#WrestleTirana

List of superstars headed to Senior World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (October 2) -- The World Championships in Non-Olympic Weight Classes is making a return after eight years and will be held in Tirana, Albania from October 28 to 31.

The wrestlers who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics cannot compete at this World Championships. Close to 300 wrestlers will be in Tirana competing in 12 weight classes in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

Freestyle competition will be in 61kg, 70kg 79kg and 92kg. Women's Wrestling will be in 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg and Greco-Roman will compete in 55kg, 63kg, 72kg and 82kg.

The World Championships will be live on uww.org and the UWW App.

Note: The entries are subject to change as a few countries are yet to hold their selections

Freestyle

61kg
Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN)
Zavur UGUEV (AIN)
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Mezhlum MEZHLUMYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Christopher MERLO (CAN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Peter HAMMER CUDE (CRC)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
UDIT (IND)
Reza Hossein MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI)
Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Joseph SILVA (PUR)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Vitali ARUJAU (USA)

70kg
Niurgun SKRIABIN (AIN)
Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN)
Eriglent PRIZRENI (ALB)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Shijian ZHOU (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Manish GOSWAMI (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Umut ERDOGAN (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
James GREEN (USA)

79kg
Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)
Orges LILA (ALB)
Chems FETAIRIA (ALG)
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Nan CAO (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Parvinder SINGH (IND)
Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
RAFFAELE MATRULLO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Andrzej SOKALSKI (POL)
Shane JONES (PUR)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Ahmet YAGAN (TUR)
Valentyn BABII (UKR)
Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
Mirzo KHAYITOV (UZB)

92kg
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (AIN)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN)
Marjus MALKO (ALB)
Igor SARKISIAN (ARM)
Aslan ABAKAROV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Balazs JUHASZ (HUN)
Sandeep MANN (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Egzon SHALA (KOS)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Filip ROGUT (POL)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Bekir Talip OVEC (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)
David TAYLOR (USA)

Risako KINJO (JPN)Former Olympic and world champion Risako KINJO (JPN) will be eyeing another world title, first since 2019. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

55kg
Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (AIN)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
KIRTI (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zulfiya YAKHYAROVA (KAZ)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)

59kg
Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Ana PEREIRA FRANCA (BRA)
Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
MANSI (IND)
Risako KINJO (JPN)
Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Alejandra RIVERA ARRIAGA (MEX)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

65kg
Veranika IVANOVA (AIN)
Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN)
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Olivia DI BACCO (CAN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
MANISHA (IND)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Eldarah BROWN (TON)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Alexis GOMEZ (MEX)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Macey KILTY (USA)

72kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (AIN)
Vusala PARFIANOVICH (AIN)
Thamires MARTINS MACHADO (BRA)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Qian JIANG (CHN)
Rosie TABORA (COD)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
BIPASHA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Emilia CRECIUN (MDA)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Kylie WELKER (USA)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Emin SEFERSHAEV (AIN)
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Haifeng ZHANG (CHN)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
SANJEEV (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Kagetora OKAMOTO (JPN)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Servan CINAR (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)

63kg
Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Sadyk LALAEV (AIN)
Jurgen UKU (ALB)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
CHETAN (IND)
Iman Hossein MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Ayata SUZUKI (JPN)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Dastan KADYROV (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Michal TRACZ (POL)
Servet ANGI (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)

72kg
Mikita MURASHKA (AIN)
Aslan VISAITOV (AIN)
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Hayk MELIKYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Reangan NDOMBASI (COD)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Michael WIDMAYER (GER)
Amadeusz VITEK (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ)
Ahmed BARAHMAH (KSA)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

82kg
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (AIN)
Islam ALIEV (AIN)
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Sosruko KODZOKOV (BRA)
Rosian DERMANSKI (BUL)
Pengcheng WANG (CHN)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Artem SHAPOVALOV (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Yevgeniy POLIVADOV (KAZ)
Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ)
Hassan BARNAWI (KSA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Aliaksandr KIKINIOU (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

#WrestleTirana

Thursday's U23 World Championships semifinals set

By Eric Olanowski

TIRANA, Albania (October 26) --- The fourth day of wrestling at the 2023 U23 World Championships is underway in the Albanian capital. Today, we'll draw the Greco-Roman brackets and run through the final five weights--53kg, 55kg, 57kg, 62kg and 65kg--in women's wrestling.

