#WrestleIstanbul

U17 World Championships entries

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Türkiye (July 24) — Young stars will assemble in Istanbul beginning next week for the U17 World Championships, the first of the five in different age-groups.

Monday will see Greco-Roman action and it will be on Iran to lose the team title which they won in Rome, Italy last year.

The US, team title winners in 2022, will look to continue its success in World Championships. It will be challenged by India, winners of 2021. Azerbaijan, which almost won the tittle last year, will be in focus as well along with Iran and AIN teams.

Japan is sending a strong women’s wrestling squad and like always will be the favorite to win the team gold.

It will be interesting to see if India, which has taking huge strides in women’s wrestling in recent times, will be able to challenge Japan or not like it does at the continental level.

The U17 World Championships will be live on uww.org and the UWW App with all the bouts, highlights, interviews, news and photos.

 

Freestyle

45kg
Agashirin AGASHERINOV (AIN)
Gor BUNIATYAN (ARM)
Jafar JAFAROV (AZE)
Mate TSINADZE (GEO)
Dhanraj SHIRKE (IND)
Ahora Farhad KHATERI (IRI)
Atsuki MATSUURA (JPN)
Nurmukhamed TURDALY (KAZ)
Daniel NEGRU (MDA)
Buyanjargal BATMUNKH (MGL)
Frederick BACHMANN JR (PUR)
Azymberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Ebubekir GUR (TUR)
Ignacio VILLASENOR (USA)
Bobojon IBADULLAEV (UZB)

48kg
Ali SULTANOV (AIN)
Yahor MIKHAILAU (AIN)
Mihran SLOYAN (ARM)
Bashir VERDIYEV (AZE)
Gegi ONIANI (GEO)
RUPESH (IND)
Sam Reza SAYAR (IRI)
Lior SHMULKO (ISR)
Yamato FURUSAWA (JPN)
Yeraly ZHETPISSOV (KAZ)
Zakhidzhon MIRZAEV (KGZ)
Enkhkhuslen TUSHIGBAYAR (MGL)
Oliwier ORZECHOWSKI (POL)
Joseph BACHMANN (PUR)
Marian RUSU (ROU)
Dominick AOUN (RSA)
Efe KARATAS (TUR)
Paul KENNY (USA)
Abdumalik JALOLDINOV (UZB) 

51kg
Usman INDIRBAEV (AIN)
Sasha PETROSYAN (ARM)
Kristian CIKEL (AUT)
Sadraddin HASANOV (AZE)
Giorgi MAISURADZE (GEO)
ROHIT (IND)
Amirmohammad NAVAZI (IRI)
Yamato OGAWA (JPN)
Olzhas ZHAUYNBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurdoolot BEKBOLOTOV (KGZ)
Vladimir ICHIZLI (MDA)
Myanganbanzragch TUMENTOGTOKH (MGL)
Yandel MORALES (PUR)
Mokbel SAHLI (TUN)
Kahraman ESKI (TUR)
Christian CASTILLO (USA)
Abbos KUZIEV (UZB)

55kg
Akhmad MUSAKHADZHIEV (AIN)
Ilya KOSTSENICH (AIN)
Abdelghani AID (ALG)
Samvel GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Haji KARIMOV (AZE)
Oubayda ITAEV (FRA)
Danoush JOWKAR (GBR)
Arshak LULUKYAN (GEO)
Aik KAZARIAN (GRE)
ANKUSH (IND)
Amirreza TEYMORIZAD (IRI)
Ariya YOSHIDA (JPN)
Allan ORALBEK (KAZ)
Aktilek ZHOLDOSHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Inseong BAK (KOR)
Victor DRAGOMAN (MDA)
Naran BARKHAS (MGL)
Stefan STOJKOV (MKD)
Jaeden BROWN (NZL)
Jakub KESY (POL)
Derick MARTINEZ (PUR)
Roehan DU PLESSIS (RSA)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Haci ZADE (TUR)
Marcus BLAZE (USA)
Shohrukhbek SAPOEV (UZB)

