#WrestleSkopje

U17 European Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

SKOPJE, North MACEDONIA (June 6) -- The U17 European Championships will be held in Skopje, North Macedonia from June 9 to 15. More than 550 wrestlers are registered in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

The competition will begin with Greco-Roman followed by Women's Wrestling and finishing with Freestyle. The full schedule can be accessed here.

Qualification and repechage rounds will begins 1030 hours local time and medal bouts will begin at 1800 hours local time. On June 9, as there is no repechage and medal bouts, semifinals will begin at 1800 hours. On June 15, Sunday, as there are no qualification bouts, the repechage will begin 1600 hours local time.

Note: These are preliminary entries can be changed 72 hours before the draw of respective styles. For final brackets, refer to UWW Arena

45kg
Aren PIRUZYAN (ARM)
Omar USUBOV (AZE)
Stanimir SLAVOV (BUL)
Saba MINDIASHVILI (GEO)
Netanel RAHMISTOV (ISR)
Victor GURIN (MDA)
Andrej MISHEV (MKD)
Yakup KICIK (TUR)
Daniil LUTSYK (UKR)
Daniil NAHAVITSYN (UWW)
Umar RABADANOV (UWW)

48kg
Artak AGHABEKYAN (ARM)
Ravan HASANZADE (AZE)
Leonidas ZAHARIADIS (BUL)
Nikoloz MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Adrian AIRICH (GER)
Angelos KAMAGIANNIS (GRE)
Tamir SHIRMAMEDOV (ISR)
Vincenzo GANDOLFO (ITA)
Gheorghi GAIDARJI (MDA)
Leon MANOV (MKD)
Przemyslaw MROZEK (POL)
Yanis MAN (ROU)
Attila HEGEDUS (SVK)
Sadik ATESOGULLARI (TUR)
Mykyta HALAHAN (UKR)
Kiryl NIKITSIK (UWW)
Umar MAGOMEDOV (UWW)

51kg
Vahan AZARYAN (ARM)
Ramal MIRHUSEYNOV (AZE)
Georgi SPASOV (BUL)
Samvel ABRAHAMYAN GORGYAN (ESP)
Giorgi ROSTOMASHVILI (GEO)
Erik HANIKEL (GER)
Michail KOKOLOGIANNIS (GRE)
Kyryl SHUMEIKO (HUN)
Angelo PIRRONE (ITA)
Serghei CAMBUR (MDA)
Miradj MUSTAFA (MKD)
Szymon ROGOWICZ (POL)
Laurentiu FLOREA (ROU)
Bugra KAVAK (TUR)
Robert ALOIEV (UKR)
Nabi ISMAYIL (UWW)
Akhmed NAIBAROV (UWW)

55kg
Ervis BARDHI (ALB)
Armen PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Ruslan ALIZADA (AZE)
Aleksandar DELCHEV (BUL)
Temuri TUTARASHVILI (GEO)
Iannis LUPU (GER)
Ioannis KESIDIS (GRE)
Csaba BODI (HUN)
Ariel FILATOV (ISR)
Jon RAMADANI (KOS)
Sergiu STANILA (MDA)
Dardan BELA (MKD)
Carlos RADULESCU (ROU)
Tim ZUERCHER (SUI)
Ivan JAKSIK (SVK)
Osman KAPLAN (TUR)
Abbas HUSEINOV (UKR)
Hleb PIATROU (UWW)
Makhach ABDULLAEV (UWW)

60kg
Razmik VOSKANYAN (ARM)
Abdullach ITSCHAKAEW (AUT)
Hasan HASANOV (AZE)
Valentin GOSPODINOV (BUL)
Iakovos SOURAILOV (CYP)
Yevhenii PINTI (ESP)
Sacha AUBERT (FRA)
Mate TSINADZE (GEO)
Mark BARNOWSKI (GER)
Pavlos NTIANTIADIS (GRE)
Balint NEMETH (HUN)
Lior SHMULKO (ISR)
Anthony APOLINARIO (ITA)
Valeriu PADURET (MDA)
Mario ANANIEV (MKD)
Witold PAWLIK (POL)
Mark KELEMEN (ROU)
Morris KRON (SUI)
Karl BERGMAN (SWE)
Emirhan CETIN (TUR)
Zorab ALOIEV (UKR)
Pavel HOHINASHVILI (UWW)
Abdulla DELEKOV (UWW)

