#WrestleAmman

U17 World Championships 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

AMMAN, Jordan (August 15) -- A week after the 2024 Paris Olympics, the focus shifts to the U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan. The first World Championships of this season will be held from August 19 to 25 in the Jordanian capital.

The competition will see 576 wrestlers compete in 30 weight classes in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman. In a two-day format, the tournament will begin with Greco-Roman followed by Women's Wrestling and finish with Freestyle.

All the bouts will be live on uww.org and UWW+ App.

Freestyle

45kg
Kiryl NIKITSIK (AIN)
Dzhamal BAKAEV (AIN)
Mher HAKOBYAN (ARM)
Fagan FATIYEV (AZE)
Levan NOZADZE (GEO)
SHIVAM (IND)
Amirabbas RAMEZANI (IRI)
Omar  MUSLEH (JOR)
Taku SHIBA (JPN)
Bekzat AMANGELDY (KAZ)
Sadyr KAIYPBEKOV (KGZ)
Ochirkhuu BADARCH (MGL)
Leon MANOV (MKD)
Bugra KAVAK (TUR)
Mykhailo DIDOSHAK (UKR)
Samuel SANCHEZ (USA)
Jurabek RAKHMONOV (UZB)

48kg
Tsimur SELACHNIK (AIN)
Chingis SARYGLAR (AIN)
Abderrezak CHENINI (ALG)
Armen PAPIKYAN    (ARM)
Hajihuseyn AHMADZADA (AZE)
Temuri TUTARASHVILI (GEO)
HARSH (IND)
Amirabbas ALIZADEH (IRI)
Yuki MAEDA (JPN)
Damir KALI (KAZ)
Erbol BOLOTOV (KGZ)
Daniel NEGRU (MDA)
Amartuvshin TSETSEGEE (MGL)
Andre HUARCAYA (PER)
Eren YALCIN (TUR)
Vladyslav KAIDAKOV (UKR)
Henry ASLIKYAN (USA)
Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB)

51kg
Uladzislau LISITSA (AIN)
Akhmed ATANGERIEV (AIN)
MOUADH CHIBANI (ALG)
Makaya KATENDI (ANG)
Ashot GYULNAZARYAN (ARM)
Muhammad ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Jianhao LIU (CHN)
Zeyad HASSANEINN (EGY)
Guga MACHARASHVILI (GEO)
KARTIK (IND)
Sam ARSHAD (IRI)
Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN)
Ibrahim YSKAKBEK (KAZ)
Marlen ABDRAIMOV (KGZ)
Anar ODBAYAR (MGL)
Frederick BACHMANN (PUR)
Kevin BIRCHLER (SUI)
Daghan GUVANCHMYRADOV (TKM)
Tugrul DEMIRCI (TUR)
Daniil CHASOVSKYI (UKR)
Domenic MUNARETTO (USA)
Ozodbek ALIJONOV (UZB)

55kg
Artsiom PAULIUCHENKA (AIN)
Tundzhai VERDIEV (AIN)
Abdelghani AID (ALG)
Gagik GHAZARYAN (ARM)
Huseyn HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Shata Er YUSHAN (CHN)
Mate TSINADZE (GEO)
Jaiveer SINGH (IND)
Arian MEHRALIZADEH (IRI)
Mohammad MUSLEH (JOR)
Yukiya KITADE (JPN)
Yeraly ASKERBEK (KAZ)
Kursantbek ISAKOV (KGZ)
Jon RAMADANI (KOS)
Catalin CURECHERI (MDA)
Ryenchinpeljee BAVUUDORJ (MGL)
Joseph BACHMANN (PUR)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Mokbel SAHLI (TUN)
Efe KARATAS (TUR)
Zorab ALOIEV (UKR)
Keanu DILLARD (USA)

