#Trnava2018

Returning Freestyle World Champs Steveson, Fix Enter #Trnanva2018 Field

Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - 10:58 By Eric Olanowski

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TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 4) - Daton FIX (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA), the duo of American returning champions lead a freestyle #Trnava2018 field that boasts 245 wrestlers from 40 different nations. 

Fix, the 55kg champion from a year ago enters the Junior World Championships at 57kg, while Steveson, the 120kg gold-medal winner enters at 125kg. 

Steveson will be looking for his fourth age-level world title. Since stepping on the international scene in 2015, Steveson has yet to drop a match on his way to claiming two Cadet World titles, and a Junior World gold medal. 

Fix, the three-time world medalist will be trying to win back-to-back Junior World titles while competing in his fifth age-level World Championship. Since taking tenth place at the 2014 Cadet World Championships, Fix has rallied to win two bronzes, and most recently, a gold medal. 

Freestyle action begins on Friday, September 21 and will close the Junior World Championships. 

ALB
65kg - Eriglent PRIZRENI 
125kg - Paris KAREPI 

ALG
57kg - Salah Eddine KATEB 
65kg - Fares LAKEL 
79kg - Oussama ABDELLAOUI 
97kg - Mohammed FARDJ 

ARM
57kg - Arsen HARUTYUNYAN
61kg - Vazgen TEVANYAN
65kg -  Gegham GALSTYAN
70kg -  Arman ANDREASYAN
74kg - Hrayr ALIKHANYAN 
79kg -  Arman AVAGYAN 
86kg -  Mher MARKOSYAN 
125kg - Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN 

AUT
74kg -Simon MARCHL
79kg -Benjamin GREIL

AZE
57kg -  Aliabbas RZAZADE 
61kg -  Intigam VALIZADA 
65kg -  Royal AGHAMALIYEV 
70kg -  Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV 
74kg -  Ismail ABDULLAEV 
79kg -  Orkhan ABASOV 
86kg -  Magomed ASIYATILOV 
92kg -  Askhab HAMZATOV
97kg -  Alimagomed ALIKHMAEV 
125kg - Rahid HAMIDLI 

BLR
57kg -  Uladzislau KOIKA 
61kg -  Dzmitry HERASIMENKA 
65kg -  Mikita STRAKH 
70kg -  Aliaksandr KURYSHTA
86kg -  Arkadzi PAHASIAN 
92kg -  Vasil PAULIUCHENKA 
97kg -  Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI  
125kg - Uladzislau ASIPENKA

BUL 
61kg -  Alish Gyoksel ALISH 
65kg -  Nikola Delchev LEVENOV 
70kg -  Veselin Georgiev PETROV 
74kg -  Dzhemal Rushen ALI 
79kg -  Oktay Ruzhdi HASAN 
86kg -  Ivan Kostadinov STEFANOV
125kg - Daniel Milanov VESELINOV 

CAN 
57kg -  Brayden TODD 
61kg -  Marco PALERMO 
65kg -  Connor MCNEICE 
70kg -  Gunnar SALES
74kg - Ty BRIDGWATER 
86kg - Connor PATTISON 
92kg - Hunter LEE 
97kg -  Richard DESCHATELETS
125kg - Aly BARGHOUT 

CHN
57kg -  Wanhao ZOU 
61kg -  Minghu LIU 
65kg -  Chao ZHENG 
70kg -  Jun ZHAO 
74kg -  Yi LI 
79kg -  Gangsuhe GANGSUHE 
86kg -  Danan XU 
92kg -  Awusayiman HABILA 
97kg - Qirui BING 
125kg - Benxin DUAN 

Vojtech PISKOR (CZE), two-time World Team represenative. 

