Greco-Roman entry list for #WrestleBudapest Ranking Series

Friday, June 23, 2023 - 05:34 By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 23) -- On the last two days of the fourth Ranking Series event in Budapest, Hungary, 210 Greco-Roman wrestlers will take the mat and try to win the medal and the ranking points for the World Championships.

The final Ranking Series event -- Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial -- begins July 13 in the Hungarian capital however Greco-Roman will be in action on July 15 and 16 with multiple entries from Kazakhstan, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Georgian, Hungary, South Korea and the USA.

The competition will see a number of World Championships medalists go up against each other. Some of the potential face-offs include Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) facing Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) at 55kg, Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) against Kerem KAMAL (TUR) at 60kg, Leri ABULADZE (GEO) vs Victor CIOBANU (MDA) at 63kg and Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) at 67kg.

In the heavier weight classes, Danial SOHRABI (IRI) will be at 72kg, up from 67kg, Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) could face Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) at 77kg while Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) has moved up to 87kg, a weight class which already has Islam ABBASOV (AZE), Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), Istvan TAKACS (HUN) and David LOSONCZI (HUN).

At 97kg, Alex SZOKE (HUN) may outplace other wrestlers in this open weight class but the competition will also mark the return of European silver medalist Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN). At 130kg, Riza KAYAALP (TUR) will be the favorite.

Live action from the fourth Ranking Series will be on uww.org and UWW App from July 13.

Greco-Roman

55kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Ramaz SILAGAVA (GEO)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Mahdi AHADI ZENAB (IRI)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Yersin ABYIR (KAZ)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)

60kg
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Liguo CAO (CHN)
Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN)
Jeremy PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU)
Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Jozsef ANDRASI (HUN)
Omid ARAMI (IRI)
Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Aibek SABYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Joao BENAVIDES ROCHABRUN (PER)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Virgil BICA (SWE)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)

63kg
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
David MANYIK (HUN)
Levente TOTH (HUN)
Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ)
Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Jinwoong JUNG (KOR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Xavier JOHNSON (USA)

67kg
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Nestor ALMANZA TRUYOL (CHI)
HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Andres MONTANO ARROYO (ECU)
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Merey BEKENOV (KAZ)
Seongcheol YANG (KOR)
Hansu RYU (KOR)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Nilton SOTO GARCIA (PER)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Mustafa YILDIRIM (TUR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Toni OJALA (FIN)
Elmer MATTILA (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Shahin BADAGHI MOFRAD (IRI)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Zaur KABALOEV (ITA)
Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ)
Erik PERSSON (SWE)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Patrick SMITH (USA)

77kg
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Azat SADYKOV (KAZ)
Daekun PARK (KOR)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Ravaughn PERKINS (USA)

82kg
Francisco KADIMA (ANG)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Shamil BATYROV (KAZ)
Dias KALEN (KAZ)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Kristoffer BERG (SWE)
Mats AHLGREN (SWE)
Spencer WOODS (USA)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Lukas STAUDACHER (AUT)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Sosruko KODZOKOV (BRA)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Ioannis NARLIDIS (CAN)
Haitao QIAN (CHN)
Fei PENG (CHN)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Mohamed METWALLY (EGY)
Andreas VAELIS (EST)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ)
Yevgeniy POLIVADOV (KAZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Byeongcheol SHIN (KOR)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Zachary BRAUNAGEL (USA)

97kg
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Igor ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA)
Yiming LI (CHN)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Vahid DADKHAH GHASEM ABADI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Seungjun KIM (KOR)
Seyeol LEE (KOR)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Josef RAU (USA)

130kg
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Dariusz Attila VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI)
Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)
Anton SAVENKO (KAZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Adam COON (USA)

#WrestleZagreb

Azarpira ends Tazhudinov's two-year dream run in Zagreb

Monday, September 15, 2025 - 16:07 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 15) -- Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) burst on to the wrestling scene with stunning victory over Kyle SNYDER (USA) and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) and eventually becoming world champion in 2023.

He followed that up with gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Unbeaten since 2023, it seemed Tazhudinov will dominate the weight classes for the coming years.

Enter Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI).

The Paris Olympic bronze medalist ended Tazhudinov's two-year dream run with victory in the semifinal of the 2025 World Championships in Zagreb on Monday.

