#Trnava2018

Three Reigning Greco-Roman Junior World Champions Registered for #Trnava2018

Friday, August 31, 2018 - 02:31 By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (August 31) - The 2018 Junior World Championships kick off September 17-23 and each participating nation has summited their final entries to United World Wrestling. Nearly 265 Greco-Roman wrestlers from 43 nations will make the journey to Trnava, Slovakia with hopes of becoming a Junior World Champion.

Three reigning champions in Kamal BEY (USA), Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) are registered to defend their titles from last years Tampere Junior World Championships.

Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS), the three-time age-level world champion and most dominant age-level wrestler in the world was expected to compete for Russia at 82kg but is not registered for the Junior World Championships. Instead, Russia has entered Shamil OZHAEV (RUS) at GR 82kg.

Greco-Roman wrestling begins on September 17 and will be wrestled through September 19.

ROSTERS
ALG
60kg - Mourtada NAANAA
72kg - Amar MOUMENE

ARM
55kg - Tigran MINASYAN
60kg - Ararat MANUCHARYAN
63kg - Hrachya POGHOSYAN
67kg - Malkhas AMOYAN
77kg - Vahe POGHOSYAN
82kg - Erik ELOYAN
87kg - Hakob BAGHDASARYAN
97kg - Razmik KHACHATRYAN
130kg - David OVASAPYAN

AUT
97kg - Markus RAGGINGER

AZE
55kg - Zulfigar ALIYEV
60kg - Hasan MAMMADLI
63kg - Elnur MUSAYEV
67kg - Mahammadali HASANOV
72kg - Ulvu GANIZADE
77kg - Nasir HASANOV
82kg - Nazarshah FATULLAYEV
130kg - Sarkhan MAMMADOV

BLR
55kg - Aliaksandr NIAHODA
60kg - Ihar DROZD
63kg - Maksim NEHODA
67kg - Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK
72kg - Martun BADALIAN
77kg - Yauheni YUROU
82kg - Kiryl MASKEVICH
87kg - Ihar YARASHEVICH
97kg - Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU
130kg - Ilya YUDCHYTS

BRA
67kg - Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR

BUL
60kg - Ivo ILIEV
63kg - Nikalas SULEV
67kg - Krasimir DORMUSHEV
72kg - Krasimir KRUMOV
77kg - Zahari ZASHEV
82kg - Svetoslav NIKOLOV
97kg -Delian ALISHAHI
130kg - Ignat MILENOV

CHI
130kg - Diego ALMENDRAS RODRIQUEZ

2016 Junior World Championship arena shot. Photo by Justin Hoch.

CHN
55kg - Liguo CAO
60kg - Libin DING
63kg - Delin WANG
67kg - Xin HUANG
72kg - Chuan ZHANG
77kg - Yilana YILANA
82kg - Wentao SU
87kg - Maimaiti KAISAIER
97kg - Yiming LI
130kg - Lingzhe MENG

CRO
72kg - Pavel PUKLAVEC
82kg - Karlo KODRIC
87kg - Filip SMETKO
130kg - Ante MILKOVIC

CZE
67kg - Denis MERTL
72kg - Jakub BIELESZ
77kg - David PRUSA / Daniel VARGA
87kg - Jakub KROCAK
130kg - Ondrej DADAK

Mohamed ELSAYED, 2016 Cadet World Champion. Photo by Justin Hoch.

EGY
63kg - Hassan MOHAMED
67kg - Mohamed ELSAYED
72kg - Gamal MARZOUK
130kg - Youssef ISSA

EST
63kg - Denis BOLUNOV
67kg - Kristo VIIDAS
72kg - Andris PENT
77kg - Hans Uku LEITHAM
82kg - Ranet KALJOLA
87kg - Ardo PAJUR
97kg - Hendrik KALME

FIN
67kg - Elmer Joakim MATTILA
72kg - Akseli Elias YLI HANNUKSELA
77kg - Waltteri Harri Kristian LATVALA
97kg - Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN

GEO
55kg - Ramaz SILAGAVA
60kg- Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI
63kg - Leri ABULADZE
67kg - Joni KHETSURIANI
72kg - Nikoloz TCHIKAIDZE
77kg - Beka GURULI
82kg - Aivengo RIKADZE
87kg - Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE
97kg - Nika LOMIDZE
130kg - Beka MAKARIDZE

GER
60kg - Andrej GINC
63kg - Chlovelle Van MEIER
72kg - Anthony Ezra SANDERS
87kg - Nikolaos PAPADOPOULOS
130kg - Franz RICHTER

