World Cup, United States, Cuba, Russia, Mongolia, Los Angeles

Susceptible Russian Side Leaves Door Open for USA, Cuba and Mongolia

By Tim Foley

Men’s Freestyle World Cup: Group A Preview

LOS ANGELES (April 8) – Without a single World or Olympic medalist on the roster for the 2015 United World Wrestling World Cup team, fans looking to see the dominance of the Russian Federation at this weekend’s World Cup at the Forum in Los Angeles, California, might have to wait. 

The 2014 Word Cup finalists won’t be the heavy favorites many wrestling fans may have expected after the country’s dominant performance at last year’s United World Wrestling Championships.

One of the most successful wrestling nation in Olympic history, the Russian Federation won five of the eight gold medals in Tashkent, Uzbekistan at September’s World Championships and placed first as a team in freestyle. With none of those champions traveling to Los Angeles, Group A squads Mongolia, Cuba and the United States have the opportunity to upend the Russians and move into Sunday’s gold medal finals.

Maybe the biggest threat to Russian dominance are the host Americans, who have two Olympic gold medalists from London in their lineup, Jake VARNER (97kg) and Jordan BURROUGHS (74kg). Burroughs has won three world titles and won a bronze in Tashkent, while Varner failed to place. 

Also looking to help the U.S. in its quest for a 14th team title will be Olympic bronze medalist Coleman SCOTT (65kg) along with world No. 8 Brent METCALF (65kg) who earned a runner-up finish earlier this year at the Yarygin Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Clayton FOSTER (86kg), who ranks No. 10 in the world, will likely split mat time with Ed RUTH (86kg), a member of the 2014 U.S. world team.

While the Americans are hoping for expected outcomes from seasoned veterans, the Russians are hoping for exceptional output from young performers.

Israel KASUMOV (70kg) has seen plenty of success on the mats, winning the 2014 Yarygin Grand Prix and earning a bronze medal in the 2015 edition. A former world No. 1, Kasumov is currently ranked No. 8 at 70kg. 

Akhmed CHAKLAEV (65kg), ranked 16th in the world, was second in the 2009 Yarygin Grand Prix and won bronze in the 2014 Ivan Yarygin. He was the 2011 and 2013 Ramzan Kadyrov Cup champion in Russia and the 2013 International Ukrainian Tournament champion.  

Russian upper weight and 2010 World University champion Yuri BELONOVSKI (97 kg) comes to Los Angeles ranked No .13 in the world.

The Cubans, who’ve won two World Cup titles in freestyle, bring a loaded squad of world and continental medalists to the Forum. Highlighting the island nation’s pool of medalists is 74kg star Livan LÒPEZ, who earned bronze at the 2012 Olympics, a silver medal in Tashkent, and bronze medals at the 2011 and 2014 World Championships 

Three-time World medalist Reineris SALAS PEREZ (86 kg) and 2014 bronze medalists Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (61kg) and Javier CORTINA LACERRA (97kg) are also expected to take the mats. 

Mongolia will be led by 2014 World bronze medalist ENKHSIAKN Nyam-Ochir (61kg) ranked No. 5 in the world, and 2014 world bronze medalist GANZORIG Mandakhnaran (65kg) who comes in ranked sixth.

Talented youngster and 2013 Junior world silver medalist BATBOLD Nomin is expected to compete at 57kg and is ranked 13th in the world. 

Competition Schedule
Saturday, April 11 (All Times Listed are Pacific Standard Time)
Session I
3:00 p.m. – Mat A: USA vs. Cuba; Mat B: Iran vs. Belarus
4:30 p.m. – Mat A: Russia vs. Mongolia; Mat B: Azerbaijan vs. Turkey
 
Session II
6:15 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies
6:30 p.m. – Mat A: USA vs. Russia; Mat B: Iran vs. Turkey
8:00 p.m. – Mat A: Mongolia vs. Cuba; Mat B: Belarus vs. Azerbaijan
 
Sunday, April 12
Session III
11:00 a.m. – Mat A: USA vs. Mongolia; Mat B: Turkey vs. Belarus
12:30 p.m. – Mat A: Azerbaijan vs. Iran; Mat B: Cuba vs. Russia
2:00 p.m. – Mat A: Fifth Place Dual; Mat B: Seventh Place Dual
 
Session IV
4:15 p.m. – Mat A: Third Place Dual
5:45 p.m. – Mat A: Championship Dual

#WrestleTirana

European Championships 2026 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (April 6) -- The European Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from April 20 to 27 with more than 400 wrestlers.

Greco-Roman will kick off action at the European Championships on Monday followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle. For all the live action and highlights, subscribe to UWW+.

READ THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 PREVIEW

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draw of respective styles. Please refer to uww.org for latest entries.

Freestyle

57kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Ion BULGARU (MDA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Yusuf DEMIR (TUR)
Roman HUTSULIAK (UKR)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)

70kg
Davit MARGARYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
David BAEV (UWW)
George KOLIEV (UWW)

74kg
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Omer CAYIR (TUR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW)
Farhad NOURIKHORJESTAN (UWW)
Timur BIZHOEV (UWW)

79kg
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)

86kg
Mate KOLA (ALB)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)

92kg
Albin PEPOSHI (ALB)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Samhan JABRAILOV (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Igor SZUCKI (POL)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Theodoros KYRIAKIDIS (GRE)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Shaqir BISLIMI (KOS)
Redjep HAJDARI (MDA)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)

125kg
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Shamil MUSAEV (UWW)

Riza KAYAALP (TUR)Riza KAYAALP (TUR) will aim to win his 13th European gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Adalberto MINAZZI (ITA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Omer RECEP (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)

60kg
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Borislav KIRILOV (BUL)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW)
Suner KONUNOV (UWW)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Tino Tapio OJALA (FIN)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Miguel LOUREIRO (POR)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Maksym LIU (UKR)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Erzu ZAKRIEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)

72kg
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Kamil CZARNECKI (POL)
Joao DUARTE SIMOES (POR)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Dmytro VASYLIEV (UKR)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Kamil AKHMETVALEEV (UWW)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Edvin BAFF (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)
Shuai MAMEDAU (UWW)

82kg
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)

87kg
Marjan KOLA (ALB)
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Dogan KAYA (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Alan OSTAEV (UWW)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Alex BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Abdul Kadir CEBI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Griseldi KODRA (ALB)
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Marat KAMPAROV (UWW)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)

Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) will return to defend her 76kg title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW)

53kg
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (UWW)

55kg
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Veronika RJABOVOLOVA (MKD)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Olga POPOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Felicitas DOMAJEVA (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK LISZEWSKA (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Aleksandra SKIRENKO (UWW)
Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (UWW)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Anna TIELIEGINA (LTU)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Marta HETMANAVA (UWW)
Svetlana LIPATOVA (UWW)

62kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Alicja WOJEWODZKA NOWOSAD (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Amina TANDELOVA (UWW)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)

65kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Nina BODISTEANU (MDA)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Kerstin NYGREN (SWE)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

68kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Karolina DOMASZUK (POL)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW)

72kg
Karolina POK (HUN)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Alina ANTIPOVA (LAT)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR)
Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)