#WrestleAmman

U17 Worlds: Another Petriashvili rises; U.S. beats Iran for FS team title

Sunday, August 25, 2024 - 21:04 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 25) -- A new Petriashvili is on the block. The younger brother of the newly crowned Olympic champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Konstantine, became the U17 world champion on Sunday in Amman.

The younger Petriashvili showed exceptional wrestling, identical to Geno, over two days to win the 92kg weight class and win his first world title.

Last year, he finished with a bronze medal in the 80kg weight class but jumped to 92kg this year. He won the U17 European Championships in Novi Sad in July and now has both the continental and world titles. Petriashvili is set to compete at the U20 World Championships next week in Pontevedra, Spain.

In other finals, the United States won two gold medals, Iran captured one while Kyrgyzstan, which won two golds on Saturday, added another on Sunday.

The United States won the team title with 152 points, 20 more than second-place Iran. Kyrgyzstan finished third with 104 points, its first-ever podium finish at the U17 World Championships.

In the final, Petriashvili was up against Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN) and constantly hit the double-leg attack. He scored no success using that attack and was put on the activity clock in the first period.

As Sanakoev built an attack, Petriashvili defended well and scored exposure for two points. He led 2-0 at the break and defended every attack from Sanakoev to keep the two-point lead. Petriashvili got a takedown in the final 30 seconds after Sanakoev failed to defend using chest wrap. He scored two turns to extend his lead to 8-0 as the clock expired.

Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) defeated Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN) 8-0 in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

"I am Konstantine. U17 world champion. Last year I won the bronze medal," a jubilant Petriashvili said after the final. "The final was very difficult. I was tired in the middle."

After winning the final, Konstantine broke out in a celebration similar to Geno's, punching his fist in the air with a roar.

"My brother is the best and king of wrestling," he said. "I have no pressure. I think its good when they tell me I am Geno's brother."

Samuel SANCHEZ (USA)Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) celebrates after winning the 45kg gold medal at the U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U.S. wins title

Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) had to come from behind and Domenic MUNARETTO (USA) won his second U17 world title to held the United States win the team title over Iran, its second in three years.

Sanchez was down 5-0 against Amirabbas RAMEZANI (IRI) after the first period in the final but came back strongly in the second period. He cut the lead to two points after Ramezani was penalized for a singlet pull and he gave up a takedown.

Ramezani defended most of the period but Sanchez hit a smart go-behind and exposure to make it 7-5. A turn using trap-arm gave him a 9-5 lead which he defended till the clock expired.

Domenic MUNARETTO (USA)Domenic MUNARETTO (USA) defeated Frederick BACHMANN (PUR) in the 51kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Munaretto, who won 45kg gold at the 2022 U17 Worlds, added another by beating Frederick BACHMANN (PUR), 3-1, in the 51kg final.

Bachmann, who was trying to become the first Puerto Rican to win gold at U17 Worlds in 49 years, fell short, a day after his brother Joseph met with the same fate in the 55kg final.

Both wrestlers were put on activity clocks but it was Munaretto who got the advantage as Bachmann was on the clock in the second period. This gave Munaretto a 1-1 criteria lead. Bachmann tried his best to score a point but failed and a desperate attempt in the final second saw him fall on his back, which gave Munaretto another two points.

With a clean record in the final, Munaretto completed an incredible run in the tournament in which he did not given up a takedown for any points.

"I have been wrestling a lot," Munaretto said. "I have control of my ties."

Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) won the gold medal at 71kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran crowned a champion at 71kg after U17 Asian champion Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) defeated returning bronze medalist Manuel WAGIN (GER), 1-1 in the final. Shamsipour denied Germany its first-ever U17 world champion in Freestyle.

The final was decided after Shamsipour was awarded a point for Wagin's passivity, in the second period, giving the Iranian a 1-1 criteria lead. There were no more points in the match and Shamsipour won 1-1.

Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ) gave Kyrgyzstan its third gold of the U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Kyrgyzstan added a gold and a bronze medal to its two golds from Saturday and finished third in the team race. After Kursantbek ISAKOV (KGZ) at 55kg and Rustamzhan KAKHAROV (KGZ) at 65kg won gold medals, Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ) won the gold medal at 60kg while Marlen ABDRAIMOV (KGZ) won bronze at 51kg.

Asan  Uluu was up against Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE) in the final and at no point he was in any sort of trouble in the match. He scored a takedown and stepout in the first period to lead 3-0. He went for a bear hug throw but Ismayilov slipped out of the grip and Asan Uulu fell out of bounds to give one point to the Azerbaijan wrestler.

A stepout made it 4-1 for Asan Uulu and a point at the end of the bout gave him the 5-1 lead and the gold medal.

df

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) df. Amirabbas RAMEZANI (IRI), 9-5

BRONZE: Dzhamal BAKAEV (AIN) df. Mher HAKOBYAN (ARM), 11-0
BRONZE: Ravan HASANZADE (AZE) df. Bekzat AMANGELDY (KAZ), via fall (4-6)

51kg
GOLD: Domenic MUNARETTO (USA) df. Frederick BACHMANN (PUR), 3-1

BRONZE: Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN) df. Akhmed ATANGERIEV (AIN), 7-4
BRONZE: Marlen ABDRAIMOV (KGZ) df. Ozodbek ALIJONOV (UZB), 17-6

60kg
GOLD: Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ) df. Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE), 5-1

BRONZE: Hayk AVANESYAN (ARM) df. Danoush JOWKAR (GBR), 5-2
BRONZE: Itsuki YONASHIRO (JPN) df. Jordyn RANEY (USA), via inj. def.

