#WrestleOslo

WATCH: #WrestleOslo 10 GR Finals Including Olympic Champions Geraei, Vlasov

By United World Wrestling Press

OSLO, Norway (October 18) -- Greco-Roman had the most Tokyo Olympic medalists entered for the World Championships but only one gold medalist -- Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI). He was primed to win the gold in Oslo at 67kg. And he did so in dramatic fashion, coming from behind most times. Roman VLASOV (RWF) also claimed a world title, his first since 2015 which also gave RWF the team title. Iran had four gold medalists and came second in the team title race. Moldova had it's first-ever Greco-Roman world champion as Victor CIOBANU (MDA) claimed the gold at 60kg. Watch all the 10 finals from Oslo

1. GR 55kg - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RWF) vs Ken MATSUI (JPN)

 

2. GR 60kg - Victor CIOBANU (MDA) vs Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)

 

3. GR 63kg - Leri ABULADZE (GEO) vs Meysam DALKHANI (IRI)

 

4. GR 67kg - Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) vs Nazir ABDULLAEV (RWF)

 

5. GR 72kg - Sergei KUTUZOV (RWF) vs Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

 

6. GR 77kg - Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) vs Roman VLASOV (RWF)

 

7. GR 82kg - Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) vs Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)

 

8. GR 87kg - Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) vs Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)

 

9. GR 97kg - Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) vs Alex SZOKE (HUN)

 

10. GR 130kg - Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RWF) vs Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI)

#UWWAwards

Kougioumtsidis, Antim, Jafarov named 2023 Rising Stars

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 13) -- Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), ANTIM (UWW) and Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) have been named as UWW's Rising Stars of the Year for their phenomenal performances in 2023.

Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) has shown his mettle in the past but the 2023 World Championships made him the one for the future. He began the year with gold at the U23 Europeans, silver at the senior Europeans and his run in Belgrade made him the Rising Star in Freestyle.

At the Olympic weight of 74kg, he opened the World Championships by beating Olympic silver medallist Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (AIN), stunned world silver medallist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and almost checked Kyle DAKE (USA) in the semifinals. He then returned to earn a Paris Olympic quota by beating Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE).

 

In women's wrestling, ANTIM (UWW) was awarded the Rising Star for her performances in 2023. She won a silver medal in her senior Asian Championships debut, defended her U20 world title and then won a bronze medal at the World Championships at 53kg. It was her first senior-level World Championships and an unfazed Antim handed defeats to world champion Dom PARRISH (USA), Roksana ZASINA (POL) and European champion Jonna MALMGREN (SWE). She came in touching distance of entering the final but was stunned in the final second of the semifinal by Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA.

The medal in Belgrade made the 19-year-old the youngest Indian to win a medal at the World Championships. Soon after, Antim traveled to Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games and won a bronze medal at 53kg.

Teenage phenom Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) Hasrat Jafarov another step towards stardom as he added a World Championships silver medal to his resume as he reached the 67kg Greco-Roman final. Not only that, Jafarov won his first European title, gold at the Ranking Series and is now the biggest threat for gold for the Paris Olympics. In Belgrade, he defeated Kristizan VANCZA (HUN), Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) and Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) before settling for silver.

Jafarov already has world titles at the U20 and U23 level and his remarkable rise at just 20 years of age wins him the Rising Star award in Greco-Roman.