#WrestleSofia

World Olympic Games Qualifier Entries

By Eric Olanowski

SOFIA, Bulgaria (April 28) -- The final qualification event for the Tokyo Olympic Games, the World Olympic Games Qualifier, kicks off next Thursday (May 6-9) in Sofia, Bulgaria, and is set to welcome 474 athletes from 84 different nations. 

Coming into Sofia, 14/16 Olympic licenses have been claimed. Wrestlers who reach the finals in their respective weight classes punch their nations tickets to August's Tokyo Olympic Games.

Tokyo Olympic Qualification Events:
- '19 World Championships (six)
- '20 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier (two)
- '21 European Olympic Qualifier (two)
- ‘21 African & Oceania Olympic Qualifier (two)
- ‘21 Asian Olympic Qualifier (two)
- '21 World Olympic Games Qualifier (two)

Freestyle

57kg
Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)
Uladzislau ANDREYEU (BLR)
Aso PALANI (CAN)
Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB)
Juan Rubelin RAMIREZ BELTRE (DOM)
Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP)
Junjun ASEBIAS (FSM)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Mohamed Ismaele CAMARA (GUI)
Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA)
Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Simon Kamau WAINAINA (KEN)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Chakir ANSARI (MAR)
Anatolii BURUIAN (MDA)
Roberto ALEJANDRO BLANCO (MEX)
Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Muhammad BILAL (PAK)
Richard Antonio GARCIA ANDRADE (PAN)
Razvan Marian KOVACS (ROU)
Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK)
Rozgeldi SEYIDOV (TKM)
Taras MARKOVYCH (UKR)
Pedro Jesus MEJIAS RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

65kg
Vilson NDREGJONI (ALB)
Gabriel JANATSCH (AUT)
Niurgun SKRIABIN (BLR)
Marcos Wesley DE BRITO SIQUEIRA (BRA)
Ruhan Hyusnyu RASIM (BUL)
Dillon Emmanuel WILLIAMS (CAN)
Wber Euclides CUERO MUNOZ (COL)
Albaro RUDECINDO CAMACHO (DOM)
Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY)
Juan Pablo GONZALEZ CRESPO (ESP)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
George Anthony RAMM (GBR)
Mbunde CUMBA MBALI (GBS)
TBD - (GEO)
Alexander SEMISOROW (GER)
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE)
Abdellatif MANSOUR (ITA) 
Gilbert Mbevoni KABOCHE (KEN)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Mohammed J M Th A ABDULKAREEM (KUW)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Sixto Miguel AUCCAPINA PEDRAGAS (PER)
Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL)
Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR)
Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU)
David HABAT (SLO)
Chamara Milinda Perera WEERASINGHEGE (SRI)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Perman HOMMADOV (TKM)
Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)
Hor OHANNESIAN (UKR)
Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA)
Ilyas BEKBULATOV (UZB)
Hussein Abdullah Hussein Abdullah AL AZZANI (YEM)

74kg
Francisco de Deus KADIMA (ANG)
Jorge Ivan LLANO (ARG)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Elias Lauofo VAOIFI (ASA)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Jasmit Singh PHULKA (CAN)
Leon Juan Carlos PERALTA LANAS (CHI)
Nestor Joaquin TAFUR BARRIOS (COL)
Julio Rafael RODRIGUEZ ROMERO (DOM)
Jonatan ALVAREZ DIAZ (ESP)
Aimar ANDRUSE (EST)
Nicolae COJOCARU (GBR)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Amit Kumar DHANKHAR (IND)
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR)
Mathayo Matonya MAHABILA (KEN)
Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ)
Byungmin GONG (KOR)
Evgheni NEDEALCO (MDA)
Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL)
Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR)
Abdullrahman Ibrahim A IBRAHIM (QAT)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
Mohamed SESAY (SLE)
Malik Michael AMINE (SMR)
Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Tajmuraz Mairbekovic SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Alymuhammet OVEZMYRADOV (TKM)
Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)

