#WrestleRome

Ten Returning Pellicone Champs Competing at #WrestleRome

Thursday, February 25, 2021 - 15:50 By Eric Olanowski

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The road to #Tokyo202One Olympic Games kicks off on the coast of Italy, in the port city of Ostia, March 4-7. Ten of last year’s 30 Matteo Pellicone champions return to Italy with their sights set on gold for a second consecutive year.

Greco-Roman will play host to five wrestlers, spread across four weights, who are looking to defend their Ranking Series golds from ’20. They are: Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), Singh GURPREET (IND), Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) and Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY). 

Levai (77kg), Lorincz (87kg) and Mohamed (130kg) will compete at their title-winning weights from last year, while El Sayed and Gurpreet are moving down to Olympic weight classes. The Egyptian is dropping from 72kg to 67kg, while the Indian wrestlers is joining Levai down at 77kg after winning 82kg gold a year ago.

In freestyle, the dynamic duo of Kumar RAVI (IND) and Bajrang PUNIA (IND) will be looking to reach the top of the Pala Pellicone podium in back-to-back years. They’ll wrestle at 61kg and 65kg, respectively. 

In women’s wrestling, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR), Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Erica WIEBE (CAN) are the trio ’20 champs who are on a quest to bag gold for a second straight year. They’ll compete at 57kg, 62kg and 76kg, respectively. 

Here are the ’20 Matteo Pellicone gold-medal matches from the ten returning champions that'll be in action March 4-8:

Freestyle 
61kg: Kumar RAVI( IND)
65kg: Bajrang PUNIA (IND)  

Greco-Roman
67kg: Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
77kg: Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
77kg:  Singh GURPREET (IND)
87kg: Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
130kg: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) 

Women's Wrestling
57kg: Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
62kg: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
76kg: Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)

#BeachWrestling, #BeachWrestlingWorldSeries

With Dakar 2026 Approaching, UWW Ramps Up Beach Wrestling in Africa

Friday, July 25, 2025 - 09:38 By Vinay Siwach

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CASABLANCA, Morocco (July 25) -- With Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games less than 500 days away, United World Wrestling is committed to reinforcing wrestling's presence on the African continent.

As a result, for the first time an African city will host the Beach Wrestling World Series. Casablanca, Morocco will see the third leg of the Beach Wrestling World Series from September 6-7, 2025, at the picturesque Ain Diab beach.

There is more in store for Africa. The final of the Beach Wrestling World Series will be held in Alexandria, Egypt on October 18 and 19, 2025.

UWW is calling for participants. REGISTER HERE!

Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

The World Series participants will be provided with top-class facilities including five-star hotel boarding, food in hotels and transportation to the competition venue. The conditions will therefore be exceptional for a Beach Wrestling event.

Prior to the World Series, the African Championships in U15, U17 and U20 age-groups will also be held in the same venue on September 4 and 5. All wrestlers who are 18 years or older from the African Championships can take part in the World Series as well.

This is not the first time UWW has stepped up its commitment to Beach Wrestling. Along with UWW Africa, UWW provided technical assistance to African wrestlers last year and has now decided to continue that for the U15 and U17 groups.

UWW reminds all countries that the participation in these tournaments is important as the same wrestlers can be considered with priority for the Youth Olympic Games while allotting the decided quotas for Dakar 2026.

UWW's vision is to develop the younger groups who will be part of the Youth Olympics in Dakar. And it was a step in that direction to start U15 competitions in Beach Wrestling from 2025.

Irina RINGACI (MDA)World champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) competes in Beach Wrestling in Porec, Croatia. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

One of the outcomes of its continued efforts was the participation numbers in the U17 Pan-Am Beach Wrestling Championships in Rio de Janeiro and the U17 Asian Beach Wrestling Championships in Vietnam this year.

The local organizing committee in Rio had to add one more ring to accommodate the participants during the event. At the Asian Championships, India, China, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and other nations participated with full teams.

Similarly, the wrestlers are encouraged to participate in the U17 and U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Katerini-Pieria, Greece on September 25 and 26.

Check out beachwrestling.org for all Beach Wrestling News!

UWW's decisions underscore its deep commitment to uplifting and expanding the sport of wrestling across Africa, particularly with the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar on the horizon.

For any queries, wrestlers, NFs or organizers can contact -- sports@uww.org.