#WrestleAlexandria

Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series Entry List

By Eric Olanowski

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 14) --- The continent of Africa is set to host its biggest wrestling event ever next week, as 466 wrestlers from 48 countries will toe the line at the second point-based Ranking Series event of the season, the Ibrahim Moustafa (February 23-26).

The Ibrahim Moustafa will be the final point-based event before the calendar transitions into the Continental Championship season. After the Egyptian Ranking Series event, the four highest-ranked wrestlers in each weight will earn a seed at the upcoming Asian, African, European, Oceania and Pan-American Championships.

Freestyle wrestling tops the list of entries with 184 athletes entered, while Greco-Roman has 149 and women’s wrestling has 133 competitors.

On the freestyle side of the Ranking Series event, Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK), the reigning 97kg world runner-up, headlines the entries list with six world medalists from the 2022 World Championships.

The five remaining ’22 world medalists rounded out last season with bronze medals. They are: Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), Boris MAKOEV (SVK) and Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO).

The living legend Riza KAYAALP (TUR) is the most credentialed wrestler entered on the Greco-Roman side of the competition. The five-time world is one of ten returning world medalists heading to Egypt.

Kayaalp is the lone world champion entered in the classic style. He’ll be joined by five world runner-ups and four world bronze medalists.

The silver medalists include: Leri ABULADZE (GEO), Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) and Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO). The four bronze medalists from Belgrade wrestling next week are: Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR), Ali CENGIZ (TUR), Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) and Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI).

In women’s wrestling, the top talent features eight podium finishers from Serbia—including reigning world champions Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) and Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA).

Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) and Kayla MIRACLE (USA) are the pair of 2022 second-place finishers, while last year’s third-place finishers Epp MAE (EST), Samar HAMZA (EGY) and Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) and Mengyu XIE (CHN) will also be in action next week.

All the action from Egypt starts next Thursday and can be followed live on www.uww.org or on the UWW app.


Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK), the third-ranked wrestler in the world, will compete at 97kg. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Freestyle

57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Guesseppe Ricardo REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Alaa Ali Sheba ELSAYED (EGY)
Mahmoud Mohamed Abdelkader Elsayed ELAZAB (EGY)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Brandon Jesus ESCOBAR AMADOR (HON)
Rakhat KALZHAN (KAZ)
Abzal OKENOV (KAZ)
Yerassyl MUKHTARULY (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Ben Hachem TARIK (MAR)
Darian Toi CRUZ (PUR)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Andrii YATSENKO (UKR)
Nicholas Raymond SURIANO (USA)
Nodirjon SAFAROV (UZB)
Arslan RAKHIMOV (UZB)

61kg
Abdelghani BENATALLAH (ALG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Mahmoud Shaban Azmy SHORBAGY (EGY)
Gamal Abdelnaser Hanafy MOHAMED (EGY)
Shehabeldin Emam Abdelraouf MOHAMED (EGY)
Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO)
Pankaj PANKAJ (IND)
Aman AMAN (IND)
Yasin Abbas REZAEIAGHOUZGOLEH (IRI)
Nurbolat ABDUALIYEV (KAZ)
Vladimir KUDRIN (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Yassine JAA (MAR)
Ali M M ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Joseph Andres SILVA (PUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Austin James DESANTO (USA)
Nahshon Aaron GARRETT (USA)
Jahongirmirza TUROBOV (UZB)

65kg
Zohier IFTENE (ALG)
Agustin Alejandro DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Omar Mohamed Amin Mahmoud MOURAD (EGY)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Sujeet SUJEET (IND)
Joshua Stuart FINESILVER (ISR)
Sanzhar MUKHTAR (KAZ)
Ilyas AMANZHOLOV (KAZ)
Timur AITKULOV (KAZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)
Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR)
Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR)
Patricio LUGO III (USA)
Anthony James ASHNAULT (USA)
Joseph Christopher MC KENNA (USA)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Agudamu AGUDAMU (CHN)
Fares Mohamed Mosad Rashad ELBAIOUMY (EGY)
Khaled Salem Mohamed  Mousa MOHAMED (EGY)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Doszhan ASSETOV (KAZ)
Azamat SHAGAPULY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Cuneyt BUDAK (TUR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Lucas Dakota CHITTUM (USA)
Tyler Daniel BERGER (USA)
Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB)

