Roundup

UPDATED: NF Roundup Blog, Nov. 9-13

Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - 18:08 By United World Wrestling Press

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Images from Cadet National Championships in Uzbekistan


Images from Kabul Zone Competition in Afghanistan


Russia Claims 5/6 FS Golds at Moscow Grand Prix
The Russian Federation claimed five of six Olympic-weight freestyle gold medals at the 2020 Moscow Grand Prix. Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE) ended the host nation's run of four consecutive gold medals with a barn-burning 10-10 victory over Erik DZHIOEV (RUS) in the 97kg finals. Russia's handful of champions were: Ramis GAMZATOV (57kg), Nachyin KUULAR (65kg), Israil KASUMOV (74kg), Magomed RAMAZANOV (86kg) and Shamil SHARIPOV (125kg).

Freestyle Results
57kg: Ramis GAMZATOV (RUS) df. Islam BAZARGANOV (RUS), 9-4
65kg: Nachyin KUULAR (RUS) df. Daud IBRAGIMOV (AZE), 2-2
74kg: Israil KASUMOV (RUS) df. Yakup GOR (TUR), 6-5
86kg: Magomed RAMAZANOV (RUS) df. Arsen BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ), 4-1
97kg: Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE) df. Erik DZHIOEV (RUS), 10-10
125kg: Shamil SHARIPOV (RUS) df. Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ), via fall

 

Etlinger Gives Host Nation Zagreb Open Title
Croatia's own Dominik ETLINGER defeated Moldova's Valentin PETIC, 8-0, in the 72kg finals and won gold on home soil at the Zagreb Open. "When I woke up Saturday, I knew it was going to be a great day," said Etlinger. "I wasn't exhausted because I only cut two kilograms, and that's nothing to me. I was also excited because it was my first international tournament since February, and it was in my town." Etlinger now patiently awaits the decision on the 2020 World Championships, saying, "I hope a decision will on the World Championships be made soon so I can take gold there, too."

Meanwhile, four-time world champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) led a Turkey squad who captured four gold medals. In addition to Kayaalp's 130kg winning-performance, Ekrem OZTURK (55kg), Kerem KAMAL (60kg) and Burhan AKBUDAK (82kg) also finished atop the podium in Croatia.

Greco-Roman gold-medal match results from the Zagreb Open:
55kg - Ekrem OZTURK ?? df. Serif KILIC ??, 7-4
60kg - @keremkamal ?? df. Viktor CIOBANU ??, 7-4
67kg - Donior ISLAMOV ?? df. @atakanyuksel_a.h ??, 6-1
72kg - @dominiket ?? df. Valentin PETIC ??, 8-0
77kg - @cataraga.daniel ?? df. @alexandrin.gutu ??, 4-2
82kg - Burhan AKBUDAK ?? df. Salih AYDIN ??, 3-0
87kg - Oskar JOHANSSON ?? df. @ivanhuklek ??, 4-1
97kg – Mihail KADZAIA ?? df. @cenkildem ??, 5-1
130kg - @rizakayaalp ?? df. Marko KOŠČEVIĆ ??, 9-0

Turkey Takes Home Four Poland Open Gold Medals
Turkey's freestyle squad matched their countrymen's four gold-medal performance from the Zagreb Open in Warsaw at the Poland Open. Ahmet DUMAN (57kg), Fazli ERYILMAZ (74kg), Erhan YAYLACI (92kg) and Suleyman KARADENIZ (97kg) finished in first place in their respective weight classes. 

Meanwhile, Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (70kg) and Polish teammates Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (65kg) and Robert BARAN (125kg) each seized gold medals.

Freestyle gold-medal match results from the @pzz_official Poland Open:
57kg: Razvan KOVACS ?? df. CraciunPETRU ??, 12-2
61 kg: Ahmet DUMAN ?? df. Recep TOPAL ??, 1-1
65 kg: Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI ?? df. Ilman MUKHTAROV ??, 4-3
70 kg: Magomedmurad GADZHIEV ?? df. Haydar YUVUZ ??, 3-2
74 kg: Fazli ERYILMAZ ?? df. Maxim VASILIOGLO ??, 4-1
79 kg: Saifedine ALEKMA ?? df. Alan AMIROVS ??, 12-6
86 kg: Pitor IANULOV ?? df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI ??, 5-1
92 kg: Erhan YAYLACI ?? df. Arif OEZEN ??, 10-0
97 kg: Suleyman KARADENIZ ?? df. Radoslaw BARAN ??, 10-0
125 kg: Robert BARAN ?? df. Daniel LIGETI ??, 3-2

Cuban Wrestlers Complete 60-Day Training Camp
Freestyle, women's wrestling and Greco-Roman teams from Cuba spent two-months training in the Cuban cities of Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey very profitable.

“Never before have our athletes completed a 60-day training base, in which all the provinces created excellent living conditions. This favored the guarantee of two training sessions per day, and sometimes up to three, something never achieved in Havana," Luis de la Portilla, president of the Cuban Wrestling Federation.

Portilla reported that the multi-champion Mijaín López was one of the men who showed the best performance in these months.

Cuba has 12 wrestlers qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games and intends to send the rest of their squad to the Last Chance Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria, from April 30 to May 3.

To select the representatives, the results of the next Pedro Val December 11 and 12, at the Ciudad Deportiva in the capital, will be taken into account.

2026 Muhamet Malo

Sadulaev Returns to Tirana as Stacked 97kg Field Awaits

Friday, February 20, 2026 - 14:01 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 20) -- For years, the 97kg weight class was the premier one. Then it was not, mainly because of Abdulrashid SADULAEV's (UWW) absence and his rivalry with Kyle SNYDER (USA) had turned one-sided.

