Zekeriya Güçlü
Personal information
Born(1972-04-27)27 April 1972
Razgrad, Bulgaria
Died20 February 2010(2010-02-20) (aged 37)
Istanbul, Turkey
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight125 kg (276 lb; 19.7 st)
Sport
CountryTurkey
SportAmateur wrestling
EventFreestyle
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Turkey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1997 Krasnoyarsk130 kg
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place2002 Baku120 kg
World Cup
Silver medal – second place1994 Edmonton130 kg
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place2001 Tunis130 kg
Gold medal – first place1997 Bari125kg
Military World Games
Gold medal – first place1995 Rome130 kg
Yasar Dogu Tournament
Gold medal – first place1997 Ankara125 kg
Gold medal – first place2002 Ankara120 kg
Silver medal – second place1992 Istanbul130 kg
Silver medal – second place1994 Istanbul130 kg
Silver medal – second place1999 Ankara125 kg
Silver medal – second place2000 Ankara125 kg
Bronze medal – third place1991 Istanbul130 kg
Bronze medal – third place1995 Ankara130 kg
Bronze medal – third place1996 Ankara130 kg
Grand Prix of Germany
Gold medal – first place1995 Leipzig130 kg
Bronze medal – third place1999 Leipzig130 kg
World Espoir Championships
Silver medal – second place1991 Tehran130 kg
European Espoir Championships
Gold medal – first place1992 Szekesfehervar130 kg
Balkan Espoir Championships
Gold medal – first place1990 Sakarya130 kg
World Juniors Championships
Gold medal – first place1990 Istanbul 115 kg
World University Championship
Gold medal – first place2000 Tokyo130 kg
Silver medal – second place1998 Ankara130 kg
Bronze medal – third place1996 Ankara130 kg

Zekeriya Güçlü (1972–2010) was a Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 125 division. He won the gold medal at the 1997 World Wrestling Championships.[1]

Wrestling career

Zekeriya Güçlü was born in Bulgaria as a member of the Turkish minority. There he also took up wrestling as a youth and became a member of the Bulgarian national youth team in the free style. During a competition in Hungary, he took refuge in the Turkish consulate in Budapest and came to Turkey this way. In Turkey he became a member of the Istanbul Gemi Sanayi Spor Kulübü wrestling club and later of the Gebze Belediye Spor Kulübü club, where he was trained by D. Turan and İsmail Nizamoğlu. He was already a full-grown heavyweight at a young age, weighing close to 130 kg at a height of 1.80 metres.[2]

He started his international career at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Istanbul, where he won the heavyweight championship title ahead of Reza Kordjazi from Iran and Boschko Matev from Bulgaria. At the 1991 World Junior Championships (Espoirs) in Prievidza, he came 2nd in the heavyweight division behind Shorik Kashinov of Russia. Finally, in 1992 in Székesfehérvár, he also became European Junior Champion in the Espoirs ahead of Tibor Balogh from Hungary.

After his junior years, Zekeriya Güçlü did not make any appearances in the international championships until 1997. The reason was the outstanding Turkish heavyweight wrestlers Mahmut Demir, Olympic champion in 1996, and Aydın Polatçı, who challenged him for starting positions. However, he became Military World Champion in 1995 ahead of Yuriy Shobitko of Ukraine and Oleg Khorpyakov of Russia and came 2nd behind Alyaksei Myadsvedseu of Belarus at the 1996 World University Championships in Tehran.

In 1997, he competed in the World Championships in Krasnoyarsk and became the new World Heavyweight Champion with victories over Aleksey Medvedev, Ebrahim Mehraban from Iran, Oleg Ladik from Canada, Yuri Chobitko and Alexis Rodríguez from Cuba. This was the greatest success of his entire career.[3]

Zekeriya Güçlü competed in the 2000 European Championships in Budapest, but lost to David Musulbes of Russia after defeating Aleksey Medvedev, which meant he had to retire under the rules at the time and only finished 9th. However, he became World University Heavyweight Champion in Tokyo in 2000 ahead of Justin David Beauparlant of Canada.[4]

In 2001, Zekeriya Güçlü lost to Sven Thiele of Germany and Ivan Ishchenko of Ukraine at the European Championships in Budapest, finishing in 8th place. To round off his career, however, he then won another bronze medal at the European Heavyweight Championships in Baku in 2002 after victories over Yuri Shobitko and Italy's Donatus Manza, a loss to David Musuľbes and a victory over Sven Thiele.

After finishing his career, Güçlü moved to his home village of Kriwiza to become a businessman and politician for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party. Since 2008, he has been the DPS district executive chairman and a local councillor in Samuil town.

Zekeriya Güçlü died on 21 February 2010 after a three-month stay in an Istanbul clinic.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "International Wrestling Database". whatsmat.uww.org. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "Güreşiyorom porte 162.Bölüm Zekeriya Güçlü | Güreşiyorum". Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Final Freestyle World Championships release, including team scores". themat.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 1998. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Final Freestyle World Championships release, including team scores". www.usawrestling.org. Archived from the original on 28 January 1998. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Death of the Turkish Wrestling Champion Zekeriya Guclu - Official Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee".
  6. ↑ "ZEKERİYA GÜÇLÜ'YÜ RAHMETLE ANIYORUZ | TGF". Retrieved 15 April 2023.
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