74kg
Abdelkader IKKAL (ALG)
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Shengsong XIA (CHN)
Nuerlanbieke WURENIBAI (CHN)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Mohamed Tarek Abdou Khalil ABDELHADY (EGY)
Luis Isabel BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Hossein Noorali ABOUZARIPASHKOLAEI (IRI)
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR)
Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ)
Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ)
Kanat MUSSABEKOV (KAZ)
Islambek OROZBEKOV (KGZ)
Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR)
Anthony VALENCIA GOMEZ (MEX)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Semen RADULOV (UKR)
Joshua Richard SHIELDS (USA)
Vincenzo JOSEPH (USA)
Joseph Lawrence Michael LAVALLEE (USA)

79kg
Chems  Eddine FETAIRIA (ALG)
Francisco de Deus KADIMA (ANG)
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Peilong LI (CHN)
Nasser Sayed Fares SAYED (EGY)
Ahmed khaled Mohamed MAHMOUD (EGY)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Jitender JITENDER (IND)
Amirhossein Morteza Gholi KAVOUSI (IRI)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Zhiger ZAKIROV (KAZ)
Bibarys NURYLLAULY (KAZ)
Sofiane PADIOU BELMIR (MAR)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Evan WICK (USA)
David Vincent MC FADDEN (USA)
Chandler Shane MARSTELLER (USA)
Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB)

86kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Xiao SUN (CHN)
Saifeldin Shokry Mohamed Mahmoud ELKOUMY (EGY)
Mahmoud Said Ahmed Ismail BADAWI (EGY)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Vicky VICKY (IND)
Islyambek ILYASSOV (KAZ)
Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Ethan Adrian RAMOS (PUR)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB)

92kg
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Mohamed Wael Ahmed  Elsayed ABDELWAHAB (EGY)
Khaled Masoud Ismail ELMOATAMADAWI (EGY)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (IND)
Abdul Kareem Mahmoud Abdul ABUIDAIJ (JOR)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)
Nathan Dyamin JACKSON (USA)
Kollin Raymond MOORE (USA)

97kg
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN)
Mostafa Aly Elsayed Gabr ELDERS (EGY)
Aboubakr Elsayed Elsayed GADELMAWLA (EGY)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Sahil SAHIL (IND)
Amirhossein Biglar FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI)
Benjamin Konrad HONIS (ITA)
Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Serik BAKYTKHANOV (KAZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Zbigniew Mateusz BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Mahamed ZAKARIIEV (UKR)
Morgan Patrick SMITH (USA)
Michael Justin MACCHIAVELLO (USA)
Makhsud VEYSALOV (UZB)

125kg
Reheman RUSIDANMU (CHN)
Benxin DUAN (CHN)
Adham Abdalla Amin Mansour ABDELKARIM (EGY)
Mohamed Mostafa Aly Elshamy SALAHELDIN (EGY)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Dinesh DINESH (IND)
Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
Kamil Tomasz KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)
Jordan Michael WOOD (USA)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)
Sardorbek KHOLMATOV (UZB)

Greco-Roman
55kg
Shaaban Safy Abdelrazek ABDELLATIF (EGY)
Mohamed Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Ibrahim MOHAMED (EGY)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Manjeet MANJEET (IND)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Sardarbek KONUSHBAEV (KGZ)
Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU)

60kg
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL)
Liguo CAO (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Ahmed Fouad Fouad Hussein BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Haithem Mahmoud Ahmed Fahmy MAHMOUD (EGY)
Mahmoud Farrag Mahmoud SAAD (EGY)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Gyanender GYANENDER (IND)
Yernar FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Aibek SABYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Nurmukhammet ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Ismail ETTALIBI (MAR)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

63kg
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Aker SCHMID AL OBAIDI (AUT)
Adham Ayman Gharib Abdou ELSAYED (EGY)
Mostafa Mohamed Mostafa Mohamed ABOELALA (EGY)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Sagar SAGAR (IND)
Meysam Karamali DALKHANI (IRI)
Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ)
Madiyar MALTEKBAYEV (KAZ)
Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ)
Syimyk Makhamadzhanovich MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)

