Top Stories of the Decade

Wrestling Expands to Include Cadet, U23 and U15 World Championship Events

Wednesday, December 25, 2019 - 22:38 By Andrew Hipps

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 25) -- Over the past decade, United World Wrestling has continued to expand its world championship events, reinstating the world championships for cadet wrestlers and adding world championship events for U23 and U15 wrestlers.

The first Cadet World Championships took place in 1975. However, it did not become an annual event on the competition calendar until 1987. Starting in 1987, the Cadet World Championships were contested for 13 consecutive years before being removed from the competition calendar after 1999. After a dozen years, the event was reinstated in 2011 and has once again become an annual world championship event that attracts the world's top 17-and-under wrestlers.

In 2017, United World Wrestling announced the addition of the U23 World Championships to its official competition calendar. The inaugural event took place that same year in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The U23 World Championships event was created following the success of the U23 European Championships in 2016 where more than 400 wrestlers from 34 nations competed for the continental gold. The large turnout was attributed to a desire by many national federations to give their top prospects a chance to compete in a meaningful federation-based championship.

Wrestling success tends to favor the young, with the average age of 2016 Olympic champion being just 23.1 years old for freestyle wrestling, 24.6 years in women’s wrestling and 27.5 years old in Greco-Roman.

In 2019, United World Wrestling held the World School Combat Games, the first-ever world championship event for U15 wrestlers, in Budapest, Hungary. Ten nations competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman, while seven competed in women’s wrestling. 

U-15 continental championship events were also held for Asia, Europe and the Americas.

#UWWAwards

Ono, Bondar, Hedayati named UWW's Rising Stars for 2024

Thursday, December 12, 2024 - 15:56 By Vinay Siwach

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United World Wrestling has named Masanosuke ONO (JPN), Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) as the Emerging Stars of the Year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman for 2024.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)

A storm hit the wrestling world late in the season. 20-year-old Masanosuke ONO (JPN) went on a rampage at the U20 and senior World Championships, winning both titles.

He first competed internationally at the Yasar Dogu tournament in March this year, winning the gold medal in a 28-wrestler 61kg bracket. Then he moved up to 65kg for the Asian Championships in Bishkek. However, he suffered a fall against Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) in his first bout. He returned to win the bronze medal.

That loss against Tumur Ochir would be a distant memory as Ono went on to win gold at the U20 World Championships, winning three out of four bouts via technical superiority. Then came the World Championships Tirana with Ono being a dark horse.

He quickly changed that to the favorite to win the gold medal as he opened with a huge 10-2 win over Tokyo Olympic champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN). He went on to add four more wins for the gold medal with scores reading 12-0, 11-0, 12-0 and 10-0.

Ono, currently a student at Yamanashi Gakuin University, earned new fans in Tirana with his dynamic style of wrestling and his celebrations. Most fans are glued to their seats when Ono is on the mat as in Tirana as he showed his range of attacks, from leg attacks to par terre and from upper body throws to leg laces.

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)Iryna BONDAR (UKR) won six gold medals, including two at world championships, this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)

Among one of the most active wrestlers this year, Iryna BONDAR (UKR) clearly emerges as the future star in the making.

Bondar has competed at a staggering eight tournaments this year and won gold medals at six. Bondar began the year with an eighth-place finish at the Zagreb Open, her first senior competition, but then began a prolific run of winning gold medals at all age-group tournaments.

Bondar began with the U23 European Championships, added the second at the Budapest Ranking Series before adding the gold at the U20 European Championships. Then came the World Championships season. She won the U20 World Championships gold medal at 62kg, a month later she added the U23 World Championships gold medal at 62kg.

She could have capped off her season on a high but she participated in her first senior World Championships days after the U23 event. Wrestling at 65kg, she suffered a close loss to Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN).

In the four championships this year, Bodnar has outscored her opponents 155-25 in 18 bouts. Before that loss in Tirana, she was on a 24-0 winning run this year.

Bondar has been an active wrestler on the tour and won medals at the U20, U23 World Championships before, finishing with silvers and bronzes. However, the gold rush came this year.

Her form at 62kg makes her the heir apparent to two-time Olympic medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) who recently won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) won the 130kg gold at the U23 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)

While a lot can be said about Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) and his age-group world titles, his stunned the wrestling world in Budapest this year.

At the Budapest Ranking Series in July, a tune-up tournament for the Paris Olympics, Hedayati shocked world and Olympic champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) at Greco-Roman 130kg with a 4-0 win. Hedayati broke the Turkish legend in the six-minute bout and claimed the most famous win of his career so far.

Hedayati has been knocking on the 130kg door of the Iran team for long but Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is still holding the spot. But the 2024 year has further Hedayati's claim over it.

Beginning the year with the Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Hedayati won he gold medal at 130kg with victories over Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), Wenhao JIANG (CHN), Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) and Lingzhe MENG (CHN).

Then came the 2024 Vehbi Emre tournament in which he challenged Mirzazadeh for the spot on Iran team but suffered a loss, his only of the season. He bounced back quickly from that and won the Budapest Ranking Series gold medal. Hedayati's style an be gauged with the fact that he did no give up a single point in three bouts in Budapest, making him a highly active wrestler.

He capped off the year with his first U23 World Championships gold medal at 130kg in Tirana. Hedayati's golden run included victories over some of the biggest names in age-group wrestling like Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN), Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR), Hamza BAKIR (TUR).

Only Vyshnyvetskyi, who defeated Hedayati for the gold at the U20 World Championships in 2022, was able to score points on Hedayati when he hit an arm-throw. However, even in that bout, the Iranian never looked in any trouble.

Hedayati's active wrestler makes it difficult for his opponents to get him in forced par terre, making it difficult for them to score.