#WrestleAmman

U20 World Championships entry list

By Vinay Siwach

AMMAN, Jordan (August 7) -- A week after the U17 World Championships ended in Istanbul, Turkiye, top wrestlers in the U20 age category will assemble in Amman, Jordan for the World Championships in that age group.

The Jordan capital, which hosted the U15 and U20 Asian Championships in July, will see 672 wrestlers in three different styles with Freestyle kicking off the championships on August 14. It will be live on uww.org and the UWW App from August 14 to 20. Freestyle wrestling will be followed by Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

Iran will once again be the favorite to win the team title in Freestyle as it boasts of wrestlers including defending champion at 125kg Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI). The United States finished second last year and will look to upset Iran this time as it brings Luke LILLEDAHL (USA), Meyer SHAPIRO (USA), Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) and Bennett BERGE (USA).

India finished third in Sofia and it will hope to better its position on the podium as it brings returning medalists Mohit KUMAR (IND) and Sagar JAGLAN (IND).

Iran will be the favorite to defend its team title in Greco-Roman as it has named Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI), 2021 U20 world champ Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI), Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) and returning silver medalists Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI).

The next best team was Azerbaijan as returning champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) leads the team which has returning bronze Elmir ALIYEV (AZE), U20 European champ Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) and Davud MAMMADOV (AZE).

No doubt the Individual Neutral Athletes will affect the podium finishes this year but Georgia, Armenia and Ukraine are also sending strong Greco-Roman squads to Amman.

In women's wrestling, Japan will be tested by the United States, India, China and Ukraine as all four countries are sending strong squads as they try to match the best in the world.

Japan had a star-studded line-up last year but only two defending champs feature in the squad for Amman. Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ayona MORO (JPN) will look to defend their titles at 55kg and 76kg.

The United States will be led by senior world champion and defending champion Amir ELOR (USA) at 72kg and breakout star and 2021 U20 world champ Kennedy BLADES (USA) at 76kg. The team also has returning silver medalist Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) and two returning bronze medalists Katie GOMEZ (USA) and Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA).

India managed second place last year and will look to close the gap with Japan as it banks on defending champ ANTIM (IND), U20 Asia champ NITIKA (IND), U17 world champs SAVITA (IND) and Harshita MOR (IND), and returning silver medalist Priya MALIK (IND).

Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) is the defending champion at 125kg. (Photo: UWW / Assem Shalgumbayeva)

Freestyle

57kg
Herbert AKAPIAN (AIN)
Lev PAVLOV (AIN)
Edik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE)
Congbao XIE (CHN)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
David KIEFER (GER)
SAGAR (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Bakytbek DUISHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Vasile MARCU (MDA)
Rafal SZEWC (POL)
Amir HAMAYUN (TKM)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Ruslan SOLOVEI (UKR)
Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)
Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)

61kg
Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN)
Yahor RUDAUSKI (AIN)
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Musa AGHAYEV (AZE)
Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY)
Marc ARIAS (ESP)
Tamazi SULAMANIDZE (GEO)
Dario DITTRICH (GER)
Milan MIZSEI (HUN)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)
Suhib ALMARAFI (JOR)
Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ)
Akylbek URMATOV (KGZ)
Dmitri CARASTOIANOV (MDA)
Enkhbold ENKHBAT (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Robert MESZAROS (SVK)
Nuryagdy BAYRAMDURDYYEV (TKM)
Emre CETIN (TUR)
Mykola TASHOHLO (UKR)
Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA)
Azizbek NAIMOV (UZB)

65kg
Dalgat ABDULKADYROV (AIN)
Ilya RAHOZAU (AIN)
Andranik AVETISYAN (ARM)
Jakob SAURWEIN (AUT)
Ramik HEYBATOV (AZE)
Sikadaier KUERMANBAYI (CHN)
Said ELGAHSH (EGY)
Felipe FERRUSOLA (ESP)
Akseli ERKKOLA (FIN)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Marcel WAGIN (GER)
Jaskaran SINGH (IND)
Mohammad Reza SHAKERI (IRI)
Zaid MESLAH (JOR)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Sanzhar MUKHTAR (KAZ)
Aden SAKYBAEV (KGZ)
Ion BERGHI (MDA)
Dominik JAGUSZ (POL)
Eligh RIVERA (PUR)
Doru DINCA (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta ZUBAL (UKR)
Jesse MENDEZ (USA)
Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB)

