Sidakov Caps Magnificent Run with Gold, Petriashvili Repeats

Sunday, October 21, 2018 - 20:25 By Andrew Hipps

BUDAPEST, Hungry (October 21) -- Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) capped off a magnificent performance in Budapest, claiming the 74kg gold medal at the World Championships on Sunday night.

Sidakov edged Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) 2-2 on criteria in the gold-medal match. On Saturday, Sidakov defeated a pair of multiple-time world champions, Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), en route to the finals.

On Sunday, Sidakov, a 2015 junior world bronze medalist, found himself in an early 2-0 hole against Kentchadze after giving up two first-period step out points in the span of 10 seconds. With just over a minute remaining in the opening period, Sidakov fired off a shot and scored a takedown to grab the lead on criteria. A scoreless final period gave Sidakov the 2-2 victory on criteria.

In a highly-anticipated bronze-medal match at 74kg, Burroughs edged Chamizo 4-4 in their third meeting of the year. Burroughs scored first off the shot clock and took a 1-0 lead in to the break. A second-period flurry resulted in a 2-2 exchange, which made the score 3-2 in favor of Burroughs. Chamizo took a 4-3 lead after scoring with a step out and unsuccessful challenge by USA. With just under 30 seconds left, Burroughs retook lead on a step out and held for the victory.

With the victory, Burroughs has now claimed seven world or Olympic medals. It's his second world-level bronze medal to go along with five gold medals.

Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) picked up his second world bronze medal at 74kg, defeating Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) 3-2.

Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) repeated as world champion at 125kg, shutting out Zhiwei DENG (CHN) 6-0 in the gold-medal match. Petriashvili scored a first-period takedown and led 2-0 at the break. He added two more takedowns in the second period to pull away.

Last year, Petriashvili stunned Taha AKGUL (TUR) in Paris to win his first gold medal at the senior level. Many expected the two world champions to meet again in Budapest, but Akgul was beaten by Parviz HADIBASMANJ (IRI) in the quarterfinals.

Petriashvili now has five world-level medals.

Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) defeated Sumit SUMIT (IND) 7-2 to win his second consecutive world bronze medal. Also winning a bronze medal at 125kg was Hadibasmanj.

At 60kg, in a battle of returning world medalists, Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (CUB) gave up an early takedown to go down 2-0 in the gold-medal match against Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS). But an explosive five-point throw by Bonne Rodriguez late in the first period gave him a 5-2 lead at the break.

Rashidov, a returning world silver medalist, kept the pressure on in the second period, scoring with three consecutive step outs, but the 34-year-old Cuban held on for a 6-5 victory

It's the third world medal for Bonne Rodriguez. He won bronze medals in 2015 and 2017.

In the bronze-medal matches at 61kg, Joe Colon dominated Mohammadbagher YAKHKESHI (IRI) 13-2, while Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL) topped Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) 6-3.

David TAYLOR captured the gold medal at 86kg, giving USA its first gold medalist in Budapest. He rolled to a 12-2 technical fall in the finals over Fatih ERDIN (TUR).

Taylor built a 6-2 lead in the first period on the strength of three takedowns. He continued his offensive onslaught in the second period, scoring two more takedowns before ending the match with a gut wrench turn.

The 27-year-old American outscored his opposition 48-13 over the two days in his first World Championships.

Olympic champion Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) bounced back from a first-round loss to Taylor to claim a bronze medal at 86kg. He defeated Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) 11-5 in the bronze-medal match. It's Yazdanicharati's fourth senior level medal. Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) won the other bronze medal at 86kg.

USA leads in both the team race (120 points) and medal count (4) after the second day at the World Championships. Russia sits in second place, followed by Iran.