CZE
61kg -  David KOPRIVA 
86kg -  Vojtech PISKOR 
92kg -  Matous VONDAL 

EGY
57kg -  Gamal MOHAMED 
74kg -  Samy MOUSTAFA 
86kg -  Hassan FOUAD 

EST
65kg -  Marek KUETT 
74kg -  Erik REINBOK

FRA
61kg -  Arman ELOYAN 
79kg -  Charles AFA 

GEO
57kg -  Teimuraz VANISHVILI
61kg -  Ramaz TURMANIDZE
65kg -  Giorgi ELBAKIDZE        
70kg -  Iveriko JULAKIDZE       
74kg -  Goga MAMIAURI        
79kg -  Tornike KVINIKADZE   
86kg -  Demur MEGENEISHVILI          
92kg -  Beka NADASHVILI       
97kg -  Zuriko URTASHVILI     
125kg - Aleksi ZHORZHOLIANI

GER
57kg -  Horst Junior LEHR       
70kg -  Tino RETTINGER         
74kg -  Kevin LUCHT   
86kg -  Johannes DEML           
92kg -  Ertugrul AGCA

HUN
57kg -  Rajmund FARKAS        
70kg -  Botond GULYAS          
74kg -  Botond LUKACS          
79kg -  Milan MESTER
86kg -  Patrik SZUROVSZKI

Naveen NAVEEN (IND), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

IND
57kg -  Naveen NAVEEN         
61kg -  Suraj Rajkumar KOKATE          
65kg -  Karan KARAN  
70kg -  Vishal KALIRAMANA   
74kg -  Sachin RATHI  
79kg -  Sachin GIRI      
86kg -  Deepak PUNIA
92kg -  Somveer SOMVEER    
97kg -  Hussain NASIR
125kg - Mohit MOHIT  

IRI
57kg -  Reza ALIJANZADEHJOUYBARI
61kg -  Mehdi ESHGHIVASOUKOLAEI
65kg -  Amirhossein MAGHSOUDI     
70kg -  Amirhossein KAVOUSI
74kg -  Ali SAVADKOUHI         
79kg -  Sajjad GHOLAMI         
86kg -  Seyedabolfazl HASHEMIJOUYBARI    
92kg -  Abbas Ali FOROUTANRAMI
97kg -  Sajad AZIZI      
125kg - Amir YARI        

ISR
79kg - David LABKOVSKY        
86kg -  Uri KALASHNIKOV       
125kg - Lior ALTSHULER          

JPN
57kg -  Daiki ARAKI
61kg -  Kodai OGAWA
65kg -  Takuma TANIYAMA    
70kg -  Jintaro MOTOYAMA   
74kg -  Yuto MIWA     
79kg -  Hayato ISHIGURO      
86kg -  Shutaro YAMADA        
92kg -  Takuma OTSU
92kg -  Shohei YAMAZAKI       
97kg -  Hiroto NINOMIYA       
125kg - Akiho MORI / Kota TOYAMA  

Serik BAKYTKHANOV (KAZ), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

KAZ
57kg -  Rakhat KALZHAN        
61kg -  Syrbaz TALGAT           
65kg -  Kuanysh DUISENKUL  
70kg -  Nurkozha KAIPANOV  
74kg -  Aibar ZHYLKAIDAROV
79kg -  Daniyar MELDEBEK     
86kg -  Aslan DZICOEV            
92kg -  Alisher YERGALI          
97kg -  Serik BAKYTKHANOV  
125kg - Omar EYUBOV

KOR
57kg -  Hyeonsu CHO  
61kg -  Minsu CHO      
65kg -  Sangho HAN   
70kg -  Jinwoo MOON
74kg -  Gihwan LEE     
79kg -  Jaegyun GO     
86kg -  Jayong JIN       
92kg -  Myeongseok CHOO    
97kg -  Hyunsu HAN   
125kg - Ki Bum KIM     

KSA
57kg -  Tuorki HAZOAZI
61kg -  Hassan M WADDAN       

LTU
65kg -  Gytis JOVAISA
79kg -  Dominykas VILIUSIS    

MDA
57kg -  Ion BUTNARU
61kg -  Leomid COLESNIC       
65kg -  Nicolai GRAHMEZ       
70kg -  Vasile DIACON
74kg -  Piotr CARASENI
79kg -  Andrian GROSUL        
86kg -  Ivan NEDEALCO           
92kg -  Gheorghe ERHAN
125kg - Samhan JABRAILOV    