70kg
Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN)
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (AIN)
Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Javidan AHMADOV (AZE)
Bozhidar DZHOROV (BUL)
Saba KOBAKHIDZE (GEO)
Burak SALVIZ (GER)
Georgios IOAKEIMIDIS (GRE)
Marcell NAGY (HUN)
NARENDER (IND)
Ali REZAEI (IRI)
Daniel KORKIN (ISR)
Yuma TOMIYAMA (JPN)
Mukametali KABIDOLDANOV (KAZ)
Omurbek TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Viljams LUTKEVICS (LTU)
Constantin CHIRILOV (MDA)
Zelimkhan MUTSUKHAEV (POL)
Julian GEORGE (PUR)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Rostyslav PRUS (UKR)
Meyer SHAPIRO (USA)
Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB)

74kg
Ihar SHALIMA (AIN)
Anton SUCHKOV (AIN)
Armen MUSIKYAN (ARM)
Mukhammad INSHAPIEV (AUT)
Namus ORUJOV (AZE)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Amaan GULACHA (CAN)
Feng LU (CHN)
Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Stas WOLF (GER)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Hossein AGHAEI (IRI)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Orts ISAKOV (JOR)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Yerkhan BEXULTANOV (KAZ)
Zhakshylyk BAITASHOV (KGZ)
Arturs PURINS (LAT)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Batbayar BATSUKH (MGL)
Marcin STANEK (POL)
Tanner PEAKE (PUR)
Gigi SUBTIRICA (ROU)
Azymberdi SAPAROV (TKM)
Mevlut OZDEMIR (TUR)
Mykyta MORHUN (UKR)
Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)
Asadbek KARIMOV (UZB)

79kg
Ibragim KADIEV (AIN)
Dzmitry LUKASHUK (AIN)
Narek GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Christopher BAKER (AUS)
Lukas LINS (AUT)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Connor CHURCH (CAN)
Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
Gregor EIGENBRODT (GER)
Nandor HAJDUCH (HUN)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Farzad SAFI (IRI)
Abdallah MAKOON (JOR)
Ryogo ASANO (JPN)
Magzhan ZHANYRBAY (KAZ)
Denizbek ULAN UULU (KGZ)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Kimi KAEPPELI (SUI)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Ahmet YAGAN (TUR)
Alim MIESUVIETOV (UKR)
Matthew SINGLETON (USA)
Steven RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

86kg
Vadzim BANDARKOU (AIN)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Tabriz BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Slavi STAMENOV (BUL)
Maiding YUEMAI (CHN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO)
Kiril KILDAU (GER)
Peter ZSIVNOVSZKI (HUN)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Amirhossein ALIZADEH (IRI)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Fumiya IGARASHI (JPN)
Imangali KALDYBEK (KAZ)
Ulukbek SOOROMBEKOV (KGZ)
Davids PIROZNIKS (LAT)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Shakjir BISLIMI (MKD)
Filip BLASZCZYK (POL)
Noah SCHWALLER (SUI)
Orazmuhammet HOJALYYEV (TKM)
Harun KILIC (TUR)
Tien KUO (TPE)
Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR)
Bennett BERGE (USA)

92kg
Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)
Aliaksei ZHORAU (AIN)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Ravan MUSAYEV (AZE)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Samuel PEREIRA (CAN)
Giorgi ROMELASHVILI (GEO)
Daniel FISCHER (GER)
Grigorios SARIDIS (GRE)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
VINAY (IND)
Mohammadmobin AZIMI (IRI)
Issa KIKUCHI (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Nurbolot ADYL UULU (KGZ)
Wiktor HASA (POL)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR)
Yaroslav LISNIAK (UKR)
Jack DARRAH (USA)

97kg
Uladzislau KAZLOU (AIN)
Islam KILCHUKOV (AIN)
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Zafar ALIYEV (AZE)
Qikang XING (CHN)
Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY)
Nika PANTSULAIA (GEO)
Deepak CHAHAL (IND)
Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI)
Toyoki HAMADA (JPN)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Grigori TOMAILI (MDA)
Taron SHAHINYAN (POL)
Georgian TRIPON (ROU)
You WU (TPE)
Dogan UZUN (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Camden MC DANEL (USA)

