#WrestlePontevedra

U20 World Championships 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (August 26) -- The U20 World Championships begin September 2 in Pontevedra, Spain. Close to 700 wrestlers will be participating in 30 weight classes with Greco-Roman kicking off proceedings followed by Women's Wrestling and finishing with Freestyle.

The action will be live on uww.org and the UWW app from September 2.

Freestyle

57kg
Herbert AKAPIAN (AIN)
Lev PAVLOV (AIN)
Hayko GASPARYAN (AZE)
Vasif BAGHIROV (ARM)
Caio DUARTE ARON (BRA)
Alessandro IEMMA PLAZA (ESP)
Rassoul GALBOURAEV (FRA)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Leon FERNANDES ZINSER (GER)
ANKUSH (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Shotaro MATSUMURA (JPN)
Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ)
Baiaman KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Marcel ANDRONACHE (MDA)
Roberto MARTINEZ (MEX)
Kabe MATJANOV (TKM)
Bekir KESER (TUR)
Artem MARTIUSHEV (UKR)
Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)

61kg
Andrei MIDLOVETS (AIN)
Edik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
Benjamin SOUZA ZUCKERMAN (BRA)
Blayne HELOU (CAN)
DENGBURILE (CHN)
Abdelrahman MAHMOUD (EGY)
Marc ARIAS ALVAREZ (ESP)
Tornike ASABASHVILI (GEO)
BHUVANESH (IND)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Danny LUBRANO (ITA)
Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ)
Azat SHARSHENALIEV (KGZ)
Dohyung KIM (KOR)
Vasili LAZAREV (MDA)
Enrique OLVERA RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Jacob BRUNNER (PUR)
Sandro HUNGERBUEHLER (SUI)
Robert MESZAROS (SVK)
Amir HAMAYUN (TKM)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Viktor BOROHAN (UKR)
Marcus BLAZE (USA)

65kg
Dzmitry SHVARTS (AIN)
Adam ARKHIEV (AIN)
Miguel ANTONIO (ANG)
Arman MUSIKYAN (ARM)
Luca HARTMANN (AUT)
Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE)
Xin WANG (CHN)
Felipe FERRUSOLA MILLA (ESP)
Khizir DASIYEV (FRA)
Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Nikhil PILANAGOILA (IND)
Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)
Alessandro NINI (ITA)
Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN)
Shattyk ALAIDAR (KAZ)
Zalkarbek TABALDIEV (KGZ)
Ion BERGHI (MDA)
Diego PERAZA AGUILAR (MEX)
Kaige BROWN (NZL)
Dominik JAGUSZ (POL)
Rafael GARCIA MORALES (PUR)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Valentyn HRYHORYSHYN (UKR)
Bowen BASSETT (USA)

70kg
Aliaksandr KAMBAYEU (AIN)
Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN)
Abderrahmane BENHAMADI (ALG)
Manaceu NGONDA (ANG)
Vladimir AZARYAN (ARM)
Alexander SEIWALD (AUT)
Ramik HEYBATOV (AZE)
Sehajpal SIDHU (CAN)
Youhua LIN (CHN)
Omar MOURAD (EGY)
Denis KODAKOV GIL (ESP)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Rostislav LEICHT (GER)
Georgios IOAKEIMIDIS (GRE)
Alex GOMBOS (HUN)
Nilesh NADIPARWALE (IND)
Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI)
Daniel KORKIN (ISR)
Daniele GUBBIOTTI (ITA)
Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN)
Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ)
Aden SAKYBAEV (KGZ)
Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)
Gabriel SANCHEZ ZEPEDA (MEX)
Ankh Erdene ALTANGEREL (MGL)
Zelimkhan MUTSUKHAEV (POL)
Umut ERDOGAN (TUR)
Bohdan OLIINYK (UKR)
Peter DUKE (USA)