60kg
Andrei KUZNIATSOU (AIN)
Adlan SAITIEV (AIN)
Hayk AVANESYAN (ARM)
Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Ryan DAHCHA (CAN)
Jiansheng LU (CHN)
Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Danoush JOWKAR (GBR)
Akaki MAZMISHVILI (GEO)
Aik KAZARIAN (GRE)
Sitender SITENDER (IND)
Ahora KHATERI (IRI)
Abdelrahman MARAFI (JOR)
Itsuki YONASHIRO (JPN)
Bekassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ)
Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)
Inseong BAK (KOR)
Purevbaatar BAASANKHUU (MGL)
Jaden PEREZ (PUR)
Gabriel MIHALCEA (ROU)
Stefan GOUWS (RSA)
Bilal INCE (TUR)
Ivan ZALISKO (UKR)
Jordyn RANEY (USA)
Khudoberdi TURGUNOV (UZB)

65kg
Artsiom HOHINASHVILI (AIN)
Ramazan ABDULKADYROV (AIN)
Yeghishe MOSESYAN (ARM)
Mobin ZAREI (AUS)
Isa YUSIBOV (AZE)
Liam GORTON (CAN)
Keze LI (CHN)
Tristan FORSMAN (CRC)
Rati REVAZASHVILI (GEO)
Ahmad ARSZUNKAEV (HUN)
SAGAR (IND)
Yasin TAYEBI (IRI)
Riccardo BONANNO (ITA)
Kira YOSHIDA (JPN)
Bakdaulet AKIMZHAN (KAZ)
Rustamzhan KAKHAROV (KGZ)
Cristi CEBAN (MDA)
Khangaibayar GANBOLD (MGL)
Yandro SOTO RIVERA (PUR)
David BOICEA (ROU)
Markus LE ROUX (RSA)
Umut USLU (TUR)
Roman PRONAK (UKR)
Nathaniel ASKEW (USA)
Doniyor IBRAGIMOV (UZB)

71kg
Artsiom BOLSUN (AIN)
Zavur GADZHIMURADOV (AIN)
Vahe SAGHYAN (ARM)
Gazanfar KAZIMLI (AZE)
Loki BIGRAS (CAN)
Yuchen LIU (CHN)
Yahia ELIWA (EGY)
Luka TATIASHVILI (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Mark LAPOSA (HUN)
Nishant RUHIL (IND)
Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Declan BLIGH (IRL)
Huthaifa ABUBAKER (JOR)
Kairi ITO (JPN)
Amir ORAZBAYEV (KAZ)
Nursadyk NURDINOV (KGZ)
Catalin SPINU (MDA)
Byambaragchaa TAMIR (MGL)
Kawayran VAZQUEZ JR (PUR)
Alirizo BAKHROMOV (TJK)
Fatih AYDIN (TUR)
Samir IBISHOV (UKR)
Melvin MILLER (USA)

80kg
Aliaksei KURYLA (AIN)
Aldat KESAEV (AIN)
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Mahammad ABASZADA (AZE)
Yesikeer NUERHEISHA (CHN)
Ondrej KOCMANEK (CZE)
Nikoloz MAISURADZE (GEO)
Felix SCHMITT (GER)
VEVIK (IND)
Reza AFSHAR (IRI)
Hamza JAFAR (JOR)
Takeharu NISHIHARA (JPN)
Beibarys YERGALI (KAZ)
Samidullo ALIMZHANOV (KGZ)
Ganbat TSERENPUNTSAG (MGL)
Omer MEMEDI (MKD)
Darius SAS (ROU)
Mohamed FERCHICHI (TUN)
Selahattin CAN (TUR)
Artur KOSTIUK (UKR)
Emmitt SHERLOCK (USA)
Bunyod RUFATOV (UZB)

92kg
Aliaksei KHADUNOU (AIN)
Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN)
Kamel HARIZI (ALG)
Hrachik MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Farhad SULEYMANLI (AZE)
Michealjeet GREWAL (CAN)
Zixu YUAN (CHN)
Mahmoud ELSAKKA (EGY)
Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Youssef SOLIMAN (HUN)
SUNNY (IND)
Amir Reza ALI POUR (IRI)
Noriyuki ASANO (JPN)
Raim MAULETOV (KAZ)
Farukh MOMUNZHANOV (KGZ)
David Adrian METEA (ROU)
Bilal ZORBA (TUR)
Dmytro POSTOVYI (UKR)
Elijah DIAKOMIHALIS (USA)
Asadbek ERKINJONOV (UZB)

