Complete Freestyle World Cup Rosters Released

Thursday, April 5, 2018 - 23:59 By Eric Olanowski

Iowa, United States (April 5) - Although India does not arrive until Friday morning, each of the eight participating nations have submitted their finalized rosters for the 2018 Freestyle World Cup which begins April 7.

The eight teams have been split into two groups for the dual-meet based events which is an annual highlight of the international wrestling calendar. Group A will be comprised of the United States, Georgia, Japan and India, while Group B will be Azerbaijan, Cuba, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.

Azerbaijan
57kg Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI
57kg - Afgan KHASHALOV
61kg - Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV
65kg - Haji ALIYEV
65kg - Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV
70kg - Joshgun AZIMOV
74kg - Gadzhimurad OMAROV
79kg - Jabrayil HASANOV
86kg - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV
92kg - Aslanbek ALBOROV
97kg - Nurmagomed GADZHIYEV
97kg - Roman BAKIROV
125kg - Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV

Cuba
57kg - Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA
61kg - Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ
65kg - Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER
70kg - Franklin MAREN CASTILLO
74kg - Livan LOPEZ AZCUY
79kg - Yoan Adrian ZULUETA MORALES
86kg - Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA
92kg - Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS
97kg - Reineris SALAS PEREZ CUB
125kg - Yudenny ALPAJON ESTEVEZ

Georgia
57kg - Teimuraz VANISHVILI
61kg - Lasha LOMTADZE
65kg - Magamed SAIDOVI
70kg - Levan KELEKHSASHVILI
74kg - Tarzan MAISURADZE
79kg - Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI
86kg - Davit KHUTSISHVILI
92kg - Dato MARSAGISHVILI
97kg - Givi MATCHARASHVILI
125kg - Zviad METREVELI

India
57kg - Amit KUMAR
61kg - Sandeep TOMAR
65kg - Sharvan SHARVAN
70kg - Kumar ARUN
74kg - Kumar Omprakash VINOD
79kg - Sachin GIRI
86kg - Pawan KUMAR
92kg - Deepak PUNIA
97kg - Viky VIKY
125kg - Singh PUSHPENDER

Japan
57kg - Yuki TAKAHASHI
61kg - Kazuya KOYANAGI
61kg - Rinya NAKAMURA
65kg - Daichi TAKATANI
65kg - Takuto OTOGURO
70kg - Keisuke OTOGURO
70kg - Kirin KINOSHITA
74kg - Ken HOSAKA
74kg - Yuhi FUJINAMI
79kg - Sohsuke TAKATANI
86kg - Shota SHIRAI
86kg - Masao MATSUSAKA
92kg - Takashi ISHIGURO
97kg - Takeshi YAMAGUCHI
97kg - Taira SONODA
125kg -Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA
125kg -Taiki YAMAMOTO

Kazakhstan
57kg - Mukhambet KUATBEK
61kg - Rassul KALIYEV
65kg - Sayatbek OKASSOV
70kg - Meirzhan ASHIROV
74kg - Daniyar KAISANOV
79kg - Saken AITZHANOV
86kg - Elkhan ASSADOV
92kg - Iliskhan CHILAYEV
97kg - Mamed IBRAGIMOV
125kg -Daulet SHABANBAY
125kg -Oleg BOLTIN
125kg -Yermukambet INKAR

Mongolia
57kg - ERDENEBAT Bekhbayar
61kg - TUMENBILEG Tuvshintulga
65kg - BATCHULUUN Batmagnai
70kg - SANJAA Ganbayar
74kg - GANZORIG Mandakhnaran
79kg - GANTULGA Iderkhuu
86kg - ORGODOL Uitumen
92kg - LUVSANDORJ Turtogtokh
97kg - ULZIISAIKHAN Batzul
125kg - NATSAGSUREN Zolboo

United States
57kg - Thomas Patrick GILMAN
57kg - Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV
61kg - Kendric Dwayne MAPLE
61kg - Joseph Daniel COLON
65kg - Logan Jeffery STIEBER
65kg - Joseph Christopher MC KENNA
70kg - James Malcolm GREEN
70kg - Frank Aniello MOLINARO
74kg - Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS
74kg - Isaiah Alexander MARTINEZ
79kg - Kyle Douglas DAKE
79kg - Alexander David DIERINGER
86kg - David Morris TAYLOR III
86kg - Bo Dean NICKAL
92kg - J'Den Michael Tbory COX
92kg - Hayden Nicholas ZILLMER
97kg - Kyle Frederick SNYDER
97kg - Kyven Ross GADSON USA
125kg - Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI
125kg - Dominique Deshon BRADLEY

Freestyle World Cup Schedule
Saturday, April 7 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: United States v. India (Mat A) // Mongolia v. Kazakhstan (Mat B)
11:15 am: Japan v. Georgia (Mat A) // Azerbaijan v. Cuba (Mat B)
2:00 pm: Opening Ceremonies
2:30 pm: United States v. Japan (Mat A)
4:30 pm: Mongolia v. Cuba (Mat B)
5:45 pm: India v. Georgia (Mat A) // Azerbaijan v. Kazakhstan (Mat B)

