European Games

Russian Trio Advances to Greco-Roman Finals at European Games

By United World Wrestling Press

MINSK, Belarus (June 28) - Russia made a statement on the opening day of the Greco-Roman competition at the European Games, advancing all three of their wrestlers to Saturday's gold-medal finals. 

Returning world champion Stepan MARYANYAN (60kg) and Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (77kg), along with 2018 European bronze medalist Zaur KABALOEV (67kg), earned semifinal victories for Russia.

Maryanyan, a European Games champion in 2015, was untested in his semifinal match against Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR). He cruised to a 9-0 technical superiority. Maryanyan built a 7-0 lead after the first period and put the match away early in the second period. He will face Erik TORBA (HUN) in the gold-medal match.

Torba came from behind to defeat Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO), a 2016 junior world champion, 6-5. Chkhartishvili used a four-point throw in the first period, which helped him take a 5-3 lead at the break. Torba, though, kept the pressure on and scored a passivity point before scoring with a turn to take the lead. He then held off the Georgian for the victory.

Chekhirkin, like Maryanyan, picked up a technical superiority without surrendering a point in the semifinals. His semifinal victory came over Yunus BASAR (TUR), 8-0. After getting pushed in his first match, the 33-year-old Russian has outscored his last two opponents 14-0. In tomorrow's gold-medal match at 77kg, Chekhirkin will meet Karapet CHALYAN (ARM).

Chalyan reached the finals by beating Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), an Olympic silver medalist and three-time world medalist. Lorincz scored first off a passivity to take a 1-0 lead, which is all the scoring that happened in the opening period. Chalyan came back in the second period, scoring a takedown early in the second period and adding another takedown a short time later, which proved to be enough to get him the victory.  

Kabaloev blanked Oleksii KALINICHENKO (UKR) 4-0 in the semifinals at 67kg, scoring all four of his points in the first period. The other semifinal winner at 67kg was Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), a U23 and junior world champion, who defeated Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) 5-0. 

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) vs. Erik TORBA (HUN)
SEMIFINAL - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR), 9-0
SEMIFINAL - Erik TORBA (HUN) df. Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO), 6-5

67kg
GOLD - Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) vs. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) df. Oleksii KALINICHENKO (UKR), 4-0
SEMIFINAL - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM), 5-0

77kg
GOLD - Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) vs. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
SEMIFINAL - Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 8-0 
SEMIFINAL - Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) df. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), 4-1
 

2027 World Championships

Las Vegas to Host 2027 World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

LAS VEGAS (May 10) -- The 2027 World Championships will be held in Las Vegas, United States.

United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling have announced that next year's Senior World Championships, that will also serve as the first Olympic qualifier for 2028 LA Games, will be held at the historic Thomas & Mack Center, University of Las Vegas, Nevada from September 11 to 19. The center has a capacity of around 20,000.

The announcement came on the sidelines of the Pan-American Championships that are being held in Coralville, Iowa from May 7 to 10. The 2027 World Championships will mark a return of the mega event to the U.S. after 12 years as the country hosted the competition in 2015.

It will also award the first direct quotas for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The 72 medalists in 18 Olympic weight classes at the 2027 World Championships will earn quotas for their respective National Olympic Committees.

"USA Wrestling is thrilled to bring the World Championships back to U.S. soil for the first time since 2015,” said Rich BENDER, USA Wrestling Executive Director. "Las Vegas will provide an elite experience for our world-class athletes and spectators, while building great momentum for the sport leading into the 2028 Olympic Games down the road in Los Angeles."

Earlier in January, UWW had detailed how wrestlers can qualify their respective NOCs for LA 2028 trough World Championships, Continental Olympic Qualifiers, UWW Rankings and the World Olympic Qualifiers.

The calendar for "Road to LA 2028" was also shared by UWW last week, detailing an expansive calendar with World Championships, Continental Championships, UWW Ranking Events and World and Continental Olympic Qualifiers.

Age-Group Worlds Calendar

In addition to the Senior World Championships, UWW also announced the U17, U20 and U23 World Championships for 2027.

The World Championships season will kick off in Amman, Jordan which will host the U17 World Championships from August 2 to 8. Two weeks later, Novi Sad, Serbia will play host to the U20 World Championships from August 23 to 29.

Next up will be the Veteran World Championships that will travel to the scenic town of Porec, Croatia and will be held from October 5 to 10. The last world event for the year will be the U23 World Championships and Brasov, Romania is scheduled to host it from October 18 to 24.

2027 World Championships
U17 - AMMAN, Jordan (August 2-8)
U20 - NOVI SAD, Serbia (August 23-29)
Senior - LAS VEGAS, U.S. (September 11-19)
Veteran - POREC, Croatia (October 5-10)
U23 - BRASOV, Romania (October 18-24)

As previously communicated by UWW, the age-group World Championships will see a significant change starting 2028 calendar. The U20 World Championships will be held before the U17 World Championships and the U23 World Championships will take place before the Senior World Championships.

The detailed progamme of the World Championships will be shared by UWW in due time. For more information about wrestling events, visit uww.org/events.