Top Stars in Action:
57kg - Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) – Senior European silver
57kg - Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) – U23 world bronze
62kg - Iryna BONDAR (UKR) – U23 world silver
65kg - Irina RINGACI (MDA) – Senior world gold
65kg - Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE) – U23 world silver
65kg - Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) – Senior world silver
72kg - Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) – U23 world silver
72kg - Amit ELOR (USA) – Two-time senior world gold

Semifinal matches (as the come in):

53kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN) vs. Mako OONO (JPN)

Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) vs. Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) vs. Mia Katherine FRIESEN (CAN)

Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) vs. Sara NATAMI (JPN)

62kg
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) vs. Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR) vs. Bhagyashree Hanumant FAND (UWW)

65kg
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT) vs. Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA)

72kg
Bukrenaz SERT (TUR) vs. Jyoti BERWAL (UWW)

Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) vs. Amit ELOR (USA)

13:02: Kasabieva ended up scoring emptying the gas tank in the second period, scoring seven points before catching Kolawole on her back for the fall.

12:57: Nigeria's Esther KOLAWOLE, the '21 U23 world bronze medalist, is in a tight one against Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) over on Mat B. Both wrestlers have been extremely cautious in the first period, with Kolawole scoring the period's only point-- an inactivity point.

12:51: It looks like it's going to be an early afternoon for us. We have four matches left on each mat before heading to the Greco-Roman draws.

12:35: I was watching the Oono and Malanchuk match, so I didn't watch the match but heard that Elor picked up another fall to move into tonight's 72kg semifinals.

12:31: One of the least talked about aspects of the Japanese women's team is their timing. They understand the clock and when to attack better than any other team in wrestling.

That was on display with Oono's win over Malanchuk, as she trailed for the entire match, but struck late to steal the 2-2 match on criteria. She'll wrestle the winner of Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN) and Serena Rosa DI BENEDETTO (CAN).

12:23: Senior world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) picked up a 10-0 win in his first bout and will wrestle Busra EFE (TUR) next.

12:00: An upcoming match I'm looking forward to watching is Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) and Mako OONO (JPN).

Due to Ukraine's lightweight, Malanchuk has been in and out of the senior lineup for a few years now, but she's capitalized on her opportunity a few times, winning a gold medal at the 2022 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event and a silver at the 2021 Individual World Cup.

On the other side, you know what you're going to get out of the Japanese women, so it'll be good to see how Malanchuk stacks up against top-tier talent.

11:47: I just realized that 55kg senior world bronze medalist Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) is entered into the competition. It's great to see her down at 53kg, which shows me she's preparing to compete at the Olympic weight in 2024.

Dragutan down at 53kg gives Moldova's women's team three solid Olympic weights. They'll have Dragutan at 53kg, Anastasia NICHITA at 57kg and Irina RINGACI at 68kg.

11:38: We'll go from one world silver medalist to another on Mat B. Macey KILTY (USA) just scored a fall, brining up Ukraine's Iryna BONDAR (UKR).

11:19: There's not much to talk about regarding Elor's opening round match other than she scored a 17 second fall over Tokyo Olympian Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN).

10:55: All eyes will be on the new face of American women's wrestling, Amit ELOR (USA). If you don't know who Elor is, she's taken the wrestling world by storm over the last two years. At the ripe age of 19, she's already a seven-time world championships--winning golds twice at the senior level, three times at the U20s and once at the U23 and U17s.

Elor is impressive beyond her years, both on and off the mat. Take a few minutes to read her latest interview with United World Wrestling's Vinay Siwach: U23 Worlds: Elor chases eighth world title in Tirana

10:45: Good morning, wrestling fans. We'll start the day with 30 minutes of repechage matches before moving into the qualification bouts. That gives me time to get the Stars in Action list prepared for you.