#WrestleOslo

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

By Vinay Siwach

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.

#WrestleSamokov

Kyrgyzstan, Moldova earn chance to end U20 World title drought

By Vinay Siwach

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 17) -- Kyrgyzstan and Moldova earned a chance to end their gold-medal drought at the U20 World Championships.

On the first day of the 2025 World U20 Championships in Samokov, four Freestyle weight classes were in action. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) was the surprised finalist at 74kg and will try to become Kyrgyzstan's first gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 20 years. He will take on European U23 champion Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) in the final.

At 70kg, Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) earned the final and will now try to become Moldova's first U20 world champ in Freestyle since 1999. He will take on returning bronze medalist PJ DUKE (USA) in the gold-medal bout.

The 125kg weight class will see an all-Asian final as Asian U20 champion Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) earned a shot for the world title against Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a wrestler over whom Kassimbek has a 3-0 head-to-head record.

Two returning bronze medalists, Duke and Justin RADEMACHER (USA), upgrade their bronze medals from last year and earn themselves a chance to win gold on Monday at 70kg and 97kg respectively.

Akylbekov, who had finished at 17th at 79kg last year, had a dream run on Sunday and ended one for Raul CASO (ITA) in the semifinals. Caso had posted two last-second victories, however, he failed to repeat those heroics in the semifinal against Akylbekov.

Caso was 3-2 and went attack-mode in the final 15 seconds. He almost scored a takedown over Akylbekov who managed to sneak out and then Caso jumped over to take control for a takedown. However, the Kyrgyz wrestler stood up to avoid giving up any points. Italy challenged for two points but lost that on review, giving one more point to Akylbekov.

While Caso was leaving it late in his wins, Akylbekov was contrastingly dominating them. He defeated Nicholas HOOPER (CAN), 12-0, in the opening bout, blanked Titas PIJORAITIS (LTU), 10-0 and then handed Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ) a 6-1 loss.

Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in the semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

He will now face Khaniev, who earned himself his first world medal at any level. Khaniev defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in a very close semifinal than the scoreline suggests.

Khaniev led 3-3 on criteria but Yamaguchi constantly threatened to score in the final 25 seconds. He hit a double-leg attack and planted Khaniev, who somehow managed to not land in danger. In a counter, Khaniev exposed Yamaguchi for two points and took a 5-3 lead. Yamaguchi tried a desperate throw in the final 15 seconds but Khaniev blocked it for two more points to win.

Earlier in the day, Khaniev avenged his European U20 Championships loss to Manuel WAGIN (GER) with a technical superiority win after he had beaten returning silver medalist Ladrion LOCKETT (USA).

Duke had his first big challenge of the day in the semifinals against former world U17 champion Erfan ELAHI (IRI) at 70kg. Duke scored a takedown while Elahi had a point for stepout and Duke's passivity. Duke's two-point scoring move gave him the criteria.

However, Elahi somehow thought he has the criteria and did not think of attacking in the final 30 seconds. When the bout was over, Elahi celebrated as if he had won only to realize that he has lost 2-2.

Duke will look to win his first a world title before wrestling at the senior World Championships later in September. He will take on Gaidarli for the gold-medal after the Moldovan won his semifinal 7-4 against Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE).

Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) reached the 70kg final in Samokov. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gaidarli became the first Moldovan Freestyle wrestler to reach the final at U20 Worlds since 2019 after a stunningly good run in Samokov. He defeated European U20 champion Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 13-3, avenging his loss from Carole, Italy.

In the semifinals, he scored three takedowns in the second period against Aghazada to win 7-4, bettering his 18th-place finish from last year and earning a chance to end the gold-medal drought for Moldova.

Returning bronze medalist at 97kg Rademacher defeated European U20 champion Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and will now try to win gold. Rademacher led 4-3 at the break extended his lead with a takedown for two points to start the second period, add another go-behind and single-leg to takedown to lead 10-3.

Petriashvili got an attack for two points but Rademacher was relentless in his wrestling and scored three more takedowns to win 16-5.

Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW)Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) survived to win 11-9 against VISHAL (IND) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

For the gold medal, he will face Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) who survived, with some help, for an 11-9 win over VISHAL (IND) who had Magomedov in all sorts of trouble. Magomedov led 10-4 when Vishal mounted a comeback against an absolutely broken Magomedov. He scored a takedown and Magomedov was cautioned for a singlet-pull foul which made it 10-7.

As the bout was restart in par terre, India challenged for two more points but the referee had blown the whistle before control from Vishal. That challenge gave enough breathing time to Magomedov to managed to hang on to his lead and win 11-9.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) celebrates after winning his 125kg semifinal against Cole MIRASOLA (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kassimbek had a very dominant semifinal as he defeated Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0, inside the first period. He had two excellent counter takedowns and then locked up Mirasola's legs around his head and turns him twice. He finished things with a double-leg takedown.

Kassimbek has lost to two World U17 Championships finals before but he will have a good chance to win his first world title. He will take on Mohammad Nezhad, a wrestler he has defeated three times before.

The Iranian denied former world U17 champion Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE) after a 1-1 victory in the semifinal. Mohmmad Nezhad got the one point for passivity in the second period which gave him the criteria.

Mohammad Nezhad lost to Kassimbek for the first time in 2023 Asian U17 Championships final, 8-1, then at the same tournament in 2024, 2-2 in the semifinals. His third loss to Kassimbek came in the semifinals of the 2024 World U17 Championships, 4-3.

RESULTS

70kg
GOLD: PJ DUKE (USA) vs. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) 

SF 1: Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) df. Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE), 7-4
SF 2: PJ DUKE (USA) df. Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI), 2-2

74kg
GOLD: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) vs. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ)

SF 1: Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) df. Raul CASO (ITA), 4-2
SF 2: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) df. Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3

97kg
GOLD: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) vs. Justin RADEMACHER (USA)

SF 1: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO), 16-5
SF 2: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. VISHAL (IND), 11-9

125kg
GOLD: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) vs. Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 1-1
SF 2: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) df. Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0