The United World Wrestling (UWW) have named the trio of Georgios Kougioumtsidis, Genesis Reasco and Aidos Sultangali as their History Makers of the Year 2025. The UWW said that the performance of these three wrestlers transcended competition and produced a once-in-a-generation accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Freestyle\u2019s History Maker 2025: Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If there\u2019s one nation that\u2019s draped in sports tradition, it\u2019s Greece, but surprisingly enough, the nation had never produced a male wrestling world champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to 2025, wrestlers from Greece were 0-3 in gold-medal matches and had not reached a world finals since 1991. Then came 23-year-old Kougioumtsidis who stunned the world by defeating American Levi Haines 3-2 in the 79kg final to become his nation\u2019s first-ever world champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Up until Kougioumtsidis’ victory, Georgios Athanassiadis lost both of his world finals matches and Iraklis Deskoulidis lost the final in 1991. The lone Greek woman to ever step to the top of the medal podium at the World Championships was Sofia Poumpouridou, who won the women’s 51kg gold on home soil in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m very lucky that I am Greek,” Kougioumtsidis said. “So I feel like I made all Greeks proud. I am Greek and I love my country.” He continued, saying, \u201cI’m the first male [from Greece] who won a gold medal at the World Championships. It’s my dream come true. I think this year is a good achievement. I achieved my goal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s Wrestling History Maker: Genesis Reasco (Ecuador)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reasco made history by becoming Ecuador’s first-ever world champion, which came two years following Lucia Yepez silver-medal finish at the 2023 World Championships where she still become the Ecuador’s first-ever world medalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reasco reached the pinnacle of the sport with a 4-2 victory in the 76kg final over two-time world medalist Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan, which came one match removed from knocking off Paris bronze medalist Milaimy Marin of Cuba in the semifinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I went in, gave my all, and it worked,” Reasco said. “That\u2019s how the gold medal was achieved, because honestly, I have a lot of respect for all my opponents. They gave everything out there on the mat, and they were really good matches — both yesterday\u2019s and today\u2019s. Everything was very tough, very close.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n