74kg
Muslim MAKHMUDAU (AIN)
Tamir ESHINIMAEV (AIN)
Samvel GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Trent JAEGGI (AUS)
Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Paulo GONCALVES (BRA)
Nicholas HOOPER (CAN)
Ning WANG (CHN)
Khaled MOHAMED (EGY)
Fabricio REYES (ESP)
Nikolai TARASSOV (EST)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Giorgi RIGVAVA (GEO)
Theocharis KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
GAURAV (IND)
Ali Abbas REZAEI (IRI)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Shingo ANDO (JPN)
Yegor ANCHUGIN (KAZ)
Baitemir TULEBERDIEV (KGZ)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Tolui MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Antoni MAJCHRZAK (POL)
Gigi SUBTIRICA (ROU)
Kakamyrat ASHYROV (TKM)
Yi Jie LIN (TPE)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Rostyslav PRUS (UKR)
Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

79kg
Dzmitry LUKASHUK (AIN)
Said SAIDULOV (AIN)
Houssem OUCIF (ALG)
Aren ISRAYELYAN (ARM)
Mukhammad INSHAPIEV (AUT)
Emin GOJAYEV (AZE)
Bogdan DJANDIGOV (BEL)
Leandro ARAUJO (BRA)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Jinju LI (CHN)
Moises BELLO ALVAREZ (ESP)
Adam KAKHRIEV (FRA)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Gregor EIGENBRODT (GER)
AMIT (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFIHA (IRI)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Yerkhan BEXULTANOV (KAZ)
Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ)
Youmin JANG (KOR)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Bartlomiej NOWAKOWSKI (POL)
Kevin OLAVARRIA (PUR)
Alp BEGENJOV (TKM)
Bekir OVEC (TUR)
Oleksandr MAMROSH (UKR)
Zackary RYDER (USA)

86kg
Aliaksei KULAKOU (AIN)
Ibragim KADIEV (AIN)
Sadig MUSTAFAZADE (AZE)
Rohit BAL (CAN)
Pengcheng WANG (CHN)
Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV)
Azael GARCIA (ESP)
Vladislav RJABTSEV (EST)
Mohammad UMKHADJIEV (FRA)
Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO)
Peter ZSIVNOVSZKI (HUN)
SACHIN (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Ryogo ASANO (JPN)
Navruz AKHMEDKHANOV (KAZ)
Akhmat ZHAPPUEV (KGZ)
Ho Yeon HWANG (KOR)
Alexandru BORS (MDA)
Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Ahmet YAGAN (TUR)
Illia PLAKHTYR (UKR)
Joshua BARR (USA)

92kg
Vadzim BANDARKOU (AIN)
Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)
Hamza KACEDI (ALG)
Anar JAFARLI (AZE)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Kai QIU (CHN)
Mykola TOLMACHOV (ESP)
Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Grigorios SARIDIS (GRE)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
Amit SINGH (IND)
Amirreza DALIRI (IRI)
Nikita GOUBARETS (ISR)
Sorato KANAZAWA (JPN)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Iakov CHAPLIN (KGZ)
Grigori TOMAILI (MDA)
Delgerdalai DEMBEREL (MGL)
David JAKSIK (SVK)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Oleh KUZMENKO (UKR)
Connor MIRASOLA (USA)

97kg
Shakhman NUKHAEV (AIN)
Miles DALY (AUS)
Ravan MUSAYEV (AZE)
Tejvir DHINSA (CAN)
Tuxige TUXIGE (CHN)
Enrique JIMENEZ (ESP)
Ramini GULITASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Bence VERESS (HUN)
Sahil JAGLAN (IND)
Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI)
Genki HOKI (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Aitenir MAKSATOV (KGZ)
Constantin BUZA (MDA)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR)
Justin RADEMACHER (USA)

125kg
Stsiapan MANDRYK (AIN)
Khabib DAVUDGADZHIEV (AIN)
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Omogbai ASEKOMHE (CAN)
Yiwei ZHUANG (CHN)
Aleksandre ABRAMISHVILI (GEO)
Jaspooran SINGH (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Hosei FUJITA (JPN)
Alikhan KUSSAINOV (KAZ)
Baejoon JANG (KOR)
Ralfs LUKINS (LAT)
Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Ethan VERGARA (PUR)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Ivan MYROSHNYCHENKO (UKR)
Benjamin KUETER (USA)

Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN) will make her U20 debut in Pontevedra. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Sviatlana KATENKA (AIN)
Violetta BIRIUKOVA (AIN)
Aysel MAMMADZADA (AZE)
Shahreen GULACHA (CAN)
Yu ZHANG (CHN)
Maria CAZALLA (ESP)
MUSKAN (IND)
Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Yorlenis MORAN (PAN)
Joanna SAMSONOWICZ (POL)
Nipuni WASANA (SRI)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Fatma KIZMAZ (TUR)
Aida KERYMOVA (UKR)
Anaya FALCON (USA)

53kg
Valeryia MIKITSICH (AIN)
Olga OVCHINNIKOVA (AIN)
Fatima BOUCHIBI (ALG)
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Nikol KRUMOVA (BUL)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Liliana KAPUVARI (HUN)
JYOTI (IND)
Saki YUMIYA (JPN)
Yengilik KABYLBEK (KAZ)
Yusneiry AGRAZAL (PAN)
Ilona VALCHUK (POL)
Shammilka MIRANDA (PUR)
Ana ROTARU (ROU)
Nethmi AHINSA (SRI)
Reka HEGEDUS (SVK)
Ya Hsin CHEN (TPE)
Hava KONCA (TUR)
Sofiia MARCHENKO (UKR)
Brianna GONZALEZ (USA)

55kg
Aliaksandra BULAVA (AIN)
Ekaterina CHIKANOVA (AIN)
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Madisyn GROF (CAN)
Liuxuan CHEN (CHN)
Pau GIMENO FRANCO (ESP)
Dhanshri FAND (IND)
Karina HONDA (JPN)
Aliana MAKHAMBETOVA (KAZ)
Josefina RAMIREZ (MEX)
Khaliun BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Amelia TOMALA (POL)
Milica SEKULOVIC (SRB)
Yu Syun CHEN (TPE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Diana KOTVYTSKA (UKR)
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)

57kg
Marta HETMANAVA (AIN)
Dolzhon TSYNGUEVA (AIN)
Annika FINES (CAN)
Xinyue LU (CHN)
Ainara PORTILLO GARCIA (ESP)
Romaissa EL KHARROUBI (FRA)
Marie TRAYER (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
NEHA (IND)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Yubeen LEE (KOR)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Nomin Erdene MYAGMARSUREN (MGL)
Nikola WISNIEWSKA (POL)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Gulsum BINGOL (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Carissa QURESHI (USA)

59kg
Uladzislava KUDZIN (AIN)
Elena KUROVA (AIN)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Yifan ZHU (CHN)
Rosa MOLINA RODRIGUEZ (ESP)
Luna ROTHENBERGER (GER)
Viktoria BORSOS (HUN)
KOMAL (IND)
Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
Angelina PERVUKHINA (KAZ)
Aitolkun MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Anna TIELIEGINA (LTU)
Madalina PRISACARI (MDA)
Nicola WASILEWSKA (POL)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Anna KARBOVSKA (UKR)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)

62kg
Marharyta KOUSH (AIN)
Olga IATSENKO (AIN)
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Bronwyn MACGREGOR (CAN)
Shuang HAN (CHN)
Tereza MRACKOVA (CZE)
Farah HUSSEIN (EGY)
Candela CASTRO GREDIAGA (ESP)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Anna FOTIADOU (GRE)
NITIKA (IND)
Immacolata DANISE (ITA)
Nagisa ITO (JPN)
Sofya ZMAZNEVA (KAZ)
Tancholpon KYBALBEKOVA (KGZ)
Seoyeon BAE (KOR)
Melanie JIMENEZ (MEX)
Khulan BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Nicola WASILEWSKA (POL)
Annatina LIPPUNER (SUI)
Karin SAMUELSSON (SWE)
Yen Yi LI (TPE)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Cadence DIDUCH (USA)