125kg
Said AKHMATOV (AIN)
Aliaksandr HRADOUKIN (AIN)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Stefan SHAVKOV (BUL)
Karanveer MAHIL (CAN)
Zihao HUANG (CHN)
Roope KATAJA (FIN)
Levan LAGVILAVA (FRA)
Zurab ROMELASHVILI (GEO)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Ryusei FUJITA (JPN)
Marlen KURLYSBEK (KAZ)
Younho HA (KOR)
Teodor GJORGIEV (MKD)
Ksawery KAMINSKI (POL)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Christian CARROLL (USA)

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) will start as the favorite at 55kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's wrestling

50kg
Sviatlana KATENKA (AIN)
Aleksandra KOPYLOVA (AIN)
Elvina KARIMZADA (AZE)
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Yu ZHANG (CHN)
Karolina MUELLEROVA (CZE)
Maria CAZALLA (ESP)
Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND)
Miruko SAKANE (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Julia MICHNIEWICZ (POL)
Georgiana ANTUCA (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Reka HEGEDUS (SVK)
Yi LIN (TPE)
Zerda DEMIR (TUR)
Viktoriia SLOBODENIUK (UKR)
Audrey JIMENEZ (USA)
Mariana ROJAS (VEN)

53kg
Marta HETMANAVA (AIN)
Polina LUKINA (AIN)
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Nikol KRUMOVA (BUL)
Liuxuan CHEN (CHN)
Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY)
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
ANTIM (IND)
Noura TAAIBIN (JOR)
Nagisa HARADA (JPN)
Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Khaliun BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Nikola WISNIEWSKA (POL)
Ana ROTARU (ROU)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

55kg
Diana ANTROPOVA (AIN)
Aryna MARTYNAVA (AIN)
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Sophia BECHARD (CAN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
JYOTI (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Lina NITA (MDA)
Felicitas DOMAJEVA (NOR)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Milica SEKULOVIC (SRB)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Albina RILLIA (UKR)
Amani JONES (USA)
Aysanem KURBANBAEVA (UZB)

57kg
Volha HARDZEI (AIN)
Tatiana ILEVA (AIN)
Gabriela CROSS (CAN)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Petra MRACKOVA (CZE)
Louji YASSIN (EGY)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
REENA (IND)
Ichika ARAI (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Aitolkun MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Patrycja STRZELCZYK (POL)
Helena VAN AS (RSA)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Sevval CAYIR (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

59kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN)
Elena KUROVA (AIN)
Nawel BAHLOUL (ALG)
Camila AMARILLA (ARG)
Caitlin CLATNEY (CAN)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Farah HUSSEIN (EGY)
Mia OLIVIER (FRA)
Luna ROTHENBERGER (GER)
NITIKA (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Kanami YAMANOUCHI (JPN)
Madina AMAN (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Aleksandra WITOS (POL)
JOVANA RADIVOJEVIC (SRB)
Annatina LIPPUNER (SUI)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Yuliia PAKHNIUK (UKR)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)
Sarbinaz JIENBAEVA (UZB)

62kg
Alina BORISOVA (AIN)
Yana TRETSIAK (AIN)
Mayara RAMOS (BRA)
Shuang HAN (CHN)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Vanja GERSAK (GER)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
SAVITA (IND)
Suzu SASAKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Zharkynai NURLAN KYZY (KGZ)
Ana CRETU (MDA)
Melanie JIMENEZ (MEX)
Khulan BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Olha PADOSHYK (POL)
Dunja LUKIC (SRB)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg
Zlatoslava STEPANOVA (AIN)
Kseniya TSIARENIA (AIN)
Gerda BARTH (GER)
Nikoleta BARMPA (GRE)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
ANTIM (IND)
Momoko KITADE (JPN)
Korlan AMANOVA (KAZ)
Tancholpon KYBALBEKOVA (KGZ)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Pei Shan CHIEN (TPE)
Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
Iryna BORYSIUK (UKR)
Madeline KUBICKI (USA)

68kg
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Alina SHAUCHUK (AIN)
Jia YANG (CHN)
Menatalla BADRAN (EGY)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
ARJU (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Ray HOSHINO (JPN)
Zhibekzhan SABYRZHANOVA (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Karolina JAWORSKA (POL)
Elif KURT (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Isabella MIR (USA)
Gilbery GARCIA (VEN)

72kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Kseniia SAMUILOVA (AIN)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Paige MAHER (CAN)
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Heba IBRAHIM (EGY)
Noemi OSVATH NAGY (HUN)
Harshita MOR (IND)
Yuka FUJIKURA (JPN)
Shamshiyabanu TASTANBEK (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Emilia CRECIUN (MDA)
Tselmuun OTGONBAT (MGL)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Julia LOETSCHER (SUI)
Bukrenaz SERT (TUR)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)
Amit ELOR (USA)
Mardona KADAMOVA (UZB)

76kg
Aliaksandra KAZLOVA (AIN)
Mariia SILINA (AIN)
Myah PHILLIPS (CAN)
Yuqi LIU (CHN)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Priya MALIK (IND)
Ayano MORO (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Lin JIANG (TPE)
Melisa SARITAC (TUR)
Mariia ZENKINA (UKR)
Kennedy BLADES (USA)

Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE)Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) will look to defend his 67kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Alibek AMIROV (AIN)
Dzianis VITAROI (AIN)
Armen GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Tamazi GLONTI (GEO)
Lukas BENZING (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Edmond DOMOKOS (HUN)
Anil MOR (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Ahmad Khaled AHMAD (JOR)
Kohei YAMAGIWA (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Marko VOLOSHYN (UKR)
Zachary SILVIS (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

60kg
Bilal BERSANUKAEV (AIN)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE)
Yuetao LIU (CHN)
Jeremy PERALTA (ECU)
Gorka GRACIA (ESP)
Lucas LO GRASSO (FRA)
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Daniel RAFAEL (HUN)
Sumit DALAL (IND)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Koto GOMI (JPN)
Saifulla KURMAN (KAZ)
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Mathias MARTINETTI (SUI)
Husein HASANOV (TJK)
Kemal SEVGILI (TUR)
Vladyslav LEVCHUK (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Kuvonchbek YAKHSHIBOEV (UZB)

63kg
Daniial AGAEV (AIN)
Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM)
Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Hristiyan IVANOV (BUL)
Matej REBIC (CRO)
Matous JANKOVIC (CZE)
Adham ELSAYED (EGY)
Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
David MANYIK (HUN)
SANDEEP (IND)
Ahmadreza  MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Suhib ALHASANAT (JOR)
Komei SAWADA (JPN)
Dinislam SAGITZHAN (KAZ)
Zhantoro MIRZALIEV (KGZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Bredi SLINKERS (NED)
Furkan ERKEN (TUR)
Vasyl MYSHANYCH (UKR)
Landon DRURY (USA)
Khusniddin OLIMBOEV (UZB)

67kg
Ilias IANDAROV (AIN)
Illia VALEUSKI (AIN)
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Zsolt TAKACS (HUN)
UMESH (IND)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI)
Gaith ODTALLA (JOR)
Kojiro HASEGAWA (JPN)
Aziz GASSYMOV (KAZ)
Mukhamed KOSHBAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongtae KIM (KOR)
Saud ALSUBAIE (KSA)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Saya BRUNNER (SUI)
Kakabay KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Izet BEKIROV (UKR)
Joel ADAMS (USA)
Ilyosjon ABDINAZAROV (UZB)

72kg
Imran ALIEV (AIN)
Zakhar YANEVICH (AIN)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Yehia ABDELKADER (EGY)
Kristo MERILAIN (EST)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Seyedmohammadmahdi MIRI (IRI)
Ariell SOSUNOV (ISR)
Omar AL DARAGHMEH (JOR)
Hajime KIKUTA (JPN)
Yeldos KAMELOV (KAZ)
Imur TEMIRBEKOV (KGZ)
Gunhee LEE (KOR)
Kipras GVOZDAS (LTU)
Vasile ZABICA (MDA)
Michal PUCHALSKI (POL)
Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Nasimjon TURDIBEKOV (TJK)
Muhammed GOCMEN (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Braden STAUFFENBERG (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
ABDULMASIH (AIN)
Ramazan ARAPKHANOV (AIN)
Henrik GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Martin DIMITROV (BUL)
Maihaimu MIREADILI (CHN)
Mihael LUKAC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Mahmoud AHMED (EGY)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Dominik BOTOS (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Olzhas YERGALI (KAZ)
Erlan MARS UULU (KGZ)
Kasparas JUODELIS (LTU)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Mateusz BORYSEWICZ (POL)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Ilhan ALDI (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Derek MATTHEWS (USA)
Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB)

