On Friday, November 3, Russia held a professional wrestling card, PWL-6, in a dual meet featuring some of the best wrestlers from Dagestan against top wrestlers from North Ossetia. These two regions are known for frequently producing world and Olympic champions and the matchups on this card were incredible. Check out the below article for full results from the card and a quick recap of the highlights. 

Full Results from Dagestan vs North Ossetia:

57: #3 Zaur Uguev, Dagestan over #16 Artem Gobaev, 11-0

61: #2 Abasgadzhi Magomedov, Dagestan over Chermen Tavitov, 8-2 (pin)

65: #5 Ibragim Ibragimov, Dagestan over Dzhambulat Kizinov, 10-0

70: #18 Kurban Shiraev, Dagestan over #4 David Baev, 5-2

74: #3 Chermen Valiev, N. Ossetia over #8 Magomedhabib Kadimagomedov, 3-3

79: #9 Taimuraz Salkazanov, N. Ossetia over #1 Akhmed Usmanov, 4-0

86: #6 Artur Naifonov, N. Ossetia over #11 Javrail Shapiev, 3-0

92: #5 Magomed Kurbanov, Dagestan over #19 Batyrbek Tsakulov, 7-4

97: #4 Alikhan Zhabrailov, Dagestan over #10 Sergey Kozyrev, 6-0

125: #15 Abdulla Kurbanov, Dagestan over Alen Khubulov, 3-1

Final Team Results - Dagestan 7, North Ossetia 3

Watch the full dual between Dagestan and North Ossetia:

Most of the above match results fell in line with rankings, however, there are three matches worth highlighting. The first was Kurban Shiraev’s win over David Baev at 70kg. Baev was the 70 kg world champion in 2019 and most recently won a bronze medal at 74 kg at Russian Nationals. As a junior world silver medalist in 2019, Shiraev has been a promising prospect for Russia but hasn’t been able to make a senior world team. This was a big win for both team Dagestan and Shiraev.

At 74 kg, Chermen Valiev continues to establish himself as a major threat to Sidakov and the rest of the world. Valiev took out Olympic silver medalist Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov, 3-3 to record a valuable win for North Ossetia. Along with this win, Valiev won the 2023 Russian Nationals and holds a win over Jason Nolf from the 2022 Yarygin. Valiev just missed out on making Russia’s world team this year in a close, 3-2 loss to world and Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov.

The final match worth highlighting is Taimuraz Salkazanov’s 4-0 win over 2023 79 kg World Champion Akhmed Usmanov. Salkazanov, while representing Slovakia, won silver medals at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships losing only to Kyle Dake both years. However, this year, Salkazanov failed to medal at 74 kg after losing to Greece’s Georgios Kougioumtsidis. Usmanov, on the other hand, was dominant in his run to world gold at 79kg and had clearly established himself as the best 79 kg wrestler in the world over the past 2 years. Usmanov’s hitlist includes wins over Ali Savadkouhi (beat Jordan Burroughs), Mohammad Nokhodi (2021 and 2022 world silver), Radik Valiev (2021 world bronze), and hadn’t lost a match since August of 2022. This was a huge upset win for Salkazanov and proves he'll be a wrestler to watch at 74 kg heading into next year's Olympic Games.

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