65kg
Regis LASKU (ALB)
Davit DAVTYAN (ARM)
Yusuf BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Tunar NASIBOV (AZE)
Seyko KALINOV (BUL)
Nikos SOURAILOV (CYP)
Beray AHMED NAZIFOV (ESP)
Arshavir DARAKHSHANIFARA (FIN)
Bayssangour BITMURZAEV (FRA)
Saba TKEMALADZE (GEO)
Dario FISCHIETTI (GER)
Konstantinos MICHAILIDIS (GRE)
Vince LANG (HUN)
Dilan GOLOVANEVSKIY (ISR)
Giovanni DANISE (ITA)
Erand FLUGAJ (KOS)
Maxim DIMOV (MDA)
Darijan PAVLEV (MKD)
Michal MACIUK (POL)
Istvan NAGY (ROU)
Mathys SARRASIN (SUI)
Tomas MELAS (SVK)
Mohin KHAROTI (SWE)
Ismail MERTKOLLU (TUR)
Ivan ZALISKO (UKR)
Artsiom HOHINASHVILI (UWW)
Magomed ISAEV (UWW)

71kg
Avetik TUTKHALYAN (ARM)
Rashid BETERGARAEV (AUT)
Isa YUSIBOV (AZE)
Movsar CHUPALAEV (BEL)
Aleks GROZDANOV (BUL)
Kayden HANLON (GBR)
Koba GOGUADZE (GEO)
Jason KEIL (GER)
Ektoras SIZO (GRE)
Zeteny TUGYI (HUN)
Eli SOLTANOV (ISR)
Amin HOTI (KOS)
Stefan MUNTEAN (MDA)
Dimitar ATANASOV (MKD)
Ismail ERZANUKAEV (POL)
Boran ARADIAN (ROU)
Jaroslav ZAREMBA (SVK)
Omer GUL (TUR)
Ihor OLIINYK (UKR)
Artsiom BOLSUN (UWW)
Islam DZHAMALUTDINOV (UWW)

80kg
Avet ENGOIAN (ARM)
Ali HAJIYEV (AZE)
Valentin ILIEV (BUL)
Levan CHERTKOEV (FRA)
Marshall EVERETT JONES (GBR)
Giga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Abdurrahim SEKMEN (GER)
Konstantinos MOURTZILAKIS (GRE)
Noel SZECSENYI (HUN)
Michael BAGGIANI (ITA)
Aidas SARUNAS (LTU)
Nazar SOLOMON (MDA)
Zoran SHOROV (MKD)
Aleksander BIELSKI (POL)
Luca SALANTA (ROU)
Yasin ERTURK (TUR)
Artur KOSTIUK (UKR)
Yahor DASHKEVICH (UWW)
Magomed ABDUSALAMOV (UWW)

92kg
Narek MARTIROSYAN (ARM)
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)
Stefan STEFANOV (BUL)
Elguja LOMIDZE (GEO)
Tom ULAMEC (GER)
Charilaos CHAITIDIS (GRE)
Levente SZIKSZAI (HUN)
Damiano SPERANDIO (ITA)
Valerij GOLOVATYJ (LTU)
Eugen DOHOTER (MDA)
Hristijan DIMITRIEV (MKD)
Michal IWANSKI (POL)
Magor LORINCZ (ROU)
Patrik URBANEK (SVK)
Said RIZA (TUR)
Davyd LUTSKOV (UKR)
Ivan VARANKO (UWW)
Abdurazak SHABANOV (UWW)

110kg
Laert MOVSESYAN (ARM)
Hakim TAGHIYEV (AZE)
Halil SADAKOV (BUL)
Murtaz BAGDAVADZE (GEO)
Georgios MANAGKANTZE (GRE)
Gyoergy JUHASZ (HUN)
Ernests STABINS (LAT)
Valeri CAPACLI (MDA)
Jovan STEFANOV (MKD)
Piotr GRELA (POL)
Sebastian BRAILESCU (ROU)
Adam KOSC (SVK)
Zekeriya DOGAN (TUR)
Mykyta KRASNOKUTSKYI (UKR)
Daniil ZHYVULA (UWW)
Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW)

Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)Georgia's first-ever European champion in Women's Wrestling Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO) will be at 61kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

40kg
Christofer KOSAR (EST)
Kaltouma SALISSOU (FRA)
Finja STRAUCH (GER)
Frosina ATANASOVA (MKD)
Valia HARSAN (ROU)
Zehra OZDEMIR (TUR)
Emma TALPA (UKR)
Sviatlana TRUKSHANINA (UWW)
Zamina DUGALEVA (UWW)

43kg
Iliyana DICHEVA (BUL)
Frederika GROSSE (GER)
Aikaterini KATIFORI (GRE)
Reka TELEKI (HUN)
Irina TERZI (MDA)
Julia PALKA (POL)
Nicoleta PASCALAU (ROU)
Emine BARISKAN (TUR)
Martina MODNA (UKR)
Nurana ASADLI (UWW)
Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW)

46kg
Nazrin AHMADLI (AZE)
Dayana STOYCHEVA (BUL)
Lara BLAZEKOVIC (CRO)
Madina BAYRAMOVA (GER)
Maria GKIKA (GRE)
Janka SILLEI (HUN)
Mihaela BACOS (MDA)
Spasija VASILEVA (MKD)
Zuzanna PTAK (POL)
Nikoletta TILI (ROU)
Vega MALMGREN (SWE)
Latife SAHIN (TUR)
Kamila KUCHMA (UKR)
Darya NAHORNAYA (UWW)
Irina TSYDEEVA (UWW)

49kg
Khadija GURBANZADA (AZE)
Sheila MONDRAGO GARCIA (ESP)
Rita RANTONEN (FIN)
Lea LINGSCHEIDT (GER)
Dimitra SKOUVAKI (GRE)
Eszter PALMAI (HUN)
Maria CALDIERO (ITA)
Elsa NIKOCI (KOS)
Anastasija JAKOVLEVA (LAT)
Enrika DEVETINAITE (LTU)
Eliza GONTA (MDA)
Angela TRAJKOSKA (MKD)
Kinga JANUSZEK (POL)
Electra GARAIACU (ROU)
Brita NERELL (SWE)
Ecrin SALIK (TUR)
Olena KOLUBAI (UKR)
Anhelina BURKINA (UWW)
Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW)

53kg
Fatima BAYRAMOVA (AZE)
Nataliya BOYADZHIEVA (BUL)
Mia KOVAC (CRO)
Nadiia ZHOLTIKOVA (ESP)
Anais MARTIN (FRA)
Phoebe COCKER (GBR)
Lisa SHAVADZE (GEO)
Josefine WIDMANN (GER)
Maria VANDOULAKI VANDOULA (GRE)
Mariia ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
Naomi LIUZZI (ITA)
Kanita SPAHIJA (KOS)
Alexandrina BARBANOUA (MDA)
Bojana KOVACHOVA (MKD)
Mina HANSEN (NOR)
Julia GIBALSKA (POL)
Valeria FLOCEA (ROU)
Miriam MISAKOVA (SVK)
Sally HAMMARBAECK (SWE)
Fatma YILMAZ (TUR)
Alisa SELEZNOVA (UKR)
Maryia KHRUSHCHOVA (UWW)
Margarita IARYGINA (UWW)

57kg
Celestina GJURAJ (ALB)
Ulviyya MUSAYEVA (AZE)
Olga POPOVA (BUL)
Zara PETROVIC (CRO)
Carla CHRISTIANSEN (DEN)
Irama SERENELLI MAGALLON (ESP)
Oona Olivia PEKKARINEN (FIN)
Nini TSITSVIDZE (GEO)
Emma STEUER (GER)
Zoi KAIDOPOULOU (GRE)
Sophie RITTER (ITA)
Sadije DURA (MKD)
Josefien COOMANS (NED)
Liv SANDVIK KLEPPESTO (NOR)
Marta MANKOWSKA (POL)
Luiza GHINDARU (ROU)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Lena MEIJER (SWE)
Asli KOLE (TUR)
Ivanna LUKIANENKO (UKR)
Palina BRAHINETS (UWW)
Alina BAROEVA (UWW)

