGVADORJ (MGL). He has build a 3-0 lead with a takedown and step out but Dagvadorj manages a takedown as well. It's 3-2 now. Another takedown from Cox to make it 5-2 at the break. Double leg and two guts for Cox and he leads 11-2 now. He will finish with another takedown and win 13-2

1045: Two-time World Championships bronze medalist Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) is wrestling Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ). He is lead 9-5 with a minute to go in the bout. He wins 10-5

1015: Welcome to day two of the senior World Championships in Oslo, Norway. Here's a preview to all the four weight classes that are in action. Day 2 Preview

#BeachWrestling

Dakar to Mexico, Beach Wrestling Hits the Right Notes in 2024

By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 6) -- In 2024, Beach Wrestling had a momentous year. From Dakar to Rio de Janeiro, there were championships and Games. And the World Series traveled from Mexico to Greece.

The second edition of the African Championships in Beach Wrestling was held in Dakar, Senegal in June. Dakar will host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games with Beach Wrestling being one of the main sports. The city also hosted the Beach Sports Festival.

Apart from the Dakar event, the Beach Wrestling calendar was packed with international tournaments, thanks to UWW's efforts to develop the sport.

The Beach Wrestling Committee also made a few changes to the sport, bringing in the challenge and the activity clock from 2024. This meant that two additional ways to get one point in Beach Wrestling were added: if a wrestler has been called passive and fails to score points during the 30-second activity period, his opponent will receive a point, and the wrestler whose opponent requested a challenge and the challenge is unsuccessful will receive a point.

Each wrestler is entitled to at least two unsuccessful challenges per event — one during the group stage and eliminations and another during the medal match.

For the first time, the Pan-Am Championships were held in the U15, U17, U20 and U23 age-groups. The U15 event was held in El Salvador and Mexico dominated the tournament by winning the title in both men's and women's events. The U17 event was in Dominican Republic with Ecuador winning the men's title and Puerto Rico winning the women's title.

At the U20 Pan-Ams in Peru, Ecuador continued its dominance with the men's title while Mexico bounced back and won the women's title. In Colombia for the U23 event, the hosts won both the men's and women's team titles.

Similarly, the European Championships in the U15, U17 and U20 age groups were held in Romania, a country which has taken keenly to the sport. Romania was so dominant in the competitions that it won the men's and women's team titles in five of the six categories. Only the U20 men's team title was won by Moldova.

UWW's commitment to growing the sport saw a new country host a Beach Wrestling event in Dakar. The African Championships were attended by over 100 wrestlers with the competition going over two days. Hosts Senegal emerged as the best country in both men's and women's categories. It won three gold medals and one silver in each category, combining for eight medals in eight weight classes.

A documentary capturing the essence of Senegal, promoting culture and rich tradition in wrestling, was also produced by UWW.

The U17 World Championships in Beach Wrestling was held in Greece this year along with the World Championships in the U20 age group.

The United States, which has been promoting the sport extensively on the national level, won its first-ever world title as the women captured the team title in the U17 age-group, thanks to the three silver medals it won.

Ukraine emerged as the best team in men's, winning the title over Romania which won two gold medals. But Ukraine had a better performance overall and it pipped Romania for the top spot.

In U20, Moldova destroyed the field, winning three gold medals and the team title in men's while Ukraine made amends by winning the women's title, which it lost at the U17 level.

Beach Wrestling World Series

The fifth edition of the Beach Wrestling World Series saw a remarkable start in Mexico in March along with the Pan-Am Championships. The first stop saw Mexico on the board with two gold medals in the women's category. The men's was more scattered with the U.S., Guatemala, Argentina and Venezuela winning gold medals.

The second stop of the series travelled to a familiar Saint-Laurent-Du-Var which saw records tumbling. The highlight of the tournament was Moldova's growing stature in Beach Wrestling.

Two wrestlers -- Vasile DIACON (MDA) and Traian CAPATINA (MDA) -- won gold medals. Diacon ultimately emerged as the best 80kg wrestler in the world and secured first place in the final rankings. Capatina was second in the final rankings in 90kg.

Romania hosted the third spot and the battle between the hosts and Ukraine in the women's category lived up to expectations. Ukraine won two gold medals and Romania won one out of four available. In men's, Capatina repeated as the gold medalist in 90kg and Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) continued his winning run at +90kg.

The fourth stop was in Greece, and not much changed from the other stops. The glittering beaches saw winners from Romania, Ukraine, the United States, Turkiye, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It all came down to Porec, Croatia for the finale. With ranking points up for grabs, it meant that the world champions would be decided in Porec.

The final stop in Porec decided the winners of the series. Ana Marie PIRVU (ROU) was the top wrestler in 50kg, Anastasiya KRAVCHENKO (UKR) in 60kg, Oksana HERHEL (UKR) in 70kg and Eliana BOMMARITO (USA) in +70kg. Bommarito was the only wrestler across categories to maintain a 100 percent record -- winning four gold medals.

In men's Yunus COSKUN (TUR) won the top spot in 70kg, Vasile DIACON (MDA) in 80kg, Ibrahim YUSUBOV (AZE) in 90kg and the evergreen Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) in +90kg.