82kg
Imam ALIEV (AIN)
Uladzislau SLABADZINSKI (AIN)
Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE)
Andrey ATANASOV (BUL)
Antonio LUKAC (CRO)
Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
Jesper HAERKAENEN (FIN)
Yvan GUIADEM (FRA)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
Miklos KIRALYHAZI (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Yasin YAZDI (IRI)
Reon KAKEGAWA (JPN)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Artykbek ALYMBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ilia CERNOVOL (MDA)
Christian MEDINA (MEX)
Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL)
Nicolaos IGNATESCU (ROU)
Branko DUKIC (SRB)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ivan CHMYR (UKR)
Michael ALTOMER (USA)
Dilshod MAMADAMINOV (UZB)

87kg
David ANDREASIAN (AIN)
Maksim MASIUKEVICH (AIN)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Ali GULIYEV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Zichen YANG (CHN)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Kareem ELDESOUKY (EGY)
Robin USPENSKI (EST)
Elias LYYSKI (FIN)
Tourpal MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Nikolaos IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Csaba  SZINAY (HUN)
Mohit KHOKHAR (IND)
Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI)
Daisei ISOE (JPN)
Nurassyl AMANALY (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Yongdae CHA (KOR)
Mahmoud HAWSAWI (KSA)
Damian MATVEIKO (LTU)
Patryk ROBASZEK (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Yhlas ABDURAZAKOV (TKM)
Erdem KETHUDA (TUR)
Ramazan PASHAIEV (UKR)
Wyatt VOELKER (USA)
Abdullokh ABDUMUTALIBOV (UZB)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Magomed MUKHTAROV (AIN)
Arshak GEGHAMYAN (ARM)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Kevin USPENSKI (EST)
Gor AYVAZYAN (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
SAHIL (IND)
Amirreza AKBARI (IRI)
Kyo KITAWAKI (JPN)
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)
Samagan ORMONOV (KGZ)
Donghyun YUN (KOR)
Igor KABADEICEV (LTU)
Rostislav COVALI (MDA)
Sebastian WARCHOL (POL)
Gean ALI (ROU)
Yusup BELLIYEV (TKM)
Muhittin HELVACI (TUR)
Vladyslav LUB (UKR)
Sawyer BARTELT (USA)
Damirkhon RAKHMATOV (UZB)
Juan DIAZ (VEN)

130kg
Daniil KAZLOU (AIN)
Aleksandr MELEKHOV (AIN)
Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Leonhard JUNGER (AUT)
Mazaim MARDANOV (AZE)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Fekry EISSA (EGY)
Eerik PANK (EST)
Rati TALIKISHVILI (GEO)
Achilleas CHRYSIDIS (GRE)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
PARVESH (IND)
Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Ayumu IWASAWA (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Talip CIFTCI (TUR)
Artur BOICHUK (UKR)
Aden ATTAO (USA)

#WrestleTirana

Muhamet Malo 2025: Bumpy ride to gold for Kiyooka in 53kg debut

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (March 1) -- When Olympic 53kg champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) moved up to 57kg last year, Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) emerged as the top wrestler in Japan at 53kg by winning the Emperor's Cup.

On Saturday, Kiyooka made her 53kg debut internationally at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana. Though she captured the gold medal, her road to gold was not a smooth sailing.

Kiyooka defeated European champion Andreea ANA (ROU) 6-0 in the final to given Japan its sixth gold medal in Women's Wrestling. The world 55kg champion opened her tournament with two technical superiority wins but come the semifinals, Kiyooka was given a reality check.

Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) opened the scoring in the semifinals and led 6-0 after she used a bow and arrow to turn Kiyooka. A little stunned with start, Miyooka remained calmed and did not allow Malanchuk more openings. She clawed her way back to make it 8-8 but Malanchuk was leading on criteria. It was only after Kiyooka blasted a double-leg and later added more takedowns to 15-8.

"I didn't expect my opponent to score six points in the first place," Kiyooka said. "I was really nervous, and I was also thinking about how I was going to get it from here. There was still time to calm down so I thought that if I continued with my wrestling, I would be able to win. So I just kept in mind that I needed to stay calm without getting anxious."