61kg
Sophia MERANER (AUT)
Esra MAMMADLI (AZE)
Andrea NISEVA (BUL)
Karol TAMSON (EST)
Théa ROUSSEL (FRA)
Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)
Sophia SCHWART (GER)
Ioanna XENIDOU (GRE)
Barbara BAGER (HUN)
Sara SERVEDIO (ITA)
Tamara CVETKOSKA (MKD)
Nadia KOCIA (POL)
Oana DUMITRU (ROU)
Gabrijela BERKEC (SRB)
Ester AIRAKSINEN (SWE)
Ozdenur OZMEZ (TUR)
Oleksandra MALKOVA (UKR)
Varvara ALISEYENKA (UWW)
Zalina TOTROVA (UWW)

65kg
Fidan BABAYEVA (AZE)
Desislava PASKALEVA (BUL)
Lana PEZIC (CRO)
Ani CHACHANIDZE (GEO)
Feenja HERMANN (GER)
Vasiliki KARAVANOU (GRE)
Emese CZEGLEDI (HUN)
Giulia CARRI (ITA)
Greta USINOVIC (LTU)
Cristina ZAPOROJAN (MDA)
Viktorija GJUROVA (MKD)
Tessa SAMSONSEN (NOR)
Zuzanna HORBIK (POL)
Sophia PAIUS (ROU)
Maria JIVENIUS (SWE)
Kiymet TEZCAN (TUR)
Iryna BUKHTINA (UKR)
Anastasiya KOMANAVA (UWW)
Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW)

69kg
Milana BAGHIRZADE (AZE)
Natalia TASEVA (BUL)
Sihana OMAR (FRA)
Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO)
Ayla SAHIN (GER)
Elli SEITARIDOU (GRE)
Reka BERECZKI (HUN)
Juliana CATANZARO (ITA)
Alexandra MOISEI (MDA)
Nina SLAVEVSKA (MKD)
Aurelia GODZINSKA (POL)
Sophia ANASTASE (ROU)
Zeynep SUCU (TUR)
Solomiia PETRIV (UKR)
Hanna SIUBARAVA (UWW)
Zukhra KAZULAEVA (UWW)

73kg
Tanya IVANOVA (BUL)
Merily VAESTER (EST)
Anni HANHINEVA (FIN)
Lyra LEDERER (GER)
Polyxeni CHRYSIKAKI (GRE)
Bianka BARANY ALMASI (HUN)
Greta TVERSKYTE (LTU)
Eoprahia CAZACU (MDA)
Angjela GLIGOROVA (MKD)
Britt VAN ROOIJEN (NED)
Agnieszka BRYCZEK (POL)
Maria Ioana ROMEGA (ROU)
IRINGO DERI (SRB)
Eylem ENGIN (TUR)
Khrystyna DEMCHUK (UKR)
Sofiya AUCHAROVA (UWW)
Sofia TOLOKNOVA (UWW)

Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM)45kg champion Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) will wrestle at 51kg in Skopje. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Greco-Roman

45kg
Ararat AVETISYAN (ARM)
Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE)
Danimir YORDANOV (BUL)
Ibrahim GALBOURAEV (FRA)
Saba ABASHIDZE (GEO)
Stefanos MEMTSAS (GRE)
Kiril VARTANOV (LTU)
Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA)
Oliwier BIALASIK (POL)
David VARGA (SRB)
Mustafa GUVEN (TUR)
Ihor TUTSKANIUK (UKR)
Artem TKACHENKO (UWW)

48kg
Martin MANJIKYAN (ARM)
Gurban MAJNUNOV (AZE)
Stanislav IVANOV (BUL)
Giorgi MUNTCHAVA (GEO)
Samuel PUSCAS (GER)
Nikolaos ZINISA (GRE)
Gergo ZATKO (HUN)
Domantas MERKELIS (LTU)
Ksawier ROSSA (POL)
Matyas GOENCI (SVK)
Baris SOYLU (TUR)
Herman BASARAB (UKR)
Tsimafei SEMIANENKA (UWW)
Matvei GOLOVENCHITS (UWW)

