#Budapest2018

Media Accreditation Process for 2018 Wrestling World Championships Now Open

Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 13:23 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (June 19) – United World Wrestling has opened the press and media accreditation for the 2018 Senior Wrestling World Championships October 20-28 at the Papp László Sports Arena in Budapest.

The nine-day tournament is expected to attract more than 800 athletes from 180 eligible national federations. Budapest last hosted world championships in 2016 with the Senior Wrestling World Championships for Non-Olympic weight categories. The city also hosted the full championships in 2013.

“We are excited to welcome members of the press and media to Budapest,” said Németh SZILÁRD, president of the Hungarian Wrestling Federation. “Our athletes will have excellent conditions and we will make sure to have a beautiful arena for them and for the cameras.”

All interested members of the press are asked to register for the 2018 World Championships using the following link: https://athena.unitedworldwrestling.org/press/post.

National federations who wish to accredit their communications and media staff should use space provided within their official delegation form. National federations will be limited to a total of three NF press credentials.
 
IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Visa Invitation Letter 

Please contact the LOC directly at: info@budapestwrestling2018.com with the subject, "Visa Invitation Letter”

Accreditation Center 

Press and Media accreditations can be picked up at the BOK Csarnok (SYMA), which is 100m walking distance from the competition hall and "Puskas Ferenc Stadion” metro station

Accommodation 

Hotels are NOT being reserved by the local organizing committee. The LOC asks that media and press look for accommodations on their own and recommends choosing close to subway lines.

Press Questions 

Iglói-Nagy István
press attaché
Tel: +36 30 235 2650
istvan.igloinagy@budapestwrestling2018.com 
press@unitedworldwrestling.org

TV Rights/Broadcasting Questions 

television@united-world-wrestling.org

 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

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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 drip down the memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

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.