#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)

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki powers to 4th career national title in return to 62kg

By Ken Marantz

Nonoka OZAKI works the lace lock during the women's 62kg final against high schooler Shirin TAKEMOTO. (Photo: Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

TOKYO (December 20) -- Having made an unintended move up to 68kg that still resulted in an Olympic medal, Nonoka OZAKI is back at 62kg. She can't say for sure that that's where she will be at the time of the next Olympics, but she's off to a good start in a bid to make that happen.

Ozaki, the only one of Japan's 11 medalists at the Paris Olympics entered in the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships, swept to the 62kg gold on Friday at Tokyo's Yoyogi No. 2 Gym for her fourth career national title.

The 21-year-old Ozaki, last year's 68kg champion, completed an unscored-upon run to the gold with a 10-0 technical fall over high schooler Shirin TAKEMOTO in the final to add to the 62kg titles she won in 2020 and 2021.

"I realize that to compete against the top wrestlers, I have to raise my level both technically and physically," Ozaki said. "It was a relief to come out with a win at this stage, but it also made me aware there are many things I need to work on."

In other highlights on the second day of the four-day tournament that is also serving as one of the two domestic qualifiers for next year's World Championships, three-time former world champion Haruna MURAYAMA needed a dramatic last-second victory at women's 55kg to win her first title in five years, and Katsuaki ENDO denied training room collegue's bid for a historic first by regaining the Greco 67kg title.

Ozaki was the world champion at 62kg in 2022 and seemingly on a fast track to Olympic glory when her plans were derailed by Sakura MOTOKI, who moved up from 59kg and snatched the Paris berth in the Olympic weight.

Ozaki famously made the daring decision to bump up all the way to 68kg, and it paid off when she scored a miraculous playoff victory over Ami ISHII at the buzzer for the ticket to Paris. There, she came away with a bronze medal -- below expectations, no doubt, but a solid performance nonetheless.

JPN4Paris Olympic 68kg bronze medalist Nonoka Ozaki scores a takedown in the women's 62kg final against Shinrin TAKEMOTO. (Photo: Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

The Emperor's Cup marked Ozaki's first competition since Paris, after which she took about two months off and comtemplated which direction she wanted to go. While Japan's other Olympic medalists are still recovering while enjoying the fruits of their labor, Ozaki said she came to the decision in October that it was time to get back into action.

"I really struggled with this decision," she said. "I was coming off the break, so I had to become resolved to do it. If I was going to enter, I didn't want to lose. That was the main thing.

"There was pressure that by coming back and entering the tournament, I was expected to win, and that's tough. But I lived up to the challenge and was in good condition, so I'm glad I did it. I put the Olympics in the past. It was a great experience, but I saw this as a making a new start."

Starting with a victory by fall over world U20 bronze medalist Nagisa ITO, Ozaki faced her toughest challenge in the semifinals from Misuzu ENOMOTO, who had won a bronze medal at the Korean Open in September. Ozaki was never in trouble in carving out a 4-0 win.   

The final was vintage Ozaki, as she scored a quick takedown against Takemoto and transitioned to a high-leg roll. From there, she moved down to a lace lock to make it 6-0, then added a takedown to go into the break up 8-0. She needed just 18 seconds of the second period to end the match with a quick shrug-by takedown.

"This tournament, I felt I was in the bracket with strong opponents leading up to the final," Ozaki said. "I thought the semifinal would be the mountain I had to get over. But anyone who makes it to the final will be tough, the key was to not let down my guard. This time it was a high schooler, and they have a lot of spunk and want to knock off those at the top. I remember back to when I was a high schooler. I fought hard with that in mind."

Ozaki makes no secret of her desire to get to and win the gold at the Los Angeles Olympics. She's just not sure in what weight class fate will put her.

"I'm not thinking yet that four years from now I'll be at 62kg, but my weight has come down from its peak and at this time it seemed that 62kg was the most suitable for me and that's what I entered here," she said.

"Looking at my next objectives, there is the Asian Championships next year, the [world] under-23 and qualifying for various tournaments. My goal is to be well prepared and come out with victories."

JPNHaruna MURAYAMA, top, bowls over Sowaka UCHIDA for a 4-point takedown in the final seconds of the women's 55kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Murayama foils high schooler's upset bid

In women's wrestling in Japan, there always seems to be another new prospect coming on to the scene, and Murayama ran headlong into one of the latest rising stars, and only barely avoided a stunning upset.