51kg
Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM)
Elshad ABBASOV (AZE)
Kaloyan BORISOV (BUL)
Marcos LILLO RANGEL (ESP)
Giorgi AZNAURISHVILI (GEO)
Noah END (GER)
Sotirios NTONTOS (GRE)
Keve KOVACS (HUN)
Nikita CVASIUC (ITA)
Iosif STRATAN (MDA)
Abu SAGA (NOR)
Maciej GRYNIA (POL)
Andrei PELEAN (ROU)
Serkan GULLE (TUR)
Illia VANZHUL (UKR)
Rizvan KAIRBEKOV (UWW)

55kg
Vazgen MNATSAKANYAN (ARM)
Aykhan ASADLI (AZE)
Antoan TSVETANOV (BUL)
David KOIC (CRO)
Raimond PROUS (EST)
Magomed VARAEV (FRA)
Giorgi CHACHUA (GEO)
Ivan SEIBEL (GER)
Grigorios EFTHYMIADIS (GRE)
Balint KAZINCZY (HUN)
Emanuel ISRAILOV (ISR)
Cristian MUSCIANESE (ITA)
Ronaldas POGOZELSKIS (LTU)
Leon RUDNIK (POL)
Patrick MOCAN CROITORU (ROU)
Aleksandar TERZIN (SRB)
Selva THARMALINGAM (SWE)
Osman Ege OZDEMIR (TUR)
Bohdan MAKAROVETS (UKR)
Aliaksandr BELIAKOU (UWW)
Danil LOZHKIN (UWW)

60kg
Rejan OSMAJ (ALB)
Hayk MANUKYAN (ARM)
Ali NAZAROV (AZE)
Zhivko HINKOV (BUL)
Roko CURIC (CRO)
Adrian ROSADO LOPEZ (ESP)
Mauno KAURA (FIN)
Sarkis VOSKANIAN (FRA)
Rezi GUJABIDZE (GEO)
Mika LABES (GER)
Vasileios TSAROUCHAS (GRE)
Imre JUHASZ (HUN)
Tamirlan KHALIMOV (ISR)
Riccardo DELLE CAVE (ITA)
Emilis NEVERAUSKAS (LTU)
Vlad DUMINICA (MDA)
Raffaele HIGHT (NED)
Oliwier ZYSK (POL)
Mihai MARIUTA (ROU)
Kristian DOBI (SRB)
Joel GAECHTER (SUI)
Ismail ISAEV (SWE)
Abdul ARSLANTAS (TUR)
Denys SEREDIN (UKR)
Dzmitry DUDUK (UWW)
Amir KAVLAEV (UWW)

65kg
Sentiljano MEMA (ALB)
Janes NAZARYAN (ARM)
Ramil MUSAYEV (AZE)
Kristiyan PETKOV (BUL)
Stjepan KRALJ (CRO)
Jakub CHARVAT (CZE)
Ramin YOUSEFI (FIN)
Kyliane EDDOUH (FRA)
Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO)
Timur DEMIR (GER)
Iason MARGARITIDIS (GRE)
Rego TORDA (HUN)
Yehonatan NEMSADZE (ISR)
Alessio ARANCIO (ITA)
Mangirdas BRAZDZIUNAS (LTU)
Maxim DAMASCHIN (MDA)
Andreas FJELDSTAD (NOR)
Przemyslaw ANDRYCHOWSKI (POL)
Luka ZELIC (SRB)
Tim SCHREIBER (SUI)
Anders THULINDER (SWE)
Mesut SOGUT (TUR)
Yehor TARASENKO (UKR)
Uladzislau SALAUYOU (UWW)
Zelimkhan AZIMOV (UWW)

71kg
Roman USOYAN (ARM)
David SCHOBER (AUT)
Yusif AHMADLI (AZE)
Miroslav RESHOVSKI (BUL)
Bozidar GRBINICEK (CRO)
Vaclav SATRAPA (CZE)
Alvaro VILLAFAINA RECACHA (ESP)
Mardo AERMUS (EST)
Matias ONNENLEHTO (FIN)
Giorgi GOGELASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE)
Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN)
Nicolas DE GRECIS (ITA)
Artur SAVELJEV (LTU)
Ignat MEICO (MDA)
Kacper GOLONKA (POL)
Gabriel MARCEL (ROU)
Balaz UJHELJI (SRB)
Zsombor RAJKOVICS (SVK)
Julian VADELL (SWE)
Ali KILINC (TUR)
Danyil MELNYCHUK (UKR)
Maksim ZENKEVICH (UWW)
Kaimaraz ARBAKHANOV (UWW)

