Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday inaugurated the Dasara wrestling tournament at the Sri D. Devaraj Urs Multipurpose Stadium next to Dasara Exhibition grounds, encouraging wrestlers with a pat on the back.After the inauguration, the Chief Minister motivated the participants ahead of the competitions, which are being held in both traditional Nada Kusti (soil wrestling) and mat wrestling (Point Kusti) categories.The first match saw Mysuru’s Mahadevapura wrestler Vikas defeating Davanagere Sports Complex’s Kiran in a competitive 22-minute bout. In the women’s category, Nandini of Belagavi triumphed over Bengaluru’s Pushpa in just 1 minute 10 seconds. Another highlight included the bout between Athani’s Suresh Lankoti and Davangere’s Hanumanth Vitthal Bevinamara.Minister for Animal Husbandry and Sericulture K. Venkatesh; MP for Chamarajanagar Sunil Bose; and MLAs A.R. Krishnamurthy, Ravishankar D., T.S. Srivatsa, Anil Chikkamadu; D. Thimmayya, MLC; Karnataka Exhibition Authority Chairman Ayub Khan; and others were present.Winners in mat wrestling will be awarded the Dasara Kishore (57–65 kg), Dasara Kesari (74–86 kg), and Dasara Kanteerava (86 kg plus) titles. Women’s champions (57–62 kg) will receive the Dasara Kishori award. In Nada Kusti bouts, winners will compete for the Mayor’s Cup, Sahukar Channaiah Cup, and Mysuru Wadiyar Cup.Published - September 22, 2025 07:01 pm IST