86kg
Hovhannes MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Akhmed Adamovich MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Alexander Robert MOORE (CAN)
Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Ville Tapani HEINO (FIN)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Bedopassa Buassat DJONDE (GBS)
Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO)
Ahmed Ruslanovic DUDAROV (GER)
Georgios SAVVOULIDIS (GRE)
Istvan VEREB (HUN)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Simone IANNATTONI (ITA)
Daichi TAKATANI (JPN)
Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
John Odhiambo OMONDI (KEN)
Saiakbai USUPOV (KGZ)
Abdullah F A SALEEM (KUW)
Domenic Michael ABOU NADER (LBN)
Piotr IANULOV (MDA)
Noel Alfonso TORRES CHACON (MEX)
Unurbat PUREVJAV (MGL)
Zbigniew Mateusz BARANOWSKI (POL)
Ethan Adrian RAMOS (PUR)
Mihai Nicolae PALAGHIA (ROU)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Bakhodur KODIROV (TJK)
Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM)
Maher GHANMI (TUN)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Pedro Francisco CEBALLOS FUENTES (VEN)

97kg
Nathaniel Tuifao TUAMOHELOA (ASA)
Ahmed Sultanovich BATAEV (BUL)
Ulrich Elyse MANOUAN (CIV)
Luis Miguel PEREZ SOSA (DOM)
Alejandro CANADA PANCORBO (ESP)
Erik Sven THIELE (GER)
Timofei XENIDIS (GRE)
Gino Tanislado AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Taira SONODA (JPN)
Naoya AKAGUMA (JPN)
Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ)
Minwon SEO (KOR)
Nicolai CEBAN (MDA)
Altangerel CHINBAT (MGL)
Haroon ABID (PAK)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Evan Amadour RAMOS (PUR)
Albert SARITOV (ROU)
Amadu O KAMARA (SLE)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR)
Jose Daniel DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN)

125kg
Paris KAREPI (ALB)
Param Pal SINGH (AUS)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Vakhit GALAYEV (AZE)
Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL)
Jose CUBA VAZQUEZ (ESP)
Jere Tapani HEINO (FIN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Tetsuya TANAKA (JPN)
Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ)
Donghwan KIM (KOR)
Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Charles Zachary MERRILL (PUR)
Rares Daniel CHINTOAN (ROU)
Sergei KOZYREV (RUS)
Rustam ISKANDARI (TJK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Dilmukhammed NURMUKHAMEDOV (UZB)

Greco-Roman

60kg 
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL)
Adam Takahashi MACFADYEN (CAN)
Dicther Hans TORO CASTANEDA (COL)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Sachin RANA (IND)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Mohammad F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Fouad FAJARI (MAR)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Samuel GURRIA VIGUERAS (MEX)
Stig Andre BERGE (NOR)
Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL)
Joshua Xavier MEDINA (PUR)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Ardit FAZLJIJA (SWE)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Merdan ALLAYAROV (TKM)
Jui Chi HUANG (TPE)

67kg 
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR)
Deyvid Tihomirov DIMITROV (BUL)
Daniel Troy COLES (CAN)
Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ (CHI)
Danijel JANECIC (CRO)
Enyer Manuel FELICIANO (DOM)
Marcos SANCHEZ SILVA MEJIAS (ESP)
Elmer Joakim MATTILA (FIN)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Ashu ASHU (IND)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ)
Kenneth KOECH (KEN)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Diego Alberto MARTINEZ DE LEIJA (MEX)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Nilton Gonzalo Marcos SOTO GARCIA (PER)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Leos DRMOLA (SVK)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Aker AL OBAIDI (UWW)
Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB)
Anthony Javier PALENCIA PUENTES (VEN)

77kg
Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG)
Francisco de Deus KADIMA (ANG)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Viktar SASUNOUSKI (BLR)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Jair Alexis CUERO MUNOZ (COL)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Yuisralembert CARRION PEREZ (ESP)
Matias Olavi Iisakki LIPASTI (FIN)
Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA)
Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE)
Singh GURPREET (IND)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Edgar BABAYAN (POL)
Marciano George ALI (PUR)
Bakhit Sharif K BADR (QAT)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Nicolas Peter CHRISTEN (SUI)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Daler REZA ZADE (TJK)
Muhammetberdi MAMEDOV (TKM)
Fatih CENGIZ (TUR)
Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR)
Jesse Alexander PORTER (USA)
Wuileixis de Jesus RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN)

