#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series 2026 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 30) -- The fourth and final stop in the Ranking Series will be held in Budapest, Hungary from July 15 to 19.

The Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial tournament will be held at the BOK Sports Hall with Freestyle kicking off action. Women's Wrestling will be held after Freestyle before Greco-Roman finishes things off things of the five-day tournament.

All the matches, highlights and live action from Budapest will be available on UWW+ on uww.org.

Note: The entries are subject to change until 72 hours before the start of the respective style.

UWW+

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Timothy LEVINE (CAN)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Rassoul GALBOURAEV (FRA)
Nikoloz BOTCHORISHVILI (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Balazs RACZ (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
RAHUL (IND)
Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Anthony KNOX (USA)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Maximilian LEETE BENZAN (DOM)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO)
DEEPAK (IND)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)

65kg
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Magomedkhan MAGAMEDKHANOV (BLR)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Xuexian OU (CHN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)
Adil OSPANOV (KAZ)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ossimzhan DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Beau BARTLETT (USA)

70kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Marton VARGA (HUN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ)
Olzhas OLZHAKANOV (KAZ)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)
Ridge LOVETT (USA)

74kg
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Feng LU (CHN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Benjamin DOBLER (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ)
Kuandyk SHALDAR (KAZ)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Sangho HAN (KOR)
Ebierelayefa ANDREW (NGR)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Cuneyt BUDAK (TUR)
Muhammed BESIR (TUR)
William LEWAN (USA)
Farhad NOURI (UWW)

79kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Shamsat TAIR (KAZ)
Yerkhan ABIL (KAZ)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)

86kg
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Franco GONZALEZ (CHI)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Christopher FOCA (DOM)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
AMIT (IND)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Abylaikhan UZEMBAYEV (KAZ)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Rustem MYRZAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Alperen ATAR (TUR)

92kg
Jorge LLANO (ARG)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Zaur BERADZE (GEO)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Zeteny GANGL (HUN)
Punit KUMAR (IND)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Anton VYHIVSKYI (SVK)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Dustin PLOTT (USA)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI (BLR)
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Matias URIBE SEPULVEDA (CHI)
Junpeng ZHOU (CHN)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Rifat Eren GIDAK (TUR)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

125kg
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Milan GELLEN (HUN)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Nursultan AZOV (KAZ)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Omar Ihab SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR)
Demetrius THOMAS (USA)
Mason PARRIS (USA)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)

Musa EVLOEV (RUS)Musa EVLOEV (RUS) is looking to return to international wrestling after five years. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

Greco-Roman

55kg
LALIT (IND)
Alpamys DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Alibek AMIROV (RUS)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)
Max NOWRY (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Augusto VARGAS (CHI)
BAOYINJIYA (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Mahmoud SAAD (EGY)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Abdolmohammad PAPI (GER)
CHETAN (IND)
SUMIT (IND)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS)
Sadyk LALAEV (RUS)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Jace KOELZER (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

63kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Sakit GULIYEV (AZE)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Sergey EMELIN (RUS)
Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Xavier JOHNSON (USA)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

67kg
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Mahammad SHUKURZADE (AZE)
Dongyu LI (CHN)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Christopher KRAEMER (GER)
DEEPAK (IND)
Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Din Mukhamed KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (RUS)
Ruslan BICHURIN (RUS)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Otto Elliot BLACK (USA)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
Sardor YULDASHEV (UZB)

72kg
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Mishiko ALEKSANDRIA (GEO)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
ANIL (IND)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Rabil ASKEROV (RUS)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Brett BACK (USA)
Ahmad KODIROV (UZB)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Eduardo BERNAL MOLINA (CHI)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Wenhao HU (CHN)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Alibek BERDIEV (KGZ)
Kyeongbin LEE (KOR)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Danil GRIGOREV (RUS)
Ismail BARAKHOEV (RUS)
Sergei KUTUZOV (RUS)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Joel ADAMS (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)
Jamol JUMABAEV (UZB)

82kg
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
PRINCE (IND)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (RUS)
Gamzat GADZHIEV (RUS)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Jesse PORTER (USA)
Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