65kg
Aliaksandra ZHUK (AIN)
Margarita SALNAZARIAN (AIN)
Sofia VEMBA (ANG)
Zaixue RUI (CHN)
Mouda HAMDOUN (EGY)
Elvira MARTINEZ-BARQUERO (ESP)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
SARIKA (IND)
Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
Korlan AMANOVA (KAZ)
Michelle OLEA RUIZ (MEX)
Odgerel ERDENE OCHIR (MGL)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Yuliia PAKHNIUK (UKR)
Reese LARRAMENDY (USA)

68kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (AIN)
Vanessa KEEFE (CAN)
Maria CIVANTOS VILCHEZ (ESP)
SRISHTI (IND)
Seia MOCHINAGA (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Karolina DOMASZUK (POL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Yan Ju JIANG (TPE)
Ayse ERKAN (TUR)
Anna POSHTAR (UKR)
Caitlyn DAVIS (USA)

72kg
Krystsina KURKINA (AIN)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (AIN)
Tehani BLAIS (CAN)
Yuqi LIU (CHN)
Gia KASTELAN (CRO)
Yasmin ALONSO EZ ZAHIR (ESP)
Noemi OSVATH NAGY (HUN)
MANJU (IND)
Ai SAKAI (JPN)
Zhibekzhan SABYRZHANOVA (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Edna JIMENEZ (MEX)
Tselmuun OTGONBAT (MGL)
Karolina JAWORSKA (POL)
Elvira ERSSON (SWE)
Haticenur SARI (TUR)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)
Jasmine ROBINSON (USA)

76kg
Diana TITOVA (AIN)
Meile ZHANG (CHN)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Jyoti BERWAL (IND)
Chisato YOSHIDA (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Tuvshinjargal TARAV (MGL)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR)
Naomi SIMON (USA)

Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) will look to defend his 87kg gold in Greco-Roman. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Alibek AMIROV (AIN)
Adel FEGAS (ALG)
Armen GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Rahim HASANOV (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Filip BARTOSIK (CZE)
James CASTANO ARTEAGA (ESP)
Giorgi KOCHALIDZE (GEO)
Panteleimon PISSAKIS (GRE)
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
Anil MOR (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Daisuke MORISHITA (JPN)
Aibek AITBEKOV (KAZ)
Barsbek ASANKOZHOEV (KGZ)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Servan CINAR (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
Isaiah CORTEZ (USA)

60kg
Papik DZHAVADIAN (AIN)
Armen SUKIASYAN (ARM)
Tural AHMADOV (AZE)
Kristiyan MILENKOV (BUL)
Yunlong HU (CHN)
Ahmed SHABAN (EGY)
David DIAZ SANCHEZ (ESP)
Lucas LO GRASSO (FRA)
Tamazi GLONTI (GEO)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Edmond DOMOKOS (HUN)
Mohit NARWAL (IND)
Mohammadmehdi GHOLAMPOUR (IRI)
Kohaku KANAZAWA (JPN)
Ongdassyn KHAMITOV (KAZ)
Said TURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Alin MURARU (MDA)
Daniel GUEVARA PIMENTEL (MEX)
Dominik PARTYKA (POL)
Eli KIRK (PUR)
Adam SILVERIN (SWE)
Servet ANGI (TUR)
Yevhen POKOVBA (UKR)
Cory LAND (USA)

63kg
Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN)
Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM)
Mahammad SHUKURZADE (AZE)
Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL)
Zhiyu WANG (CHN)
Matej REBIC (CRO)
Matous JANKOVIC (CZE)
Adham ELSAYED (EGY)
Mario TRUJILLO CORDERO (ESP)
Ilian AINAOUI (FRA)
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
NISHANT (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Shina YASUMI (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ)
Byeonggi SEO (KOR)
Pavel DENISENCO (MDA)
Zachary MARRERO (PUR)
Dejan BERKEC (SRB)
Mathias MARTINETTI (SUI)
William EKEROT (SWE)
Enes ULKU (TUR)
Maksym CHUHUIEV (UKR)
Otto BLACK (USA)

