Military C'Ships

Ramonov Wins Gold, Russia Takes Seven Titles at Military C’ships

By Ali Feizasa

Olympic and world champion Soslan RAMONOV (RUS) captured 70kg title at 2018 Freestyle World Military championships as Russia team earned seven gold medals to win team title. While, two gold medals went to Iran and Mongolia took one.

The host team Russia failed to earn gold in light weights as Mehran REZAZADEH (IRI) took 57k gold medal and KHASHERDENE (MGL) succeed to beat Dmitrii AKSENOV (RUS) in the final match to win 61kg top spot.

But Russian started to sweep gold medals from 65kg. Nachyn KUULAR (RUS) defeated Hyeon Sik SONG (KOR) by FALL in 65kg finale and RAMONOV grabbed 70kg title.

RAMONOV (RUS) downed Alexander SEMISOROW (GER), 12-5 in the final match to repeat his last year’s title in World Military Championships.

Zaurbek SIDAKOV gave the host team third gold medal, defeating Iranian Hamed RASHIDI, 11-3 in 74kg final bout.

In 79kg, 2015 world champion Khetik TSABOLOV (RUS) beat Bahman TEIMOURI (IRI) by Technical Fall, 12-2 to compensate recent deficit in European championships. TSABOLOV scored 10 points against two points of Iranian rival in first period and added two more points in second period to earn Technical Fall victory.

86kg gold medal went to Magomed RAMAZANOV (RUS) which downed Kanan ALIYEV (AZE), 6-4.

Iurii BELONOVSKII (RUS) bagged sixth gold for Russian, winning Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ), 8-3 to earn 92kg top spot.

Just a few days after achieving European gold medal, Vladislav BAITCAEV (RUS) doubled in a month defeating Amir MOHAMMADI (IRI), in 97kg final match.

BAITCAEV scored six points in first period and added two point more in second period to take gold by 8-2 victory against Iranian team member in Paris World Championships.

Yadollah MOHEBI, a 2017 Asian champion, stopped consecutive victories of Russian in the finals and took gold medal in heavy weight by defeating Nurzhan OMIRBEKOV (KAZ). MOHEBI who placed second in Iran team trials just a week ago, downed OMIRBEKOV by technical fall 10-0 victory.

MOHEBI was second gold medal winner of Iran in Freestyle Military World Championships

2018 FR World Military World Championships team standings:

1- Russia 225 pts (7 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
2- Iran 163 pts (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
3- Kazakhstan 117 pts (2 silver, 5 bronze)
4- Azerbaijan 109 pts (1 silver, 3 bronze)
5- Mongolia (1 gold, 1 bronze)

Results:

57kg

GOLD- Mehran REZAZADEH (IRI) df. Un Gwang PAK (PRK), 4-3
BRONZE- Azamat TUSKAEV (RUS) df. Afqan KHASHALOV (AZE), 2-1
BRONZE- Sung Gwon KIM (KOR) df. Horst LEHR (GER), 5-0

61kg

GOLD- B. KHASHERDENE (MGL) df. Dmitrii AKSENOV (RUS), 9-4
BRONZE- Mohammad NAMJOOMOTLAGH (IRI) df. Adrian VOCK (SUI), 11-2
BRONZE- Yeldos ABIKENOV (KAZ) df. Zhenguang TIAN (CHN), by FALL

65kg

GOLD- Nachyn KUULAR (RUS) df. Hyeon Sik SONG (KOR), by FALL
BRONZE- Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA) df. MUHAMMAD (PAK) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE- Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV (AZE) df. Peiman BIABANI (IRI), by FALL

70kg

GOLD- Soslan RAMONOV (RUS) df. Alexander SEMISOROW (GER), 12-5
BRONZE- B. BVAMBADORJ (MGL) df. Mazen KADMANI (SYR) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE- Azamat SHGAPULY (KAZ) df. Yazdan SANAEI (IRI), 7-5