110kg
Yaraslau KOKHAN (AIN)
Ali BAIRAMUKOV (AIN)
Andranik JAGHETYAN (ARM)
Mukhamad GANTEMIROV (AZE)
Jagroop Singh DHINSA (CAN)
Rui GAO (CHN)
Gigia LUKUNIDZE (GEO)
Gyoergy JUHASZ (HUN)
Jaspooran SINGH (IND)
Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)
Kareem SHEIKH YASIN (JOR)
Yuki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Jaehyuk LEE (KOR)
Ugur IRTEGUN (TUR)
Kyrylo TERNOVYI (UKR)
Michael MOCCO (USA)

Piper FOWLER (USA)Defending champion Piper FOWLER (USA), blue, and Lotta ENGLICH (GER), red, are entered at 73kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

40kg
Aleksandra FEDOROVA (AIN)
Nazrin AHMADLI (AZE)
Iraabir SOOCH (CAN)
Polina TIMSINA (EST)
Vivien SZENTPAL (HUN)
Raj BALA (IND)
Monaka UMEKAWA (JPN)
Zhasmina BAKOYEVA (KAZ)
Indra JIMENEZ (MEX)
Liva CELIK (TUR)
Kamila KUCHMA (UKR)
Francesca GUSFA (USA)

43kg
Nurana ASADLI (AIN)
Aleksandra BEREZOVSKAIA (AIN)
Xin HUANG (CHN)
Lara BLAZEKOVIC (CRO)
Mareim ABDELAAL (EGY)
Maria GKIKA (GRE)
Aditi KUMARI (IND)
Kokoha OBARA (JPN)
Anel BURKUTBAYEVA (KAZ)
Gabriela PALACIOS (MEX)
Yagmur KARABACAK (TUR)
Karolina SHPERYK (UKR)
Hailey DELGADO (USA)

46kg
Elvira BAHIRAVA (AIN)
Diana RYBCHENKO (AIN)
Jessica TUOMINEN (FIN)
Halilja AZIMOV (GER)
Shrutika PATIL (IND)
Yuu KATSUME (JPN)
Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ)
Akak MAMBETSADYKOVA (KGZ)
Daniella HOSSEIN BEKY (NOR)
Viktoria IGRENYI (SVK)
Fatma YILMAZ (TUR)
Yevheniia DRUZENKO (UKR)
Morgan TURNER (USA)

49kg
Kseniya KOSTSENICH (AIN)
Polina BOCHKAREVA (AIN)
Dounia ZITOUNI (ALG)
Esra MAMMADLI (AZE)
Na HU (CHN)
Fiona GASSER (GER)
Szonja NEMETH (HUN)
Utaha YUI (JPN)
Farida ABDRAKHMANOVA (KAZ)
Feruza AKMATBEKOVA (KGZ)
Lonisa REKA (KOS)
Amar AMGALANTUGS (MGL)
Electra GARAIACU (ROU)
Islem HEMLI (TUN)
Nil AKTAS (TUR)
Olena KOLUBAI (UKR)
Epenesa ELISON (USA)

53kg
Maryia KHRUSHCHOVA (AIN)
Olesia MALAKHOVA (AIN)
Fatima BAYRAMOVA (AZE)
Kaura COLES (CAN)
Jinzi EMU (CHN)
Mia KOVAC (CRO)
Manar ELMASRY (EGY)
Lisette BOETTKER (EST)
Lisa SHAVADZE (GEO)
Josefine WIDMANN (GER)
Anna KOEBLO (HUN)
MUSKAN (IND)
Layal Ayman Rebhi SUKKAR (JOR)
Nana KOZUKA (JPN)
Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ)
Diana AMANTUROVA (KGZ)
Angelica PLASCENCIA ACEVES (MEX)
Myagmarbayar UURTUYA (MGL)
Csilla VAN OS (NED)
Chloe BREWIS (RSA)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Yi Hsuan TSENG (TPE)
Hava KONCA (TUR)
Ivanna LUKIANENKO (UKR)
Isabella GONZALES (USA)

