#BuchaWrestU23

Olympic Silver Medalist Higuchi Rallies to Make U23 World Finals

Friday, November 16, 2018 - 16:41 By Taylor Miller

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Photo of Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) by Martin Gabor. 

BUCHAREST, Romania – Friday night’s U23 World Championships semifinals provided a lot of excitement as it determined the first five gold-medal matches in men’s freestyle in Bucharest, Romania.

At 65kg, 2016 Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) scored a takedown with 14 seconds left in the match to defeat Morteza GHIASI CHEKA (IRI) to advance to the finals.

Waiting for him in tomorrow’s gold match is 2018 Yasar Dogu runner-up Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE), who took out Roman ASHARIN (HUN), 5-3.

For 97 kg gold, 2017 Junior World silver medalist Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) will take on 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Kollin MOORE (USA). The two last met up in the 2017 Junior World semifinals, with Matcharashvili taking a 16-4 win.

In the semifinals, Matcharashvili made work of Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI), producing a 10-0 technical fall, while on the side of the bracket, Moore battled back from an 8-2 deficit to defeat Magamed ZAKARIIEV (UKR), 10-8.

At 70 kg, 2017 Junior World champion and 2014 Cadet World champion David BAEV (RUS) edged out 2016 Junior World champion Enes USLU (TUR) on a caution-and-one call that was made after time ran out in the 70 kg semifinals. At the end of the match, the scoreboard read in favor of Uslu on criteria, but Russia’s corner challenged, asking for a caution and one for fleeing. The challenge ruled in favor of Baev and he advanced to the finals with a 7-6 win.

In the 70 kg gold-medal bout, Baev will take on Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), who dominated 2017 World Military runner-up Oleksii BORUTA (UKR), 9-0, in the other semifinal.

The 79 kg semifinals featured a couple of shutout wins as Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) defeated 2014 Youth Olympic Games champion Yajuro YAMASAKI (JPN), 4-0, and 2015 Junior World champion Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS) blanked 2017 Junior World runner-up Isa SHAPIEV (UZB), 5-0, making tomorrow’s 79 kg gold-medal match a battle of Junior World medalists.

Tomorrow’s finals at 57 kg will feature 2013 Cadet World bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) and Kumar RAVI (IND).

Ravi tallied a 10-8 win over 2017 Junior Asian champion Jahongirmirza TUROBOV (UZB) to advance to the finals, while Hasegawa had a come-from-behind win over Wahnhao ZOU (CHN), 5-2.

Saturday’s finals are set for 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Finals matchups
57 kg: Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) vs. Kumar RAVI (IND)
65 kg: Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) vs. Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)
70 kg: David BAEV (RUS) vs. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
79 kg: Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) vs. Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS)
97 kg: Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) vs. Kollin MOORE (USA)

Semifinals results

57 kg
Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) df. Wanhao ZOU (CHN) 5-2
Kumar RAVI (IND) df. Jahongirmirza TUROBOV (UZB), 10-8

65 kg
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) df. Roman ASHARIN (HUN), 5-3
Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) df. Morteza GHIASI CHEKA (IRI), 4-4

70 kg
David BAEV (RUS) df. Enes USLU (TUR), 7-6
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df. Oleksii BORUTA (UKR), 9-0

79 kg
Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Yajuro YAMASAKI (JPN), 4-0
Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS) df. Isa SHAPIEV (UZB), 5-0

97 kg
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) df. Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI), 10-0
Kollin MOORE (USA) df. Magamed ZAKARIIEV (UKR), 10-8

#development

UWW Educators Attend Special NCDA Cohort at NSSU

Friday, May 1, 2026 - 09:09 By United World Wrestling Press

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TOKYO (April 24) -- United World Wrestling's Development Officer Vicent AKA and Education Manager Zach ERRETT recently completed Cohort 9 for the National Coach Developer Academy [NCDA] at the Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo, Japan.

The NCDA is programme that runs over seven months and includes two sessions at Nippon Sports Science University working with experts in coaching development. It is designed to help participants learn strategies for how to develop and train coaches [train the trainer].

NSSU conducts the programme, that helps train coach developers for different sports and organizations, in partnership with International Council for Coaching Excellence [ICCE] which was created in 1997.

DevelopmentUWW Educators Vincent AKA, left, and Zach ERRETT.

Both Aka and Errett participated with 13 other participants from around the world and different sports. During the programme, both improved their facilitation skills, learned new strategies for training and developing coaches, and designed and implemented a growth development project.

"The training was very interesting and allowed us to grow as a person and ideas for how to organize our system. We were able to learn something we would directly use and to learn from experts in the field," Aka said.

Errett said that the education he received at the NCDA will help them train coaches and educators better in wrestling.

"We had an opportunity to learn from experts in the field of coach development and learn from colleagues around the world," Errett said. "We can use this information to help better train coaches and educators in the future."

Cohort 10, the next edition of the programme, will be attended by UWW Educator Oyan NAZARIANI.

“I am honored to be selected for the NCDA programme," Nazariani said. "At this stage of my career, my focus is on developing structured and sustainable coach education systems. I am particularly excited to deepen my knowledge as a coach developer, strengthen the programme we plan to implement in Azerbaijan, and apply advanced methodologies both in national coaching courses and in international courses I conduct as a UWW Educator across different countries."