U23 World C'ships

Russia and India Send Two to Gold-Medal Matches in Tournament Finale

By Taylor Miller

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – Two nations, Russia and India, each advanced two wrestlers to the World-title bouts in the final night of the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Sunday.

Russia and India will have one head-to-head match, which will be featured at 65 kg.

Nachyn Sergeevitch KUULAR (RUS), a two-time World Military Games champion, looks for his third World title. He’ll wrestle Bajrang BAJRANG (IND), who won the 2017 Asian Indoor Games and took top prize at the 2017 Asian Championships.

India will also be represented at 70 kg, where Kumar VINOD (IND) will face Richard LEWIS (USA) for the World title. Lewis made his international debut today and landed the U.S. its first medal of the week-long event, cruising to the finals.

Russia’s second finalist is Gadzhi NABIEV, 2015 Junior World champion and 2017 Russian Championships silver medalist. He’ll go head-to-head with 2017 Junior European bronze medalist Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) in the 74 kg finals.

At 97 kg, 2016 Junior World bronze winner and 2015 Junior World runner-up Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR) seeks his third World medal. Challenging him is 2017 Asian Indoor Games champion and Golden Grand Prix silver medalist Mojtaba Mohammadshafie GOLEIJ (IRI).

With no medals thus far in the tournament, USA is the only country seeking a medal at all four weights on Sunday night.

The medal matches start at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).

Finals matchups
65 kg
Gold - Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) vs. Nachyn Sergeevitch KUULAR (RUS)
Bronze - Joseph Christopher MC KENNA (USA) vs. Heorhi KALIYEU (BLR)
Bronze - Haydar YAVUZ (TUR) vs. Yones Aliakbar EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI)

70 kg
Gold - Kumar Omprakash VINOD (IND) vs. Richard Anthony LEWIS (USA)
Bronze - Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR) vs. Zulfikar MAKHAMATOV (KAZ)
Bronze - Mirza SKHULUKHIA (GEO) vs. Nobuyoshi TAKOJIMA (JPN)

74 kg
Gold - Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) vs. Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS)
Bronze - Isaiah Alexander MARTINEZ (USA) vs. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Bronze - Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) vs. Engin Rashid ISMAIL (BUL)

97 kg
Gold - Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR) vs. Mojtaba Mohammadshafie GOLEIJ (IRI)
Bronze - Ty Ryan Jack WALZ (USA) vs. Chaoqiang YANG (CHN)
Bronze - Rasul MAGOMEDOV (RUS) vs. Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)

#development

Finland looking for head coaching candidates

By United World Wrestling Press

HELSINKI, Finland (September 23) --- The Finnish Wrestling Federation is looking for a head coach and national team coaches for results-responsible positions for the 2025–2028 Olympics. We require the coach to have competence and commitment to the level of requirements of international top sports/youth coaching activities aimed at the top.

Duties and responsibilities of the Head Coach

  • Acts as the head of coaching and leads coaching activities (all forms of wrestling)
  • Responsible for LA2028 federation-led coaching of elite athletes (plans, daily coaching, competitions, camps, follow-up)
  • Responsible for success according to the goals, works closely with HUY, coaching centers and other important stakeholders
  • Responsible for the implementation of the national team activities of all forms of wrestling according to the budget (monitoring)
  • Developer of top coaching and participates in coach training.


The national team coach works full-time in contract-led coaching positions (e.g. top-level coach, youth national team coach) and in daily coaching. In addition to his own job, the OTO national team coach works in the coaching positions of the federation management according to the contract. The tasks and responsibilities of the national team coaches in question become clearer when the whole of the coaching is clear.

Responsibilities, tasks and other working conditions related to the content of the work are agreed upon in negotiations between the parties. The tasks, their fulfillment and the duration of the fixed-term contract depend on the commitments of the Olympic Committee's elite sports unit and other sponsors of the salary. An entity other than Painiliitto can also act as an employer. The work includes travel and evening and weekend work, and no separate compensation is paid for it.

If you are interested in the above-mentioned positions, please send a free-form application and a concise summary of your skills, education and experience by email to info@painiliitto.net by Friday, October 4, 2024.

Also, tell us your salary expectations and which positions you are interested in ( wrestling form, age group, full-time job, or working alongside your own job, etc. ). You can apply for several different positions with one application, as long as you tell us which positions you are interested in. Employment begins on January 1, 2025 or later, when case-specific salary funding has been confirmed.

Inquiries: Pekka Paavola, Chairman of the Wrestling Association (044 977 5287)