Murayama, who had won her three world titles (2017, 2018 and 2023) under her maiden name of OKUNO, scored a 4-point takedown in the final seconds of the 55kg final for a 6-3 victory over 18-year-old world U20 champion Sowaka UCHIDA.

In a defensive battle, Murayama was leading 2-1 in the second period, with all of the points coming on the activity clock, when Uchida suddenly charged ahead and scored a stepout as Murayama defended with whizzer. A challenge was unsuccessful, putting Uchida up 3-2 with 11 seconds left.

Murayama was not to be denied and came out charging like a bull, managing to plow Uchida over backwards during the final ticks of the clock for the 4-pointer.

"If I could get one point, I would win, so I didn't need a takedown," Murayama said. "I pressed for one, but she's flexible and can keep from being forced out, so I thought I couldn't get her out. I felt her power making a stand, so I changed direction and got the points."

Uchida, a member of the JOC Academy that produced such stars as Ozaki, Yui SUSAKI and Takuto OTOGURO, had made a name for herself at last year's Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships, when she scored a stunning 11-9 victory over Emperor's Cup champ Moe KIYOOKA.

Murayama has arguably been the biggest victim of the depth of Japanese women's wrestling. First she lost out on a place to the Tokyo Olympics to Mayu MUKAIDA (now SHIDOCHI), then was pushed aside in the race to Paris by phenom Akari FUJINAMI.

JPN2Katsuaki ENDO launches a throw that was good for 2 points in the Greco 67kg final against Kaisei TANABE. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Endo intervenes in Tanabe's quest for history

A day after Kaisei TANABE successfully defended his freestyle 61kg crown, he set out to become the first wrestler to complete the national freestyle-Greco double in over 50 years. Endo had other ideas.

Endo, competing domestically for the first time since seeing his Olympic dream end with a loss in last year's final to Kyotaro SOGABE, denied Tanabe with a one-sided 8-0 victory in Friday's Greco 67kg gold-medal match.

Endo, last year's Asian Games gold medalist, had stepped away from the mat after his loss to Sogabe, who ended up winning the Asian qualifier to earn a ticket to Paris. Endo came back this fall and headed to the Bundesliga, where he compiled a 12-0 record despite sometimes competing in weight classes over 70kgs.

En route to Friday's final, Endo scored less-than-satisfying victories over a pair of 2023 world U23 bronze medalists, beating Chiezo MARUYAMA (who won a bronze at 63kg in Tirana) 3-2 and Haruto YABE 3-1 in the semifinals.

"My impression is that my matches were pretty disappointing,"  Endo said. "Last December, I lost here, after which I started thinking about my form and I took a long break. After that, I went over to compete in the Bundesliga for three months. This was the tournament where I was going to turn things around. But I didn't have a match that went as I had imagined and that was disappointing."

In the final, experience paid off for Endo, a graduate of Nippon Sports Science University where he still trains and where Tanabe is currently a student. Their paths do not cross very often as Tanabe focuses more on freestyle.

From par terre, Endo launched two throws that, while not putting Tanabe on his back, were good for two points each, then added a roll for a 7-0 lead. He clinched the technical fall with a stepout midway through the second period, regaining the title he won in 2021. He also won at 63kg in 2018.

Tanabe came up just short of becoming the first wrestler to win freestyle and Greco titles at the same All-Japan since 1973, when Mitsuo YOSHIDA won golds in the 100kg class of both styles. He went on to become a professional wrestler with the ring name Choshuriki.

Endo applauded Tanabe, whose father Chikara was a freestyle bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics and is currently one of the coaches at NSSU.

"I totally respect him," Endo said. "Kaisei is strong in freestyle and strong in Greco. It makes me a bit jealous. This was the final of the All-Japan, and it would have been disrespectful if I hadn't given it my all."

Asked if he also didn't have the urge to show Tanabe that he can't take Greco for granted, Endo replied, "There's a little of that. But once he takes the mat, he's one of us and I respect that."

One reason that there has not been a freestyle-Greco double achieved in so long is that for several decades, no wrestler thought to attempt it. There was no rule against it, but it was never encouraged.

No wrestler since the 1980s had entered both styles until last year, when 2022 world 70kg freestyle champion Taishi NARIKUNI did it as part of the quest to also become a world Greco champ, only to pull out of both due to an injury.

Along with Tanabe, among the 20 or so that tried this year was Waseda sophomore Leon KAKEGAWA, who for the second straight year came home with medals in both styles -- and the same ones, in fact.