87kg 
Artur SHAHINYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Tarek Mohamed ABDELSLAM SHEBLE MOHAMED (BUL)
Ioannis NARLIDIS (CAN)
Carlos Andres MUNOZ JARAMILLO (COL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Petr NOVAK (CZE)
Pedro Jacinto GARCIA PEREZ (ESP)
Vili Tapio ROPPONEN (FIN)
Dimitrios PAPADOPOULOS (GRE)
Ariel Andres ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ (HON)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Naser Ghasem ALIZADEH (IRI)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Lesyan Osvaldo COUSIN OTOMURO (JAM)
Yoji KAWAMURA (JPN)
Masato SUMI (JPN)
Mark Omumasaba INGUYESI (KEN)
Jinhyeok KIM (KOR)
Julius MATUZEVICIUS (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Alvis Albino ALMENDRA JIMENEZ (PAN)
Arkadiusz Marcin KULYNYCZ (POL)
Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
Ramon Rainer BETSCHART (SUI)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK)
Shageldi ANNAYEV (TKM)
Metehan BASAR (TUR)
Luis Eduardo AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR)
Thomas Rahontsiiosta BARREIRO (CAN)
Phillip Raweriio BARREIRO (CAN)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Amir ALAWAD (EGY)
Jesus GASCA FRESNEDA (ESP)
Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA)
Peter OEHLER (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON)
Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN)
Deepanshu DEEPANSHU (IND)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Kaito MIYAMOTO (JPN)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Seungjun KIM (KOR)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Pontus Johan LUND (SWE)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Luillys Jose PEREZ MORA (VEN)

130kg
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Radoslav Plamenov GEORGIEV (BUL)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Leo Dalis SANTANA HEREDIA (DOM)
Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Alexandros PAPADATOS (GRE)
Adam VARGA (HUN)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Luca GODINO (ITA)
Arata SONODA (JPN)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Murat RAMONOV (KGZ)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafal Andrzej KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Adam Jacob COON (USA)
Moises Salvador PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN)

Women's Wrestling

50kg 
Patricia Alejandra BERMUDEZ (ARG)
Anastasiya YANOTAVA (BLR)
Kamila BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA (BRA)
Jessica Anne Marie MACDONALD (CAN)
Lucia Yamileth YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Nada Medani Ashour Abdalla MOHAMED (EGY)
Julie Martine SABATIE (FRA)
Debora Valeria TURE (GBS)
Lisa ERSEL (GER)
Mia Lahnee Ramos AQUINO (GUM)
Seema SEEMA (IND)
YeoJin KIM (KOR)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Thalia Jihann MALLQUI PECHE (PER)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE)
Meng Hsuan HSIEH (TPE)
Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB)


53kg 
Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Sezen Behchetova BELBEROVA (BUL)
Samantha Leigh STEWART (CAN)
Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Hilary Ysaline HONORINE (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Mercedesz DENES (HUN)
Emma Nekesa WANGILA (KEN)
Hyunyoung OH (KOR)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Laura Gabriela PEREDO TORRES (MEX)
Jessica Cornelia Francisca BLASZKA (NED)
Esther Omolayo KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS)
Yung Hsun LIN (TPE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Iryna KHARIV CHYKHRADZE (UKR)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
Betzabeth Angelica ARGUELLO VILLEGAS (VEN)

57kg 
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Linda MORAIS (CAN)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA)
Laura MERTENS (GER)
Emese BARKA (HUN)
Francesca INDELICATO (ITA)
Altynay SATYLGAN (KAZ)
Nuraida ANARKULOVA (KGZ)
Shinhye LEE (KOR)
Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR)
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)
Nes Marie RODRIGUEZ TIRADO (PUR)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS)
Sara Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Sevara ESHMURATOVA (UZB)
Betzabeth Rebeca SARCO COLMENAREZ (VEN)