Then Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) came and went. Snyder picked up two world titles in Sadulaev's absence. Newer wrestlers threatened but none appeared to be as good as Sadulaev and Snyder.

Slowly other weight classes gave fans more. Like 86kg with David TAYLOR (USA) and Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) becoming the two pillars. 65kg was the deepest weight every year. In fact, no world or Olympic champion has won the gold medal consecutively at 65kg since 2008.

At 74kg, shake-up kept happening with Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) making way for Kyle DAKE (USA). But Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) was the leader until Razambek JAMALOV (UZB), Chermen VALIEV (ALB), and Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) came along.

But 97kg is back in the spotlight.

Five months after he became the world champion, Snyder will be part of a new chapter of the 97kg series as Sadulaev returns to competition in this weight class after more than two years.

Wrestling at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event in Tirana, Albania, Sadulaev will join Snyder, Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), Batyrbek TSUKALOV (SVK), Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW), among others in Tirana. If Sadulaev and Snyder clash, it will be their first match since the 2021 World Championships final in Oslo, Norway.

Snyder is still the rock he is, pressuring wrestlers into giving up at his pace. It is how he won his fourth world title in Zagreb. He easily overpowers everyone except Sadulaev.

But will Sadulaev be at his best? The 29-year-old last competed at the 2024 Non-Olympic World Championships, winning gold at 92kg after that epic semifinal against Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI). From his social media, Sadulaev seems to be in shape, sharing videos of his training from the gym, mat and even outdoors. He also had an interesting training session with Greco-Roman Olympic champion Musa EVLOEV (UWW), who has now decided to skip the event after initially registering.

The challengers will definitely have their chances in Tirana. Aitmukhan leads the pack, spurred by his victory over Tazhudinov at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in October. The 2023 world champion at 92kg has slowly improved and was fifth at the World Championships.

Olympic bronze medalist Magomedov will be another threat but his struggles with conditioning are evident from past tournaments. Khaniev, a 92kg silver medalist at U23 World Championships, is another exciting talent making his debut at 97kg. With veterans in the mix, Khaniev has to find a way to move past them.

Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) defeated Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IR) at 86kg at the ISG 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

A few other weight classes will see match-ups that may or may not occur again.

World bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) starts his 2026 season at 86kg. He defeated Ghasempour for a tactical victory at the ISG 2025 in Riyadh. At the World Championships, he dropped his quarterfinal to Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN), 13-8, before returning to win the bronze medal.

Dzhioev will be wary of two wrestlers in particular -- Kyle DAKE (USA) and Ibragim KADIEV (UWW). Dake, a world champion at both 74kg and 79kg, will make his first international appearance at 86kg and first since the 2024 Paris Olympics. Dake, who will turn 35 on February 25, is still adjusting to the new weight and Tirana will be a huge test.

Kadiev, a former U20 world champion, lost a close bout to Ghasempour at the World Championships but has what it takes to go all the way in Tirana.

Earlier in February, former world silver medalist at 79kg Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) impressed with a silver medal performance in Zagreb. The same was not true for 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) who made his 86kg debut. Both will return at 86kg in Tirana. Another wrestler moving up is Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM), a former U20 world champion at 79kg. Veteran of this weight, Osman GOCEN (TUR), would like to disrupt the order as well.

Zavur UGUEV (UWW)Zavur UGUEV (UWW), world champion at 61kg, is the favorite in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

World champion Zavur UGUEV (UWW) will be at 61kg and the favorite despite the presence of Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) and world bronze medalist Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB).

Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), world silver medalist from 57kg, will also try his hand at 61kg. World bronze medalist Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) and Zagreb Open gold medalist Austin DESANTO (USA) are also among the names at 61kg.

Former 61kg world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is moving to 65kg. He is expected to have a challenging field though. World bronze medalist Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) will be the biggest threat as he begins the new season. U23 world champion and Zagreb Open champion SUJEET (IND) has also entered the second straight Ranking Series event.

U23 world bronze medalist Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ), who lost the semifinals to Jalolov, world fifth-placer Peiman BIABANI (CAN), and former U20 world champion Mohit KUMAR (IND) are also part of the weight class.

European champion at 65kg Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) will be wrestling at 70kg in Tirana. He had a rather underwhelming World Championships, losing the bronze medal bout to Jalolov. In Tirana, he will be checked by Asian champion Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), who was once the most versatile wrestler but has faded a little recently.

Austin GOMEZ (MEX) and Islam DUDAEV (ALB) are also at 70kg and the former can run through the field on his day.

Azerbaijan will have a domestic battle at 74kg as Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) will be challenged by 70kg U23 world champion Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE). The jump to 74kg from Heybatov sets up an intense battle in Azerbaijan as both eye the spot on the European and World Championships teams later. However, the weight difference may give Bayramov the edge.

But both also have to face competition from former world medalist Yones EMAMI (IRI), Asian silver medalist Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), and Inalbek SHERIEV (UWW), a 2024 world bronze medalist at 70kg.

Iran will hope that Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI), one of their choices at 92kg, returns with a gold medal, just like Mobin AZIMI (IRI) did at the Zagreb Open. Azimi, however, lost his Nelson bracket bout to world champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) before the American forfeited the final.

The 125kg weight class will throw a few battles. World silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) will be the favorite in a field that also has Mason PARRIS (USA), Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA), Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), and Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW).

Freestyle action will kick off the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series 2026 on February 25 in Tirana on UWW+. Click here for full schedule. Click here for Mumahet Malo 2026 entries.