57kg
Palina BRAHINETS (AIN)
Dolzhon TSYNGUEVA (AIN)
Fidan BABAYEVA (AZE)
Meng LIN (CHN)
Ainara PORTILLO GARCIA (ESP)
Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)
Feenja HERMANN (GER)
Mairi MANI (GRE)
Barbara BAGER (HUN)
NEHA (IND)
Maya QUTASHAT (JOR)
So TSUTSUI (JPN)
Anna STRATAN (KAZ)
Kamila KUMUSHBEKOVA (KGZ)
Arvinbayar GALBADRAKH (MGL)
Kai Yi LI (TPE)
Ozlem GURSOY (TUR)
Anastasiia NYKYFOROVA (UKR)
Everest LEYDECKER (USA)

61kg
Varvara ALISEYENKA (AIN)
Zalina TOTROVA (AIN)
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Nini TSITSVIDZE (GEO)
Leonie STEIGERT (GER)
Eda BALAZS (HUN)
RAJNITA (IND)
Maya ISHAKAT (JOR)
Sae NOGUCHI (JPN)
Zhaidar MUKAT (KAZ)
Orsolja HABI (SRB)
Ozdenur OZMEZ (TUR)
Anhelina BONDARENKO (UKR)
Taina FERNANDEZ (USA)

65kg
Anastasiya KOMANAVA (AIN)
Daria FROLOVA (AIN)
Ling CAI (CHN)
Maram ALY (EGY)
Selma PIHLAJA (FIN)
Ayla SAHIN (GER)
Viktoria PUPP (HUN)
PULKIT (IND)
Juliana CATANZARO (ITA)
Tala ABUKHEIT (JOR)
Ayano KUSUNOKI (JPN)
Uldana TILEUKHAN (KAZ)
Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL)
Kang Yu CHIANG (TPE)
Isslem NASRI (TUN)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Konstantsiia SARBAIEVA (UKR)
Bella WILLIAMS (USA)

69kg
Ulyana LAPANIK (AIN)
Zukhra KAZULAEVA (AIN)
Joseth MAVUNGU (ANG)
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Khushleen JHALLI (CAN)
Chenyingzi SUN (CHN)
Rahma BEDIWY (EGY)
Tamara CSEH (HUN)
KAJAL (IND)
Maryam ABUHAMADA (JOR)
Ako UCHIYAMA (JPN)
Kyzzhibek ZHARKYNBAYEVA (KAZ)
Alexandra MOISEI (MDA)
Ana MARIOARA (ROU)
Michaela SEBOEKOVA (SVK)
Asma AMMOURI (TUN)
Ilayda CIN (TUR)
Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR)
Kaili MANUEL (USA)

73kg
Hanna PIRSKAYA (AIN)
Diana TITOVA (AIN)
Melissa BELAID (ALG)
Julia DA SILVA JOAQUIM (BRA)
Saihan AO (CHN)
Lotta ENGLICH (GER)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
Makia KIMURA (JPN)
Akbota KADIR (KAZ)
Aisanat KALMAMATOVA (KGZ)
Viktorija IRKLE (LAT)
Malak SABRY (MAR)
Zeynep SUCU (TUR)
Khrystyna DEMCHUK (UKR)
Piper FOWLER (USA)

Ilia KANDALIN (AIN)Ilia KANDALIN (AIN), champion at 51kg, moving to 55kg which has 2023 champion Jayden RANEY (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Greco-Roman

45kg
Aslanbek KOSTOEV (AIN)
Badr MAHDAOUI (ALG)
Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM)
Shahid NABIYEV (AZE)
Mohamed ELTAYEB (EGY)
Gigi PAKSADZE (GEO)
Kedar KAMBLE (IND)
Ahmad BADRADDINI (IRI)
Sanad NAGHOUJ (JOR)
Toi NISHIMURA (JPN)
Damir ABILDA (KAZ)
Bekzhan BEISHEMBAEV (KGZ)
Marian FIRANTA (ROU)  
Yusuf KAYA (TUR)
Herman BASARAB (UKR)  
Isaiah WEBBER (USA)
Umidjon KAROMOV (UZB)