BYAMBASUREN Bat-Erdene (MGL), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

MGL
57kg -  Tumentsogt BOLD       
61kg -  Jamsranjav DUGERKHOROL   
65kg -  Bud BATBAATAR        
70kg -  Tergel TUMURKHUYAG          
74kg -  Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN   
79kg -  Tserendash BAASANDORJ      
92kg -  Altangerel CHINBAT   
97kg -  Mungunshagai TUMURBAT   
125kg - Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR     

MKD
65kg -  Fati VEJSELI     

PAK
70kg -  Ghulam GHOUS          
97kg -  Haroon ABID   

POL
61kg -  Karol Jakub CZEGUS   
70kg -  Szymon WOJTKOWSKI           
74kg -  Pawel Tomasz MALICKI           
79kg -  Jakub SZYMULA          
86kg -  Michal Jan BIELAWSKI
92kg -  Matthew WROBLEWSKI         
125kg - Jakub BRYLEWSKI       

RSA
61kg -  Frederik NORTJE         
74kg -  Matthew BARTLETT   

RUS
57kg -  Akhmed IDRISOV        
61kg -  Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV     
65kg -  Saiyn KAZYRYK
70kg -  Razambek ZHAMALOV           
74kg -  Devid BETANOV         
79kg -  Aslanbek GVARAMIIA
86kg -  Alik SHEBZUKHOV      
92kg -  Khokh KHUGAEV
97kg -  Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV           
125kg - Soslan KHINCHAGOV  

SUI
57kg -  Nino LEUTERT
70kg -  Tobias PORTMANN

SVK
61kg -  Pavol RAPCAN
65kg -  Balazs HAKSZER         
70kg -  Daniel CHOMANIC      
74kg -  Martin HORINEK         
79kg -  Christopher BEDNARIK           
92kg -  Dominik PECHA           
97kg -  Viliam OROSS

TKM
65kg -  Perman HOMMADOV
86kg -  Azat GAJYYEV
97kg -  Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV     

TPE
61kg -  Chia Hung CHANG      
74kg -  Hsiang-Wei WENG     

TUR
57kg -  Ahmet TAS      
61kg -  Ertugrul KAHVECI        
65kg -  Ahmet Salim YIGIT     
70kg -  Hasan KAYA    
74kg -  Isa DEMIR        
79kg -  Ramazan Ishak SARI   
86kg -  Arif OZEN        
92kg -  Erhan YAYLACI
97kg -  Feyzullah AKTURK       
125kg - Oktay GUNGOR          

UAE
125kg -Bader ALALI     

UKR
57kg -  Andrii DZHELEP           
61kg -  Ihor NYKYFORUK        
65kg -  Denys BOROHAN       
70kg -  Stepan LYLYK  
74kg -  Mahomed HADZHYMAHOMEDOV     
79kg -  Adlan BATAIEV           
86kg - Andrii HYKA      
92kg -  Oleksandr BYKANOV  
97kg -  Ruslan HEORHIIEV      
125kg - Yurii IDZINSKYI            

Aaron BROOKS (USA), 2017 Cadet World champion. Photo by Martin Gabor.

USA
57kg -  Brandon COURTNEY    
57kg -  Daton FIX          
61kg -  Josh SAUNDERS     
65kg -  Domonick DEMAS         
70kg -  Brady BERGE      
74kg -  Mekhi LEWIS     
79kg -  Aaron BROOKS
86kg -  Lou DEPREZ        
92kg -  Jacob WARNER     
97kg -  Daniel KERKVLIET JR
125kg - Gable STEVESON

UZB
57kg -  Gulomjon ABDULLAEV           
61kg -  Abbos RAKHMONOV 
65kg -  Ikhtiyor NORMURODOV         
86kg -  Davlatbek ASHUROV  
92kg -  Makhsud VEYSALOV   
125kg - Khasanboy RAKHIMOV          

#JapanWrestling

Another Ono rises: Konami follows brother's footsteps

Friday, August 29, 2025 - 02:52 By Ikuo Higuchi

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TOKYO (August 27) -- When you think of the name Ono from Shimane Prefecture, many will recall Masanosuke ONO (JPN), a world champion who is quickly becoming a global star, who now primarily competes in the United States.

