#WrestleFaenza

Russian Cadets Match Junior Squad, Sweep European Team Races

By Eric Olanowski

FAENZA, Italy (June 23) – The Cadet European Championships came to a close on Sunday night with five different nations claiming individual freestyle golds, but it was the Russian Federation who grabbed the team title to pick up their second straight continental sweep. Their junior team also won the freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's wrestling team tiles two weeks ago in Pontevedra, Spain. 

Overall, through the three cadet, junior and senior European Championships, Russia has accumulated eight out of nine team titles. They swept the cadet and junior European Championships, while also finishing with two of three team titles at the Senior European Championships. So far, Ukraine’s women’s wrestlers are the only ones to dethrone the Russians in a team race. 

In Faenza, Russia’s freestyle team capped off their run to a third team title of the week with nine medals and were ten points shy of hitting 200 points. They welcomed their 190 points from four champions, a silver medalist, and four bronze medals. 

They had a trio of Day 6 champions and grabbed their fourth freestyle gold medal of the competition when Abdulkerim ABDULAEV (RUS) demolished Davit KUTCHUASHVILI (GEO), 10-0 in the 72kg gold-medal bout to close out the tournament. 

In the finals, Abdulaev dug his toes in the mat and pushed Kutchuashvili out of bounds shortly after being awarded an inactivity point and collected the two-point advantage over the Georgian heading into the final two minutes of the match. 

In the second period, Abdulaev halted Kutchuashvili’s knee pull single off the whistle and picked up a counter-offensive spin behind. This extended his lead to 4-0. Abdulaev quickly jumped to a left-sided gut wrench then hopped over, locking up a trap arm gut wrench. The Russian ended the match with a pair of turns and won his first European title since winning gold at the 2017 U15 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Azerbaijan finished in second place with a solo champion, a pair of runner-ups, and four bronze-medal finishers. Their lone gold medalist came on Sunday night when Sabir JAFAROV (AZE) defeated Genik ASATRYAN (ARM), 6-1 in the 60kg finals. 

Georgia ended their tournament with 140 points, which was good enough for third in the team race. Nikolozi SANTELADZE (GEO) reached the top of the podium on Sunday with a 12-5 win against Murad HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) in the 45kg finals. They also had two wrestlers fall short in the finals and had to settle for a pair of silvers, while also finishing with three bronze medalists. 

RESULTS

Final Freestyle Team Scores 
GOLD – Russia (190 points)
SILVER – Azerbaijan (153 points)
BRONZE – Georgia (140 points)
Fourth – Armenia (102 points)
Fifth - Ukraine (87 points)

45kg
GOLD - Nikolozi SANTELADZE (GEO) df. Murad HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 12-5 
BRONZE - Tolga OZBEK (TUR) df. Anzor MAZHIDOV (RUS), 8-4
BRONZE - Mikita BERAZUN (BLR) df. Stefan SHTERJOV (MKD), 4-2 

51kg
GOLD - Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR) df. Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO), 16-6 
BRONZE - Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Ilya RAHOZAU (BLR), 10-0 
BRONZE - Umar UMAROV (RUS) df. Pavel GRAUR (MDA), 8-1 

60kg
GOLD - Sabir JAFAROV (AZE) df. Genik ASATRYAN (ARM), 6-1 
BRONZE - Ayub Muratovitch MUSAEV (BEL) df. Alexandru Ioan MATEA (ROU), 10-0 
BRONZE - Daniil KHARCHILAVA (RUS) df. Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO), 8-2 

71kg
GOLD - Abdulkerim ABDULAEV (RUS) df. Davit KUTCHUASHVILI (GEO), 10-0 
BRONZE - Muhammed Halit OZMUS (TUR) df. Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP), 10-0 
BRONZE - Menua YARIBEKYAN (ARM) df. Lilian BALAN (MDA), 6-4 

92kg 
GOLD - Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM) df. Islam KARTOEV (RUS), 6-3 
BRONZE - Sagadulla AGAEV (AZE) df. Redjep HAJDARI (MKD), 15-2 
BRONZE - Omer AGTAS (TUR) df. Saba GAMTENADZE (GEO), 10-0 

#SportsDepartment

UWW organizes fourth edition Event Organizing Workshop

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (October 23) — Over the last decade, United World Wrestling (UWW) has focused on improving the quality of its events. To keep this improvement on track, UWW organized its fourth edition of the Event Organizing Workshop from October 17 to 22 in Tirana, within the framework of the U23 World Championship.

Nine countries, including China, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Namibia, participated in the workshop, which was held before the U23 World Championships.

Led by UWW Sports and Development Officer Yuri MAIER (ARG) and Senior Competition Manager Ramil AHMADOV (AZE), the workshop provided valuable insight into the complexities of organizing international wrestling events.

Participants arrived in Albania on October 17 and engaged in four theoretical sessions on October 18 and 19. On October 20 and 21, they had the opportunity to apply their knowledge practically by observing key event functions such as the technical meeting, draw, and weigh-in.

In addition to covering many relevant topics, the workshop featured contributions from UWW staff members specializing in Accreditation, Photography, Technology & Results, and Marketing and Communications. These sessions, which were held with the support of local organizing committees, helped participants understand the role of various departments in delivering a successful event.

KAKadir CALISKAN (GER), UWW's Photo Manager, presents at the Event Organizing Workshop. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Participants gave overwhelmingly positive feedback, praising the workshop’s structure and content. One attendee highlighted, "The level of engagement and interaction during the sessions was fantastic. The facilitators were knowledgeable, and the practical exercises were crucial in helping us understand how to apply the concepts in real-world scenarios."

Another participant added, "The networking opportunities were invaluable. Meeting professionals from different countries allowed us to exchange ideas and best practices, which will certainly help in future event organization."

Maier emphasized the importance of continuous learning, stating, "Workshops like this allow us to strengthen our network of event organizers across the world. By sharing experiences and knowledge, we ensure that every event is better than the last."

Ahmadov echoed this sentiment, adding, "The practical experience of seeing the U23 World Championship preparation up close is invaluable. It’s one thing to discuss logistics in theory but seeing them unfold in real time makes all the difference."

Overall, the Event Organization Workshop provided an excellent learning platform for participants, empowering them to organize events more efficiently and effectively in the future. It contributed to the growth and be capable of delivering better wrestling events worldwide.

United World Wrestling will continue to support and organize such Workshop in the years to come and already welcome all the interested Federations for the next editions.