61kg
GOLD: Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (CUB) df. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) by VPO1, 6-5
BRONZE: Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL) df. Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) by VPO1, 6-3
BRONZE: Joseph Daniel COLON (USA) df. Mohammadbagher Esmaeil YAKHKESHI (IRI) by VSU1, 13-2

74kg
GOLD: Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) df. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) by VPO1, 2-2
BRONZE: Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) df. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) by VPO1, 3-2
Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA) df. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) by VPO1, 4-4

86kg
GOLD: David Morris TAYLOR III (USA) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR) by VSU1, 12-2
BRONZE: Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) df. Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) by VPO1, 11-5
BRONZE: Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) df. Gwanuk KIM (KOR) by VPO1, 7-2

125kg
GOLD: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Zhiwei DENG (CHN) by VPO, 6-0
BRONZE: Parviz Khodavirdi HADIBASMANJ (IRI) df. Anzor Ruslanovitch KHIZRIEV (RUS) by VPO1, 11-2
BRONZE: Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) df. Sumit SUMIT (IND) by VPO1, 7-2

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW successfully hosts first-ever World Conference

Thursday, September 25, 2025 - 14:16 By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 24) -- United World Wrestling successfully hosted its first-ever World Conference in Zagreb, Croatia from September 17 to 19.

UWW President Nenad LALOVIC welcomed all the guest to the conference, held during the World Championships in Zagreb, and led the floor with discussions on Artificial Intelligence in wrestling, Amateur MMA, developing wrestling and the impact of social media to keep wrestling at the top.

United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC at the World Conference. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

"On behalf of United World Wrestling, I wish you a warm welcome in Zagreb first, but to this conference too," Lalovic said. "We had this idea maybe almost a decade ago. We were seeking for a platform, how these good relations among wrestlers and the national federations can improve our sport."

Injury prevention, weight management, career transitions for wrestlers, as well as the future of the sport were some of the key discussions during the three-day event at the Westin Hotel.

International Olympic Committee member and former President of Croatia Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC.

Former President of Croatia and International Olympic Committee member Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC marked her presence at the historic event in capital city of Croatia.

Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Croatia State Secretary Josip PAVIC was also present at the conference and expressed his gratitude for entrusting Croatia for hosting the championships and the conference. Croatia Wrestling Federation President Vladimir BREGOVIC, Dean of University of Kinesiology, Zagreb Prof. Mario BAIC and numerous other stakeholders marked their presence at the conference.

On day one of the conference, UWW's growth in media and digital transformation was discussed with focus on strategy, social media, partnership and equipment and new technologies. The discussion then headed to Beach Wrestling and Associated Styles with Amateur MMA and Grappling as the main topics.

Zack ERRETT

The second day of the conference saw UWW Educator Zach ERRETT explaining the rules of Beach Wrestling, International Testing Agency Senior Legal Counsel Ayesha TALPADE presenting details of anti-doping program, followed by a panel discussion.

Kuniko TANIOKA, President of the Shigakkan University in Japan, led the discussion on sport nutrition and weight management along with UWW Medical Commission members Saam FALAHATI, Ioannis BARBAS and Szabolcs MOLNAR.

Former wrestlers shared their experiences on transitioning from wrestling to other jobs. Neven and Nenad ZUGAJ were among the panellists that also included Mijain LOPEZ, Taha AGKUL, Arsen JULFALAKYAN, Don RYAN, Alexei BAZULIN, Erica WEIBE, Bruce BAUMGARTNER.

Sofia MATTSSON

Head of the United States women's team Terry STEINER presented the "coaching the women's" part on day three. He explained how to support and train women wrestlers and led the panel that also had Tanioka, Marwa AMRI, Vincent AKA, Sofia MATTSSON, Wiebe and Nadine PIETSCHMAN.

"Depending on the success of this first World Conference, we will decide if in the future it will be a biannual one or a quadrennial one. Maybe every year if you have so much to say," Lalovic said. "World Championships is the best opportunity for that because people are already here. This physical presence is always more efficient."

A national federation workshop organized by United World Wrestling in Zagreb.

NF workshop

UWW also organized a workshop for the National Federations. UWW Sports Director Jean-Daniel REY and UWW Development Director Deqa NIAMKEY welcomed various NFs which had registered for the workshop.

Capacity building, finance and event organization were the key topics at the workshop. Croatia Wrestling Federation Secretary General Tin BREGOVIC, Professor of Kinesiology Nenad BORKOVIC, Professional Master in Social Innovation and Management Ivan BLAZEVIC led a panel discussion on the topic as they were part of the organizing committee for the World Championships in Zagreb.

Azerbaijan, Brazil, Spain and Thailand presented case studies related to event organization and the challenges of competitions.

Sidakov Caps Magnificent Run with Gold, Petriashvili Repeats

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UWW successfully hosts first-ever World Conference