48kg
Nikolai KRISTOV (AIN)
Martin MANJIKYAN (ARM)
Amrah AMRAHOV (AZE)
Yuri LANDIM RIBEIRO (BRA)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Giorgi CHACHUA (GEO)
Laszlo SZUROMI (HUN)
Bikash KACHHAP (IND)
Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Amro ABU RMILAH (JOR)
Kai KOGASAKO (JPN)
Yedige TOLEUTAYEV (KAZ)
Barsbek OZUBEKOV (KGZ)
Patrick MOCAN CROITORU (ROU)
Yavuz AKGUN (TUR)
Bohdan MAKAROVETS (UKR)
Hayden SCHWAB (USA)
Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB)

51kg
Zuber ABDOKOV (AIN)
Makaya KATENDI (ANG)
Sargis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Turan DASHDAMIROV (AZE)
Radovan SNAJDR (CZE)
Iuri CHAPIDZE (GEO)
Sotirios NTONTOS (GRE)
Sainath PARDHI (IND)
Abolfazl KARAMIEGAEI (IRI)
Adam ABU FARE (JOR)
Kiichi OI (JPN)
Yerassyl MUSSAN (KAZ)
Kutman KALBAEV (KGZ)
Luis VLAD (ROU)
Levin MEIER (SUI)
Mehmet SARP (TUR)
Maksut SULTANOV (UKR)
Domenic MUNARETTO (USA)
Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB)

55kg
Dzmitry DUDUK (AIN)
Ilia KANDALIN (AIN)
Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Ali NAZAROV (AZE)
Alyosha ILIEV (BUL)
Maoxian LIAO (CHN)
Nikolas DOUPOVEC (CZE)
Amr ELSHAER (EGY)
Davit GABEDAVA (GEO)
Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
Samarth MHAKAVE (IND)
Amirali HEYDARI (IRI)
Ibraheem NAGOJ (JOR)
Yuki HIROHASHI (JPN)
Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)
Emir EMILOV (KGZ)
Alexandru LUNGU (ROU)
Abdulsamet UCAR (TUR)
Denys SEREDIN (UKR)
Jayden RANEY (USA)
Sardor KHOLMURZAEV (UZB)

60kg
Mikita TSITOU (AIN)
Marat MARGIEV (AIN)
Aleks MARGARYAN (ARM)
Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE)
Ziming DING (CHN)
Tin TURKOVIC (CRO)
Mohamed MOHAMED (EGY)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Bende OLASZ (HUN)
GAURAV (IND)
Abolfazl Ali SHIRI (IRI)
Ali ABUNASEER (JOR)
Yuto ITO (JPN)
Dosbol SHAMIL (KAZ)
Nurbek DZHUMABAEV (KGZ)
Maxim DAMASCHIN (MDA)
Ilias LAAOUINA (NED)
Ioan IORDACHITA (ROU)
Enes KAMAL (TUR)
Vadym MATROS (UKR)
Jordyn RANEY (USA)
Farrukh YULDOSHEV (UZB)

65kg
Dzhabrail UMKHADZHIEV (AIN)
Narek GRIGORIAN (ARM)
Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE)
Zhengye HAN (CHN)
Jure RAJKOVIC (CRO)
Zdenek KUBALA (CZE)
Mohamed IBRAHIM (EGY)
Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO)
Kevin KARL (GER)
Rego TORDA (HUN)
ANUJ (IND)
Amir SAEIDI NAVA (IRI)
Zaid NAGHOUJ (JOR)
Riku TANAKA (JPN)
Daniyar KANAGATBEK (KAZ)
Nursultan ADYLBEKOV (KGZ)
Arsenie CAISIN (MDA)
Borgil TUVSHINBAATAR (MGL)
Balaz UJHELJI (SRB)
Omer SEZER (TUR)
Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR)
Colton WEILER (USA)
Fayozbek ESHMIRZAEV (UZB)

