#Wrestle4Fun

UWW launches Wrestle4Fun toolkit and updates

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 6) -- UWW launches Wrestle4Fun toolkit following an extensive review of the Wrestle4Fun programme by the UWW Development Department and the creation of new videos, the Wrestle4Fun toolkit is available to all who wish to introduce wrestling in schools and to young children.

The content and videos are available on the UWW Academy platform: Wrestle4Fun | Academy | United World Wrestling (uww.org). The lesson are located in the Resources section and the videos will be in the Video Library. 

The programme aims at assisting Physical Education teachers and/or club coaches in introducing wrestling to children from ages 4 up to 16 in a pedagogical fun approach.  This approach is based around the Teaching Games for Understanding concept.  Children will be able to learn the sport of wrestling through fun games and activities.  

There are 5 stages based on developmental level.  Each stage is divided into 15 lessons for a total of 75 lessons.  Each lesson plan has videos to illustrate the activities and skills.  Collectively, there are over 200 videos within the programme. 

We hope that these tools will help you introduce wrestling to young children in a safe/healthy environment.

Currently, Wrestle4Fun is only available in English.  In time, the programme will be developed in additional languages.

For any further information or assistance you may require, please feel free to contact Zach Errett, UWW Education Manager and/or Deqa Niamkey, UWW Development Director for any questions or further information.

#WrestleZagreb

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

By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

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

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.