60kg
Iasin BERSANUKAEV (AIN)
Uladzislau VARABYOU (AIN)
Aren HAYRAPETYAN (ARM)
Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
Daniel GURBOVIC (CZE)
Abdoullah NAKAEV (FRA)
Tengiz BARBAKADZE (GEO)
Nick ECKENBERGER (GER)
TUSHAR (IND)
Sajad PIRDAYEH (IRI)
Akito MAEHARA (JPN)
Yeraly ZHENISSOV (KAZ)
Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)
Cristi CEBAN (MDA)
Gabriel SANCHEZ (MEX)
Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL)
Adrian SIKORA (POL)
Yandro SOTO RIVERA (PUR)
Bernardo SZILAGYI (ROU)
Petrus VAN DER WALT (RSA)
Bekjan RUSLANOV (TKM)
Vahid YILMAZ (TUR)
Benjamin DAVINO (USA)
Shamsiddin JUMABOEV (UZB)

65kg
Magomed ALIBAKHARCHIEV (AIN)
Aliaksandr KAMBAYEU (AIN)
Miguel ANTONIO (ANG)
Vladimir AZARYAN (ARM)
Mirzaagha AKHUNDOV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Lukas BRANDL (CZE)
Fares ELSAWY (EGY)
Denis KODAKOV GIL (ESP)
Khizir DASIYEV (FRA)
Zurab ABALAKI (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Vasileios KESIDIS (GRE)
SOURABH (IND)
Sina Mahdi KHALILI (IRI)
Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)
Almas SABYR (KAZ)
Nursadyk NURDINOV (KGZ)
Juyoung KIM (KOR)
Catalin SPINU (MDA)
Ankh Erdene ALTANGEREL (MGL)
Antoni MAJCHRZAK (POL)
Elvis SOLIS (PUR)
Justin RAFFIN (SUI)
Samuel SEDLAK (SVK)
Arslan MAMISHOV (TKM)
Remzi TEMUR (TUR)
Brock MANTANONA (USA)
Zafarbek KAMOLOV (UZB)

71kg
Islam KAZHAROV (AIN)
Mohamed CHIBIKH (ALG)
Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM)
Ismayil RAHIMLI (AZE)
Stiliyan DZHOROV (BUL)
Ondrej KOCMANEK (CZE)
Nikolai TARASSOV (EST)
Nodar TEVZADZE (GEO)
Felix SCHMITT (GER)
Avraam MOUSTOPOULOS (GRE)
NARENDER (IND)
Seyedabolfazl HOSSEINI (IRI)
Reuven RABINSKY (ISR)
Tatsuki KAMIYA (JPN)
Nurdaulet SEILBEKOV (KAZ)
Raatbek RAKHAT UULU (KGZ)
Piotr CARADJOV (MDA)
Bilguundalai PUREVDAGVA (MGL)
Gracjan MATYJASEK (POL)
Victor SOTO RIVERA (PUR)
Alp BEGENJOV (TKM)
Ferhat YIGIT (TUR)
Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)
Asadbek FAYZULLAEV (UZB)

80kg
Magomed IDRISOV (AIN)
Maksim RYHOSIK (AIN)
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Ismayil ASADLI (AZE)
Grigor CHERNAKOV (BUL)
Vladislav RJABTSEV (EST)
Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Theofilos KESIDIS (GRE)
Adam MIZSEI (HUN)
Saurabh YADAV (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Daniel SIMONIAN (ISR)
Natsura OKAZAWA (JPN)
Askhab KHAJIYEV (KAZ)
Alexandru BORS (MDA)
Byambadorj ENKHBAT (MGL)
Omer MEMEDI (MKD)
Bartlomiej NOWAKOWSKI (POL)
Nick SCHERRER (SUI)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Huseyin KABAKTAS (TUR)
Zackary D RYDER (USA)
Mukhammadali RAKHIMOV (UZB)

