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)

#WrestleAthens

Greece gets Greco finalist at U17 Worlds; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan keep up

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - 15:26 By Vinay Siwach

ATHENS, Greece (July 29) -- Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan continued their superb show in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships in Athens, Greece by earned two more spots in the finals.

On day one, the two countries, along with Georgia, were the only ones to enter multiple wrestlers in the final. On Tuesday, they added more while hosts Greece managed to enter one wrestler in the final, just the third-ever in Greco at World U17 Championships.

Asian U17 champion and returning bronze medalist at 71kg Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) led the way for his country, reaching the final after beating returning silver medalist from 65kg Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 9-5, in the semifinal.

Ahmadli raced to a 5-0 lead from par terre but Valiev scored two stepouts before the break to cut the lead to 5-2. He got par terre in the second but failed to score any points. However, another stepout made it 5-4. Valiev kept pushing the pace of the bout and managed an awkward throw for four points. Azerbaijan challenged in vain as Valiev got the win.

It is at this weight class that Greece will look to bag a gold medal as Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE) became just the third finalist for Greece at a World U17 Championships after he defeated Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ), 9-8, in a thrilling semifinal.

Soulis led 8-4 with 10 seconds remaining in the bout when Meirbekuly hit a four-pointer to make it 8-8. However, Soulis had the criteria with a scoring action of four points, two points and two points while Meirbekuly had actions of one point, one point, two points and four points.

The second finalist for Uzbekistan came at 51kg after Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) reversed the par terre and then scored four gut-wrenches to beat Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 9-1, in the semifinals. He will face Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) in the final who got a stepout with 18 seconds left against Asian U17 champion Islam KURBANOV (KGZ) to beat him 4-3 in the other semifinal.

Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) became the star for Kyrgyzstan as he surprised European champion Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) with a big headlock throw for four points to start the semifinal. A lost challenge from Azerbaijan made it 5-0 for Kumarbekov.

With no passivity call in the second period, Kumarbekov kept his pace and Huseynli tried some desperate moves, getting for a takedown which gave Kumarbekov a 7-0 win.

It would have been an Kyrgyzstan-Iran final but Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) had other ideas. He rallied from behind to beat Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI).

The Iranian took just 20 seconds to get on board with a takedown and turn that was only awarded after a challenge from Iran. He took a 4-0 lead against Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) who used some solid arm-drags to score a stepout and then a takedown to cut it to 4-3.

As the time ran out, Zhangazhol dished out one more attack and got the headlock for four points. While Khezli got a counter turn, that was not enough for a win as Zhangazhol kept his 7-6 lead. Iran challenged the final move but it was a clear throw from Zhangazhol. The loss left Khezli in tears.

At 60kg, European bronze medalist Denys SEREDIN (UKR) suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals as Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) used a front headlock throw for four points with just 00:03 left on the clock to win 5-1 and earn a place in the final.

Seredin had defended well for the full match and was leading 1-1 on criteria but he let his guard down for the final five seconds of the bout.

Ysakbaev will take European silver medalist Ali NAZAROV (AZE) in the final after the Azerbaijani defeated Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) 1-1 in the other semifinal. Nazarov was winner based on the criteria that he scored the first point in an 1-1 scoreline match.

At 92kg, Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), who was seventh last year, booked a spot in the final this year after a 3-1 win over Ionut PATRU (ROU). Both wrestler got par terre positions but Patru was docked two points for headbutting in the second period which proved to be the difference between the two.

Winning the gold, however, will be a big ask for Kasyan as he faces Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) in the final after he cleaned up Ahmet UZUN (TUR) 7-0 in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ)

SF 1: Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) df. Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE), 7-0
SF 2: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-6

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) vs. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE)

SF 1: Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 4-3
SF 2: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 10-1

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) vs. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ)

SF 1: Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 6-1
SF 2: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Abolfazl ZARE (IRI), 1-1

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) vs. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE)

SF 1: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 9-5
SF 2: Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE) df. Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ), 9-8

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) vs. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW)

SF 1: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Ahmet UZUN (TUR), 7-0
SF 2: Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 3-1

Greco-Roman entry list for #WrestleBudapest Ranking Series

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Greece gets Greco finalist at U17 Worlds; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan keep up