74kg

GOLD- Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) df. Hamed RASHIDI (IRI), 11-3
BRONZE-Baibolsyn KURMANBEKOV (KAZ) df. Johann STEINFORTH (GER) by TF, 12-1
BRONZE- Joshqun AZIMOV (AZE) df. Botond LUKACS (HUN) by TF, 10-0

79kg

GOLD- Khetik TSABOLOV (RUS) df. Bahman TEIMOURI (IRI) by TF, 12-2
BRONZE- Galymzhan USERBAYEV (KAZ) df. Orkhan ABASOV (AZE), 5-3
BRONZE- Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) df. Mohamad FEPACASTA (SYR) by TF, 11-0

86kg

GOLD- Magomed RAMAZANOV (RUS) df. Kanan ALIYEV (AZE), 6-4
BRONZE- Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI) df. Adil IRSHAD (PAK) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE- Nurdaulet KOKTEUBAEV (KAZ) df. CH. USUKHBAYAR (MGL), 7-3

92kg

GOLD- Iurii BELONOVSKII (RUS) df. Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ), 8-3
BRONZE- Gabor HATOS (HUN) df. Askhab HAMZATOV (AZE), 2-1
BRONZE- Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) df. Arashk MOHEBI (IRI), 9-2

97kg

GOLD- Vladislav BAITCAEV (RUS) df. Amir MOHAMMADI (IRI), 8-2
BRONZE-Dzianis KHRAMTANKOU (BLR) df. Mohammed FARDJ (AKG) by TF, 12-2
BRONZE- Roman BAKIROV (AZE) df. Saasaa VICTOR JULIAN (COL) by TF, 10-0

125kg

GOLD- Yaduollah MOHEBI (IRI) df. Nurzhan OMIRBEKOV (KAZ) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE- Raja ALKARAD (SYR) df. Hamza HALOVI (ALG) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE- Alan KHUGAEV (RUS) df. Zhiwei DENG (CHN), 2-1

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 1: Gamkrelidze beats Valencia; Sujeet, Lee in finals

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- The Zagreb Open 2026 begins with six weight classes in Freestyle -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg. Stars like Zahid ZALENCIA (USA),  Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), AMAN (IND) are in action.

Please read the 2026 SEASON PREVIEW on uww.org

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | PREVIEW

Here's a recap of the morning session: 61kg medalists are already decided with Austin DESANTO (USA) winning gold and AMAN (IND) finishing with silver. 

Spencer LEE (USA) and Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) will face each other in the 57kg gold medal bout. SUJEET (IND) won two bouts via technical superiority and will now wrestle for gold at 65kg. At 74kg, a big final is set as David CARR (USA) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) will clash. And at 86kg, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) and 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), who is now up at 86kg dropped their opening bouts. However, with Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) making it to the final, Valencia is pulled back while Kougioumtsidis has been knocked out.

13:38: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who defeated Zahid VALENCIA (USA) in the opening bout at 86kg, scores a late stepout to take a 2-2 criteria lead and beat Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) at 86kg semifinals. Gamkrelidze will wrestle Parker KEKEISEN (USA) for gold after he scored a 9-5 victory over Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the other semifinal.

13:20: 74kg semifinals - David CARR (USA) with another technical superiority win at 74kg. He advances to the final after beating Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) 12-1. Four different takedowns and two gut-wrenches in that win for the American. A huge final coming up as world champion at 70kg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) hangs on for a 4-3 win over Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA). The French wrestlers was up 2-1 but Aoyagi scored a stepout and takedown before giving up a stepout but managed to win the bout.

13:05: 70kg semifinals - Sina KHALILI (IRI), U23 world silver medalist, rolls to a 10-0 victory over ABHIMANYOU (IND) using gut-wrenches. He makes it to the final and will wrestle Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) for the gold medal. The Georgian defended his lead against Caleb HENSON (USA) to win 6-3. After leading 6-0, Kemertelidze gave up a takedown and then a stepout to Henson. But the American could not score the four points needed to win the semifinals.