87kg
Likui SHI (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Mohamed DYAB (EGY)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Rohit BURA (IND)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Timur OSPANOV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Islam ALIEV (RUS)
Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Zegang WANG (CHN)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Luka GABISONIA (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Ilia ERMOLENKO (RUS)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Branko DUKIC (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Timothy YOUNG (USA)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
DEEPANSHU (IND)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Nurbolot TOKTOGONOV (KGZ)
Marat KAMPAROV (RUS)
Sergei SEMENOV (RUS)
Fatih BOZKURT (TUR)
Adam COON (USA)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB)

Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) is entered at 59kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Thalia OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Katie DUTCHAK (CAN)
Kaura COLES (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Laura FATH (HUN)
DIPANSHI (IND)
Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
Agata GOLUCHOWSKA (POL)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Samara CHAVEZ (USA)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)

53kg
Adrianny CASTILLO (ARG)
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Antonia VALDES (CHI)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
Bianka FATH (HUN)
ANTIM (IND)
NISHU (IND)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Natia SVANIDZE (RUS)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)
Sydney PETZINGER (USA)

55kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)

57kg
Camila AMARILLA (ARG)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Valeryia MIKITSICH (BLR)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Kexin HONG (CHN)
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
TAPSYA (IND)
Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Tindra DALMYR (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)

59kg
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
NEHA (IND)
Guldana BEKESH (KAZ)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Abigail NETTE (USA)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (BLR)
Lais NUNES (BRA)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yaru WU (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
MANSI (IND)
SAVITA (IND)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Alicja WOJEWODZKA (POL)
Amina TANDELOVA (RUS)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

65kg
Sofia VEMBA (ANG)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
PULKIT (IND)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Agnes NYGREN (SWE)
Jennifer PAGE ROGERS (USA)

68kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Alina SHAUCHUK (BLR)
Ella DOORNAERT (CAN)
Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Zelu LI (CHN)
Laura KOEHLER (GER)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
NISHA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (RUS)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (RUS)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)

72kg
Diksha MALIK (IND)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)

76kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Shuiyan CHENG (CHN)
Wenji LI (CHN)
Genesis REASCO (ECU)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
KAJAL (IND)
PRIYA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Damola OJO (NGR)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Tristan KELLY (USA)

#WrestleBudapest

Kamal strengthens World Championships bid, ranking with Budapest gold

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 15) -- Kerem KAMAL (TUR) entered the Budapest Ranking Series for two major reasons.

The first was to improve his ranking to number three and the second was to face European champion Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) before the World Championships.

The latter did not happen as Nazaryan, despite reaching the semifinal against Kamal, pulled out due to an injury. However, Kamal won the gold medal at 60kg in Budapest and jumped to number three in the rankings.

“The tournament was very difficult but important for me,” Kamal said. “My goal was to overtake the opponent from China in the ranking, which I achieved with a gold medal.”

In April, Kamal suffered two heartbreaking losses at the European Championships and finished fifth. A gold medal in Budapest also helped him put that loss behind him.

“I had a bad day at the European Championships, so this is a good motivation for me,” he said.

Kamal opened his day against Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) and did not take time to advance to the quarterfinals with a 9-0 victory. In the quarterfinals, he posted another technical superiority win as he defeated Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) 8-0.

From the other side of the bracket, Nazaryan pinned Dalton ROBERTS (USA) in his first bout and defeated Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN) 5-1 in the quarterfinals. However, he pulled out of the semifinal against Kamal due to injury.

Kamal, now into the final, wrestled Omid ARAMI (IRI) and won 8-1 to win gold and collect the all-important ranking points.

“I was looking forward to the fight against Nazaryan,” he said. “I wanted to avenge him but he decided not to wrestle. I am looking forward to the World Championships so we wrestle each other.”

Before the Ranking Series in Budapest, Kamal had 39200 points while Liguo CAO (CHN) was at 40600 points. But the gold should push Kamal over Cao who finished 13th. Kamal will have 52200 points while Cao will finish with 45675 points.

Nazaryan, who collected 9000 points, will be the top seed at the World Championships while world champion Zholoman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) will be seeded second. Kamal will be third.

“The ranking is very important,” he said. “I was fourth but after the gold medal, I will probably be third and that's what I wanted.”

Even after winning the gold medal, Kamal paid an emotional tribute to one of his friends. In an emotional message, Kamal dedicated his gold medal to fellow wrestler Ahmet TAS (TUR) who lost his life in the deadly earthquake that hit Turkiye in February.

