Weekly FIVE! September 10, 2018

Monday, September 10, 2018 - 11:47 By Eric Olanowski

Taking a look at Russia's World Championship team and Hancocks throw heard around the world. Also reviewing Poland Open results and next weeks Junior World Championship schedule.

1. Russia’s World Team Set After Poland Open
Four Russian wrestlers headed to Warsaw, Poland with hopes of punching their ticket to Budapest, Hungary, but only two left with a spot on the Russian World Team.

In the 61kg semifinals, Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) beat Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS), 2-1 to claim the World Team spot.

In the finals, Rashidov shutout Kuat AMIRTAYEV (KAZ), 5-0 to claim the Poland Open gold medal.

Rashidov, the 2017 world runner-up will represent Russia for the second time on the senior-level and for the sixth time overall.

At 65kg, Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) won the ticket to Budapest after European runner-up Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) missed weight.

Chakaev wrestled out the tournament and took first place after Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) injury defaulted out of the gold-medal bout.

Russia’s World Team
57kg - Z. UGUEV
61kg – G. RASHIDOV
65kg - A. CHAKAEV
70kg – M. GAZIMAGOMEDOV
74kg - Z. SIDAKOV
79kg - A. GADZHIMAGOMEDOV
86kg - D. KURUGLIEV
92kg – B. TSAKULOV
97kg - A. SADULAEV
125kg – A. KHIZRIEV

2. Hancock Sticks Four-time World and Olympic Champion ALEKSANYAN
Tracy HANCOCK (USA) had the most impressive win of his career in the Poland Open semifinals when he stuck four-time world and Olympic champion, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM).

Hancock, who is wrestling in his first individual international competition since taking tenth place at the U23 World Championships went big in the opening 20 seconds of the semifinal bout and threw the six-time world and Olympic medalist to his back for the fall.

Hancock went on to score the 7-0 shutout victory over Bulgaria’s Nikolay BAYRYAKOV (BUL) in the 97kg gold-medal bout.

3. Suchkov defeats Chamzio, Wins #Korkin2018 Gold
Nikita SUCHKOV (RUS), the Russian Nationals bronze medalist defeated current World No. 1 and two-time world champion, Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), 5-3, claiming the 74kg Dmitri Korkin gold medal.

Suchkov, who finished behind Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) and Khetik TSBABOLOV (RUS) at Russian Nationals won the Dmitri Korkin for the second year in a row.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Aylar TYUTRIN (RUS) df. Parviz IBRAGIMOV (AZE), 4-1

61kg
GOLD - Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV (AZE) df. TUVSHINTULGA (MGL), 8-4

65kg
Viktor RASSADIN (RUS) df. TULGA (MGL), 4-2

70kg
GOLD - Evgani ZHERBAEV (RUS) df. BYAMBADORJ Bat-Erdene (MGL), 8-2

74kg
GOLD - Nikita SUCHKOV (RUS) df. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), 5-3

79kg
GOLD - Kakhaber KHUBEZHTY (RUS) df. Jumber KYELASHVILI (GEO), 14-4

86kg
GOLD - Ahmad BAZRIGHOLEI (IRI) df. Arsenali MUSALALIEV (RUS), 4-3

92kg
GOLD - Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) df. Anzor URISHEV (RUS), 3-3

97kg
GOLD - NURMAGOMED GADZHIEV (AZE) df. ULZISAIKHAN Batsul (MGL), 10-0

125kg
GOLD - Komeil GHASEMI (IRI) df. ZOLBOO (MGL), 2-0

China's RONG Ningning won her fourth gold medal of the year at the Poland Open. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

4.Rong Wins Second Ranking Series Gold Medal
The final women's wrestling Ranking Series event of the year wrapped up last weekend and China’s RONG Ningning continued her 2018 hot streak and remained undefeated on the year, winning the 57kg gold medal.

Rong’s win in Warsaw was her second Ranking Series gold medal of the year. She also won the China Open. In addition to her two Ranking Series championships, Rong claimed gold medals at the Ivan Yargin and Asian Championships, while also going undefeated at the World Cup.

In the 57kg finals, Rong was pitted against Norway’s ninth-ranked Grace BULLEN. Trailing 4-0, the Chinese star went on a 10-0 run and picked up the fall and won her fourth gold medal of the year.

Women’s Wrestling
50kg
GOLD - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Ilona SEMKIV (UKR), 13-2

53kg
GOLD - Nanami IRIE (JPN) df. Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL), 2-2

55kg
GOLD - Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 6-2

57kg
GOLD - Ningning RONG (CHN) df. Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR), via fall

59kg
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) df. Marwa AMRI (TUN), 3-2

62kg
GOLD - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) df. Malin Johanna MATTSSON (SWE), 2-1

65kg
GOLD - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN), 3-2

72kg
GOLD - Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) df. Kunming WANG (CHN), via fall

68kg
GOLD - Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 16-5

76kg
GOLD - Erica WIEBE (CAN) df. Aline FOCKEN (GER), 7-0

Click HERE for the full recap

Kamal BEY (USA) and Akzol MAHMUDOV (KGZ) after their epic 2017 finals match-up. (Photo by Marion Stein)

5. Junior World Championships Are One Week Away
One week from today, the Junior World Championships will be underway in Trnava, Slovakia.

Returning Greco-Roman world champions Kamal BEY (USA), Kerem KAMAL (TUR), and Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) kick off the World Championships on Monday, September 17.