12:55: 65kg semifinals - SUJEET (IND) continues his dominance at 65kg, beating Joseph MCKENNA (USA), 11-0 in the semifinal in semifinal. He will now wrestle for gold against Peyman NEMATI (IRI) who scored a comeback win over Gamzatgadzhi KHALIDOV (HUN). The Hungarian had a 2-0 lead before Nemati managed to turn it around and complete a 4-2 win

12:40: 57kg semifinals - Spencer LEE (USA) completes a dominant 10-2 victory over Fuga SASAKI (JPN). He managed an early 6-2 and then continued to dominate the match, eventually winning 12-2. He will face Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) for the gold medal after the Mexican defeated Milad VALIZADEH (IRI). Bravo Young kept his false attacks and change of direction was excellent throughout the bout

Semifinals begin at 12:30 local time

So far, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) has suffered a technical superiority loss at 86kg while Takara SUDA (JPN), moving up from 61kg to 65kg, dropped his match against Joseph MCKENNA (USA). At 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) has captured the gold medal after winning three bouts in a Nordic bracket

12:15: In what was a virtual final at 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) not only needed a victory over AMAN (IND), he also need to win via technical superiority or fall. He does exactly that by pinning Aman after taking an 8-0 lead and win the gold medal at 61kg. Aman finishes with a silver medal.

12:12: U23 world champion SUJEET (IND) finishes his quarterfinal at 65kg with a 10-0 victory over Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) and sets up a quarterfinal against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) who defeated Takara SUDA (JPN) 7-0 in the other quarterfinal.

12:08: Sina KHALILI (IRI) took a 9-1 lead over Ian PARKER (USA) but was gave a stepout with a minute remaining. However, he had little trouble holding on to his 9-3 lead and win his bout at 70kg.

12:00: Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) hangs on for an easy 4-0 victory over European silver medalist Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB) at 57kg. He moves into the semifinals in which he will wrestle Fuga SASAKI (JPN)

11:55: Fuga SASAKI (JPN) hangs on for a 7-1 victory over ANKUSH (IND) in 57kg quarterfinals. Sasaki goes for three takedown and one stepout in his win over Ankush who failed to get any attacks going.

11:50: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) shuts down Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) at 70kg for a 3-0 win. Not much action in the match but Kemertelidze is happy with the win here.

11:45: Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (MEX) continues his excellent form and wins his quarterfinal against Anthony KNOX (USA), 12-2. He will wrestle in the semifinal at 57kg.

11:35: World champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA), who did not concede a single point at the World Championships, drops his quarterfinal against Vladimir GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 11-0. Gut-wrench from par terre for Gamkrelidze

11:25: Former U20 world bronze medalist ANKUSH (IND) uses the Figure 4 turn to great effect to beat Ali YAHYAPOUR (IRI), 11-0, at 57kg. Ankush has long been seen as the biggest challenge to Olympic bronze medalist AMAN (IND) at the weight class

11:15: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) off to solid starts at 86kg as he takes out Sandeep MANN (IND) 11-0 in the opening bout at 86kg. Valencia is the world champion at 86kg, a title he won at the same Arena Zagreb in September last year

11:05: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world champion at 70kg, makes his 74kg debut with a controlled 6-1 victory over James GREEN (USA). Aoyagi scored a stepout to lead 2-1 before scoring two counter takedowns to finish the bout as the winner.

10:55: David CARR (USA) took his own time to get going but he manages a victory via fall over Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI) after building a 13-2 lead at 74kg.

10:45: World champion at 79kg Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) seemed in complete control of his first bout at 86kg against Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), leading 6-1 with a minute remaining. However, Shamsipour mounts a comeback, scoring six points in the final minute and beat the Greek world champion 7-6  

10:40: First period technical superiority, 10-0, win for AMAN (IND) against Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) who is in action for the first time since winning a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Open in June last year.

10:30: Welcome to the Zagreb Open Ranking Series. Day one of the competition and we have six Freestyle weight classes in action. Multiple Olympic and world medalists in action today.