#CanadaWrestling

Wrestling.Ca: Where are they now? – Bob Molle

By Wrestling Canada

Bob Molle has lived an incredible life, although he says he is “just getting going.” His accomplishments include a silver medal in wrestling at the 1984 Olympics, two Grey Cup championships as a player for Winnipeg Blue Bombers, national championships as a wrestler and coach, an author, a public speaker and now a successful business coach. Molle explains that when he looks back at his life, what means the most to him are the relationships he developed along the way.

Born and raised in Saskatoon, Molle remembers that it was his high school coach that introduced him to the sport of wrestling. While he had always wrestled in the backyard as a kid, he had not considered formally participating in the sport until he was asked to try out. He loved the sport from the word “go”.

Wrestling became Bob’s third competitive sport, alongside football and hockey. It was not long before Molle’s affection for wrestling grew and his passion and abilities began to shine when the coach of the University of Saskatchewan team invited him to join their practices.

In 1980, Molle lost in the final of the national championship to his now lifelong friend, Nick Kiniski.  After the match, Kiniski suggested he come out to Simon Fraser University (SFU) so they could train together. Molle wanted to play football too, so he saw SFU as a “double opportunity.”

Molle continued to compete in both sports at SFU and was the first student to receive full scholarships in two sports. After capturing his first two (of four) national championships, World Cup and Pan-American Games bronze medals, Molle went on to win a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics – all by the age of 21. The following year, he made the transition to professional football after being drafted in the first round of the 1985 CFL draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Three short years later, Molle and the Bombers won the Grey Cup. He had an Olympic medal and a Grey Cup championship by the age of 26. While he had found success in both individual and team sports, it was the lessons from his wrestling career that propelled him to his next challenge. “In wrestling, you are on your own. When you win or lose you are by yourself. You can’t say it was someone’s fault or we could have played better as a team. In wrestling, you have to look in the mirror. There is beauty in that because you have to ask yourself how can I do better?”

Pursuing goals is something Molle takes to heart. His next challenge was taking over the wrestling program at the University of Manitoba. Molle explains that while he did know if he would be a good coach, the more he did it, the more naturally it came to him. When he traveled with the football team, he took the opportunity to recruit top talent to the university. This led to two national championships.

After his football career, Molle took the lessons of strong relationships and finding good talent to the corporate world as a business coach. He knew that mutual trust was key to teambuilding and success. These were the keys to helping his clients and building his own business through referrals.

Today, as a business coach, Molle helps companies build solid internal relationships and strong connections with stakeholders to whom they are responsible. He recruits talent and helps build teams that work. He works with a number of companies across the country and no matter what the business, the key is finding the right people to work together. Like any team, Bob starts with an assessment of the roster, the talent level and looks for gaps in communication or execution. With the right people in place and an understanding of how they can complement each other, he helps take his clients to the next level.

When Molle looks back on all his accomplishments, it is the relationships he formed that stand out as his biggest highlight. “I am nearly 60 and still have many of the relationships I made during my time in wrestling. I always say once you are part of the wrestling family, you are always part of the family.” He continues to support those in the wrestling community in any way that he can.

Molle has taken the lessons he first learned in the wrestling room and added to them each step of his life journey and no plans of ever retiring. He makes time for the things he enjoys in life like his family and exercise, but remains focused on his continued personal growth. He is always asking himself, “What can I do better?”

For more information on Canadian wrestling, visit https://wrestling.ca or follow them on Instagram and Twitter!

#WrestleBratislava

European Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (March 17) -- The European Championships will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia from April 7 to 13.

More than 450 wrestler will be in action in 30 weight classes in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

The Championships will be live on UWW+ which can be accessed on uww.org and UWW App. Follow United World Wrestling on Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook and TikTok.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change. For final entries, refer to arena.uww.org on the day of the competition.

Freestyle

57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Rocco TERRANOVA (ITA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Robert MESZAROS (SVK)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Carlos ALVAREZ IGLESIAS (ESP)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Sergiu LUPASCO (MDA)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Cabbar DUYUM (TUR)
Andrii SVYRYD (UKR)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
George KOLIEV (UWW)
David BAEV (UWW)

74kg
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
Yahor AKULICH (UWW)
Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW)

79kg
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
Jacopo MASOTTI (ITA)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg
Lukas LINS (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Rolan ARNTASEV ARDASHEV (GRE)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Kornelijus STULGINSKAS (LTU)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)
Artur NAIFONOV (UWW)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Rahmatullah MORADI (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Azamat ZAKUEV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Gurgen SIMONYAN (ARM)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Georgios KOTANIDIS (GRE)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (UWW)

Buse TOSUN (TUR)Buse TOSUN (TUR), Paris bronze medalist at 68kg and returning champion, will be in action after eight months. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ana TORRES (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW)

53kg
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Reka HEGEDUS (SVK)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
Viyaleta REBIKAVA CHYRYK (UWW)

55kg
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Aliaksandra BULAVA (UWW)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW)

59kg
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Alesia HETMANAVA (UWW)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW)

62kg
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Nina BODISTEANU (MDA)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Sara LINDBORG (SWE)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

65kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Marta OJEDA NAVARRO (ESP)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Krystsina SAZYKINA (UWW)
Dinara KUDAEVA (UWW)

68kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Nerea PAMPIN BLANCO (ESP)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Michaela SEBOEKOVA (SVK)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW)

72kg
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Emilia CRECIUN (MDA)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Elvira ERSSON (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)
Kseniia BURAKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)Four-time Olympic medalist Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) is going for his eighth European Championships title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Arnold MEGALY (SVK)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)

60kg
Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Nedyalko PETROV (BUL)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (UWW)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ruslan BICHURIN (UWW)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Jakub SIMCIK (CZE)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Mehmet SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Alen MIRZOIAN (UWW)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Georgios SOTIRIADIS (GRE)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Oliver OLAH (SVK)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Artem SHAPOVALOV (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Islam ALIEV (UWW)

87kg
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Norbert SIPKA (SVK)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)

97kg
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Serhii OMELIN (UKR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)

130kg
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)