During this two-year reign, Azarpira was the only wrestler who came close to beating Tazhudinov. The two faced each other in the Paris Olympics and the Iranian had a 3-0 lead before giving up four points in the second period to lose 4-3.

There were no such comeback in the second period on Monday. Azarpira took a 2-0 lead with two stepouts but Tazhudinov took criteria lead with a takedown. But Azarpira kept his calm and scored a stepout to make it 3-2.

Tazhudinov tried reaching for Azarpira's legs with his long reach but the Iranian seemed in no trouble at all defending his lead. After one of Tazhudinov's attack, he scored a go-behind and won the bout 5-2.

It is after 12 year that an Iran wrestler has reached the final of the 96/97kg weight class. Reza YAZDANI (IRI) won gold at 96kg at the 2013 World Championships in Budapest.

Azarpira will try to match with Yazdani when he takes on Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the final on Tuesday after the United States wrestler defeated upcoming star Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) in the other semifinal.

Snyder, who had lost to Yoshida at the Tirana Ranking Series, dominated the semifinal, winning 9-1. He scored four different takedowns and looked liked the Snyder of old. Since 2015, Snyder has won a medal at all World Championships including gold in 2015, 2017 and 2022.

Azarpira has two wins over Snyder in the past, the first coming in Zagreb in 2023 at the Ranking Series. The second win came at the Paris Olympics in the bronze-medal bout.

In the other Freestyle weight class -- 65kg -- on Monday, the Olympic final will be replayed after champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) and silver medalist Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) made it to the final at the World Championships.

Amouzad saw off Paiman BIABANI (CAN), 5-0, scoring three stepouts and a takedown while Kiyooka managed to score two takedowns in his 5-0 win over Umidjon JALALOV (UZB).

Onishi on track for first gold

A month after winning gold at the U20 World Championships, Sakura ONISHI (JPN) is on the verge of winning her first senior world title after she made it to the final at 59kg.

Like the age-group World Championships, Onishi has not given up a point so far in three bouts in Zagreb. In the semifinals, she wasted no time to secure a fall over Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL).

"While keeping in mind what the opponent would do, I made it clear what I wanted to do," Onishi said. "I was able to execute and that [pin] was the result. I think it creates good momentum going into tomorrow [for final]."

In the final, Onishi will face European U23 silver Maria VYNNYK (UKR) who used a big four-pointer in her 9-5 victory over Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN).

"From the warmup before the first match, I felt like my legs were moving well," she said. "The way I dictated the flow of the matches also was pretty good, so I think I can do it my own way. I feel peace of mind to make it to the final. I came here to become the senior world champion and tomorrow, I want to win and set off on a winning run (around the mat)."

At 55kg, Asian 53kg champion Kyong Ryong OH (PRK) reached the final after pinning Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN), who was making her senior debut. Oh scored a huge under-over and kept Uchida on the mat until the fall was called.

The DPR Korea is returning to the World Championships after six years; last appearance coming in 2019. The nation had one champion in women's wrestling in Astana.

For a gold medal on Tuesday, Oh will face European champion Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) who survived a late attack from Andreea ANA (ROU) to beat the Romanian 5-3.

RESULTS

Freestyle

65kg
GOLD: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) vs. Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)

SF 1: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) df. Peiman BIABANI (CAN), 5-0
SF 2: Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) df. Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), 5-0

97kg
GOLD: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) vs. Kyle SNYDER (USA)

SF 1: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) df. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), 5-2
SF 2: Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Arash YOSHIDA (JPN), 9-1

Women's Wrestling

55kg
GOLD: Kyong Ryong OH (PRK) vs. Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

SF 1: Kyong Ryong OH (PRK) df. Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN), via fall
SF 2: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) df. Andreea ANA (ROU), 5-3

59kg
GOLD: Sakura ONISHI (JPN) vs. Maria VYNNYK (URK)

SF 1: Sakura ONISHI (JPN) df. Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL), via fall
SF 2: Maria VYNNYK (URK) df. Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN), 10-5

Greco-Roman entry list for #WrestleBudapest Ranking Series

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Azarpira ends Tazhudinov's two-year dream run in Zagreb