71kg
GOLD: Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) df. Manuel WAGIN (GER), 1-1

BRONZE: Fatih AYDIN (TUR) df. Mark LAPOSA (HUN), 6-5
BRONZE: Kairi ITO (JPN) df. Melvin MILLER (USA), 7-2

92kg
GOLD: Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN), 8-0

BRONZE: Elijah DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) df. Aliaksei KHADUNOU (AIN), 8-3
BRONZE: Amir Reza ALI POUR (IRI) df. Michealjeet Singh GREWAL (CAN), 10-5

#WrestleTirana

Kayaalp's 13: New Golden Standard Set in Europe

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 - 15:27 By United World Wrestling Press

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TIRANA, Albania (April 20) -- On Tuesday evening in Tirana, Riza KAYAALP (TUR) did something that for years existed and was expected to continue to exist only as a hypothetical.

He won his 13th European title in Tirana on Tuesday, beating Darius VITEK (HUN), 7-1, in the 130kg European Championships. 2026 joined 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2010.

Riza KAYAALP (TUR)Riza KAYAALP (TUR) turns Darius VITEK (HUN) in the 130kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

As the referee raised his powerfully sculpted right arm in triumph, Kayaalp raised the ceiling in Greco-Roman. He moved past the legendary Aleksandr KARELIN’s 12 European gold medals, the last of which he had won in 2000. Generations of wrestlers had competed, won and lost, knowing all the while that that number would outlast them. Until Kayaalp finally eclipsed it.

The moment itself wasn’t dramatic in the way history is often expected to be. Just a raised hand, a nod and a lap of honor around the mat with the Turkish flag around his shoulders. That’s been the story of Kayaalp’s career.

Riza KAYAALP (TUR)Riza KAYAALP (TUR) speaks to the media after winning the gold medal at the European Championships. (United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Born in Yozgat, in central Turkey, Kayaalp would have inherently understood the role of wrestling in Turkish sporting heritage and the place champions of the sport have historically held in the nation. He would have grown up in the shadow of two-time Olympic and eight-time European champion Hamza YERLIKAYA, who defined Turkish wrestling in the 1990s and like everyone else in the sport, under the global shadow of Karelin.

Slowly and methodically Kayaalp would try to match them. His career has been relentless and consistent rather than spectacular. Since his first European gold in 2010, won as a twenty-year old, Kayaalp has claimed titles across two decades. He’s adapted through rule changes, generations of opponents, and brutal physical wear and tear of time itself.

Apart from his European titles, he has five World Championships gold medals, and three Olympic medals -- a bronze in London 2012, silver in Rio 2016, bronze again in Tokyo 2020. Every time a major medal was to be decided over the past decade and a half, Kayaalp would with almost absurd reliability be counted in the mix.

Riza KAYAALP (TUR)Riza KAYAALP (TUR) with Taha AKGUL (TUR) at the medal ceremony in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

For all of Kayaalp’s longevity, his career has always carried the one obvious gap compared to Karelin or Yerlikaya -- no Olympic gold. That absence will still be there. That gap is unlikely to close any time soon. As such the European mark became a milestone within his grasp. Or in the last few years, a milestone just out of grasp.

Indeed, for Kayaalp the title will provide a sense of closure. He had equalled Karelin’s record at the 2023 European championships in Zagreb. Prior to that tournament, he had in an interview with Anadalou Agency spoken of equalling Karelin’s record, breaking it at the 2024 European Championships and finally finishing his career on a high note with a gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But things would not go as planned. At the 2024 European Championships, Kayaalp was pinned in the final by Sergey SEMENOV (UWW) -- only the second final he had ever lost in Europe. A few months later despite qualifying for the Olympics he was unable to compete due to a medication issue linked to treatment for persistent tinnitus. His appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was upheld, clearing the way for his return. He would describe the period as the toughest of his career.

But the ordeal had left him with a new purpose and a desire to exit the stage on his own terms.

“For an athlete with so many titles, this was the worst thing that could happen,” he said. “Because of a simple issue, we faced a huge problem. But I always believed I would overcome it, return to my job and leave the sport on my own terms,” he had told Anadalou Agency at the start of 2026 when he made his return to international competition at the Zagreb Ranking series earlier this year.

“There was fatigue before. In this 18-month period, my desire to work came back stronger. I was already motivated to be champion. Now it is even greater. I feel renewed,” he had said.

While Kayaalp has said he would compete until the 2028 Olympics, he had also spoken of the unfinished business he had had in Europe. “I was so close,” he said. “Fourteen finals, 12 European titles, one more for the record, and then something unwanted happens. But everything is resolved. To bring that record to my country would mean a lot,” he had said then.

He had come close once and fallen short. That could have been the ending -- a near miss against an immortal number. Instead, with his 13th European title, Kayaalp gets to tell his story. He stands alone as the most decorated European wrestler of all time.

Records though exist to be broken. At some point, inevitably, another wrestler will look at Kayaalp's number and decide to chase it. But at least for some time, records exist to define limits. For over a quarter of a century that limit was Karelin’s 12. Now it’s Kayaalp’s 13.