Reigning women's wrestling world champions, Sae NANJO (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS), along with reigning senior-level world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN) take the mat on Wednesday, September 19.

Daton FIX (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA), the duo of American freestyle returning champions will close out the 2018 World Championships beginning on Friday, September 21.

Click HERE for the full schedule

World Championship Lineups
Freestyle Lineups
Greco-Roman Lineups
Women's Wrestling Lineups

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday!

2. Happy Monday, wrestling fans. Have a great week. ?: @mokkdiussh1

3. Great match and amazing action all day in Astana!! @unitedworldgrappling ?? -

4. Superman [wrestling version] ? Супермен [борцовская версия] ? ? @krakatauf #wrestling #superman #борьба #дети

5. Viktor LEBEDEV (RUS) / @lebedev57 and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) / @frankchamizo92 in Yakutsk, Russia ?? before the Dmitry Korkin (September 6-8). How many world titles are there between these two? (Lebedev is not wrestling)?: @byastin_news .

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW World Conference: Lalovic stresses on AI, Amateur MMA and keeping wrestling at the top

Friday, September 26, 2025 - 17:25 By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 24) -- Putting his faith in the ‘young generations’ to use Artificial Intelligence to their ‘benefit’, United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC said that proper use of the ‘modern tools may help coaching, analysis, planning events and being more efficient’. Lalovic called on the wrestling world to ‘adapt’ and embrace AI, ’which is already almost everywhere’.

The UWW President shared these thoughts at the first UWW World Conference 2025, which was held in Zagreb from September 17 to 19. The conference covered a wide array of topics and brought together the best minds in the sport and beyond under one roof on the sidelines of the World Championships.

Expert panelists from all over the world discussed subjects ranging from digital transformation and associated styles to injury prevention and weight management, growing women’s wrestling and career transitions for wrestlers, as well as the future of the sport during the three-day event at the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia.

The conference started with Lalovic and UWW Secretary General Carlos ROY welcoming the delegates.

Lalovic said in his address: “We had this idea maybe almost a decade ago. We were seeking a platform, how these good relations among wrestlers and the national federations can improve our sport.”

UWW Secretary General Carlos ROY welcomes the delegates to the World Conference. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Roy added that the ‘rich program was designed to cover wrestling from every angle’. “This conference brings together leaders, coaches, athletes, medical and scientific experts, referees and partners from around the world to exchange knowledge, share experiences and shape the future of our sport,” he said.

Among those who attended the event were leaders from National Federations, members of UWW Commissions, the International Olympic Committee, International Testing Agency and UWW partners like TAISHAN, Rudis and N3XT. Legendary wrestlers including Mijain LOPEZ (CUB), Erica WIEBE (CAN), Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG), Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) and Marwa AMRI (TUN) also graced the symposium and shared their views during the lively discussions.

While Wiebe spoke about the wrestlers’ transition from actively competing to other jobs in wrestling, Julfalakyan shared insights on how collaboration between different bodies can power the clean sport drive, an important area where the UWW has continued its development work. Mattsson, who is now the head coach of the Swedish team, opened up on ways to support and train women’s wrestlers.

Nenad LALOVIC in a Q/A session with UWW Development Director Deqa NIAMKEY.

Lalovic and Deqa NIAMKEY, the UWW Development Director, got the sessions underway with an intriguing discussion on the future of wrestling.

This topic continued to be a recurring theme as the new disciplines and associated styles were passionately talked about during the panel discussions.

UWW Associated Styles Manager of UWW Onur SIMSEK.

Onur SIMSEK, the Associated Styles Manager of UWW, spoke about Amateur MMA, which he said is the 'modern version of pankration, our ancient asset.'

"Technically MMA is wrestling, Pankration is wrestling, traditional styles are wrestling and grappling is wrestling itself," Simsek told the audience. "Pankration is the fundamental of MMA with its philosophy not only in sports but teaching that a wrestler understands the sport. It keeps the richness in wrestling."

Simsek said it was important to govern these styles because the 'aim is to unite towards wrestling.' "So, we will govern all these styles today and in future too."

Lalovic echoed these sentiments, saying that ‘we want to prepare athletes who will one day join professional MMA leagues and competitions.'

"This is why we established a new department almost a year ago. We call this amateur MMA with protections," he said.

UWW Beach Wrestling Committee President Pedro SILVA.

Pedro SILVA, the President of the Wrestling Federation of Portugal and a UWW Bureau Member, underlined the growth of beach wrestling. He looked back at President Lalovic’s commitment to develop the style through statements made in 2018.

Acting on Lalovic’s comments, Silva said that in 2019, they went from ‘a yearly one event World Championship to a series of events, a world tour that would at the end produce a new world champion, new heroes.'

"We overhauled the rules, making them easier to understand, not only for the wrestling fans, but specifically for the new fans, the people that know nothing about wrestling," Silva said.

Pedro SILVA, left, and UWW Sports Director Jean-Daniel REY. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Silva was optimistic that the Beach Wrestling events at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, would drive high engagement.

"Dakar 2026 is the first Olympic Games in Africa, and Beach Wrestling is the UWW style at the Games," he said. "The national sport of Senegal is traditional wrestling, which is very close to Beach Wrestling. We anticipate a big fan engagement and also on TV, on social media due to the specific popularity of the sport within the host country."

Weekly FIVE! September 10, 2018

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UWW World Conference: Lalovic stresses on AI, Amateur MMA and keeping wrestling at the top