#WrestleOslo

Senior World Championships Live Blog: Day 1 FS 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 125kg

Saturday, October 2, 2021 - 07:38 By Vinay Siwach

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Welcome to the Senior World Championships from Oslo, Norway. Day one will see wrestlers from freestyle weigh classes of 61kg, 74kg, 86kg and 125kg take the mat. In a blockbuster start, Olympic champion David TAYLOR (USA), silver medalists Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), and bronze medalists Kyle DAKE (USA), Artur NAIFONOV (RWF), Taha AKGUL (TUR), Amir ZARE (IRI) and a host of young stars at 61kg are ready to put on a show.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

What a session we had! A few expected wins, a few upsets but some storylines still on track. David Taylor and Hassan Yazdani on the path for a 86kg final and so are Geno Petriashvili and Taha Akgul at 125. But Amir Zare looks strong here in Oslo. Kyle Dake closer to his third world title while 61kg is still a massively open weight class. Join us at 1630 local time for the semifinals

1400: And we have our final set of semifinalists at 86kg. David TAYLOR (USA) picks up a 29-second pin over Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA). He will face Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE). Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) won by technical superiority over Ethan RAMOS (PUR) and he will wrestle Artur NAIFONOV (RWF) in the semifinals.

1345: Individual World Cup winner Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RWF) and U23 world champion Toshihiro HASEGAWA set a semifinal clash against each other at 61kg. The other semifinal is between Daton FIX (USA) and Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)

1335: At 74kg, two last-second finishes as Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) scores a stepout against Timur BIZHOEV (RWF) to win 2-2 while Azamat NURYKAU (BLR) scored a takedown against Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) to win 7-7. Kyle DAKE (USA) and  Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) are the other two semifinalists

1315: Amir ZARE (IRI) wins his quarterfinal against Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA). He will face Taha AKGUL (TUR) who defeats Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (RWF) 5-0 to advance. Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) wins 5-0 against Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT) and will face Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ) as he wins 6-3 against  Oleksandr KOLDOVSKYI (UKR) in the quarterfinal

1300: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) is making his way to Mat D! He will wrestle Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) at 86kg. We will quickly move into the quarterfinals after this bout

1245: Down goes the defending world champion! RAVINDER (IND) beats world champion at 61kg Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) 6-2 and he will now face Daton FIX (USA) in the quarterfinals

1225: U23 world champion Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ) cannot keep up with the pace of Artur HARUTUNYAN (ARM) and gives up points in a series to lose his opening bout 10-18

1210: The 125kg podium finishers in Tokyo -- Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Amir ZARE (IRI) -- all notch up wins to begin their quest for a world title in Oslo

1150: Kyle DAKE (USA) is a two-time world champion at 79kg and he just began his 74kg debut at Worlds with an 11-0 win over Vasile DIACON (MDA). All USA wrestler begin with a win

1130: An upset on Mat D. Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL) comes from behind to defeat U23 world champion Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ) 7-7 and advance 

1120: U23 World Championships silver medalist RAVINDER (IND) begins with a 13-2 win over Sunggwon KIM (KOR). And now on Mat D is the U23 world champion Ulukbek ZHOLDOBESHKOV (KGZ)

1105: 61kg weight class now and Daton FIX (USA) begins with an 11-0 win over Tokyo Olympian Georgi VANGELOV (BUL). On mat B now is junior world champion Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI) taking on Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)

1045: Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) begins with a technical superiority win at 74kg. All four mats are beginning with 74kg 

1000: If you missed our pre-tournament coverage, here the link to everything -- #WrestleOslo 

Bouts begin in half an hour so get ready for an exciting day of freestyle wrestling.

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

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

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.