#Webinar

Webinar Schedule: Sports Psychology – Preparing an Athlete for Competition

Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - 15:54 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

French
Time:  9h00 Zurich (UTC+1) 3h00 (New York)
Expert:  Gerard Santoro
Link to Register:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1JcTZh6IRB-MSBRYr8lHOw 

Russian
Time:  11h00 Zurich (UTC+1) 5h00 (New York)
Expert:  Malkhaz Davitashvili
Link to Register:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_H-NN32e9S4ex6tx2iAf5sQ 

Arabic
Time:  16h00 Zurich (UTC+1) 10h00 (New York)
Expert:  Dr. Nermin Rafiq
Link to Register:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jnL7IqRPQH-N0OqR_QTNmw 

English
Time:  18h00 Zurich (UTC+1) 12h00 (New York)
Expert:  Dr. Judy Goss
Link to Register:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SQy2cwYqS7iTr7IJjiUkkw 

Spanish
Time:  20h00 Zurich (UTC+1) 14h00 (New York)
Expert: Dr. Magaly Zeron
Link to Register:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__Ii-fVyjQdmLWrmIDZJGTQ 

Key Reminders for the Webinars:
•    Each NF must have a minimum of 5 coaches register to attend one of the webinars.  The NF’s can choose any coaches they feel will benefit from this topic.  
•    Each participant must register in advance before attending the webinar.
•    Each participant that attends will receive a certificate for attendance that can be used for professional development.  They must enter their correct name and email address to receive the certificate.

If you have any questions, please contact Zach Errett at zach.errett@unitedworldwrestling.org.
 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.