HUN
60kg - Tamas TOEROEK
63kg - Krisztian Istvan VANCZA
67kg - Tibor Sandor GYUERKY
72kg - Gergely BAK
77kg - Moric KISMONI
82kg - Istvan TAKACSHUN
87kg - Alex SZOKE
97kg - Balint VATZI
130kg - Roland VATZI

Vijay VIJAY (IND), 2018 Junior Asian Championship runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

IND
55kg - Vijay VIJAY
60kg - Sachin RANA
63kg - Manjeet MANJEET
67kg - Malkit HOODA
72kg - Kuldeep MALIK
77kg - Sajan SAJAN
82kg - Sanjeet SANJEET
87kg - Kumar SUNIL
97kg - Viresh KUNDU
130kg - Aryan PANWAR

IRI
55kg - Pouya NASERPOUR
60kg - Ali NEJATI
63kg - Bahram MAROUFKHANI IMCHEH
67kg - Yousef HOSSEINVAND FATHI
72kg - Amin KAVIYANINEJAD
77kg - Shayan AFIFI
82kg - Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU
87kg - Mohammadhadi SARAVI
97kg - Vahid DADKHAH GHASEM ABADI
130kg - Amin MIRZAZADEH

ISR
67kg - Shamil ALAEV

ITA
55kg - Giovanni FRENI
60kg - Jacopo SANDRON
67kg - Ignazio SANFILIPPO
77kg - Mirco MINGUZZI
97kg - Luca SVAICARIITA

JPN
55kg - Shota OGAWA
60kg - Kazuki YABE
63kg - Harushi SHIMAYA
67kg - Taishi HORIE
72kg - Minto MAEDA
77kg- Rai HAYASHI
82kg - Yudai SASAKI / Masao TANAKA
87kg - Ryohta NASUKAWA
97kg - Akira YAMANAKA / Naoki MATSUMOTO
130kg - Sota OKUMURA

Merey BEKENOV (KAZ), 2018 Junior Asian Champion. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

KAZ
55kg - Alpamys DASTANBEK
60kg- Galym KABDUNASSAROV
63kg - Madiyar MALTEKBAYEV
67kg - Merey BEKENOV
72kg - Daulet LARIONOV
77kg - Temirlan YESPENBET
82kg - Stanislav RYLSKIY
87kg - Sanzhar TEMIRBEK
97kg - Islam UMAYEV
130kg - Anton SAVENKO

KGZ
55kg - Nurtazin KERIMBERDI UULU
60kg - Dastan KADYROV
63kg - Erbol BAKIROV
67kg - Khalmurat IBRAGIMOV
72kg - Ilim BILIMOV
77kg - Akzhol MAKHMUDOV
82kg - Ilgiz BILIMOV
87kg - Amankeldi TALANTBEK UULU

KOR
55kg - Doohoon KIM
60kg - Seongmin KIM
63kg - Kyoungsub KIM
67kg - Unho HAN
72kg - Jueun JEONG
77kg - Boseong KANG
82kg - Inseob KIM
87kg - Junyeop PARK
97kg - Jeongbin KWON
130kg - Taeho YIM

KSA
55kg - Tuorki Ali M HAZOAZI
60kg - Hassan M WADDAN

LTU
60kg - Gytis KULEVICIUS
77kg - Titas KERSEVICIUS
97kg - Arnoldas BARANOVAS

MDA
67kg - Valentin PETIC
72kg - Anatolie POPOV

NOR
67kg - Haavard JOERGENSEN
77kg - Per Anders KURE

POL
60kg - Sebastian NOWICKI
63kg - Mateusz SZEWCZUK
67kg - Filip PETRONCZAK
72kg - Gracjan GLOGIEWICZ
82kg - Piotr DUK
87kg - Michal DYBKA
97kg - Gerard KURNICZAK
130kg - Patryk KAMINSKI

POR
55kg - Andre CARDOSO OLIVEIRA SILVA
63kg - Daniel DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA

ROU
55kg - Florin TITA
60kg - Razvan ARNAUT
82kg - Nicu Samuel OJOG
130kg - Lenard Istvan BEREI

Oleg AGAKHANOV, 2018 Junior European Champion. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.