92kg
Alimirza ABDULKADIROV (AIN)
Aliaksei KULAKOU (AIN)
Varuzhan HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)
Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO)
Erwin PLUSCHNIK (GER)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Bence VERESS (HUN)
VINAY (IND)
Toohid NOORY (IRI)
Genki HOKI (JPN)
Samir DURSUNOV (KAZ)
Demuul ARIUNTUYA (MGL)
Ilija ATANASOV (MKD)
Pieter Lafras UYS (NAM)
Balazs LORINCZ (ROU)
Suleyman MUSAGULYYEV (TKM)
Eyyup CETIN (TUR)
Aeoden SINCLAIR (USA)
Isomjon ISLAMOV (UZB)

110kg
Rakhman MALAKHMEDOV (AIN)
Yaraslau KOKHAN (AIN)
Henrik HAYKYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Marwan MOHAMED (EGY)
Aleksandre ABRAMISHVILI (GEO)
Balint FABIAN (HUN)
Singh JASPOORAN (IND)
Abolfazl NEZHAD (IRI)
Hosei FUJITA (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL)
Balazs CSIPKES (ROU)
Rusen GULER (TUR)
Sampson STILLWELL (USA)
Eldorbek KHASANOV (UZB) 

Women’s Wrestling

40kg
Raniia RAKHMANOVA (AIN)
Nurana ASADLI (AIN)
Klara WINKLER (GER)
RACHANA (IND)
Koharu AKUTSU (JPN)
Anel BURKUTBAYEVA (KAZ)
Ainaz ABDYKADYROVA (KGZ)
Fatma YILMAZ (TUR)
Jaclyn BOUZAKIS (USA)
Shokhista SHONAZAROVA (UZB)

43kg
Aleksandra BEREZOVSKAIA (AIN)
Alina MAZHAROUSKAYA (AIN)
Saadat GULIYEVA (AZE)
Maria GKIKA (GRE)
PARVEEN (IND)
Mona EZAKA (JPN)
Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ)
Kinga JARONIEK (POL)
Diana VOICULESCU (ROU)
Yagmur KARABACAK (TUR)
Morgan TURNER (USA)
Nilufar NURMUKHAMMADOVA (UZB)

46kg
Diana RYBCHENKO (AIN)
Valeryia TSITOVA (AIN)
Dounia ZITOUNI (ALG)
Vicky LEON (ECU)
Josephine WRENSCH (GER)
MUSKAN (IND)
Natsumi MASUDA (JPN)
Meiramgul AKHMETZHAN (KAZ)
Aidana ABDYKERIM KYZY (KGZ)
Lonisa REKA (KOS)
Daniella HOSSEIN BEKY (NOR)
Dominika KONKEL (POL)
Wan Yi HUANG (TPE)
Hava KONCA (TUR)
Rianne MURPHY (USA)

49kg
Tana TIULIUSH (AIN)
Sviatlana KATENKA (AIN)
Eleni ZAGLIVERI (GER)
Anna KOEBLO (HUN)
DRISHTI (IND)
Rinka OGAWA (JPN)
Arina ABDULLINA (KAZ)
Diana AMANTUROVA (KGZ)
Eunhye OH (KOR)
Chuluun Erdene BATTOGTOKH (MGL)
Lucja KORCZ (POL)
Chloe BREWIS (RSA)
Wei Ting CHEN (TPE)
Nil AKTAS (TUR)
Heather CRULL (USA)

53kg
Olga OVCHINNIKOVA (AIN)
Valeryia MIKITSICH (AIN)
Fatima BOUCHIBI (ALG)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Lisette BOETTKER (EST)
Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)
Liliana KAPUVARI (HUN)
RAJNITA (IND)
Fabiana RINELLA (ITA)
Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
Elmira SAPARBEKOVA (KAZ)
Aziza SHUMKAROVA (KGZ)
Bayasgalan MONGOLKHUU (MGL)
Amelia TOMALA (POL)
Milica SEKULOVIC (SRB)
Anja EPP (SUI)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Yi Hsuan TSENG (TPE)
Ozlem GURSOY (TUR)
Karlee BROOKS (USA)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)

