#WrestleTirana

Tuesday's U23 World Championship semifinals set

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 08:34 By Eric Olanowski

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TIRANA, Albania (October 24) --- Welcome back to Tirana for the second day of freestyle action at the 2023 U23 World Championships. Tuesday's qualification-semifinal action will include 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg and 97kg. 

Stars in Action (Tuesday):
79kg - Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) - '22 U23 world champion, '23 senior world silver
57kg - Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) - '22 U23 world bronze 
92kg - Islam ILYASOV (AZE) - '22 U23 world bronze

Semifinal matches as they come in:
57kg
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL) vs. Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) vs. Nachyn MONGUSH (AIN)

65kg
Kumar MOHIT (UWW) vs. Ibragim Charaputinovitch IBRAGIMOV (AIN)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) vs. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)

70kg
Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) vs. Douglas Weber ZAPF (USA)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) vs. Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)

79kg
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE) vs. Shamsat TAIR (KAZ)
Dzmitry DZENISENIA (AIN) vs. Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN)

97kg
Isaac Whitman TRUMBLE (USA) vs. Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Sahil SAHIL (UWW) vs. Radu LEFTER (MDA)

15:14: Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) and Brock David HARDY (USA) are in a tight race over on Mat B. Bayramov was up 4-2, shot a head outside single, and exposed Hardy twice, extending his lead to 8-2. The American corner challenged one of the exposures, sending it to referee review. 

After review, the call on the mat was reversed, but it didn't matter. Bayramov went on to score eight additional points in the final minute, grabbing the semifinal berth with a 14-11 win.

14:36: Sorry for the delay as I was working out some technical issues. I'll be posting the semifinals as they come in. 

14:24: This'll be the last 1/8 final match before we roll into the quarterfinals.

14:14: Below, you'll find the 35-point match between Aden SAKYBAEV (KGZ) and Frederik NORTJE (RSA) that I was talking about earlier. Watch and enjoy!

13:56: Nachyn MONGUSH (AIN) continues to roll through the 57kg field, scoring a 7-1 win over Yerassyl MUKHTARULY (KAZ) in the 1/8 finals.

13:41: In the battle of U23 world champs, four takedowns--one in the first and three in the second--propelled Magomaev past Gamkrelidze.

13:14: Defending champion Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) will make his '23 U23 world debut on Mat C next. He'll wrestle '21 U23 world champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN).

13:02: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN), the ’22 Russian National champion and ’23 Russian National silver medalist, picked up a 10-0 first-round win over Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA). He’ll wrestle Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) in the 65kg 1/8 finals on Mat B in about an hour.

12:26: I've been around the sport for a long time, and I don't think I've ever seen one individual score 24 points in a six-minute bout, but Aden SAKYBAEV (KGZ) just did so against Frederik NORTJE (RSA). The pair combined for 35 points, trading blows back and forth in their qualification-round meeting, but it was Sakybaev who ultimately came out on top, 24-11.

12:03: Although he's not a world medalist just yet, Nachyn MONGUSH (AIN) is a guy we'll be keeping an eye on today. He's a guy who has been working his way into the second tier of 57kg guys on Russia's depth chart. In 2021, he fell to Olympic champion Zaur UGUEV in the Russian National finals, which helped book his ticket to the post-COVID European Championships in Warsaw. In Poland, he reached the gold-medal bout but fell to Turkiye's Suleyman ATLI and settled for silver.

Today, Mongush opened up his day with a 10-0 win against Luka GVINJILIA (GEO).

11:47: That's what wrestling fans pay to see. I'll have the match up shortly, but Sagar JAGLAN (UWW) and Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA) just combined for 28 points, with the United World Wrestling athlete coming out on top, 16-12.

11:19: The biggest star that we'll be watching today is Georgia's budding star Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who returns to the U23 World Championships looking to defend his title from a year ago.

Since winning that U23 world title, Gamkrelidze has really emerged as one of wrestling's brightest young stars will loads of potential. Fellow Georgian great Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) told me in our hotel lobby at the World Championships, "This guy is going to be great. He's good right now, but ge needs to have confidence in his wrestling--then he will be great."

Here's Gamkrelidze's resume over the last year:
- '23 Zagreb Open Ranking Series bronze 
- '23 Kyrgyz Ranking Series gold 
- '23 Hungarian Ranking Series silver 
- '23 Senior world silver 

11:13: This will be our final repechage bout of the morning, and we'll get back to championships action.

10:30: Good morning again, wrestling fans. We're going to run through some repechage bout before welcoming in today's competitors. It should take another half hour or so.

#WrestleZagreb

U.S. Wins Four Golds at Zagreb Open; World Champ Valencia Stunned

Wednesday, February 4, 2026 - 22:40 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- Four months ago, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) seemed untouchable.

He had stunned Arena Zagreb with a victory over Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), eventually cruising to 86kg gold at the 2025 World Championships without conceding a single point.

On Wednesday, Valencia returned to Arena Zagreb, but the script flipped. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), a former world silver medalist at 79kg, blanked the world champion 11-0 at the season-opening Zagreb Open Ranking Series.

While Valencia recovered to claim bronze, it was international debutant Parker KECKEISEN (USA) who rose to the occasion, taking gold after defeating Gamkrelidze.

Zahid VALENCIA (USA)Zahid VALENCIA (USA), red, tries to fight a gut-wrench against Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Valencia wasn't the only giant to fall during a chaotic Wednesday. Olympic bronze medalist AMAN (IND) was pinned, and Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN) left without a medal. Meanwhile, world champion Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) missed the top spot, and Georgios KOUGIOUMSTIDIS (GRE) saw his 86kg debut end in the opening round.