RUS
55kg - Emin SEFERSHAEV
60kg- Abu AMAEV
63kg - Azamat KAIROV
67kg - Miakhdi IAKHIAEV
72kg - Sergei STEPANOV
77kg - Islam OPIEV
82kg - Shamil OZHAEV
87kg - Ilia ERMOLENKO
97kg - Artur SARGSIAN
130kg - Oleg AGAKHANOV

SRB
55kg - Sebastian KOLOMPAR
67kg - Adam KATONA
72kg - Sava MIJOKOVIC
77kg - Andrija Luka MALETIN
82kg - Branko KOVACEVIC

SUI
55kg - Dimitar SANDOV
87kg - Ramon BETSCHART
97kg - Damian VON EUW

SVK
63kg - Istvan SLUKA
67kg - Nikolas HULMAN
72kg - Gergely BUERSOELY
77kg - Bence HOLOCSI
82kg - Zoltan MEGALY

SWE
67kg - Elias ANDERSSON
72kg - Mats AHLGREN
77kg - Per OLOFSSON
82kg - Anders OLSSON
130kg - Jacob LOGAARD

TJK
67kg - Faridun AKHMEDOV
72kg - Bakhtovar KHASANOV
77kg - Daler REZA ZADE
130kg - Azmuddin VAKHOBOV

TKM
63kg - Seydylla TAZAYEV

TUR
55kg - Cihat Ahmet LIMAN
60kg - Kerem KAMAL
63kg - Abdullah TOPRAK
67kg - Ismail GUN
72kg - Erkan ERGEN
77kg - Alper Murat ERDURAN
82kg - Muhutdin SARICICEK
87kg - Bedirhan TAN
97kg - Beytullah KAYISDAG
130kg - Fatih BOZKURT

UKR
55kg - Vladyslav KUZKO
60kg- Ihor KUROCHKIN
63kg - Oleksandr HRUSHYN
67kg - Parviz NASIBOV
72kg - Ihor BYCHKOV
77kg - Dmytro GARDUBEI
82kg - Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH
87kg - Dmytro KIIASHOK
97kg - Oleksandr YEVDOKIMOV
130kg - Vladyslav KOVALENKO

Kamal BEY (USA), 2017 Junior World Champion. Photo by Marion Stein.

USA
55kg - Brady KOONTZ
60kg - Taylor LA MONT
63kg - Alston NUTTER
67kg - Peyton OMANIA
72kg - Tyler DOW
77kg - Kamal BEY
82kg - Andrew BERREYESA
87kg - Barret HUGHES
97kg - Chad PORTER
130kg - Cohlton SCHULTZ

UZB
63kg - Turabek TIRKASHEV
67kg - Kamol KUZIEV
72kg - Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV
82kg - Alijon KHUSEYNOV
97kg - Abubakr ALIMOV
130kg - Temur Mirzo MAMAJANOV

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Ozaki, Morikawa Mark Golden Return to Olympic Weights

Saturday, February 7, 2026 - 00:43 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 7) -- Just four months ago, Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) came to Zagreb as a training partner with Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at the World Championships.

While Morikawa won the gold medal, Ozaki cheered for her close friend, even writing messages for her on a small bandage that Morikawa put on her cheek.

Back then, Ozaki wished she could compete and become world champions together.

Not the World Championships, but Ozaki and Morikawa won gold medals at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event on Friday. Ozaki completed a dominant run to win the 62kg title while Morikawa had a bumpy ride to the 68kg gold medal, a weight class above 65kg in which she won the world gold.

"We managed to win gold with the star of Physical Asia," Morikawa wrote on social media referring to a Netflix show in which Ozaki participated.

The two do not train at the same university in Japan but the closeness of their weight classes has allowed them to practice together whenever they get a chance, including being on international tours together.

They were two of the four Japanese wrestlers who won gold medals in Women's Wrestling, joining Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) at 59kg and Nana IKEHATA (JPN) at 65kg.

Greco-Roman also kicked off at the Zagreb Open, the season-opening Ranking Series event, and the world champion at 63kg Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) showed that he has adjusted to the Olympic weight class 67kg, winning gold.

Iran won gold at 63kg after Erfan JARKANI (IRI) defeated CHETAN (IND) in the final.

Ozaki began her day by securing a fall over Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ) after building a 12-2 lead, and then pinned Eniko ELEKES (HUN) in the second bout to book a spot in the semifinal.

It was in this bout that Ozaki faced her first struggles of the day against Macey KILTY (USA). Though she ultimately secured a 5-2 win, Ozaki gave up positions against the American wrestler. She would later admit that it was not easy to keep herself calm during the bout.

In the final against Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), a silver medalist from the European Championships, Ozaki scored four different takedowns and looked in complete control. With the 8-0 win, Ozaki won her first Ranking Series gold medal.

Ozaki won the world title at 65kg in 2023 but was a phenom at 62kg when she emerged on the international scene in 2022. But after a slump in form both in Japan and internationally, she missed out on making the Japan team for the 2023 World Championships at 62kg.

However, with Ami ISHII (JPN) qualifying Japan for the 2024 Paris Games without winning a medal opened a door for Ozaki to be at the Olympics.

