Freestyle wrestlers claim bronze medals at World Championship

Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers have claimed bronze medals at 2025 World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

The national team achieved impressive results on the second day of the competition.

Nuraddin Novruzov (61 kg) won his repechage matches convincingly against Ecuador's Joshua Kramer (10:0) and Ukraine's Kamil Karimov (12:2).

In the bronze medal match, he defeated North Korea's Kum Kim by fall, earning third place in the world.

Arseniy Djioyev (86 kg) beat Ukraine's Muhammad Aliyev 7:2 in the repechage and then defeated France's Rakhim Magamadov 7:0 in the bronze medal match, securing another bronze for Azerbaijan.

In the final match of the day, Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) faced Iran's Amir Zare. Despite a strong effort, he lost 0:5 to the decorated opponent and finished the tournament with a silver medal.

All three Azerbaijani wrestlers won medals at the senior world championship for the first time in their careers.

The 2025 World Wrestling Championships is the first World Wrestling Championships hosted by Croatia.

Nearly 900 wrestlers are competing across three styles, with approximately 300 athletes in each category, while host nation Croatia is represented by 14 participants.

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.

The national team also won five medals at the Grand Prix Moscow held in Russia.

The national team won one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in the tournament

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.