#WrestleBudapest

WATCH LIVE: Budapest Ranking Series, Day 2 finals

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 14) -- The second day of the Ranking Series in Budapest will see women's wrestling in five weight classes alongwith freestyle wrestling in three weights. A host of stars will be on the mat.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Here are the finals for tonight

FS 61kg - Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) vs Ossimzhan DASTANBEK (KAZ)

FS 70kg - Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR) vs Joseph MC KENNA (USA)

FS 79kg - Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) vs Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)

WW 50kg - Ziqi FENG (CHN) vs Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA)

WW 53kg Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) vs Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)

WW 57kg Kexin HONG (CHN) vs Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)

WW 62kg Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) vs Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)

WW 68kg Feng ZHOU (CHN) vs Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

15:00: Forrest MOLINARI (USA) and Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) were in a fierce battle once again. Molinari led 4-0 but two warnings to Larroque for being passive, one to Molinari for blocking. But in the end, Molinari beats Larroque 7-1.

14:40: Olivia DI BACCO (CAN) had the chance to pin Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) who survived the attempt. Later, Oborududu comes back and pins Di Bacco at 68kg.

13:30: Big results at 68kg. Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) moves into the quarterfinals with a 7-0 win over Tayla FORD (NZL)Forrest MOLINARI (USA) beats Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) 6-0 while Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) wins 3-0 against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL).

13:15: Olivia DI BACCO (CAN) was trailing 4-0 after Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ) hit an arm-throw but Di Bacco steps over and secures the fall at 68kg.

13:00: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) posts a 10-0 win over Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN) to move into the quarterfinals at 62kg. So does Lais NUNES (BRA) as she beats Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL) 6-0.

12:35: Viktoria VESSO (EST) brings out a perfect headlock and throw against Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and gets the fall at 62kg. What an upset!

12:30: Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) has one of the best defense in the game. He holds off Vitali ARUJAU (USA) 2-0 with ease despite Arujau's continuous attacks.

12:00: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) takes it slow but wins 3-0 against Daniel ANTAL (HUN). Another star at 70kg, Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) beat U23 world champion Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) to advance.

11:50: Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) moves into the next round at 79kg. The first Iran wrestler to beat Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) will be eyeing the gold in Budapest.

11:45: Two-time World Championships silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) opens up with an easy win over Simon MARCHL (AUT). He will face Chandler MARSTELLER (USA) who defeated Ramazan SARI (TUR) at 79kg

11:30: Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) avenges her World Championships loss against Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) 10-0. Absolute domination from Hildebrandt there as she puts a series of takedowns.

11:15: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) survived a barrage of attacks from Luisa NIEMESCH (GER) in the final minute of their 62kg bout to win 2-0. In another bout at 62kg, Lais NUNES (BRA) comes on top 5-3 against Ana GODINEZ (CAN)

11:00: Women's wrestling 50kg saw Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) win 11-0 over Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU) and Ziqi FENG (CHN) beat Bianka FATH (HUN) 10-0.

10:30: Welcome to day two of the Ranking Series in Budapest. A total of eight weight classes are in action with five in women's wrestling and three in freestyle.

Iran strikes three golds to close ISG 2025

By Vinay Siwach

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 21) -- World champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) led an inspiring performance from Iran which captured three out of four gold medal on the final day of the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in Riyadh on Friday.

Zare, who won gold medal at 125kg in Zagreb in September, dominated his way to the gold in Riyadh outscoring his opponents 28-0 in three bouts.

Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) scores a takedown on Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) during the 125kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Facing Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) in the final, Zare combined his skills to score stepouts at win and also scored two takedowns to finish the match 10-0, capturing his fourth gold medal of the season.

Sharipov reached the final after securing a shocking win over world silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) 7-6 in the semifinal. Meshvildishvili had to mount a comeback in the second period after he was down 5-1 in the match. He managed to make it 6-6 but trailed on criteria and as he tried to score a stepout in the final 10 seconds, Sharipov managed to remain inside the zone to survive attack.

Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) tries to control Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) during the 97kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

At 97kg, a rematch between Olympic champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and world silver medalist Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) was on the cards but Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) denied that as he defeated Tazhudinov 14-3 in the semifinals.

Azarpira and Aitmukhan faced each other in the final but the former was clearly the better wrestler as he blanked Aitmukhan 5-0 to win the gold medal. He scored three stepouts and Aitmukhan was cautioned when aggressively pushed Azarpira. One more stepout was enough for Azarpira to win the gold medal.

Tazhudinov declared himself injured in the bronze medal bout which gave Olympic bronze medalist Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) the medal.

Younes EMAMI (IRI)Younes EMAMI (IRI) reaches for the leg of Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE) during the 74kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran's gold rush began when former Asian champion Younes EMAMI (IRI) completed a 5-0 victory over Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE) at 74kg. Emami scored a takedown to take a 2-0 lead against Novruzov before pushing the Azerbaijan wrestler out of bounds twice before the break.

With a lead of 4-0, Emami began the second period on the aggressive and Novruzov was called passive. He failed to score in the 30-second period and Emami got another point to lead 5-0 which remained the winning score.

To reach the final, Emami had to go through 2024 world 70kg champion Norkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) in the quarterfinals. The Iranian defeated the Kazakhstan wrestler 6-5 in a thriller.

With the three golds, Iran finished the tournament with four gold medal while Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan won one each.

Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) celebrates after beating Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) in their opening bout at 86kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Dzhioev's impressive gold

One of Iran's favorite to win gold medal, Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), suffered a heartbreaking loss at 86kg to Arsenii DIZHOEV (AZE) who capped off an incredible day with gold after beating Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN) 5-1 in the final. 

The win over Ghasempour was quite impressive from Dzhioev. Down 3-0, he scored two takedowns and one point for Ghasempour's passivity to win the bout 5-3.

In the final against Saipudinov, he opened scored a takedown in the opening period after being called passive and giving up a point. He scored two stepouts and one point for passivity in the second period to win the final.

Ghasempour returned to win the bronze medal by beating Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 7-0, in the bronze-medal bout.

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Younes EMAMI (IRI) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 5-0

BRONZE: Orozbek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) df. Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ), 4-2
BRONZE: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) df. Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR), 4-3

86kg
GOLD: Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) df. Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN), 5-1

BRONZE: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) df. Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 7-0
BRONZE: Osman GOCEN (TUR) df. Bekzat RAKHIMOV (KGZ), 10-2

97kg
GOLD: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) df. Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), 5-0

BRONZE: Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) df. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Muhammad GULZAR (PAK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), via fall (4-5)

125kg
GOLD: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) df. Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN), 10-0

BRONZE: Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) df. Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ), 14-3
BRONZE: Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) df. Abdelrahman SHEYATAN (EGY), 5-0