80kg
Vahe HOVEYAN (ARM)
Christopher SZENTKIRALYI (AUT)
Nijat YEYLAGALIYEV (AZE)
Valentin VALENTINOV (BUL)
Jachym JABUREK (CZE)
Aaron TONISMAA (EST)
Giorgi ORMOTSADZE (GEO)
Noel LOZANCIC (GER)
Stefanos VASDEKIS (GRE)
Dominik KERTESZ (HUN)
Koan VALENTINI (ITA)
Olivers IRKLIS (LAT)
Benediktas BUBELEVICIUS (LTU)
Kyrylo KON (MDA)
Franciszek KOCWIN (POL)
Danilo AKSENTIJEVIC (SRB)
Matti EICHMANN (SUI)
Dominik HERVAI (SVK)
Fredrik ABRAHAMSSON (SWE)
Ismail BEREKET (TUR)
Danylo VUZII (UKR)
Anton KASTSEVICH (UWW)
Senik VARDANIAN (UWW)

92kg
Petros BAGHRAMYAN (ARM)
Niklas OEHLERER (AUT)
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)
Ivan NIKOLOV (BUL)
Andrija MIKULIC (CRO)
Vitezslav ZAK (CZE)
Robert KOVALKOV (EST)
Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO)
Ioannis MOUTOUSIDIS (GRE)
Zsombor KORODI (HUN)
Elia CAIANIELLO (ITA)
Julius GIKARAS (LTU)
Vladislav VASYLEVSKYI (MDA)
Ismail KADYROV (NOR)
Tomasz MITAL (POL)
Ionut PATRU (ROU)
Todor AKSENTIJEVIC (SRB)
Christofer KOSAR (SVK)
Manfred ALTHEN (SWE)
Enes UZUN (TUR)
Tymur LARIN (UKR)
Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW)
Vadim DRAGUSHAN (UWW)

110kg
Gor MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Rihad IBRAHIMLI (AZE)
Denis LAZAROV (BUL)
Karel CECH (CZE)
Kahro PALLON (EST)
Temuri SIMSIVE (GEO)
Maximilian LEO (GER)
Vasileios BOUNTOULIS (GRE)
Akos KEREPESI (HUN)
Guy ZANKEVICH (ISR)
Deniss MOISEJENKO (LAT)
Mateusz TOMELKA (POL)
Vlad PETREAN (ROU)
Andrej SIMIC (SRB)
Arda UGUR (TUR)
Anatolii NOVACHENKO (UKR)
Matvei SILICH (UWW)
Artur GABEEV (UWW)

Development

REDT in South Africa: Exchange, cooperation to grow wrestling in the region

By United World Wrestling Press

PRETORIA, South Africa (January 6) -- A week full of initiatives dedicated to the regional development of wrestling took place in Pretoria from 29th to 08th December, bringing together young athletes, coaches, referees, and administrators from six countries in the region. This landmark event, organized under the REDT program launched by United World Wrestling, provided an exceptional platform for training, education, and competition opportunities for various members of the wrestling community - from athletes to coaches, officials and administrators.

With eight countries involved, this event was a full week of education as follows:

  • 29th Nov – 1st Dec - Youth Training Camp 13-15-year-olds, Talent identification with Vincent Aka and Guillermo Menendez Molina.
  • 2nd-5th Dec-Senior international training Camp - U16 years olds till seniors, Vincent Aka and Guillermo Menendes Molina.
  • 1st- 3rd Dec - UWW Level 2 Referee course with Zach Errett, UWW education Manager.
  • 6th-8th Dec - UWW Level 2 Referee course included beach wrestling with Charles Villet, UWW Educator.
  • 1st-5th Dec - UWW Level 3 Coaching course with Vincent Aka, UWW Development Officer.
  • 6th Dec - Administrators course with Deqa Niamkey, UWW Development Director.
  • 7th December - Tournament:  U17, U20 and Seniors  - FS GR WW
  • 8th December - Tournament :  Beach Wrestling  Men, Women - U17, U20 and Seniors