“We had an earthquake in Turkiye and we lost many people,” he said. “Today would have been the birthday of my friend and wrestler Ahmet Tas who lost his life in the earthquake. I dedicate my gold medal to him.”

In the other two Greco-Roman weight classes that were in action on Saturday, Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) the gold medal at 55kg and Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) became the champion at 63kg, both non-Olympic weight categories.

China rises at 76kg

The only Olympic weight class in action on Saturday in women's wrestling was 76kg with world and Olympic medalists. However, it was China that stole the show.

China entered three wrestlers in the weight class with Juan WANG (CHN), Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN) and QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN).

The first casualty at the hands of the Chinese wrestlers was world champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR) as Huang defeated her 4-0 in the pre-quarterfinals. However, she suffered a fall in the quarterfinals against  Justina DI STASIO (CAN) which ended Adar's campaign.

In other quarterfinals, Qiandegenchagan defeated Yelena MAKOYED (USA), 12-1, to hand the American her first international defeat by a non-US wrestler. World bronze medalist Epp MAE (EST) dominated world silver medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) 8-2 while Wang won 4-3 against Genesis REASCO (ECU).

That put Qiandegenchagan and Mae in the same semifinal and the latter began with a headlock for four and tried pinning her Chinese opponent. But Qiandegenchagan managed to slip out of the hold. She got one for reversal and a roll added two more points.

In the second period, Mae tried pushing Qiandegenchagan out of the zone while being in a front headlock but the latter managed to move away, circle around for a takedown and take a match-winning 5-4 lead.

Di Stasio would blame her luck as she was leading 3-0 with 2:35 remaining in the bout and was clearly in better wrestler in the semifinal against Wang. However, Wang got on a single leg and transitioned into a cradle, putting Di Stasio on her back.

A fall was confirmed and Wang booked her place against Qiandegenchagan in the final which was a slow affair for the first four minutes.

Qiandegenchagan led 1-0 after a passivity point but with time running out, Wang got into a bodylock and Qiandegenchagan used the opportunity to execute a throw for four and led 5-0.

Wang made it interesting again by scoring a takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining. She rolled Qiandegenchagan to make it 5-4 before the clock ran out, giving Qiandegenchagan the win.

In the non-Olympic weight classes, Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) won the gold medal at 55kg after beating Karla GODINEZ (CAN) 7-4 in the final.

At 59kg, Jennifer PAGE (USA) survived two back-to-back four-point throws from Magdalena GLODEK (POL) and scored a takedown on reversal to win the gold medal 13-11.

Irina RINGACI (MDA) was easily the best at 65kg as she won three bouts in a round-robin bracket to win the gold medal.

At 72kg, Asian champion Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) held off Dalma CANEVA (ITA) 3-1 to claim the gold medal.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) df. Denis MIHAI (ROU), 9-0

BRONZE: Ramaz SILAGAVA (GEO) df. Yersin ABYIR (KAZ), 5-2  

60kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Omid ARAMI (IRI), 8-1

BRONZE: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) df. Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Virgil BICA (SWE), 10-0

63kg
GOLD: Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Jinwoong JUNG (KOR), 5-1

BRONZE: Victor CIOBANU (MDA) df. Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU), via fall
BRONZE: Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ) df. Aker SCHMID (AUT), via inj. def.

Women's wrestling

55kg
GOLD: Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) df. Karla GODINEZ (CAN), 7-2

BRONZE: Erika BOGNAR (HUN) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), via fall
BRONZE: Li DENG (CHN) df. Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ), via inj. def.

59kg
GOLD: Jennifer PAGE (USA) df. Magdalena GLODEK (POL), 13-11

BRONZE: SANGEETA (IND) df. Viktoria BORSOS (HUN), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Irina RINGACI (MDA)
SILVER: Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
BRONZE: Ekaterina KOSHKINA (AIN)

72kg
GOLD: Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 3-1

BRONZE: Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL) df. Kseniia BURAKOVA (AIN), 11-0

76kg
GOLD: QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN) df. Juan WANG (CHN), 5-4

BRONZE: Yelena MAKOYED (USA) df. Epp MAE (EST), 9-6
BRONZE: Genesis REASCO (ECU) df. Justina DI STASIO (CAN), 6-0