62kg
Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE)
Veranika IVANOVA (BLR)
Jessica Lise BROUILLETTE (CAN)
Berthe Emilienne ETANE NGOLLE (CMR)
Jackeline RENTERIA CASTILLO (COL)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Luisa Helga Gerda NIEMESCH (GER)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Aina TEMIRTASSOVA (KAZ)
Winrose ALIVISA (KEN)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
Alejandra ROMERO BONILLA (MEX)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
Ashley Chantelle ZARATE CAMPBELL (PAN)
Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Elif Jale YESILIRMAK (TUR)
Nabira ESENBAEVA (UZB)
Nathaly Josefina GRIMAN HERRERA (VEN)

68kg 
Luz Clara VAZQUEZ (ARG)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)
Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Yessica Coraima OVIEDO PEREZ (DOM)
Agoro PAPAVASILEIOU (GRE)
Nisha NISHA (IND)
Ilana KRATYSH (ISR)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Eun Sun JEONG (KOR)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Ambar Michell GARNICA FLORES (MEX)
Yanet Ursula SOVERO NINO (PER)
Natalia Iwona STRZALKA (POL)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)
Soleymi Antonieta CARABALLO HERNANDEZ (VEN)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Gozal ZUTOVA (AZE)
Mariya Gerginova ORYASHKOVA (BUL)
Amy YOUIN (CIV)
Tatiana RENTERIA RENTERIA (COL)
Milaimys de la Caridad MARIN POTRILLE (CUB)
Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Pauline Denise LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Georgina Olwen NELTHORPE (GBR)
Aikaterini Eirini PITSIAVA (GRE)
Zsanett NEMETH (HUN)
Pooja POOJA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Sujin PARK (KOR)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Iselin Maria Moen SOLHEIM (NOR)
Patrycja SPERKA (POL)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Shakhribonu ELLIEVA (UZB)
Maria Jose ACOSTA ACOSTA (VEN)

#BeachWrestling

Beach Wrestling: Iran's return to top; Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan win first golds

By United World Wrestling Press

KATERINI-PIERIA, Greece (September 27) -- Iran’s return to Beach Wrestling after an eight-year absence could have been cautious. Instead, it was commanding.

Iran won four medals, including two golds, to claim the men’s team title at the U17 World Beach Wrestling Championships after a close race with Georgia, which finished second with 75 points to Iran’s 80. Azerbaijan was third with 62 points.

In the women's category, hosts Greece managed to go past France to finish first with 50 points while France ended up second with 42. The United States was third with 32 points.

The U17 World Championships is a significant stop in Beach Wrestling as it will be taken into consideration for while awarding the quotas for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

IranIran's two gold medalists in Greece, Mahdi FOTOUHI (IRI), left, at 90kg and Youssof HOSSEIN (IRI), right, at 70kg.

Gold medalists for Iran, Youssof HOSSEIN (IRI) at 70kg and Mahdi FOTOUHI (IRI) at 90kg, were competing in Beach Wrestling for the first time but never let their inexperience affect their performances.

Hossein, who defeated Stefan MUNTEAN (MDA) in the knockout match, was placed in Group D with Yuki UEDA (JPN), Nikolaos PAPADOPOULOS (GRE) and Ilie TURCAN (MDA). He defeated Papadopoulos 3-1 in the group bout before blanking Turcan 3-0 in just 40 seconds. He was quicker against Ueda, winning in 34 seconds.

Facing Luka MAKHARADZE (GEO) in the quarterfinals, Hossein scored a 3-1 victory and took only 40 seconds to beat Rashad ALIYEV (AZE) in the semifinals.

In an all-Iran final, Hossein fell behind 1-0 against Ilyar VEGHARI (IRI) but stormed back with two straight points with a knee and head touch from Veghari. He used a lateral drop as his final move to win 5-1. Veghari's lost challenge added to Hossein's score and made it 6-1.