67kg
Grair OGANESIAN (AIN)
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Isa BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Tavakgul HAZIYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Kang ZHEN (CHN)
Daniel CAMPOS PEREZ (ESP)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Attila JOZSA (HUN)
Sachin SACHIN (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Kojiro HASEGAWA (JPN)
Yussuf ASHRAPOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Kipras PUIKIS (LTU)
Vladimir PASCARI (MDA)
Piotr SKALIK (POL)
Iosif IONESCU (ROU)
Fritz REBER (SUI)
Tim EKLUND BERGFALK (SWE)
Sunat ABDULLOEV (TJK)
Ramazan Can AKTAS (TUR)
Imed KHUDZHADZE (UKR)
Joel ADAMS (USA)

72kg
Illia VALEUSKI (AIN)
Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Wenhao HU (CHN)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Gonzalo CAPARROS DIEGUEZ (ESP)
Max HRISTJUK (EST)
Luka KAJANNE (FIN)
Nika GLONTI (GEO)
Magomed KARTOJEV (GER)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Aakash PUNIA (IND)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI)
Hajime KIKUTA (JPN)
Alikhan DURSUNOV (KAZ)
Abdulaziz ASKARBEKOV (KGZ)
Gunhee LEE (KOR)
Rokas CEPAUSKAS (LTU)
Vasile ZABICA (MDA)
Hubert SIDORUK (POL)
Leonard IURASCU (ROU)
Zalan PEK (SRB)
Denny CHJAN (SWE)
Muhammed Ali GOCMEN (TUR)
Petro SHAFRANSKYI (UKR)
Patrick Thomas BRACKETT (USA)

77kg
Magomed IARBILOV (AIN)
Mohamed MAMMERI (ALG)
Henrik GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Spartak VALENTINOV (BUL)
Jixin YU (CHN)
Mihael LUKAC (CRO)
Jose TESO SOBA (ESP)
Vikke TARKKIO (FIN)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Nishant PHOGAT (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Yujin TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ)
Nurel DUISHONBEKOV (KGZ)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Iulian LUNGU (ROU)
Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Karl BAFF (SWE)
Erkan TUGCU (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Aydin MCELHINNEY (USA)

82kg
Abdurakhman ABDULKADYROV (AIN)
Dhiyaeddine REMMACHE (ALG)
Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM)
Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE)
Shichang ZHENG (CHN)
Antonio LUKAC (CRO)
Jan DUSEK (CZE)
Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
Jesper HAERKAENEN (FIN)
Anri DAVITADZE (GEO)
Anton BUCHHOLZ (GER)
Odysseas ROUNGERIS (GRE)
Dominik CZUCZOR (HUN)
PRINCE (IND)
Mohammad ARJMAND (IRI)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Erlan MARS UULU (KGZ)
Sukmin YOON (KOR)
Mahmoud HAWSAWI (KSA)
Stanislaw FUSSY (POL)
Razvan PAVALASC (ROU)
Milos PEROVIC (SRB)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ramazan PASHAIEV (UKR)
Arian KHOSRAVY (USA)

87kg
Mansur SAITOV (AIN)
Roberto NSANGUA (ANG)
Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Joju SAMADOV (AZE)
Kauan FERREIRA GOMES (BRA)
Andrey ATANASOV (BUL)
Jie WANG (CHN)
Elias LYYSKI (FIN)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE)
ROHIT (IND)
Mohammad Hadi SEYDI (IRI)
Reon KAKEGAWA (JPN)
Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Ruben VAN WYK (RSA)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Emre BACAKSIZ (TUR)
Pavlo TORIANYK (UKR)
Ryder ROGOTZKE (USA)
Brian RUIZ MARIN (VEN)