71kg
Kiryl VALEUSKI (AIN)
Vladislav BYRLIA (AIN)
Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM)
Yusif AHMADLI (AZE)
Sergey STOEV (BUL)
Jinhao WU (CHN)
Bruno HANZEL (CZE)
Giorgi ALADASHVILI (GEO)
Sotirios BOUZAS (GRE)
Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN)
Sachin KUMAR (IND)
Mohammad KAZEMI (IRI)
Ahmad HAMAIDEH (JOR)
Tsubasa EGUCHI (JPN)
Marlan BAKAYEV (KAZ)
Ilgis KANYBEKOV (KGZ)
Isodzhon NURAKHMADOV (TJK)
Kuzey ILDEM (TUR)
Kyrylo UHRIK (UKR)
Joseph JETER (USA)
Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)

80kg
Uladzislau KURDZIUK (AIN)  
Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN)  
Mohamed ABADI (ALG)  
Arame ARAKELYAN (ARM)  
Orkhan HAJIYEV (AZE)  
Guilherme LANDIM SALLES (BRA)  
Dinko NEYKOV (BUL)  
Zheying SONG (CHN)  
Petr ZAK (CZE)
Luka KOCHALIDZE (GEO)  
Daniel JAKAB (HUN)
Nishant PHOGAT (IND)
Emad MOHSENNEJAD (IRI)
Daichi AKIHO (JPN)
Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ)
Zhoomart ASHIMOV (KGZ)
Marius ZAJAUSKAS (LTU)
Nichita APOSTOL (MDA)
Dusan STOKIC (SRB)
Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK)  
Yigit SARI (TUR)  
Vladyslav SOLODCHUK (UKR)  
Emmitt SHERLOCK (USA)
Shokhjakhon SHOVKATOV (UZB)

92kg
Kanstantsin KASYAN (AIN)
Ramzan SADULAEV (AIN)
Lotfi MECHOUCHE (ALG)  
Lyova SHUKHYAN (ARM)  
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)  
Raphael RODRIGUES (BRA)  
Radostin VASILEV (BUL)  
Mengyang ZHANG (CHN)  
Patrik BUDOR (CRO)  
Zeyad MOHAMED (EGY)  
Vladimer MINADZE (GEO)  
Ole STERNING (GER)  
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)  
Andras BUDAI (HUN)  
LUCKY (IND)
Danial IZADI (IRI)
Koki MATSUMOTO (JPN)
Adilet TOISHY (KAZ)
Asek ZAIIRBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunguk BAK (KOR)
Julius GIKARAS (LTU)
Daniel HUTANU (ROU)
Migael PIENAAR (RSA)
Serkan BAKIR (TUR)
Tymofii PRYKHODKO (UKR)
Evan MCGUIRE (USA)
Fakhrikamol KOMILJONOV (UZB)

110kg
Daniil MASLAKOU (AIN)
Artur MANVELIAN (AIN)
Aymen AOUIDAT (ALG)
Seyran KIRAKOSYAN (ARM)
Abdullah HASANOV (AZE)
Mihail KRALEV (BUL)
Haorui WANG (CHN)
Dominik KOCMAN (CZE)
Luka SHAVADZE (GEO)
Zoltan CZAKO (HUN)
RONAK (IND)
Aliasghar DADBAKHSH (IRI)
Tenga ABE (JPN)
Ulankandas OTEGENOV (KAZ)
Emrullah CAPKAN (TUR)
Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR)
Trayvn BOGER (USA)
Sayidamir NEMATOV (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

Ex-Japan champ Shimoyamada trying to put Australia on wrestling map

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (Sept. 3) -- When Tsuchiku SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) decided to relocate from his native Japan to Australia, he wasn't showered with gifts from a grateful federation looking for an established wrestler to give the country a global boost.

He was more interested in golden beaches than bringing his new homeland gold medals.

"I was in Cairns, and I was feeling like, 'I want to move to Australia,'" Shimoyamada said during a trip back to Japan in July for a tournament. "I like this place. It's good for me. The lifestyle is easy."