57kg
Mariia BELIASOVA (AIN)
Alina KOZHYNA (AIN)
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Sabah KHAMIS (EGY)
Rosa MOLINA RODRIGUEZ (ESP)
NEHA (IND)
Denise PIRODDU (ITA)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Zhasmin ISKANDAROVA (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Yeo Jin MIN (KOR)
Enkhdangina DEJINBEE (MGL)
Mirijam HANSEN (NOR)
Nikola PIECHOCKA (POL)
Eliana WHITE (PUR)
Kai Yi LI (TPE)
Eylem ENGIN (TUR)
Everest LEYDECKER (USA)
Durdona SAIDOVA (UZB)

61kg
Ekaterina RADYSHEVA (AIN)
Aliautsina SHKURATAVA (AIN)
Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI)
Maram ALY (EGY)
Ainara PORTILLO (ESP)
Nella HONKANIEMI (FIN)
Leana SIERRA (FRA)
Leonie STEIGERT (GER)
Loukia KARAGIANNI (GRE)
Eda BALAZS (HUN)
SAVITA (IND)
Konami ONO (JPN)
Sofya ZMAZNEVA (KAZ)
Akylai CHYNYBAEVA (KGZ)
Paulina PAVILIONYTE (LTU)
Munkhchimeg URJIN (MGL)
Leah SAMSONSEN (NOR)
Emilia SWIERCZEWSKA (POL)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Haylie JAFFEE (USA)

65kg
Margarita SALNAZARIAN (AIN)
Maryia MAKARCHANKA (AIN)
Mouda HAMDOUN (EGY)
Lise LANDOUZY (FRA)
Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO)
Viktoria PUPP (HUN)
SHIKSHA (IND)
Chisato YOSHIDA (JPN)
Meiramgul MAKSOT (KAZ)
Aiana ASAMALIKOVA (KGZ)
Marina AKHAI (MGL)
Maja NOWAKOWSKA (POL)
Sabina PETRACHE (ROU)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
May PRADO (USA)
Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB)

69kg
Liliana KAZMINA (AIN)
Karyna FISHCHUK (AIN)
Joseth MAVUNGU (ANG)
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Alexandra KOLLAR (HUN)
SRISHTI (IND)
Ai SAKAI (JPN)
Ingkar YERGALI (KAZ)
Nur SHARIPOVA (KGZ)
Viktorija IRKLE (LAT)
Azzaya ERDENEBILEG (MGL)
Paulina KUCHARCZYK (POL)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Hua Fang KO (TPE)
Elif KURT (TUR)
Jasmine ROBINSON (USA)
Nigina RAJABOVA (UZB)

73kg
Diana TITOVA (AIN)
Aliaksandra KAZLOVA (AIN)
Melissa BELAID (ALG)
Anabela RADOS (CRO)
Laia HORTA GALLARDO (ESP)
Ambre BOUZILLARD (FRA)
Lotta ENGLICH (GER)
Petra MUELLER (HUN)
KAJAL (IND)
Ako UCHIYAMA (JPN)
Meruyert NAZARBAYEVA (KAZ)
Akylai ABDRAKHMANOVA (KGZ)
Sarah RANDRIANANDRASANA (MAD)
Ionela COJOCARU (ROU)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Piper FOWLER (USA)
Asaloy AMANGELDIEVA (UZB) 

Greco-Roman

45kg
RUSTEM ABATSIEV (AIN)
Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Turan DASHDAMIROV (AZE)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Nika TSETSKHLADZE (GEO)
Athanasios TSINIAS (GRE)
Pranjl KANGRA (IND)
Alireza AMIRIGHASRODDASHTI (IRI)
Kaisei YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Zharas SOVETOV (KAZ)
Kadyrbek ALMANBETOV (KGZ)
Igor CAZAC (MDA)
Zoltan BOTH (SVK)
Mehmet SARP (TUR)
Henry ASLIKYAN (USA)
Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB)

48kg
Murat KHATIT (AIN)
Maksim BRADZIAK (AIN)
Edgar PETROSYAN (ARM)
Elnar ZIYADOV (AZE)
Pedro DE SOUZA (BRA)
Karim ELEMARY (EGY)
Iuri CHAPIDZE (GEO)
Ivan SEIBEL (GER)
Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
Siddhanath PATIL (IND)
Payam AHMADI BALOOTAKI (IRI)
Haruku SHIINA (JPN)
Beknur MUKAN (KAZ)
Elmar ISHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Maksat SEYTIYEV (TKM)
Abdulsamet UCAR (TUR)
Ezekiel  WITT (USA)
Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB)