67kg
Ishak GHAIOU (ALG)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Husiyuetu HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Lei LI (CHN)
Abdelrahman Ahmed Aly Mohamed OMAR (EGY)
Emad Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Elemam GHALY (EGY)
Moustafa Hussein Fathy ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Singh KARANJIT (IND)
Ashu ASHU (IND)
Din Mukhamed KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ)
Merey BEKENOV (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Niklas Jan Olov Pontus OEHLEN (SWE)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)

72kg
Jian TAN (CHN)
Mahmoud Khaled Abdelsatar ABDELRAHMAN (EGY)
Omar Essam Elsayed Abdelalim OKIL (EGY)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Yerassyl NURBOSSYNOV (KAZ)
Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ)
Nurzhigit KENESHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK)

77kg
Francisco de Deus KADIMA (ANG)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Wael Hamdy Mohamed ABDELRAHMAN (EGY)
Mohamed Ehab Mohamed Zahab KHALIL (EGY)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Sajan SAJAN (IND)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Azat SADYKOV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)

82kg
Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Mahmoud Walid Abdelfattah IBRAHIM (EGY)
Fares Mohamed Abdelsattar GHALY (EGY)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Dias KALEN (KAZ)
Shamil BATYROV (KAZ)
Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Chengwu WANG (CHN)
Maimaiti KAISAIER (CHN)
Noureldin Hany Mohamed Gomaa HASSAN (EGY)
Abdelrahman Ehab Mohamed ELSEFY (EGY)
Emad Ashraf Mohamed ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Ariel Andres ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ (HON)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Baurzhan MUSSIN (KAZ)
Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ)
Saad AMANDAR (MAR)
Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)

97kg
Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Yan LIU (CHN)
Yiming LI (CHN)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Sami Elsayed Ali Ibrahim SAMRA (EGY)
Mohamed Ali Elsayed GABR (EGY)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Islam UMAYEV (KAZ)
Yerulan ISKAKOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Aleksandar Georgije STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Metehan BASAR (TUR)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Salaheldin Mohamed Salaheldin ABBAS (EGY)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino Tanislado AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Anton SAVENKO (KAZ)
Mansur SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Roman KIM (KGZ)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

Women’s Wrestling
Patricia Alejandra BERMUDEZ (ARG)
Madison Bianca PARKS (CAN)
Meng FAN (CHN)
Jiang ZHU (CHN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Nada Medani Ashour Abdalla MOHAMED (EGY)
Shivani PAWAR (IND)
Emilia Alina GRIGORE VUC (ROU)
Sarra HAMDI (TUN)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Alyssa Rae Nicole LAMPE (USA)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Jasmina IMMAEVA (UZB)

53kg
Yuhong ZHONG (CHN)
Li DENG (CHN)
Lucia Yamileth YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Shaimaa Khalifa Hussein ABDELZAHER (EGY)
Shaimaa Atef Barakat MOHAMED (EGY)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU)
Nethmi Ahinsa Fernando PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE)
Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

55kg
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Louji Walid Khalf YASSIN (EGY)
Sushma SHOKEEN (IND)
Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Alexandra Wray HEDRICK (USA)
Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA)

57kg
Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Alexandria Rebekkah TOWN (CAN)
Ningning RONG (CHN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU)
Hana Ali Hamada Mohamed HUSSEIN (EGY)
Elena Heike BRUGGER (GER)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Sito SITO (IND)
Esther Omolayo KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

59kg
Zhuomalaga ZHUOMALAGA (CHN)
Farah Ali Hamada Mohamed HUSSEIN (EGY)
Alaa Abdelhalim Said HARHASH (EGY)
Dawlat Mohamed Mahmoud FISAL (EGY)
Sarita SARITA (IND)
Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR)
Lauren Nora LOUIVE (USA)

62kg
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL)
Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL)
Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)
Noura Khalil Hamed Khalil BAKR (EGY)
Gharam Mahmoud  Attia Moustafa ASKAR (EGY)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa Helga Gerda NIEMESCH (GER)
Sangeeta SANGEETA (IND)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Sara Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Jennifer PAGE ROGERS (USA)
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA)
Dilfuza AIMBETOVA (UZB)
Ariukhan JUMABAEVA (UZB)

65kg
Ayatalla Magdy Mohamed Sadek AHMED (EGY)
Bhateri BHATERI (IND)
Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR)
Emma Patricia BRUNTIL (USA)

