#WrestleOslo

Live Blog: World Championships Day 8 - GR 63kg, 67kg, 87kg

By Vinay Siwach

OSLO, Norway (October 9) -- Day eight of the senior World Championships in Oslo with three new Greco-Roman weight classes -- 63kg, 67kg, 87kg -- in action and Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) in action and trying to do the golden double. If you missed the four new world champions that were crowned Friday, here's the wrap -- Vlasov claims third title, first in six years

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER | ALL PHOTOS

1330: Results of the quarterfinals of the GR 87kg weight class

Istvan TAKACS (HUN) df Kristoffer BERG (SWE), 3-1
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) df Metehan BASAR (TUR), 10-0
Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN) df Artur SHAHINYAN (ARM), via fall
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) df Lasha GOBADZE (GEO), 2-1

1315: Results of the quarterfinals of the GR 67kg weight class

Nazir ABDULLAEV (RWF) df Murat FIRAT (TUR), 2-1
Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) df Morten THORESEN (NOR), via fall
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) df Sebastian NAD (SRB), 8-1
Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) df Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), 9-0

1300: Results of the quarterfinals of the GR 63kg weight class

Leri ABULADZE (GEO) df Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN), 5-4
Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) df Lenur TEMIROV (UKR), 3-3 
Erik TORBA (HUN) df Mihai MIHUT (ROU), 6-5
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), 6-2

1250: We are beginning with the quarterfinals here at the Jordal Amfi arena. He begin with 63kg followed by 67kg and then 87kg

1245: Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) wrestling ALIRZAEV (RWF) and leads 1-1. He exposes Alirzaev for 2. RWF wants a challenge and the review shows no exposure from Alirzaev. They lose the challenge. Datunashvili leads 4-1. Two points and caution against the Serb for not wrestling. But that will be it. 4-3 win for Datunashvili

1217: Huge pin! Geraei was trailing but he gets a fall over Shimoyamada. Incredible turnaround by the Olympic champ. He moves on in 67kg

1215: Shimoyamada with a huge four and he leads Geraei 6-1 now with two minutes remaining! Iran has challenged two calls but cancelled both. Yellow card to the coach

1205: Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) is making his way to the mat! He is wrestling Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN). Shimoyamada is called passive but he gets an exposure on Geraei and will lead 2-1. 

1200: Stig BERGE (NOR), a legend! The crowd is up on its feet as Berge waves to them in what could be his final bout of the career. He goes down 3-1 against Lenur TEMIROV (UKR). If the Ukrainian goes to repechage, Berge may get to wrestle again 

1140: Kristoffer BERG (SWE) wins! The Sweden wrestler beats Sunil KUMAR (IND) 7-3. Excellent win for him at 87kg

1115: At 67kg, Nazir ABDULLAEV (RWF) and Sebastian NAD (SRB) have won their respective bouts. Abdullaev goes past Krisztian VANCZA (HUN), 4-1 while Nad has a 3-1 win over Elmer MATTILA (FIN)

1100: Morten THORESEN (NOR) joins Berg to win another for Norway. He beats Diego MARTINEZ DE LEIJA (MEX) 5-3 after getting the point for passivity and the exposure. Huge win

1045: It was difficult day for RWF Friday but a great start for them. Ibragim LABAZANOV (RWF) beats NEERAJ (IND), 8-0. At the same weight class, Lenur TEMIROV (UKR) moves on after a 9-0 win over Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB).

1030: Home fans are ecstatic as Stig BERGE (NOR) begins the day for them with a 3-3 thrilling win over Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM). The cheers are the loudest.

1015: Are you excited for the final full day action at the senior World Championships in Oslo? We have some terrific Greco-Roman action beginning in 15 minutes

#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.