In the final, Kiyooka wrestled European champion Andreea ANA (ROU) who kept the Japanese world champion quiet for the first period, with only 1-0 lead. But Kiyooka blasted double-legs in the second period, earning a stepout and takedown. A takedown finished things off for Kiyooka.

Kiyooka explained that she may have been victim of overthinking, about her opponents and their styles before the tournament began.

"I was wondering what level the foreign wrestlers in the 53kg class and how well I would be able to compete there," she said. "I researched information about each opponent, match by match, but I thought it was important to win with my own wrestling, so I looked at my opponent."

Kiyooka and other winners of Emperor's Cup will head to Amman for the Asian Championships. The tournament will be without the +2kg allowance which makes it even more difficult for Kiyooka.

"I was able to compete at 55kg this time, which was 2kg over, but I also lost weight," she said. "I'm planning to switch it up as soon as I get back and prepare for the Asian Championship. When it comes to the mat, I have felt that level of competition so high in  previous tournaments. I'm going to reconsider how I can win in wrestling, and I'm going to go back and practice."

Kiyooka's gold was sixth for Japan, which had seven female wrestlers at the Muhamet Malo. Only Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN) failed to win a medal at 76kg, a weight class won by Dymond GUILFORD (USA) who defeated Asian Games champion Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), 2-1, in the final.

Medet Kyzy was not impressed with a few referee calls in the final which only saw activity clock points. Guilford was leading 1-1 on criteria when Medet Kyzy was put on the 30-second clock with a minute left in the match.

Guilford's lead became 2-1 and despite Medet Kyzy's efforts, Guilford did not give up on defense. With 15 seconds on the clock, Guilford was about to be warned for fleeing and at the same time Medet Kyzy hit a leg-attack. But the referee whistle to warn Guilford at the exact moment.

Kyrgyzstan challenged the call and on review Medet Kyzy was seen grabbing Guilford's hair and the American was warned for fleeing. But there was no chance in the score with Guilford leading 2-1 with 10 seconds left.

Guilford would claim the gold with that score, ending Medet Kyzy's great run till the final with a silver medal.

At 57kg, two weeks after winning the 55kg silver medal at the Zagreb Open, Samantha STEWART (CAN) upgraded to gold at 57kg at Muhamet Malo, securing a fall over former U23 European champion Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR) with 50 seconds remaining on the clock.

The 34-year-old former world bronze medalist was in stunning form in Tirana, securing a fall over Tamara DOLLAK (HUN) and beating Tokyo Olympian Luisa VALVERDE (ECU) in the semifinals.

"Age is just a number and I don't want to cut weight anymore so I will be staying at 57kg," Stewart said.

With only four wrestlers, the 72kg weight class was a round-robin bracket and three-time world medalist Zhamila BAKBERGENOV (KAZ) emerging as the gold medalist. Three wrestlers ended with two wins each and it wasn't the Round 3 bout between Alla BELINSKA (UKR) and Alexandria GLAUDE (USA) that the medalists were decided.

Bakbergenova pinned Linda MACHUCA (ARG) in her Round 3 bout and finished with 9 classification points from three bouts. Belinska defeated Glaude 4-3 and had 9 classification points as well. However, Bakbergenova had 10 technical points scored while Belinksa had nine. Glaude, who had defeated Bakbergenova in Round 2, finished with a bronze medal.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)    df. Andreea ANA (ROU), 6-0

BRONZE: Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW) df. Zeynep YETGIL (TUR), 7-0
BRONZE: Yuxuan LI (CHN) df. Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR), 10-0

57kg
GOLD: Samantha STEWART (CAN) df. Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR), via fall

BRONZE: Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) df. Evelina HULTHEN (SWE), 4-3
BRONZE: Luisa VALVERDE (ECU) df. Tamara DOLLAK (HUN), 5-2

72kg
GOLD: Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
SILVER: Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
BRONZE: Alexendria GLAUDE (USA)

76kg
GOLD: Dymond GUILFORD (USA) df. Medet KYZY AIPERI (KGZ), 2-1

BRONZE: Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) df. Meile ZHANG (CHN), 2-1
BRONZE: Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) df. YANGLA (CHN), via fall