Development

UWW Training PE Teachers at ISF Gymasiade in Bahrain

Monday, December 2, 2024 - 12:18 By United World Wrestling Press

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Bahrain (December 2) – United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to train PE teachers at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. The ISF Gymnasiade event took place from 23-31 October. This annual event involves competitions for sport school athletes over 26 sports. Wrestling has been a part of this event in each edition. During the Gymnasiade, ISF also provides training to local PE teachers to potentially implement more sports within their curriculum.

UWW was fortunate to be able to provide training sessions to the PE teachers on using the Wrestle4Fun curriculum. The training was led by UWW Educators Ahmed Khedhri (TUN) and Rafael Galva (PUR).

The training was held on 25 October and included 51 participants. The training included 2-hour theoretical and 2-hour practical sessions, with participants actively participating in Wrestle4Fun activities. These activities provided the participants with the advantages of adding wrestling to physical education. “Collaborating with PE teachers provided a very valuable experience. I hope this experience will become more common, allowing wrestling to be part of the physical education curriculum,” said Mr. Khedhri.

Mr. Galva also participated in the ISF International Educational Forum. During the forum, Mr. Galva discussed Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle to School Kids. He also spoke about the importance of positive role modeling from parents and coaches. 

ISFParticipants go through the Fun and Skills Zone at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Mr. Galva and Mr. Khedhri also conducted sessions at the Fun and Skills Zone throughout the event. This was a chance for young athletes to try wrestling games and activities. This included athletes from many different sports and countries.

The wrestling competition was held on October 28-30 and included participation in all three styles. The competition had 321 athletes from 18 countries participating. 

Wrestle4Fun is developmentally appropriate for all age levels and designed to support girls’ and boys’ physical literacy journeys. It has five stages based on different developmental levels. Each stage has 15 lessons. In total, there are 75 lessons with over 200 games and activities. The entire Wrestle4Fun programme can be found on the Academy platform.

The UWW Academy can be found at https://academy.uww.org/.

#WrestleTirana

Monday's U23 World Championship semifinals set

Monday, October 23, 2023 - 08:42 By Eric Olanowski

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TIRANA, Albania (October 23) --- Welcome, wrestling fans, to Albania's capital city for the 2023 U23 World Championships--the final stop on the world championship calendar.

Day One's action will feature freestyle wrestling at 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg.

Here are some of the biggest stars that'll be in action today:
- Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) - '22 U23 world champ
- Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) - '22 U23 world silver
- Aaron BROOKS (USA) - '22 U23 world bronze  
- Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA) - '22 U23 world bronze 
- Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) - '22 U20 world gold
- Vasile DIACON (MDA) - '22 U23 world bronze
- Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA) - '21 U20 world gold

Semifinal Matches (As they come in):
61kg
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ) vs. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ivan HRAMYKA (AIN) vs. Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN)

74kg
Imam GANISHOV (AIN) vs. Naveen NAVEEN (UWW)
Sonny SANTIAGO (PUR) vs. Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA)

86kg
Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) vs. Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Arslan BAGAEV (AIN) vs. Aaron Marquel BROOKS (USA)

92kg
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) vs. Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR) vs. Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (UWW)

125kg
Adil MISIRCI (TUR) vs. Kumar ANIRUDH (UWW)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE) vs. Wyatt Avery HENDRICKSON (USA)

15:02: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll take a break until 18:00 and see you back here for the semifinals. 

14:32: Patil just ruined Vishanov's hopes of winning France their first freestyle U23 world title with a nine-point second period. More importantly, those nine points were unanswered, so after trailing 6-0, he locked up a semifinal spot with a 9-6 victory.

14:26: A sneaky storyline I'm watching is Adlan VISKHANOV's (FRA) success at 92kg. He's looking to become the first French freestyle wrestler to win a U23 world title. He leads 6-0 on Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (UWW).

14:20: Aaron BROOKS (USA) picked up his third dominant win of the day. He's now outscored his opponents 24-1 on his way to the semifinals.

13:50: We're starting the quarters, so I'll update the semifinal matches as the quarter-finals wrap up.

13:39: When the United States desperately needed a freestyle heavyweight, Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) arrived in Albania to save the day. As if Gable STEVESON (USA) and Mason PARRIS (USA) weren't enough, the Stars and Stripes now have Hendrickson throwing the competition around he's in his own league.

So far today, Hendrickson pinned Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN) after scoring 17 offensive points, then just took out Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA), 14-1.

13:29: We'll only run through the quarterfinals before taking a lunch break. Then, for tonight's session, we'll only wrestle through the semifinals. The first set of medal matches won't be until Tuesday night at 18:00 (local time).

13:12: It's a shame that one of those guys had to lose because that was such a hard-fought battle for both guys. Jacob Thomas CARDENAS (USA) was relentless with attacks to both sides of the body and ultimately scored the match-deciding takedown with :30 seconds left to take out Alan BAGAEV (AIN), 4-1.

13:02: The reigning champ Shirai picked up a second win of the day, moving into the quarterfinals after scoring a 4-1 win over Morodion. Shirai picked up two inactivity points and a late takedown against the Canadian.

12:30: Down goes Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) at 74kg. He adopted the strategy of keeping it quiet against NAVEEN (UWW) in the first period. He led 3-1 till the final minute when Naveen got a takedown on the edge. Gadzhiev tries a headpinch to win the bout but Naveen defends to score two points. Naveen beats Gadzhiev 5-3  

12:15: The United States wrestlers remain undefeated so far in the morning! Keegan OTOOLE (USA) roars to life in the second period to get a 12-2 win over Krisztian BIRO (ROU) at 74kg. Then Aaron BROOKS (USA) comes out and completes a 10-0 win over Owen MARTIN (CAN) at 86kg. Unreal athleticism from Brooks in that win. 

11:55: After an opening round 8-0 win over Igor Stefan SZUCKI (POL), reigning U23 world champion Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) will take on Joshua Philipp David MORODION (GER) in five matches on Mat C.

11:47: Reigning U23 world silver medalist Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) was just assigned to Mat C. He'll take on Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) in Bout 73.

11:36: I'm working on getting the video, but the Ganishov five on Diacon is on the list of top-five throws of the year. It's one of those throws that sends any normal human straight to the hospital.

11:25: Aaron Marquel BROOKS (USA), the top threat in the United States to dethrone David TAYLOR (USA), is up now on Mat B. He's wrestling Turkiye's Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR).

11:18: It's early in the day, but Imam GANISHOV (AIN) beating U23 world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) is the leading candidate for Upset of the Day. The Neutral Athlete picked up an 8-0 win in the 74kg qualification round, pushing him to the 1/8 final against  Stas David WOLF (GER).

11:10: Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA) of the United States, the '2021 U20 world champion, didn't skip a beat in his return to international competition. The offensive machine picked up five takedowns en route to the 10-0 opening-round win over Vadym KURYLENKO (UKR).

10:53: It's time to close out the 2023 calendar in style! The U23 Worlds is one of my favorite competitions of the season. Today's champions will likely bloom into tomorrow's stars. It's crazy to look back at the photos from the past few years at the U23 World Championships to see how the wrestlers have transitioned into stars and global sensations.