Books

New Book Released on the Educational Value of Wrestling

By United World Wrestling Press

SOFIA, Bulgaria (July 18) -- The Secretary General of the Bulgarian Olympic committee and President of the UWW Ethical and Legal Commission Mr. Beltcho GORANOV  and professor Lozan MITEV presented their book, "The Educational Values of Wrestling" at the National Museum of Archeology in Sofia, Bulgaria.

"You will not find any techniques, tactics or ranking in this book,” said Goranov. "It is about the human qualities and shows how this ancient sport leads you to struggle to overcome yourself and your own fears. If you manage to overcome them, you are the winner!"

The completion of the project has taken almost a year of researching and enhanced work. The idea emerged when Mr. Goranov and Prof. Mitev worked on a study on the occasion of the Bulgarian participation in the First Modern Olympic Games Athens 1896. "Then Prof. Lozan Mitev discovered the first interview of Panayot Belev, leader of the Bulgarian delegation and that is how it all started...", the General Secretary of the Bulgarian Olympic committee added.

The book studies the history of wrestling worldwide and its impact on those who have got in touch with it. It tracks its development as an educational tool during the centuries. Other accents are an overview of the educational systems and the Olympic concept as a part of the modern athlete’s education. The book was published in French, English and now also in Bulgarian and Russian.

“This book is a synthesis of the best in Sport, Art and Pedagogy. It tells us about the moral, human and sport maturing and education of young people as a continuous process, subject to two main factors – Will and Dream. The main merit of this book is that it follows the development of this unity through the centuries as one of the paths of Humanism, as a constant struggle for perfection, development, triumph and unity of will and dream”, Assoc. Prof. Efrem Efremov, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass communications of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” said in his speech during the presentation.

The ceremony was attended also by the Minister of Youth and Sport Mr. Krasen Kralev. “The contemporary values that we speak so much about in our United Europe like integrity, morality, tolerance are at the same time core values in Sport and in Wrestling. Therefore, I endlessly admire those researchers who managed to explore in such depth the main processes in the public life and to describe them, and  to narrate them to us,” Minister Kralev said.

He pointed out that the wrestling is not only the most successful Bulgarian sport but also the oldest Olympic sport.

“Our ancient predecessors discovered the magic and values of this sport millennia ago. Wrestling needs people like professor Mitev and Beltcho Goranov. You probably remember how only several years ago the big wrestling family managed to preserve this magnificent sport for the Olympic Family,” Mr. Kralev added. He congratulated the authors on the completion of this project and the enormous effort, as well as their overall contribution to the development of Bulgarian sport.

"This book is another look at the struggle, but also the Sport, based on the human values of the personality. It shows us the fighting of two persons, the sense of self-realization, but also the respect to the opponent. The book presents variants of training and education, and also shows that Sport is a tool of overcoming difficulties and challenges, but also a way of realizing the personality. It is very useful and interesting book", said Mr. Tzeno Tzenov, President of the UWW European Council.

Among the guests of the event were the double Olympic champions in Wrestling Mr. Boyan Radev and Mr. Petar Kirov, the Secretary General of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation Mr. Valentin Raychev, the Rector of the National Sports Academy Prof. Pencho Geshev, sports officials and media.

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Freestyle Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 14) -- The Freestyle entries for the World Championships are set. In total, close to 900 wrestlers are participating in the September 13-21 tournament in Zagreb.

In Freestyle, 326 wrestlers are entered to compete at the World Championships that will begin with Freestyle action on September 13. The competition will also see 13 Paris Olympic medalist compete including three gold medalists.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change 72 hours before the Freestyle draw at the World Championships.

Zagreb

57kg
Salah KATEB (ALG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Garette SAUNDERS (CAN)
Chengtao WANG (CHN)
Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Peter HAMMER CUDE (CRC)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
AMAN (IND)
Ali Hossein MOMENI (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Chong Song HAN (PRK)
Darian CRUZ (PUR)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Spencer LEE (USA)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
Pedro MEJIAS (VEN)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Jianhao LIU (CHN)
Ndjidda BOUBA (CMR)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Solomon ADDICO (GHA)
UDIT (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Adil OSPANOV (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Sangboum HAN (KOR)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Kum Hyok KIM (PRK)
Dylan SHAWVER (PUR)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Jaxen FORREST (USA)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Chouaib SAHRAOUI (ALG)
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
SUJEET (IND)
Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Gantulga BATBAATAR (MGL)
Stephen IZOLO (NGR)
Abdullah ASSAF (PLE)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Kwang KIM (PRK)
Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Cabbar DUYUM (TUR)
Andrii BILIICHUK (UKR)
Real WOODS (USA)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Wilfredo RODRIGUEZ BOCANEY (VEN)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Michael ZALE (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
Gabriel MUANDA (COD)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
ROHIT (IND)
Mahdi MAMIVAND (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Khairiddine BEN TLILI (TUN)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
PJ DUKE (USA)
Saiyn KAZYRYK (UWW)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG)
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Renato DA SILVA (BRA)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Feng LU (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Vedran LUKETIN (CRO)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Cristian SANTIAGO (MEX)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Ok Chol HAN (PRK)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
David CARR (USA)
Imam GANISHOV (UWW)
Mirzo KHAYITOV (UZB)
Anthony MONTERO (VEN)

79kg
Abdelkader IKKAL (ALG)
Farid JABBAROV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Tu AHEIYOU (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Marko NIKOLIC (CRO)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
AMIT (IND)
Reza MOMENI (IRI)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Bumgue SEO (KOR)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Michael LABRIOLA (PUR)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Alfred DANIEL (SLE)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Azymberdi SAPAROV (TKM)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Levi HAINES (USA)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Nan CAO (CHN)
Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV)
Kreso SKUGOR (CRO)
Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY)
Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Ethan RAMOS (PUR)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Jumabayi AERGEN (CHN)
Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR)
Trent HIDLAY (USA)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Filip HUKLEK (CRO)
Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Emmanuel OSEI SARFO (GHA)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
VICKY (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Hosei FUJITA (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Filip KOSCIC (CRO)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Issah FUSEINI (GHA)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Gyeongmin KIM (KOR)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)
Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)