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UWW names hosts for '23 Senior European, '24 U23 European C'ships

Monday, April 4, 2022 - 22:26 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 4) -- United World Wrestling has approved the host sites for the 2023 Senior European Championships and the 2024 U23 European Championships.

Zagreb, Croatia will host next year's Senior European Championships. The Croatian capital hosted the 2012 Junior European Championships, but the 2023 European Championships will be the first time Zagreb has welcomed a senior-level continental championship.

"I am thrilled to confirm that Zagreb will organize the 2023 Senior European Championships," said UWW President, Nenad LALOVIC." "The Croatian Wrestling Federation has been a reliable partner and has continuously improved its organizational capacity by hosting various junior level competitions. Combining their wrestling expertise with the support and infrastructure of the city of Zagreb will be a success for wrestling."

UWW also approved Baku, Azerbaijan as the host site for the 2024 U23 European Championships.   

"Baku hosting the 2024 U23 European Championships is a positive sign that Azerbaijan will return to hosting events in the future and shows the long-term interest of wrestling remains high," said Lalovic. "They will host the Greco-Roman World Cup later this year and adding the U23 Europeans Championships is adding to the number of major competitions they are keen to organize."

Earlier this year, UWW announced wrestling’s return to the historic city after an extended absence on the international calendar, as the city was provisionally approved to host the 2022 Greco-Roman World Cup (November 5-6).

The 2024 U23 European Championships will be the first time the Azerbaijani capital has hosted the U23 continental event, but the city is extremely familiar with hosting Europe’s best wrestlers. Baku hosted the 2015 European Games, which replaced the European Championships on the UWW calendar. It also hosted the 2012 European Championships in all three styles and will host the 2022 Greco-Roman World Cup in November.

For a full list of upcoming international events, click HERE.

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World Championships 2025 Live Blog: Day 1 FS 61kg, 70kg, 86kg, 125kg

Saturday, September 13, 2025 - 08:42 By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 13) -- The World Championships are underway in Zagreb. The competition kicks off with four weight classes in 61kg, 70kg, 86kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

12:35: World U20 champion PJ DUKE (USA) gave it all he had against world champion Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) but the Kazakhstan wrestler finishes with a 11-7 victory at 70kg. Duke blasted two takedowns and led 4-0 before Kaipanov came back in the second period. He made it 4-4 before a gut-wrench gave him a 6-4 lead. Kaipanov led 9-7 when Duke tried a chest wrap but Kaipanov blocked it and scored the match closing takedown.

12:33: Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) left it late, but kept alive his bid for a second career world title with a 4-2 victory over Saiyn KAZYRYK (UWW)  to make the 70kg quarterfinals. After giving up a stepout and activity point in the first period, Muszukajev comes back with a pair of stepouts, the second one coming with :51 left to go ahead on criteria. He picks up a takedown to finish the job.

12:32: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) storms into the 86kg quarterfinals with his second straight victory by 10-0 technical superiority. This time he takes out Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) with a similar combination of single-leg takedowns and lace locks as in his earlier win.

12:30: Returning silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) humbles Asian champion Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) at 70kg with a leg-lace. 11-0 victory for Aoyagi

12:26: Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL), nursing a 3-1 lead, ties up the arms of Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL) and pancakes him to the mat for a fall at 4:30 and he's into the 70kg quarterfinals.

12:16: Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) continues to take a cautious approach, but it works for him in posting a 4-1 victory over Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB) to advance to the quarterfinals at 70kg. Andreasyan scores a stepout and activity point in the first period, then two stepouts in the second. Voinovic, trying to get something going, gets the Armenian's leg in the air, but all he can settle for is a stepout.

11:48: Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) with a 13-2 technical superiority Joshua KRAMER (ECU) at 61kg. Great counters from Javan to score takedowns.

11:47: In a classic battle between recent world U23 champions at 125kg, Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW) gets the big points in key situations to score a 14-4 victory over Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA). Kurbanov comes out with single-leg takedown to the back for 4. Hendrickson replies with a stepout, but gives up a 2-point exposure when he tries to get behind. In the second period, Kurbanov gets a counter lift for 2 while giving up 1 for a reversal, making it 8-2. Hendrickson then counter lifts for 2 to pull within four. But Kurbanov stuffs an attempted lift for 2, then adds a gut wrench to finish up the match in the final minute.

11:36: Former world champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) scores a second-period takedown while on the activity clock and that's enough to give him a 3-0 victory over Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR) at 61kg.

11:35: Jaxen FORREST (USA) keeps the unbeaten run of the United States going with a technical superiority win over Sangboum HAN (KOR) at 61kg

11:22: Two-time world bronze medalist Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) overwhelms Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU) 10-0 in his opening match at 86kg. Dauletbekov scores a takedown, then rolls Lescauskas back and forth three times to go up 8-0. He ends the match by countering a takedown attempt by locking the Lithuanian in a cradle and turning him over.

11:09: Zahid VALENCIA (USA), a 2023 world bronze medalist at 92kg, gets his campaign at 86kg off to an impressive start with a 10-0 victory over Mukul DAHIYA (IND). Valencia comes out like gangbusters, scoring a takedown and reeling off two lace locks for a quick 6-0 lead. He adds another takedown, but can't turn over Dahiya to go up 8-0. Despite Dahiya's stiff defense, Valencia finally gets behind to end the match.

11:02: Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB) gives up the go-ahead takedown to ROHIT (IND) in their 70kg qualification bout, but comes back with a takedown with :40 left to walk off a 5-4 winner. Next up is second seed Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO).

10:57: Ibragim KADIEV (UWW), a two-time world U20 champion, starts 86kg with a 9-2 controlled win over Cezary SADOWSKI (POL) to advance at 86kg.

10:53: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) held his own for the first period but is totally outsmarted by Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) in the second period as the Azerbaijan wrestler beats Yazdani 15-4 at 70kg.

10:50: PJ DUKE (USA), coming off a victory at the world U20 a few months ago, got his bid for the senior title at 70kg started with a 11-0 victory over Shuang CHEN (CHN). Duke used a 2-on-1 to score three stepouts, then used it to get behind for a takedown and leveraged Chen over for a 2-point exposure. In the second period, Duke needs just 18 seconds to get behind again, get another exposure and he's into the next round.

10:42: In a fierce opening match on Mat C, European silver medalist Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) comes away with a nail-biting 5-5 over Asian silver medalist Viktor RASSADIN (TJK) at 70kg. Andreasyan holds a 3-3 criteria lead when Rassadin scores a stepout with a fleeing point added on to go ahead with :35 left. But the Armenian is not done yet, and gets a stepout and fleeing point of his own with 2.4 seconds left to notch the win.

10:37: Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), who moved up to 70kg for the World Championships, drops his first match against world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN). Dudaev led 1-0 but is put on the activity clock in the second period. He fails to score and Muszukajev wins 1-1 ion criteria.

10:36: Saiyn KAZYRYK (UWW) built an 8-2 lead before securing a fall over Oleksii BORUTA (UKR) in the opening round bout at 70kg.

10:34: Two-time world medalist Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) makes short work of Jorge GATICA (CHI) in the opening bout on Mat D at 70kg, finishing off a 10-0 win in just a tick over two minutes. With the win, Akmataliev has set up a rematch with top-seeded Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) of his wild semifinal win at the Asian Championships.

10:30: The World Championships at the Arena Zagreb kicks off today! We have wrestling in 61kg, 70kg, 86kg and 125kg.