A National Camp for Youth: A Stepping Stone Toward Dakar 2026

1
(Vincent Aka and Guillermo Menendes Molina address the Youth Wrestlers at training camp)

3

(Certificates on conclusion of the Youth Camp)

B

(Certificates on conclusion of the U16+ - Senior camp)

The week began with a national camp exclusively for young talents. The participants, primarily from South Africa, underwent intensive training sessions and enriching exchanges under the supervision of United World Wrestling experts. The goal was to identify and select promising young athletes, with a primary focus on preparing the best youth wrestlers to shine at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

An International Training Camp and Courses for Coaches, referees and administrators

Following this youth talent identification camp, an international training camp allowed wrestlers, from cadets to seniors, to refine their techniques. To support skill development at all levels, several specialized courses were organized:

  • Level 3 Coaching Course, led by Vincent AKA, offering advanced tools for better understanding training periodization and building one's coaching philosophy.

4

(Coaches and referees)

In this regard, coach Markus Dekker, head coach of the South African Wrestling Federation, underline: << this program was excellence, I got a lot of positive feedback from the participants>>.

  • Level 2 Refereeing Course, delivered by Zach Errett and Charles Villet, aimed at ensuring high-quality officiating during competitions. Initially led by Zach Errett, the course was later implemented by Charles Villet in real competition settings during the Olympic Wrestling and Beach Wrestling events at the end of the week.

5

(Coaches join the referees in a technical rules course)

About the refereeing course, OKOU Timipre, a participant from Nigeria, said: <<The Programme was quite inspiring and apt. However, it will improve the technical and managerial abilities and skills of the Athletes, Coaches, Referees and Administrators in the African Continent and the World at large>>

  • Sports Administration Course, conducted in person by Déqa Niamkey and complemented by a virtual session led by Youssef Bouaziz for national federation and club administrators. Youssef was impressive and demonstrate a high expertise in ARENA by taking control of participants computers and support and guiding them to better understand and act according to difficult situations.

6

(Ms. Deqa Niamkey addresses the coaches)

7

(Ms. Deqa Niamkey with the RSA Tournament Administration team)

Competitions and Beach Wrestling to Wrap Up the Week

The week concluded with a grand finale featuring an Olympic wrestling tournament that showcased the talent and determination of the participants. A dedicated Beach Wrestling Day, a growing and spectacular discipline, brought the event to a close with a friendly and sporty atmosphere.

8

(Wrestlers from different countries pose together for a group photo after the competition)

8

(Senior women at the beach wrestling competition)

10
(Namibia VS Zambia, women's beach wrestling)

11(Rules discussion at the Beach Wrestling Competition)

A Promising Regional Event

This gathering brought together participants from eight countries: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Nigeria (represented by a referee and a coach), Zimbabwe, Ecuador and Zambia. This diverse representation highlights the regional commitment to developing wrestling and fostering cooperation among African nations.

Merci Mulenga, President of the Zambian Wrestling Federation, appreciated the REDT and said: “From the Zambian team we would like to send our greatest gratitude to United World Wrestling for giving us the privilege to attend the Intunthuko regional camp and tournament. It is the first time we are attending such an event. I would like to express my appreciation for the good coaching session. It was very helpful and educational to not only us, who are still in the learning phase. but to others as well. On a scale of 10, I would rate my experience at 10/10 and look forward to more amazing programs of the same kind."

For her part, Jeanne-Marié Coetzer, Secretary General of the South African Wrestling Federation insists on the chance brought by the REDT: "This event provided an opportunity for neighboring countries to form a hub that allows their athletes, coaches and referees to gain international exposure and training which would otherwise be very difficult due to finances required for travel to obtain these qualifications otherwise."

The presence of Déqa Niamkey, Director of Development at United World Wrestling, inspired all the participants at this REDT event. By creating training opportunities and strengthening connections among wrestling stakeholders, the REDT laid a solid foundation for the future of the sport in Southern Africa. Participants returned home enriched and ready to share the knowledge gained, making this initiative a model for sports development across the continent.