Fotouhi was even more dominant at 90kg, winning all three of his group bouts via fall. Charilaos CHAITIDIS (GRE) survived getting pinned in the quarterfinals but Fotouhi was strong enough to win 3-0 and advance to the semifinals.

After winning the semifinal 2-1 against Elgun KARIMLI (AZE), Fotouhi was back to his dominant self and slammed Joni SHAORSHADZE (GEO) to pick his fourth fall in six bouts and the gold medal for Iran.

Fotouhi began with a step out to earn his first point of the final. Both wrestlers arm-locked each other and tried to throw at the edge but it was Shaorshadze who touched outside first which gave Fotouhi his second point.

In one of those moments when his Freestyle instincts took over, Fotouhi went for duckunder and touched his knee on the sand which gave Shaorshadze a point to make the score 2-1. The Georgian tried a fireman carry in the final 10 seconds but Fotouhi pancaked him for a fall.

At 60kg, Mykyta KUZMENKO (UKR) defeated Rati BERIDZE (GEO) twice, first in the group stages and then in final, to claim the gold medal.

Kuzmenko blanked all his opponents barring Beridze who managed to score one point when the two met in the Group B bout. However, the Ukrainian improved and gave no chance to Beridze in the final, winning 3-0.

The Ukrainian was quick to score two step-outs and lead 2-0 and when Beridze tried to score a point, Kuzmenko snapped him down and scored his third and winning point.

Georgia had another silver medalist, Nuradin MUSTAFAEV (GEO), who suffered a one-sided loss in the 80kg final to Nihad SULEYMANLI (AZE), who had represented Azerbaijan at the U17 World Championships in Athens in August.

Suleymanli did not give up a single point in the tournament and won the final against Mustafaev 3-0. He scored a step-out to open the scoring in the final before Mustafaev fell on the ground to give a second point. The Georgian wrestler tried tripping Suleymanli but instead gave a takedown for one point to drop the final.

AzerbaijanAzerbaijan's first-ever gold medalist Ulviyya MUSAYEVA (AZE) with other team members.

Historic golds for Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan

In the women's category, Puerto Rico and Azerbaijan earned historic golds as four different countries crowned champions.

Heklanys RIVERA (PUR), the first woman to compete in Beach Wrestling for her country, made a stunning run to the gold medal at 45kg. She did not give up a single point in six bouts including the final.

Taking on Kaltouma SALISSOU (FRA) in the final, Rivera was put on the 30-second activity clock. With eight seconds remaining, Rivera used an underhook to get the first takedown for a point.

The second point was awarded to Rivera when Salissou committed a foul by grabbing Rivera's shorts. The winning takedown was similar to the first one as Rivera moved from underhook to tripping Salissou.

For Azerbaijan, 15-year-old Ulviyya MUSAYEVA (AZE) needed only 16 seconds to create history. She defeated last year's champion Reisa KOJIMA (JPN) via fall in the 55kg final. Kojima tried hitting a lateral drop in the final but fell on her back, which gave Musayeva three points for the win.

Earlier, Musayeva had lost one of the group bouts against Mia KOVAC (CRO) via fall but rebounded to win all remaining bouts to make the final and then capture the gold medal.

Hosts Greece, which won the team title, earned the gold medal at 75kg through Elena ZAIMIDOU (GRE) who scored a 32-second victory via fall over Madeline HAYDEN (USA) in the final.

Zaimidou, who has competed and won gold in Grappling at the European level, secured three victories via fall, and a victory via superiority over Merily VAESTER (EST) in the semifinals.

In the gold medal bout, Hayden stunned the local fans when she hit a beautiful over-the-head suplex on Zaimidou. Hayden went for a second suplex, but Zaimidou blocked her, using a headlock, and Hayden fell on her back which gave Zaimidou three points and the victory.

Hayden challenged the scoring but the points were confirmed on review and Zaimidou was awarded a point for lost challenge, which made her score 4-1.

European bronze medalist in Women's Wrestling, Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) earned the gold medal at 65kg after some nervous wins. She defeated Thea ROUSSEL (FRA), 3-0, in the final in 49 seconds using three easy snapdowns.