Azerbaijan to host U-20 Wrestling Championship

The qualifying championship for the Azerbaijan U-20 national teams in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling will be held from February 11 to 14.

The tournament, organized by the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation (AWF) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, will be judged by international and national referees.

The championship will be held for the first time at the Absheron Olympic Sports Complex.

The winners in freestyle wrestling will be determined in the first two days, and in Greco-Roman wrestling in the following two days.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.

The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive games.

In 2020, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers finished third in the overall medal table of the Individual World Cup in Serbia.

National wrestlers won two medals, including silver and bronze. Russia topped the medal table, followed by Turkiye.

In 2022, Azerbaijani wrestler Osman Nurmagomedov (92 kg) was crowned the World Champion in Belgrade.

Nurmagomedov became the World Champion after defeating the Russian wrestler in the final.

At 2024 Summer Olympic, Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), freestyle wrestlers Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) and Magomedkhan Magomedov (97 kg) won bronze medals for Azerbaijan.