Sunday, April 8 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: United States v. Georgia (Mat A) // Mongolia v. Azerbaijan (Mat B)
11:15am: India v. Japan (Mat A) // Kazakhstan v. Cuba (Mat B)
12:30pm: Fifth Place Match (Mat A) // Seventh Place Match (Mat B)
2:15 pm: Bronze Medal Match (Mat A)
4:00 pm: Gold Medal Match (Mat A)

TV Schedule
Saturday, April 7 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: USA v. India — Olympic Channel
2:30 pm: USA v. Japan — NBCSN

Sunday, April 8 ((All Times, CST)
11:00 am: United States v. Georgia — Olympic Channel
4:00 pm: Gold Medal Match — NBCSN

#WrestleZagreb

Motoki leads Japanese trio to Worlds finals

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 - 15:47 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 17) -- After a slightly subdued start to its Women's Wrestling, Japan managed to show up at the World Championships.

Japan put three wrestlers in the final out of the four weight classes that were in action on Wednesday in Zagreb. Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) remained on course for her first world title at 62kg while Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) will look to add to their world titles at 53kg and 68kg.

Motoki was up against former world champion Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) in the semifinals and she began with a four-pointer. Purevdorj got a reversal but that was all she managed in the match as Motoki kept coming up with different ways to score the takedowns. At 10-1, she scored another four-pointer to win 14-1 and enter her second world final.

For the elusive gold, she will face Ok Ju KIM (PRK) who pinned Amina TANDELOVA (UWW) in the other semifinal after building a 14-3 lead.

Murayama, a three-time world champion, will wrestle for her fourth world title after she won a close semifinal against Hyogyong CHOE (PRK). Both traded activity points but Murayama had a stepout which proved to the be difference as she won 2-1.

On Thursday, she will face Olympic silver medalist Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) in the final after the Ecuadorian defeated world bronze medalist ANTIM (IND), 5-3, majorly with four-pointer in the first period and protecting her lead.

Yepez hit a duck under to throw Antim for four and gave up a reversal to lead 4-1 in the break. The Indian tried to find the opening but she only got one in the final 10 seconds after giving up a takedown. Yepez was happy to give up that final takedown as it did not affect her win and only changed the score to 5-3.

Ecuador, a country which did not have a world finalist till Tuesday, now has two. Yepez is the second on consecutive day after Genesis REASCO (ECU) entered the 76kg final to create history.

World 72kg champion Ishii, who dropped down to 68kg this year, took a step closer to her second world title after she bullied through two Olympic medalist in quarterfinals and semifinals.

Ishii dominated silver medalist from Paris Kennedy BLADES (USA), 12-2, and had a similar match against bronze medalist against Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the semifinals.

Ishii was straight to work in the semifinal with a four-pointer as Tosun landed on her back despite controlling Ishii's legs. Turkiye challenged that scoring but lost it, giving one more point to Ishii.

She scored three different takedowns to finish the match 11-0 inside the first period and enter her second world final.

Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) will look to stop Ishii from winning the gold medal after she upset world 65kg champion Jia LONG (CHN) in the semifinal. Yaneva fell behind 1-1 on criteria but scored a takedown with around one minute and 30 seconds on the clock to lead 3-1.

From there on, Long was on the backfoot and a win seemed further away as she was cautioned for a point for locking fingers. As she tried to trip Yaneva, the Bulgarian blocked her and got the winning takedown for a 6-1 win.

At 72kg, multiple age-group world medalist Nesrin BAS (TUR) managed to reach her first-ever senior world final after she won a thrilling semifinal against Zelu LI (CHN), 9-6.

Bas scored a four-pointer using a whizzer to lead 4-1 at the break. Li scored a takedown to begin the second period but Bas elevated her leg from the front to score two points and lead 6-3. Turkiye challenged the call and the scored for reversed to 8-4. Li tried to mount a comeback from there but she managed only two points while Bas scored a reversal to win 9-6.

For her first world title, she will face Alla BELINSKA (UKR) who used a whizzer to pin Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ) in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) vs. Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN)

SF 1: Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) df. Hyogyong CHOE (PRK), 2-1
SF 2: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) df. ANTIM (IND), 5-3

62kg
GOLD: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) vs. Ok Ju KIM (PRK)

SF 1: Ok Ju KIM (PRK) df. Amina TANDELOVA (UWW), via fall
SF 2: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) df. Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL), 14-1

68kg
GOLD: Ami ISHII (JPN) vs. Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)

SF 1: Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) df. Jia LONG (CHN), 6-1
SF 2: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Buse TOSUN (TUR), 11-0

72kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) vs. Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

SF 1: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Zelu LI (CHN), 9-6
SF 2: Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ), via fall

Complete Freestyle World Cup Rosters Released

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Motoki leads Japanese trio to Worlds finals