Four years after announcing his retirement and three years after making the bold move to Land Down Under, the 31-year-old is back in the game, hoping to put a country more known for its swimmers and rugby players onto the world wrestling map.

While a longshot at best, Shimoyamada, a two-time Japan national champion and two-time Asian medalist, will get a chance to become Australia's first-ever world medalist when he takes the mat at Greco 67kg next week in Zagreb.

It will be the third World Championships of his career and first since 2021, when he nearly knocked off the Olympic champion and symbolically left his shoes on the mat after a repechage-round loss as a sign of his retirement. He finished ninth in his only other appearance in 2018.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) had left his shoes on the mat during the 2021 World Championships to mark his retirement. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Success breeds success, and Australian wrestling officials are hoping that Shimoyamada, in addition to helping cultivate a new generation of wrestlers, can produce results that will spark more interest in the sport. Getting through the rounds, even if he falls short of a medal, would have a positive effect, says one official.

"That would be a very good achievement for us," says Aryan Negahdari, president of New South Wales Wrestling Federation, who accompanied him and several wrestlers to Japan. "For many, many years, we haven't a wrestler making it into the semifinals, or even the quarterfinals of the World Championships. Even that itself would be a good achievement."

While Australia has never won a world medal, it may be surprising to learn that the country has actually brought home three Olympic medals -- although it has been nearly eight decades since the most recent one.

Eddie SCARF broke the ice with a bronze medal at freestyle 87kg at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Australia then got two at the 1948 London Games, a silver from Richard GARRARD at freestyle 73kg and a bronze from Joseph ARMSTRONG at freestyle over-87kg. The closest the country has come since then was a fourth place at Freestyle 62kg by Cris BROWN at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

On the world stage, the highest finishes by Australians were fifth places by Jackie BRYDON at women's 50kg in 1993 at Stavern, Norway, and Macedonian-born Lila RISTEVSKA at women's 47kg at Moscow 1995. There have been three men who have placed sixth, all in freestyle, with the most recent being Uzbekistan-born Talgat ILYASOV at 74kg at New York 2003.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMA (JPN)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA advances to the semifinals at the All-Japan Non-Student Championships in July with a 52-second win over Kokoro GOTO. (Photo: Koji Fuse / wrestling-spirits.jp)

As a Greco wrestler, Shimoyamada will be trying to beat even longer odds. Up to now, Australia has never placed higher than 18th at a World Championships.

Following his graduation from Nippon Sports Science University, which also produced Paris Olympic champions Kenichiro FUMITA and Nao KUSAKA as well as Tokyo bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU, Shimoyamada joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department team. He stayed on the force after ending his wrestling career, but found it wasn't for him.

"When I was back in Japan, I started working for the police," he says. "To be honest, it was stressful. It was not for me."

A trip to Australia opened his eyes to a place where he could start a new life. At first, he planned to only go into coaching, but a practical reason arose that led him to decide to return to the mat -- it helped him get the visa he needed to live in the country.

"I didn't think about wrestling by myself, I thought I could help as a coach," he says. "But for the visa condition, it's better to keep active."

In 2023, he received a residence visa as a "global talent," and in January 2024, United World Wrestling approved his switch of national affiliation to Australia.

Unfortunately, the approval did not come in time for him to try to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is still working on gaining citizenship. His need to find a way to make a living proved harder than he expected as he settled in Sydney.

"I'm teaching wrestling, and I'm working as a lifeguard at a swimming pool," he said. "Life is not easy. It's expensive, everything, rent, bills, car."

Shimoyamada's need for gainful employment produced a symbiotic relationship with his hosts, who suddenly found themselves blessed with a world-class competitor to help raise the level of the sport.

"I really think we're super lucky to have him because not only is he a high-level athlete, but he has been helping us a lot as a coach, especially Greco-Roman coach," Negahdari says. "So because of him, we have a lot more athletes doing Greco-Roman, training under Tsuchika."