68kg
Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL)
Sofiya Hristova GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Menatalla Ahmed Osman Mostafa BADRAN (EGY)
Samah Abdellatif Mahmoud ABDELLATIF (EGY)
Koumba Selene Fanta LARROQUE (FRA)
Saidy Lorena CHAVEZ FIGUEROA (HON)
Radhika RADHIKA (IND)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU)
Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Marilyn GARCIA (USA)
Alexandria Junis GLAUDE (USA)
Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA)
Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB)

72kg
Eman Hany Hefny MOHAMED (EGY)
Mona Reda Abdelkhalek AHMED (EGY)
Pauline Denise LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Reetika REETIKA (IND)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR)
Liudmyla PAVLOVETS TYCHYNA (UKR)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg
Juan WANG (CHN)
Qian ZHOU (CHN)
Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar Amer Ibrahim HAMZA (EGY)
Epp MAE (EST)
Cynthia Vanessa VESCAN (FRA)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Kiran KIRAN (IND)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR)
Kennedy Alexis BLADES (USA)
Skylar Allison Elizabeth GROTE (USA)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

Wrestling prodigy Ono takes big strides, with family's support

By Vinay Siwach

JAPAN (January 8) -- Ben ASKREN calls him the 'best wrestler on the planet.' Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) invited him as a special guest to his academy. Kids are lining up to take his autograph. Wrestling social media pages have numerous highlights of him.

No wrestler has been talked about as much as Masanosuke ONO (JPN) in recent times, and not because he has a soy sauce named after him.

Two months have passed since he won the World Championships on the first attempt, but Ono remains the hottest topic in wrestling. Currently in the United States for various commitments, Ono first broke out by winning the U20 World Championships in October, and two weeks later, he rocked the world with his run at the World Championships in Tirana.

The 20-year-old, using his speed and a lethal gut wrench, dominated Olympic champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN), blanked world champion Vitali ARAJAU (USA) and posted three other technical superiority wins en route to the gold medal at 61kg. All that with a broken ankle.

"One month ago, I broke my ankle, and I couldn't practice at all," Ono had said after winning the gold in Tirana. "The Uguev match was my first live wrestling match after the fracture, and I was very unsure how I would do."

"It's like a dream for us," said Noriko, Ono's mother, who watched her son in the arena in Tirana. She was joined by her husband Masaharu, who was equally elated with his son's success.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Masanosuke ONO (JPN) with his with sister Konami, left and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (center).

This was not the first time the couple had traveled with the Ono for a wrestling tournament. Well before Masanosuke became a world-known wrestler, the Ono household had been traveling for wrestling. In 2015, they traveled to Las Vegas for the World Championships. Photos of Ono with Burroughs and other wrestlers went viral on social media after he won.

Masaharu has several anecdotes of his son Ono's childhood, especially from wrestling tournaments.

"We stayed at the same hotel as the wrestlers in 2015," Masanharu recounts. "One day, he was missing. We searched for him in the hotel and later found that he was eating with Haji Aliyev and going around wrestlers' rooms to get autographs."

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) poses for a picture with Masansuke and Konami ONO in 2015.

Ono's parents were not the only ones surprised. Former world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), who was wrestling at 57kg in the 2015 World Championships, heard a rumor that a little wrestler from Japan had come to Las Vegas to watch the World Championships.

"It's very rare in Japan, and he's the only little wrestler I've ever known who has traveled all the way overseas to watch matches like this," Takahashi says. "That was the first time I saw him, in the hotel. I was the same age at the time as he is now, a third-year university student. I don't remember talking to him directly, but I remember feeling very happy watching him running around with a big smile on his face."

Takahashi, a two-time Olympian for Japan, is now a coach at Yamanashi Gakuin University, the school that produced Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and where Ono is a third-year student now.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Masanosuke ONO (JPN) wrestling in school.

His story, however, begins way back -- when Ono was in kindergarten. Or, more specifically when he was removed from a music class. 

Unable to sit still and constantly interrupting his teacher, Ono was asked to leave the class. "The teacher was angry and told him to take up wrestling," Masaharu says.

Turns out, music's loss is wrestling's gain.

Ono's father Masaharu had no experience in wrestling, he practiced Kendo, a form of martial arts that uses sticks. Yet, he trained Ono, and himself fell in love with the sport.