51kg
Ilia KANDALIN (AIN)
Rasim IBRAHIMAU (AIN)
Artur BROYAN (ARM)
Ali SEYIDALILI (AZE)
Moises PERALTA (ECU)
Omar IBRAHIM (EGY)
Nolan PISSOCHER (FRA)
Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO)
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
Manu YADAV (IND)
Mohammad MOHMADI (IRI)
Haruya FUKASAWA (JPN)
Zhanbolat SAPARBEK (KAZ)
Cholponbek TOROBEKOV (KGZ)
Dragos DRAGA (ROU)
Husniddin ULUGBEKOV (TKM)
Omer ALTAS (TUR)
Hudson LOGES (USA)
Dostonbek ORIPOV (UZB)

55kg
Airat SALIKHOV (AIN)
Danila CHARAPENKA (AIN)
Yuri KARAPETYAN (ARM)
Daniel STRUZINJSKI (AUT)
Tural AHMADOV (AZE)
Alyosha ILIEV (BUL)
Ahmed SHABAN (EGY)
Richard PAJUVIIDIK (EST)
Atte SUHONEN (FIN)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Levente FIGE (HUN)
SURAJ (IND)
Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI)
Mustafa AL SAEEDI (IRQ)
David ZILMAN SHEVCHENKO (ISR)
Shu TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)
Kuttubek RYSMATOV (KGZ)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Mario MARIUT (NOR)
Dawid SZTAJKOWSKI (POL)
Nodirjon SANGOV (TJK)
Bayramgeldi YAGMYROV (TKM)
Shu Wei CHUNG (TPE)
Halil CINAR (TUR)
Jordyn RANEY (USA)
AYTJAN KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

60kg
Mingiian GORIAEV (AIN)
Kiryl VALEUSKI (AIN)
Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM)
Roman KARIMOV (AZE)
Kristiyan MILENKOV (BUL)
Clisman CARRACEDO VELIZ (ECU)
Mohamed IBRAHIM (EGY)
Nikita MURADOV (EST)
Saba SURMANIDZE (GEO)
Sokratis KONSTANTINIDIS (GRE)
VARUN (IND)
Ali Amir DEZFOOLINEZHAD (IRI)
Aviv VOLOCH (ISR)
Daichi SAKASHITA (JPN)
Yerdaulet LASSIM (KAZ)
Bekzhan ESENBEK (KGZ)
Eimantas ANDRIUSKA (LTU)
Alin MURARU (MDA)
Kajetan JAKUBOWSKI (POL)
Kemal KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Kemal SAHBAZ (TUR)
Samuel HERRING (USA)
Ogabek MUKIMOV (UZB)

65kg
Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN)
Ihar ANOSHKA (AIN)
Petros ASHKARYAN (ARM)
Yusif AHMADLI (AZE)
Antonio HRISTOV (BUL)
Jure RAJKOVIC (CRO)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Daniel JEREMEJEV (EST)
Giorgi TCHIKAIDZE (GEO)
Athanasios EFTHYMIADIS (GRE)
Attila JOZSA (HUN)
Sachin KUMAR (IND)
Amir SAEIDI NAVA (IRI)
Ali AL TAIE (IRQ)
Amir RADZIBOB (ISR)
Tsubasa EGUCHI (JPN)
Alibek TURLYGAZY (KAZ)
Erjan AKYLBEK UULU (KGZ)
Taeyong KWON (KOR)
Octavian CERNETCHI (MDA)
Nelson CHANTACA (MEX)
Hubert WYSOCZANSKI (POL)
Constantin LUNGU (ROU)
Zalan PEK (SRB)
Shatlyk YUNUSOV (TKM)
Ibrahim AYDEMIR (TUR)
William GREENWOOD (USA)
Islombek KARIMJONOV (UZB)