Shimoyamada's arrival also gave Australia a bonus of sorts -- a connection with an established power in the sport. Through Shimoyamada's ties with his alma mater NSSU, there have been numerous exchanges of wrestlers between the two countries.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMA faces Keitaro ONO in his opening match at the All-Japan Non-Student Championships in July. (Photo: Koji Fuse / wrestling-spirits.jp)

In the early summer, Paris Olympic silver medalist Daichi TAKATANI and former women's U23 world champion Yu SAKAMOTO went to Australia to put on clinic. In July, Shimoyamada led a contingent of Australian wrestlers who participated in the All-Japan Non-Student Championships (a second-tier national tournament) before training at NSSU.

"He's also been very good for us to build connections with Japan," Nagahdari says. "We've been coming [to Japan] for four years now, like twice a year, training with the Japanese teams. We've had a lot of Japanese athletes coming over to Australia to do seminars for us, to do training with us...It has been very, very beneficial for us in many different ways."

Shimoyamada entered the Non-Student meet at 72kg to give him the high-level competition he needed as preparation for the World Championships, and which is sorely lacking back in Australia. Aside from the low-level Oceania Championships and tournaments in Australia, it was his first outing since the 2021 World Championships.

He held his own, although he lost in the semifinals to Yamato HAGIWARA before winning his bronze-medal match over Rintaro SOGABE, the younger brother of Paris Olympian Kyotaro SOGABE, a fellow NSSU alum who will be Japan's entry at 67kg and a potential opponent of Shimoyamada in Zagreb.

Shimoyamada made his international debut at the 2016 Asian Championships in Bangkok, placing eighth. He won his first All-Japan title in December 2017, earning a return to the continental meet in 2018 in Bishkek, where he took home the silver medal after losing in the final to Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ).

Just when it looked like he had lost his edge after losing back-to-back All-Japan finals to Shogo TAKAHASHI in 2018 and 2019, Shimoyamada rebounded to claim his second title in 2020 with a victory over rising NSSU star Katsuaki ENDO. After Shimoyamada left the scene, Endo and Kyotaro Sogabe would battle ruthlessly for supremacy at 67kg.

His final year wrestling for Japan may have been his most productive. At the 2021 Asian Championships in Almaty, he avenged his loss to Kebispayev from three years before to capture the elusive gold. He followed that with a victory at the All-Japan Invitational Championships, known as the Meiji Cup, to clinch his ticket to the World Championships in Oslo.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) was dominating Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) in their match at the 2021 World Championships before being pinned. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

In the second round, Shimoyamada encountered Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), one of the few gold medalists from the Tokyo Olympics two months earlier who were entered at the worlds. It would probably be the most impressive loss of his career.

Shimoyamada was dominating the Iranian, scoring with a 4-point arm throw to build up a 6-1 lead. But disaster struck with just over a minute to go. Geraei caught Shimoyamada in a lapse and bear-hugged him backward directly to his back for a shocking victory by fall.

Shimoyamada then lost his repechage match to teenager Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), and the last we saw of him was him walking off the mat, leaving his shoes behind.

Fast forward four years, and Shimoyamada is now competing for himself and his adopted homeland. While he would like to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, age and opportunity might be too big hurdles to get over.

"I think that's a last challenge, for the Olympics, because I'm not young," Shimoyamada said. "If I can make it for Australia, that's good. Everyone will get interested in wrestling. That's what I should do."

Looking long range, Australian officials are hoping to develop talent to make a good showing when the country hosts the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032. They are hoping that Shimoyamada can spark enough interest and help raise the level in time.

"I think we're in the very early stages, compared to international standards," Nagahdari says. "But I think we can definitely see a very huge improvement, like in the last few years. We have a lot more members now, the number of our wrestlers. For example, compared to only three or four years ago, it has doubled. It's growing slowly, but at a good pace.

"It's a very slow progress, because you know that wrestling is super hard. It takes like a decade to build an athlete to that level. And we're really focusing our efforts toward the Brisbane Olympics in 2032."

Shimoyamada is determined to do whatever he can to make it happen.

"It's hard to get a gold medal at the World Championships and the Olympics, to be honest," he says. "If I make the Olympics, the next generation can become interested in getting to the Olympics or World Championships and they will practice hard."