97kg
Anatolii AVERIN (AIN)
Arshak GEGHAMYAN (ARM)
Mikayil ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Qianyi SUN (CHN)
Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Rasmus LIISMA (EST)
Saba PURTSELADZE (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
Christos CHATSATOUROV (GRE)
NAMAN (IND)
Hamidreza KESHTKAR (IRI)
Issa KIKUCHI (JPN)
Rakhat BERZHANOV (KAZ)
Bekzhan ZHUMABEKOV (KGZ)
Dorian TREJO OLGUIN (MEX)
Sebastian WARCHOL (POL)
Branko DUKIC (SRB)
Ahmet EREMEKTER (TUR)
Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)
Soren HERZOG (USA)

130kg
Aleksandr MELEKHOV (AIN)
Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Leonhard JUNGER (AUT)
Mazaim MARDANOV (AZE)
Alan DZABIEV (BUL)
Jorawar Singh DHINSA (CAN)
Shaoyi YANG (CHN)
Marko MILANOVIC (CRO)
Artur SARKISJAN (CZE)
Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO)
Rafail GKIRNIS (GRE)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Uttam RANA (IND)
Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI)
Kazushi IWASAKI (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Samagan ORMONOV (KGZ)
Seunggyu MIN (KOR)
Ethan VERGARA (PUR)
Marko SUPIC (SRB)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Artur BOICHUK (UKR)
Aden ATTAO (USA)

#WrestleBudapest

Hildebrandt relishes new approach, wins gold at #WrestleBudapest

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 14) – Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) may spend her Saturday looking for the best ice cream in Budapest.

It's a way of her treating herself for the gold medal in the Budapest Ranking Series she won on Friday after five bouts at 50kg, exactly a year after she won her last Ranking Series gold medal in Tunis, Tunisia.

Three years ago, Hildebrandt made the decision to move from the 53kg to the 50kg weight class in her pursuit of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. As part of her weight management, she had to give up eating ice cream, despite her love for it. She joked that she could eat ice cream like a "125kg wrestler."

It did pay off. She won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and followed it with a silver medal at the World Championships. Last year, she added another world bronze medal to her collection.

Now, at 29 years old, Hildebrandt is savoring her well-deserved treat after claiming the gold in Budapest. She won five bouts on a "fun day."

“Ice cream is something I love eating,” Hildebrandt said. “I can eat it anytime. I won five bouts so I will eat five scoops.”

With the gold in Budapest just two months before the World Championships in Belgrade, Hildebrandt has positioned herself as a strong contender for the gold medal. She showcased her skills and style throughout the tournament.

In her five bouts on Friday, Hildebrandt only gave up a single takedown. She secured three technical superiority wins and avenged a loss against world silver medalist Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL).

"When I saw the brackets, I was like, 'No way! First round,'" she said.

Hildebrandt faced Dolgorjav in the first round, whom she had previously met in the semifinals of the 2022 World Championships. Dolgorjav had defeated Hildebrandt, denying her back-to-back appearances in the world finals.

While the memory of that loss was still fresh, Hildebrandt knew she had to let go of it and focus on the challenges ahead.

"There is no specific strategy to wrestling her, but I wanted to approach the match with an open mind," she said. "I didn't want to force anything and instead capitalize on the opportunities that came my way. In wrestling, you never know if it will be one bout or five, especially in low-stakes tournaments like these. But I wanted to face the best, and if it had to be just one bout, I wanted it to be against her."

Dolgorjav, known for her counter-attacking game, followed a similar plan, waiting for Hildebrandt to initiate attacks. After almost a minute of sizing each other up, Hildebrandt executed a snap and scored the first takedown, taking a 2-0 lead in the bout.

Dolgorjav attempted an attack but failed to finish before Hildebrandt countered with a single-legged takedown, extending her lead to 4-0 at the break.

Hildebrandt controlled the center of the mat better than Dolgorjav, securing a 6-0 lead by defending a double-leg attack from the Mongolian. She finished the bout with a takedown on the edge and a lace.

“It was a hard day but a fun day,” she said. “In Belgrade, I was not happy and mentally I was very fixed. I escaped that mental prison after the World Championships.”