Despite the upsets, the United States dominated, winning four of the six available gold medals. Spencer LEE (USA), David CARR (USA), and Austin DESANTO (USA) joined Keckeisen atop the podium.

At 65kg, U23 world champion SUJEET (IND) continued his rise and captured the gold medal in a dominant fashion.

For Iran, the only gold medal came through Sina KHALILI (IRI) who outscored his opponents 42-3 in four bouts.

Parker KECKEISEN (USA)Parker KECKEISEN (USA) won gold medal at Zagreb Open, his debut international tournament. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Keckeisen's golden debut

While Zahid Valencia was the heavy favorite at 86kg, it was Keckeisen who stole the spotlight. Keckeisen flew under the radar to reach the final after a gritty 9-5 victory over Ali Savadkouhi (IRI).

In the final, Keckeisen entered as the underdog against Gamkrelidze. He maintained a 3-1 lead with under a minute remaining. The match defining moment came when Gamkrelidze scored a stepout and challenged the call, seeking two points instead of one. The lost challenge awarded Keckeisen an extra point, extending his lead to 4-2.

Despite a late stepout from Gamkrelidze with ten seconds left, Keckeisen held on to secure the gold.

With Gamkrelidze making it to the final, Valencia found his form in repechage and won bronze after pinning U17 world champion Abofazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI).

Spencer LEE (USA)Spencer LEE (USA) scores a takedown before Roman BRAVO YOUNG forfeited the 57kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Lee repeats, Carr shines

Lee repeated as the Zagreb Open champion with a strong performance, just like last year. After dominant wins over Azamat TSUKAEV (SRB) and Fuga SASAKI (JPN), Lee met Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) in the final.

The Olympic bronze medalist opened strong with a takedown and turn, but the match ended prematurely when Bravo-Young forfeited due to injury, handing Lee his second consecutive gold.

Bravo Young was clutching his tapped knee when he got up after the gut-wrench from Lee who helped the Mexican off the mat after enquiring about the injury.

At 74kg, Carr navigated a tactical final against 70kg world champion Aoyagi, who now wrestles at 74kg. Aoyagi led 1-1 on criteria after the two wrestlers exchanged activity points when he was placed on the 30-second activity clock for a second time.

His failure to score put Carr ahead 2-1 with 30 seconds remaining. A desperate late attack by Aoyagi allowed Carr to score a counter takedown, sealing a 4-1 victory.

In September, Carr missed out on a bronze medal bout at the World Championships after losing to Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) in the final five seconds, while Lee was eliminated after losing to Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM).

Austin DESANTO (USA)Austin DESANTO (USA) won the gold medal at 61kg in Zagreb. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Desanto recovers

At 61kg, Desanto recovered after a heartbreaking 11-11 loss to Reza MOMENI (IRI) in the opening bout of the Nordic bracket to win gold. Needing a big win against Aman, Desanto delivered a pin, earning five crucial classification points.

His total of 15 points placed him safely ahead of Momeni, who was mathematically eliminated from gold regardless of his final result against Giorgi GHONIASHVILI (GEO).

Ultimately, DeSanto secured the gold, while Aman took silver, despite being tied with Momeni at 13 points. Aman held the tiebreaker thanks to his head-to-head victory over the Iranian.

SUJEET (IND)SUJEET (IND) tries to finish a takedown on Peyman NEMATI (IRI) in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Sujeet wins gold

U23 World Champion Sujeet continues to demonstrate his growth on the international stage, capturing his second career Ranking Series gold medal.

Sujeet, who took gold in Budapest last year, secured two technical superiority wins over Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) and Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to reach the final. There, he shut out Peyman NEMATI (IRI) with a disciplined 3-0 victory.

In the final, he was put on the activity clock in the first period but responded quickly with a takedown to take a 2-0 lead. When Nemati was placed on the activity clock in the second period, Sujeet extended his lead to 3-0.

Following a series of scoreless scrambles, Sujeet successfully defended his lead until the whistle.

At 70kg, U23 World silver medalist Khalili put on a dominant display in his gold-medal match. Khalili overwhelmed Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO), using a series of gut wrenches to secure a 10-0 technical superiority victory.

Photo

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Spencer LEE (USA) df. Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX), via inj. def. (4-0)

BRONZE: Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) df. Atish TODKAR (IND), 10-0
BRONZE: Fuga SASAKI (JPN) df. Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB), 4-1

61kg
GOLD: Austin DESANTO (USA)
SILVER: AMAN (IND)
BRONZE: Reza MOMENI (IRI)

65kg
GOLD: SUJEET (IND) df. Peyman NEMATI (IRI), 3-0

BRONZE: Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO) df. Gamzatgadzhi KHALIDOV (HUN), 11-6
BRONZE: Joseph MC KENNA (USA) df. Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Sina KHALILI (IRI) df. Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO), 10-0

BRONZE: ABHIMANYOU (IND) df. Ian PARKER (USA), 6-3
BRONZE: Caleb HENSON (USA) df. Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), 5-4

74kg
GOLD: David CARR (USA) df. Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), 4-1

BRONZE: Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) df. James GREEN (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 10-0

86kg
GOLD: Parker KECKEISEN (USA) df. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 4-3

BRONZE: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) df. Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), via fall
BRONZE: Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) df. Mukul DAHIYA (IND), 6-5