#WrestleIstanbul

Spencer Lee one step closer to Olympic dream

By Vinay Siwach

ISTANBUL, Turkiye (May 3) -- The world will finally see the return of Spencer LEE (USA) on a big stage. The one-time phenom is coming to Istanbul in a bid to qualify the United States for the Paris Olympics at 57kg.

Lee is a former U17 and U20 world champion and was primed to be the next superstar from the U.S. However, he could never get going at the international stage and only participated in an international tournament in 2024, eight years after his U20 world title. At the Pan-Am Championships this year, Lee won the gold medal at 57kg.

Despite his three NCAA titles and a college record a few can dream of, Lee hasn't returned to the international scene partly due to injuries and partly due to his college commitments. After two surgeries, battles with health, a heartbreaking loss in NCAAs, a long return and wins over former Iowa teammate Thomas GILMAN (USA) at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Lee is finally here.

"I’ve had such a tough time trying to stay healthy and trying to compete to the best of my ability,” Lee said after winning the trials. "I’m still not healthy but I’m healthy enough to wrestle hard against really, really good opponent.”

That's what he will have to do in Istanbul. In the 57kg bracket, Lee will be unseeded and can be drawn against any of the big names in the first round. Tokyo Olympian Georgi VANGELOV (BUL), former U23 world champion AMAN (IND), world silver medalist Alireza SARLAK (IRI) and local star Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR) are a few names he will have to keep an eye on.

The field also includes world bronze medalists Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) and Horst LEHR (GER) along with former European champion Vladimir EGOROV (MGL), Asian Games silver medalist Chong Song HAN (PRK) and Andrii YATSENKO (UKR).

If his opponents need a form check, Lee won four bouts at the trials, outscoring his opponents 35-11 with wins over Tokyo bronze medalist Gilman and Zane RICHARDS (USA). And his attacks are solid as ever as Gilman found out in the best-of-three series.

Three wrestlers in each Olympic weight class will receive Paris 2024 quotas in Istanbul, two being the winners of the semifinals and the third will be decided with a playoff between the two bronze medal winners. Lee would hope to secure it as the winner of the semifinal and avoid going, if fortunate, through repechage.

Apart from qualifying the U.S. in Istanbul, there is extra motivation for Lee to win in Istanbul. Lee's mother, Carry, is from France where she met Lee's father, Larry, both judokas. And, he can become the first Olympic champion for the U.S. in the lowest weight class since 2008.

Lee is aware that the road to Paris is still 'long and hard'. But the 25-year-old is ready.

"I have work to do."

#WrestleBratislava

European Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (March 17) -- The European Championships will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia from April 7 to 13.

More than 450 wrestler will be in action in 30 weight classes in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

The Championships will be live on UWW+ which can be accessed on uww.org and UWW App. Follow United World Wrestling on Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook and TikTok.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change. For final entries, refer to arena.uww.org on the day of the competition.

Freestyle

57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Rocco TERRANOVA (ITA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Robert MESZAROS (SVK)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Carlos ALVAREZ IGLESIAS (ESP)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Sergiu LUPASCO (MDA)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Cabbar DUYUM (TUR)
Andrii SVYRYD (UKR)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
George KOLIEV (UWW)
David BAEV (UWW)

74kg
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
Yahor AKULICH (UWW)
Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW)

79kg
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
Jacopo MASOTTI (ITA)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg
Lukas LINS (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Rolan ARNTASEV ARDASHEV (GRE)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Kornelijus STULGINSKAS (LTU)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)
Artur NAIFONOV (UWW)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Rahmatullah MORADI (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Azamat ZAKUEV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Gurgen SIMONYAN (ARM)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Georgios KOTANIDIS (GRE)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (UWW)

Buse TOSUN (TUR)Buse TOSUN (TUR), Paris bronze medalist at 68kg and returning champion, will be in action after eight months. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ana TORRES (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW)

53kg
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Reka HEGEDUS (SVK)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
Viyaleta REBIKAVA CHYRYK (UWW)

55kg
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Aliaksandra BULAVA (UWW)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW)

59kg
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Alesia HETMANAVA (UWW)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW)

62kg
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Nina BODISTEANU (MDA)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Sara LINDBORG (SWE)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

65kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Marta OJEDA NAVARRO (ESP)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Krystsina SAZYKINA (UWW)
Dinara KUDAEVA (UWW)

68kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Nerea PAMPIN BLANCO (ESP)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Michaela SEBOEKOVA (SVK)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW)

72kg
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Emilia CRECIUN (MDA)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Elvira ERSSON (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)
Kseniia BURAKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)Four-time Olympic medalist Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) is going for his eighth European Championships title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Arnold MEGALY (SVK)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)

60kg
Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Nedyalko PETROV (BUL)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (UWW)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ruslan BICHURIN (UWW)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Jakub SIMCIK (CZE)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Mehmet SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Alen MIRZOIAN (UWW)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Georgios SOTIRIADIS (GRE)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Oliver OLAH (SVK)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Artem SHAPOVALOV (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Islam ALIEV (UWW)

87kg
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Norbert SIPKA (SVK)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)

97kg
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Serhii OMELIN (UKR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)

130kg
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)