71kg
Abdurakhman ABDULKADYROV (AIN)
Ivan BIALIAYEU (AIN)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Lars MATT (AUT)
Javad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Sergey STOEV (BUL)
Marko KLARIC (CRO)
Youssef BADAWY (EGY)
Nikita MEZOV (EST)
Severi MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Luka LOMADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Dominik CZUCZOR (HUN)
Sohamraj MORE (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHAMADIAN (IRI)
Idrees JAF (IRQ)
Timur NADORGIN (ISR)
Shuya MIURA (JPN)
Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ)
Elkhan CHOENBEKOV (KGZ)
Seongmin JANG (KOR)
Minijus LEONAVICIUS (LTU)
Cristian RISCA (MDA)
Antoni TRETTER (POL)
Ognjen TODOSIJEVIC (SRB)
Dominik HERVAI (SVK)
Isodzhon NURAKHMADOV (TJK)
Alkan AKAR (TUR)
Arvin KHOSRAVY (USA)
Temirbek ABDULLAEV (UZB)

80kg
Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN)
Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN)
Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM)
Paul MAIER (AUT)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Miguel VEGA SALAZAR (COL)
Marin ZOVKO (CRO)
Seef ABDALAZIZ (EGY)
Marcus UHTJAERV (EST)
Haik SARGSYAN (FRA)
Saba GAPRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE)
Szabolcs SZINAY (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABBASI (IRI)
Itzhak NEMSADZE (ISR)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Beibarys SHYMYRBEK (KAZ)
Bakyt DZHAKUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Alexandr PLESCAN (MDA)
Mohammed K T ELNAGAR (PLE)
Stanislaw FUSSY (POL)
Dusan STOKIC (SRB)
Emir DAYAL (TUR)
Adam WATERS (USA)
Bekmurod RUSTAMOV (UZB)

92kg
Saipula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Pavel SAVITSKI (AIN)
Grisha VOSKANYAN (ARM)
Mikayil ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Radostin VASILEV (BUL)
Andrej RODIN (CRO)
Abdelfattah ABDELZAHER (EGY)
Saba PURTSELADZE (GEO)
Ole STERNING (GER)
Dimitrios PAPPAS (GRE)
Vendel Roland VITAI (HUN)
RAMANDEEP (IND)
Aliakbar ASGHARIVALADI (IRI)
Rondo KODAMA (JPN)
Maxim UKRAINTSEV (KAZ)
Nurbolot SYRGABAI UULU (KGZ)
Dorian TREJO (MEX)
Pieter UYS (NAM)
Gabriel STAN (ROU)
Stevan KOJIC (SRB)
Alihan BEREKET (TUR)
Aiden COOLEY (USA)
Sardorbek RUSTAMOV (UZB)

110kg
Eldar EMIROV (AIN)
Tsimafei LAZAR (AIN)
Mahir GURBANLI (AZE)
Iliyan DIMITROV (BUL)
Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Renar JOONAS (EST)
Tomas RUSI (FIN)
Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO)
Daniel SZILAGYI (HUN)
RONAK (IND)
Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI)
Ryosei KATAMATSU (JPN)
Bekzhan ISMAGULOV (KAZ)
Talasbek BOOBEKOV (KGZ)
Danila ZUBCOV (MDA)
Pawel JANZEN (POL)
Andreas KERN (SVK)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Nicholas SAHAKIAN (USA)
Jaloliddin SAYFIDDINOV (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

Kusaka earns shot at world title; Iran puts 3 in final

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 18) -- Olympic champion Nao KUSAKA (JPN) is a step away from winning his first world title.

After finishing with a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships at 77kg, Kusaka went on to win the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at the same weight. The Olympic champion now wants the tag of world champion.

Returning for the first time since Paris, Kusaka wrestled like is the Olympic champion, beating Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1, in the semifinals. He scored a takedown to open the scoring before getting the par terre advantage. He failed to score but led 3-0. Fritsch was in danger of giving up a four-pointer but he flung Kusaka on counter for a point to make it 3-1.

There was no action in the second period and Kusaka defended his lead till the time expired to earn his first trip to the finals at a World Championships.

"Like at the Olympics, you can't predict what will happen. But a year after the Olympics, I want to show my strength to the world again," Yoshida said after the win. " I always worked out with him, so we know each other well. But to me, it didn't matter if he had a strategy or not."

