#Trnava2018

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

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   

#WrestleBucharest

Sadulaev back, Freestyle stars assemble for European Championships

By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 2) -- Four months after a neck surgery and four years since his last European Championships, Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) will return to the mat, hoping to win his sixth European title.

In September, Sadulaev pulled out of his semifinal against eventual champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and underwent surgery. This will be his first international competition as he won the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in the last week of January. 

The European Championships will kick off on February 12 in Bucharest, making the countries participating in the tournament eligible to participate in the European Olympic Qualifier in Baku. The tournament will be available on UWW+ on uww.org and the UWW app.

Apart from Sadulaev, Tokyo Olympic champion  Zavur UGUEV (AIN), world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), world champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN) and arch-rivals Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will be in action.

Sadulaev, who is yet to qualify for the Paris Olympics, will be checked by world silver medalist in Belgrade Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), bronze medalist Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) and former world silver medalist Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK).

Soon after winning the Yarygin tournament, Sadulaev posted on his Instagram that "he is back on track." A fully fit Sadulaev is expected in Bucharest which will mean that his opponents will have a tough time.

Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) is the defending champion at 86kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Among other Olympic weight classes, 86kg defending champion Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) will be returning since his injury in the Ranking Series in Budapest last year. In all likelihood, he is set to face Tokyo bronze medalist Artur NAIFONOV (AIN) as the two revive their rivalry. The two used to dominate the national scene in Russia.

Another transfer and winner of the season-opening Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) will also be in action, making it a tough bracket. Ramazanov will be keen on continuing his good form and challenging the established stars at 86kg in Europe.

World bronze medalist Myles AMINE (SMR) is entered and making it to his third straight final at the European Championships will be his top priority. U20 world champion Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA), 79kg world silver medalist Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) and Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) are also in the bracket.

Taha AKGUL (TUR)Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) are expexted to meet in the 125kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Akgul and Petriashvili, ranking second and fourth in the world, can only meet in the final, setting up another gold-medal bout if both make it to the final.

The two have long dominated the weight classes with the former winning it 10 times since 2012 and Petriasvili winning it twice with the last coming in 2020. Akgul defeated Petriashvili in the final in Zagreb last year.

At the Ranking Series in Zagreb, Petriashvili pulled out of his bout against world champion Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) citing injury. It will be interesting to see if he will return fully fit.

At 57kg, Zavur UGUEV (AIN) will look to put behind the disappointment of finishing without a medal at the World Championships and return to winning ways. Uguev has a lot to fight for as a win in Bucharest will make him the favorite for the gold medal in Paris as well if he goes to the Olympics.

But world bronze medalist Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) will look to win the European title at 57kg as well. The 61kg champion last year has moved down to the Olympic weight and possesses the skills to upset any star wrestler. At the World Championships, he dropped a 16-13 semifinal against Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) before winning a bronze medal.

With many wrestlers deciding not to go through the rigorous process of reducing their weight, the 65kg weight class will see world bronze medalists Shamil MAMEDOV (AIN) and Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) as the top stars.

The two will be drawn on the same side of the bracket given Tevanyan is ranked third in the world and Mammedov is fifth. Mikyay NAIM (BUL) and Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR) will also be in the fray to reach the final.

Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)65kg world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) will be at 70kg in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

The 65kg world champion Muszukajev has moved up to 70kg and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. A definite crowd-puller, Muszukajev will once again be tested for his conditioning. But if his performance at the World Championships is anything to go by, Muszukajev should put on a show of explosive wrestling.

U23 world champions Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) will look to upset the world champ if they meet in the bracket. At the U23 World Championships, Sheriev defeated Heybatov 13-3 and the Azerbaijan wrestler will be keen on avenging that loss as well.

At 74kg, three-time champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) will start as the favorite but will be tested by Timur BIZHOEV (AIN), a former world bronze medalist. The field also includes Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) and veteran Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR).

Akhmed USMANOV (AIN)World champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN) will be up against a strong field at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Most of the regular stars of 74kg have moved up to 79kg, a weight class which will be a tightly-contested category. Multiple world and Olympic medalists are entered in the weight class for the Bucharest tournament. World champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN), Tokyo silver medalist at 74kg Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN), former world medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), young star and defending champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), multiple-time world medalist Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), veteran Hetik CABOLOV (SRB), Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU) and Ramazan SARI (TUR) are a few names who will be vying for the European title.

A face-off between Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) and Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) is expected at 61kg. MAgomedov lost the 61kg final at the World Championships while Abakarov finished with a bronze medal at 57kg after suffering a loss to Stevan MICIC (SRB). Micic was registered for the European Championships but pulled out.

Boris MAKOEV (SVK) is moving up to 92kg for the European Championships but the weight class already has a few hammers. Magomed KURBANOV (AIN) will have a chance to win the title but world silver medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), bronze medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) and former European champion Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) are also in the mix.