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Deng and Olli Among History Makers of the Year Recipients

Sunday, December 16, 2018 - 15:38 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 15) -- United World Wrestling has named China’s DENG Zhiwei, Finland’s Petra OLLI, and Russia’s Greco-Roman world team the History Makers of the Year award.

Deng Zhiwei captured a silver medal at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and became China’s first-ever freestyle world medalist. Prior to the 2018 World Championships, China had reached the bronze medal match four times and failed to win a bronze in each of those four matches.

Deng’s road to finals was sparked by a 4-1 opening round victory over Canada’s 2014 junior world champion, Amarveer DHESI. In the quarterfinals, the Chinese big-man outlasted defending world bronze medalist, Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA), 5-4. In the semifinals, Deng rolled pasted India’s Sumit SUMIT, 5-0, securing his spot in the Chinese wrestling record books.

After his semifinals win over Sumit, Deng said, “I’m always having dreams about wrestling, and I’ve dedicated my life to the sport for the past 16 years…Now I get to bring honor to my country.”

Deng ultimately fell short in the finals, dropping the 125kg gold-medal bout to Georgia’s two-time world champion, Geno PETRIASHVILI.

In women’s wrestling, Petra OLLI (FIN) improved on her 2015 World Championships silver medal finish when she avenged her Poland Open finals loss and hung on to beat Canada’s Danielle LAPPAGE, 6-5. Olli’s final win at 65kg granted Finland their first-ever women’s wrestling gold medal and first world title since Marko YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN) won Greco-Roman gold at the 1997 Wroclaw, Poland World Championships.

In addition to her gold medal at the World Championships, Olli also won titles at the Klippan Lady Open, the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the European Championships.

In Greco-Roman, Russia made history by winning six of ten possible gold medals. Russia’s 2018 Greco-Roman team outdid their fellow countrymen who set the gold medal record when they won five world titles in 1994. The six Russian wrestlers who won gold medals in Budapest were Sergey EMELIN (60kg), Stepan MARYANYAN (63kg), Artem SURKOV (67kg), Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (77kg), Musa EVLOEV (97kg), and Sergey SEMENOV (125kg).

The Russian Federation finished the 2018 World Championships with a record of 37-6. Of those six Russian defeats, their opponents went on to win two golds and four bronze medals.

The next award to be released is the Biggest Rivalries of the Year award. That'll come out on Wednesday. 
 

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UWW Breakout Wrestlers of 2025: Hidlay, Farokhi, Onishi

Monday, December 15, 2025 - 12:24 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 14) -- The 2025 Breakout Wrestlers of the Year were not the ones anyone circled heading into the season. They weren’t the favorites, or the ones analysts picked to walk away from the season as world medalists.

They were the outsiders, largely unproven and underestimated. But that all changed in a single season when they smashed expectations, catapulting themselves into world-wide stardom with world-title runs that nobody saw coming.

Freestyle Breakout Performer of the Year: Trent HIDLAY (USA)

Before 2025, Hidlay had never climbed to the top of a podium at an international event. His  2025 season even began with more doubt than promise, dropping his second match of the year to rising Azeri phenom Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) at the Zagreb Open. But that loss lit a fuse. From that moment on, the 26-year-old didn’t just improve -- he transformed.

Hidlay unleashed a stunning 13-match win streak and collected gold medals at the Pan-American Championships, the Budapest Ranking Series and the World Championships. Along the way, he knocked off giants -- Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE), Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), and Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), just to name a few.

Then came the finale: a world finals comeback for the ages. Down and all but finished, Hidlay stormed back to defeat Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW). In one year, Hidlay didn’t just win -- he arrived.

Greco-Roman Breakout Performer of the Year: Gholemreza FAROKHI (IRI)

When opportunity knocked, Farokhi wasn’t just there to answer it, he was there to kick the door off its hinges. The 23-year-old stepped into Iran’s senior lineup for the first time in his career and tore through anyone in front of him -- whether it was at 82kg or 87kg.

Farokhi bulldozed his way to gold medals at the two World Championships he participated in. He racked up a perfect 17-0 record, including 11 technical superiority wins and six decisions, sweeping gold at the World Championships, U23 World Championships, the Islamic Solidarity Games, and the Zagreb Open Ranking Series.

Women’s Wrestling Breakout Performer of the Year: Sakura ONISHI (JPN)

At 19 years old, Onishi entered the senior circuit with massive goals but had zero experience and zero fear. In mere months, she became a problem no one had an answer for.

Onishi tore through the season with a flawless 15-0 record, capturing titles at the Senior and U20 World Championships, the Asian Championships, and the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series. Her dominance wasn’t subtle -- it was exactly what you’d expect from a Japanese women’s wrestler -- 11 tech falls, three pins, and a decision, outscoring opponents 158-17.