Earlier in the quarterfinals, he defeated Olympic silver medalist Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 4-2, in a rematch of the Olympic final. Kusaka had to come back as he was down 2-2 on criteria as Zhadrayev launched a counter throw for two points. But Kusaka added two stepouts in the second period to win 4-2.

He will now face Olympic bronze medalist Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) for the gold medal after the Armenian defeated world U20 champion Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) in a one-move semifinal.

Amoyan got the first chance in par terre and he loaded for a suplex on the edge. Abdevali was ready to land on his hands but Amoyan changed his throw and slammed the Iranian in a reverse throw for four and lead 5-0.

Abdevali failed to score from par terre in the second period and dropped the semifinal 5-1 against Amoyan.

Despite Abdevali's loss, Iran managed three other wrestlers in the finals with world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) leading the way. Two World Championships debutants, Payam AHMADI (IRI) and Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) reached the finals at 55kg and 82kg, respectively.

At 130kg, world champion Mirzazadeh had no trouble reaching the final after he defeated Wenhao JIANG (CHN), 3-1, in the semifinals. He got a roll from par terre for two points and despite par terre position in the second period, he won 3-1.

He will face a surprise finalist Darius VITEK (HUN) who denied Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW), 1-1, as he got the criteria for the first point in a 1-1 finish.

Farokhi, who won the Zagreb Open this year, powered his way to the 82kg final after denying local star Karlo KODRIC (CRO), 7-1, in the semifinals. Farokhi led 3-1 at the break after a takedown. He scored another as soon as the second period began before adding two stepouts to win.

He will face Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) for the gold medal after the Georgian denied Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) yet another comeback as he had all day on Thursday. Yoshida began with two stepouts before getting the par terre. He failed to score any points but led 3-0 at the break.

It was all Bolkvadze in the second period as he scored three turns from par terre to take a 7-3 lead. Japan challenged the last turn saying that Yoshida's head was out of bounds before last turn. However, the review showed that it was inside and Bolkvadze got a point for the lost challenge to make it 8-3 with 1:10 remaining. 

Yoshida used an arm drag to takedown and make it 8-5 but he did not have any another action and Georgia got its second finalist of the night.

Ahmadi upsets Azizli

Iran's gamble to switch Pouya DAD MARZ (IRI) with world U20 champion Payam AHMADI (IRI) a week before the World Championships paid off as he denied four-time world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) a record fifth at 55kg.

Ahmadi was subjected to a selection bout against Dad Marz in Iran and he defeated the former world silver medalist with ease thus earning a trip to Zagreb a month after winning the gold at the U20 World Championships.

In the semifinals, Ahmadi got a takedown to put Azizli on the backfoot. He was awarded the par terre position as well but failed to score. However, he led 3-0 at the break. Azizli got his chance in the second period but Ahmadi brought out his top defense to not give up any points and keep his 3-1 lead, a score he went on to win with.

He will face another teenager for the gold medal, Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), who defeated Emin CAKIR (TUR), 2-2, on last point criteria to earn a spot in the final.

Lolua, just 18 years of age, won a bronze medal at 55kg at the U20 World Championships in which Ahmadi was the champion. Lolua and Cakir traded passivity points with the latter holding first-point criteria. Lolua got a third passivity which is without points and only position, but he failed to score from that as well. Georgia challenged for a leg-foul but there was none.

Cakir got a point for lost challenge from Georgia which made it 2-1 with 40 seconds left. However, Lolua got a stepout soon after and got the 2-2 criteria for the last point scored to win.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Payam AHMADI (IRI) vs. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)

SF 1: Payam AHMADI (IRI) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 3-1
SF 2: Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) df. Emin CAKIR (TUR), 2-2

77kg
GOLD: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) vs. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1
SF 2: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df. Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI), 5-1

82kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) vs. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)

BRONZE: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN), 8-5
BRONZE: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Karlo KODRIC (CRO), 7-1

130kg
GOLD: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) vs. Darius VITEK (HUN)

SF 1: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Wenhao JIANG (CHN), 3-1 
SF 2: Darius VITEK (HUN) df. Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW), 1-1