A day after taking bronze at Greco 82kg, he secured the silver in freestyle 92kg, losing to Takashi ISHIGURO 5-0 in the final. Ishiguro had moved down from 97kg, where he won back-to-back titles in 2021-22.

JPN3Arash YOSHIDA gets in deep on a single-leg takedown against Yohei SHINADA in the freestyle 97kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Yoshida continues dominance of upper weights

In other action, 2023 Asian champion Arash YOSHIDA, Japan's top hope to end a global medal drought in the men's upper weight classes,  won a second straight title at freestyle 97kg with a first-period victory by fall over Yohei SHINADA.

Yoshida, a junior at Nihon University, opened with a takedown, then took Shinada down again directly to his back before securing the fall at 1:49.

Yoshida's father is Iranian and runs the kids club in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, where he and his siblings got their start in the sport. Arash first showed his potential by winning the gold at last year's Asian Championships, where he beat an Iranian in the first round. He followed that by making the semifinals before placing fifth at the World Championships in Belgrade.

But he came up short in the Olympic qualifiers, showing he still has a way to go.

"Watching the [Olympic] matches, I gained the feeling that I'm not yet at that level. Both from the technical and physical aspects, there is still much that I need to do. I have to build my strength, then firm up my techniques, then I think I can get there. It's still an unknown world for me. Anyway, I need to practice more."

Since Akira OTA won a silver medal at freestyle 90kg at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Japan has had only a handful of wrestlers over 90kg qualify for the Olympics, and none since London 2012.

Looking closer ahead, he is aiming for this year's Asian Championships and perhaps a chance meeting with one of the sport's newest stars.

"At the Asian Championships, I'm not sure, but the Olympic champion [Akhmed TAZHUNIDOV (BRN)] might be there. That would give me an idea of where I'm at, which I can take into the Meiji Cup and then on to the World Championships."

The Meiji Cup, to be held in June, is the second of the two domestic qualifiers for the World Championships.

Day 2 Results

Freestyle

92kg (16 entries)
GOLD -- Takeshi ISHIGURO df. Leon KAKEGAWA, 5-0
BRONZE -- Hiroto NINOMIYA df. Sorato KANAZAWA, 6-4
BRONZE -- Takato UCHIDA df. Yusuke SUZUKI by TF, 10-0, 1:45

97kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- Arash YOSHIDA df. Yohei SHINADA by Fall, 1:49 (6-0)
BRONZE -- Genki HOKI df. Ryusei FUJITA by Inj. Def.
BRONZE -- Takuma TACHIOKA df. Akinobu TAKEUCHI by Inj. Def.

125kg (13 entries)
GOLD -- Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Taira SONODA by TF, 10-0, 3:40
BRONZE -- Hosei FUJITA df. Koei YAMADA, 2-1
BRONZE -- Sota NAGANO df. Kaito UTSUNOMIYA, 5-1

Greco-Roman

67kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Katsuaki ENDO df. Kaisei TANABE by TF, 8-0, 4:22
BRONZE -- Haruto YABE df. Chiezo MARUYAMA, 6-2
BRONZE -- Ryoma HOJO df. Taisei MAEDA by TF, 11-0, 2:24

72kg (13 entries)
GOLD -- Issei HONNA df. Yuji UEGAKI, 3-3
BRONZE -- Hajime KIKUTA df. Sanshiro ISHIHARA, 8-4
BRONZE -- Rei NAGAMATSU df. Kensaku ONO by TF, 14-4, 5:19

77kg (15 entries)
GOLD -- Kodai SAKURABA df. Shunsuke MIZUGUCHI by TF, 9-0, 1:38
BRONZE -- Shu YAMADA df. Isami HORIKITA by Inj. Def.
BRONZE -- Naoki KADODE vs Yuki AOYAGI by TF, 9-0, 1:56

Women's Wrestling

55kg (12 entries)
GOLD -- Haruna MURAYAMA df. Sowaka UCHIDA, 6-3
BRONZE -- Minami MARU df. Karen SASAKI, 6-4
BRONZE -- Ruka NATAMI df. Risa MOTOHARA, 3-0

62kg (10 entries)
GOLD -- Nonoka OZAKI df. Shirin TAKEMOTO by TF, 10-0, 3:18
BRONZE -- Hiyori MOTOKI df. Ayana HISHINUMA, 6-5
BRONZE -- Misuzu ENOMOTO df. Nagisa ITO by TF, 10-0, :59

72kg (7 entries)
GOLD -- Masako FURUICHI df. Sumire NIIKURA, 2-0
BRONZE -- Haruka KOBARU df. Yuka FUJIKURA, 3-3