Ono's younger sister Konami, who was undefeated in the national tournament during her elementary school years, is just like her brother. She went on to attend Nippon Sport Science University Ohka High School in Tokyo, where she grew up steadily, winning the Inter-High School Championships in 2023 and also winning silver at the U17 World Championships the same year.

A shoulder injury caused her to slow down, but through repeated practice at Nippon Sport Science University she regained her former strength and won the East Japan Student Championships and the All Japan Amateur Championships [women's competition is open to university students as well] last week.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN), left, won a silver medal at the 2023 U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Being coached by 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medalist Chikara TANABE and Kaori ICHO, she described herself as being in "the best environment."

Ono had been suffering from pain in the right shoulder and had to undergo a surgery in June last year. She had initially aimed for a comeback last year at the All Japan Championships [Emperor's Cup] in December, but was forced to withdraw. She returned to competition in April of this year at the Junior Queen's Cup U20, where she won one match, but lost the next match to a junior from high school by technical superiority.

"There were times when my shoulder would dislocate just by walking. It was a frustrating year," said Ono with her voice becoming teary, as if the pain had returned. "I'm happy because I was injured and couldn't wrestle for a while," she said but added, "I realized I need to practice more and get stronger."

Inspiration from brother Ono

While she was off the mat, Konami watched her brother Masanosuke win the gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 2024 and later become the world champion at 61kg at the Non-Olympic World Championships.

"It's not something I could ever imitate," she says, and although he is someone she should "admire" rather than "target," he is also someone close to her, having competed alongside since childhood. "I want to study hard and catch up," she says.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN) with world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA). (Photo courtesy: Masaharu Ono) 

Earlier in spring, Konami accompanied her older brother to the United States, where he trains at Pennsylvania State University. She was still recovering and was unable to train, but she watched her brother's win against 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA).

"I thought American wrestling was really amazing. It was inspiring," she said.

What made the biggest impression on Konami was how much fun her brother seemed to be having wrestling, even though he was in a foreign country.

"He really enjoys wrestling," she said. "I was amazed that there are people who love wrestling that much [laughs].

"My brother is my role model," she said. "I often watch his techniques and aspire to be like him."

What she finds particularly impressive is his speed, and the way he unconsciously develops his techniques. She herself sometimes has trouble deciding what to do next during a match, but her brother's body moves without a second thought. "I need to be able to come out with techniques one after the other," she said.

Training with Fujinami, Onishi

While Ono found his path in the United States, Konami is thinking of firmly establishing herself in Japan.

"I think that if I stay at Nippon Sport Science University, I will become really strong," she says, believing that his current environment is the place where she can develop the skills to compete on the world stage.

Not only is there an impressive coaching staff, but there are also world-class athletes such as 2024 Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) and Asian champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) in the 57kg and 59kg weight class, respectively. Fujinami won gold at the Olympics in 53kg.

"I practice with Akari every day. She's really strong..." she said, admiringly, and when she's not sparring, she's always following Fujinami's movements to study them.

Since they are both in the 57kg weight class, could she challenge Fujinami as early as the All Japan Championships in December? To that question, she gave no clear answer, saying, "I'm not at the level where I can fight yet..." and said that she might move up a weight class as her body grows, so it's still up in the air, but perhaps the day is approaching when the middleweight trio, including Onishi, will take to the world stage.

Rather than setting big goals, her current goal is to "compete in many matches and enjoy wrestling." She says that she is actually enjoying it, so perhaps she is getting closer to her brother's level. Her next concrete goal is the All Japan Women's Open Championships in October.

She vowed to make a leap forward, saying, "I want to train both my body and mind and become even stronger. I want to become a star from Shimane Prefecture!"