"Wrestling, a sport in which you don't use any equipment, you compete using only your body," he says. "It's a fair competition. Whether you win or lose, you are solely responsible. There are no excuses. The match starts and ends with a handshake. I love that about it. I incorporated elements of Kendo into Masanosuke's wrestling. So I coached him, even though I had no experience."

Kenichiro FUMITA(JPN)The Ono siblings with Kenichiro FUMITA(JPN) in 2016.

Soon, Ono's sister Konami joined the training. Konami is two years younger than Ono but is already making a name for herself. She won the Japan Queen's Cup in 2023 and won silver at the U17 World Championships at 61kg after she won the prestigious Klippan Lady Open.

In the Ono household, wrestling became a way of life. Masaharu would take his kids to most domestic competitions in Japan. If not competing, they would travel to watch. He even made a "Save Olympic Wrestling" banner in 2013 when wrestling was dropped from the Olympic program.

At the 2012 Japan Championships, Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) made a stunning debut, winning the gold medal. Later that day, Ono recognized Fumita outside the arena and ran to get his first autograph.

Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN)Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), center, a coach at the Yamanashi Gakuin University, pictured with Masanosuke ONO (JPN), second from right.

Ono would join Yamanashi Gakuin University, and Takahashi would see him again since the 2015 World Championships.

"He had grown bigger since I came to watch the World Championships, but he looked like he was having fun practicing, and his attitude seemed the same as it was back then," Takahashi says. "My first impression was that he was stronger in defense than in attack. I remember it was hard to score points. We had a lot of sparring, and watching him wrestling with pure joy made me feel young again."

Takahashi says that he expected Ono to be dominant once he is free of injuries and begins competing internationally. 

"He had a lot of injuries and was unable to participate in many domestic tournaments for a long time, but when he is not injured and can train normally, he is really strong," he says. "He does not lose to fighters in higher weight classes. When he first entered the school, he was very weak even when sparring with me, but now he is really strong and has good natural ability, so I can feel his strength."

Ono made his international debut at the 2024 Asian Championships in 65kg and returned with a bronze medal from the Asian Championships after he was pinned by Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) who used a perfect arm throw. He dropped back to 61kg, a weight class more suited to him, and Ono was a menace.

"He doesn't change his wrestling style depending on his opponent but sticks to his own style. I expected him to win both the World Championships, but I didn't expect him to win so overwhelmingly."

The reason for Ono's ability to be the best on the mat comes from his speed. Takahashi explained that Ono researches a lot on his opponent and is quick to understand their gameplan.

"After he returned to Japan, I asked him about his impressions of Uguev. He said that he had done a lot of research and was able to understand what he was going to do just by moving a little," he says. "In terms of technique, it's not flexibility, but his speed that is so fast. There is always an initial movement before a technique, but he can perform the technique right there, so the opponent's reaction is delayed. Also, he predicts this and still performs the technique, so the opponent cannot even react."

 

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Soy sauce named Masanosuke, after Ono.

While Ono is away in the United States, his father Masaharu is planning for a long 2025 season. He wants to continue his travels with Masanosuke and Konami, which he has done since 2015. An owner of a soy sauce brewing factory in the Shimane Prefecture, Masaharu has even launched a soy sauce named after his son.

"I would be happy if people in the wrestling world around the world liked Masanosuke's interesting character," Masaharu says. "I am happiest when I travel the world to attend wrestling matches with Masanosuke and Konami."

Masaharu has documented his children's journey and is enjoying the love his son is getting so far in wrestling. Whether fans or his opponents, Ono is celebrated. Ono's walk after winning the gold was similar to what Connor McGregor did during his career; it went viral, adding to his celebrations like a fictional character from the manga series Attack on Titan (Shingekino Kyojin).

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)The Ono family in Budapest for the 2018 World Championships.

Masaharu also documented his family's trip to the 2018 World Championships in Budapest. Ono, then 14 years old, would run around to get pictures clicked. He got a few with Kyle SNYDER (USA), Sadulaev, Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Taha AKGUL (TUR) and other stars.

And Masaharu has no plans to stop capturing his children on and off the wrestling mat. And then tell the stories of his travels.

"The viral photo with Burroughs was by chance," Masaharu says. "Ono had wandered off in the hotel and took his autograph. I did not believe that it was Burroughs's autograph. So he took me to his room and asked me to click a photo with Burroughs as evidence. That's how we got the photo. Later that night he won the gold medal at 74kg."