Ozaki set out on a daunting task of moving to 68kg and not only did she defeat Ishii while being underweight, she managed to win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

Soon after, she decided to move back to 62kg but suffered two back-to-back heartbreaking losses to Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) and failed to make the 2025 world team.

It turned around at the Emperor's Cup in December 2025 as Ozaki avenged her loss to Motoki and earned the right to participate in the Zagreb Open and Asian Championships in April.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) scores a takedown on Nesrin BAS (TUR) during the 68kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Morikawa, who also moved to 68kg after winning gold at 65kg at the World Championships in 2025, had a hiccup in the final, but managed to get the gold medal against Nesrin BAS (TUR).

The two-time world champion captured her third Ranking Series gold medal and first since 2018 but not before having a tough time on the mat. She began with an 11-0 win over Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) and then a 10-0 technical superiority over Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW).

While the fall over Aleah NICKEL (CAN) in the semifinals was dominant, Morikawa did show some signs of discomfort. That showed up in the final against Bas as Morikawa fell behind 2-0 in the first period. She managed to score a point before the break and cut the lead to 2-1.

Morikawa found a way to score two takedowns in the second period to take a 5-2 lead to capture the gold medal at 68kg.

Bas, who was at the Paris Olympics at 62kg but won world silver medal in 2025 at 72kg, was another wrestler trying to adjust to a new weight class. Her biggest test came in the semifinal against Olympic silver medalist Kennedy BLADES (USA).

Blades led 1-0 at the end of the first period but Bas seemed unfazed. The American was put on the shot clock in the second period and after 30-second activity time exchanged, Bas took a 1-1 criteria lead. Bas also got a point for stepout to make it 2-1.

She then defended the lead until the end of the time to claim a victory over Blades and a spot in the final against Morikawa. Bas is likely to continue at the weight and the silver medal in Zagreb will be a huge boost for her going forward.

Khalmakhanov adjusts to 67kg

Another star wrestler shifting to an Olympic weight class was 63kg world champion Khalmakhanov and he performed strongly at 67kg. His first battle came in the semifinal when he faced Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN).

But an arm-throw and turn gave him a 6-0 lead against Sogabe who got a few stepouts in the bout. Khalmakhanov scored two correct throws to add four more points in the bout and got one point for a lost challenge to win 11-5.

From the other side of the bracket, Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) made it to the final after beating Katsuaki ENDO (JPN), 11-3, in the semifinals.

For the gold medal, Khalmakhanov and Chkhikvadze were matched evenly. While the scoreline points to a low-scoring bout, both wrestlers left it all on the mat.

Chkhikvadze was the first to get par terre but he failed to score any more points from the position and led 1-0 at the break. Khalmakhanov also got a point for the par terre position in the second period but Chkhikvadze held criteria.

The Georgian managed to score a stepout to extend his lead to a clear 2-1 score. But as the bout grew in intensity, it was Chkhikvadze who suffered, giving up a stepout with less than 30 seconds left.

With the score at 2-2, Khalmakhanov held criteria for the last point scored. He managed to hold his lead and won the gold medal in Zagreb, thus making a smooth transition to the Olympic weight class, three months after winning bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games at 67kg.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) df. Alexis JANIAK (USA), 10-0

BRONZE: Elena BRUGGER (GER) df. Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE), via fall (7-0)
BRONZE: Abigail NETTE (USA) df. Iris SLATKA (CRO), via fall (10-0)

62kg
GOLD: Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) df. Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), 8-0

BRONZE: Macey KILTY (USA) df. Eniko ELEKES (HUN), via fall
BRONZE: ANJLI (IND) df. Bhagyashree FAND (IND), 5-4

65kg
GOLD: Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
SILVER: PULKIT (IND)
BRONZE: Kriszta INCZE (ROU)

68kg
GOLD: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) df. Nesrin BAS (TUR), 5-2

BRONZE: NISHA (IND) df. Kennedy BLADES (USA), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW) df. Aleah NICKEL (CAN), 9-0

Greco-Roman

63kg
GOLD: Erfan JARKANI (IRI) df. CHETAN (IND), 8-4

BRONZE: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Khusniddin OLIMBOEV (UZB), 6-1
BRONZE: Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) df. Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ), 8-0

67kg
GOLD: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO), 2-2

BRONZE: Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 5-0
BRONZE: Katsuaki ENDO (JPN) df. Mahmoud KAMALI (IRI), 3-2

Three Reigning Greco-Roman Junior World Champions Registered for #Trnava2018

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Zagreb Open: Ozaki, Morikawa Mark Golden Return to Olympic Weights