Following her victory against Dolgorjav, Hildebrandt continued her winning streak with technical superiority wins over Agata WALERZAK (POL) and Julie SABATIE (FRA). She then defeated Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN) 8-1 in the semifinals.

From the other side of the bracket, Ziqi FENG (CHN) dominated with three 10-0 wins and a 10-8 win over her compatriot Jiang ZHU (CHN), securing her fourth Ranking Series medal this year.

However, despite her dominance on the way to the final, a second gold medal was not to be for Feng.

Hildebrandt faced some tense moments when Feng attempted a takedown from behind, but she managed to grab Feng's leg and score an exposure, taking a 2-0 lead.

Feng tried to regain control but couldn't find an opening against Hildebrandt's strong defense.

"They [Chinese wrestlers] are strong," Hildebrandt said. "It's always tough. But in the final, I didn't want to prove a point by forcing a takedown or rushing things."

Hildebrandt patiently waited for another opportunity to score, which came in the second period when she executed a takedown, extending her lead to 4-0. Although Feng managed to secure a takedown later, she couldn't turn Hildebrandt for the win.

During the final moments, Hildebrandt focused on being present in her body, avoiding overthinking as the clock ticked.

“In the past, I had so much running through my mind,” she said. “Now I just myself and be in my body. I have made the mistake of being in mind too much and lost.”

In the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics, Hildebrandt was on the verge of reaching the final when Yanan SUN (CHN) surprised her with a front headlock throw, ending her dream.

"The Olympics. I won't forget," Hildebrandt said, reflecting on her loss against Sun in Tokyo. "So, this time, I'm focusing on my game and mental state because that was my downfall last time."

However, that loss was followed by two more at the World Championships in 2021 and 2022, which made Hildebrandt realize that something needed to change.

“I have realized that off the mat, you need to be human,” she said. “It's not fun to be a machine wrestler. It was at the 2022 Worlds and at the last two World Championships I was like a machine and it was either I stop being a machine or I move away from the sport.”

Hildebrandt chose the former option and, with the help of her boyfriend, who is a gymnast, she began changing her approach to wrestling.

“A lot of my improvements have been off the mat,” she said. “It's tempting to be more and more, but I don't want to overdo it closer to such big events. [When I used to], it hasn't worked for me yet. So now I am like off the mat, rest, recover and calm down.”

Throughout the day, Hildebrandt maintained a relaxed approach and avoided forcing her wrestling style during the bouts.

“I am so excited and I just wanted to enjoy myself,” she said. “I want to take in these moments. Paris may be the last of my career and I want to have an awesome run.”

Her journey to the gold medal at the Paris Olympics will likely involve facing Tokyo Olympic champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN), who was in the stands observing the wrestling matches from a distance.

Susaki, undefeated internationally, is currently in Hungary for a training camp in Tata after the Ranking Series. Hildebrandt was pleasantly surprised to see Susaki in Budapest.

“I was in the warm-up and I saw her and said is that Yui Susaki?” she said. “It was surprising but we had a surprise run in Los Angeles a few months ago. Anytime you can get your hands on someone. She also will be picking up on a lot too as she is a very intelligent wrestler.

“That makes it all the more special because these are high-level elite IQ wrestlers, anytime you get your paws on them, there's a little information there. But it's give and take. We have never wrestled each other so to get to train with her is beneficial for me all the way and that's what I am hanging on to.”

However, before Paris, there are the World Championships, where five wrestlers in the 50kg category will earn Olympic quotas. Hildebrandt aims to be one of them.

“I feel the hype [for the World Championships],” she said. “This was the perfect pre-World Championships tournament as there were many wrestlers from different countries.”

For now, Hildebrandt will return to the United States for the national camp and intends to maintain her humanity and enjoy her time before the World Championships.

“I want to remain human,” she said. “Maybe I will go to a concert and do other stuff.”

Perhaps indulging in some ice cream will be among her chosen activities.