#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)

#WrestleParis

10 seeded showdowns we need to see at Paris 2024 (No. 6-10)

By Eric Olanowski

PARIS, France (July 17) – We’re still a few weeks out from the Paris 2024 draws taking place on August 4. However, with the release of the top eight seeds per style, we can start to project potential matches that could take place as early as the quarterfinals.

SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 EVENT PAGE 

The top eight Ranking Series point collectors from the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Continental Championships, and the Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series events earned a top eight seed. The remaining eight wrestlers will be randomly drawn into their respective brackets.

Here are the top ten matches that we could see between seeded wrestlers from the quarterfinals on:

10. WW 68kg QUARTERFINAL - No. 3 Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) vs. No. 6 Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
Koumba Larroque has been a prominent figure in French wrestling since her bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships at just 19 years old. Now in the prime of her career, she’s France’s best shot at a medal.

Larroque’s path to an Olympic medal will be bumpy, to say the least. She’s the third-seeded athlete in a bracket with six world champions and includes a potential quarterfinal clash with  familiar foe No. 6 Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR).

Larroque and Oborududu met twice in their career, splitting their pair of previous encounters.

Oborududu won their opening meeting at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event, but Larroque returned the favor a year later at the Poland Open, evening the score at 1-1.

If Larroque and Oborududu win their first match, their third career meeting would take place August 5 in the 68kg quarterfinals.

9.  FS 65kg SEMIFINAL –  No. 2 Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) vs. No. 3 Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN)
Amouzad and Musukaev are nightmare opponents for each other and are stylistically opposites.

Amouzad, the 65kg world champ from two years ago, is a guy who wants to close the gap with his right-side underhook and fill as much space as possible. Conversely, Musukaev, the reigning 65kg world champion, wants as much space as possible to flow freely.

In their first meeting—the semifinals of the 2022 World Championships-- Musukaev fell victim to Amouzad’s pace and was shut out 6-0. In their second matches—the semifinals of the 2023 World Championships—Musukaev weathered the first period storm, saved enough energy for a last-ditch effort and stole the world finals spot, 6-5, with less than 10 seconds remaining.

If Amouzad and Musukaev meet for a third time, it’ll be on August 10 in 65kg semifinals.

8. 57kg SEMIFINAL – No. 2 Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) vs. No. 3  Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
The Nichita and Adekuoroye rivalry is one that dates back to the 2019 World Championships but has since changed hands from their pre-COVID meeting.

The seasoned vet Adekuoroye is an anomaly in the wrestling world. Her style can’t be mimicked or replicated. She’s the tallest and lengthiest 57kg wrestler in the world but has also learned to use her leverage to become one of the most powerful wrestlers in the weight.

Adekuoroye’s unique style gave Nichita fits in their first meeting, as the four-time world medalist opened their three-match series with a dominant 10-0 win.

But Nichita carried what she learned from their first meeting into their next matches and had her hand raised on subsequent occasions.

In Tokyo, Nichita fell behind early but capitalized on an uncharacteristic Adekuoroye’s mistake and picked up a dramatic come-from-behind fall while trailing 8-2. Their next meeting came at the 2023 World Championships, where Nichita doubled Adekuoroye before ending the match in the first period with a left-sided trap arm gut, 10-0.

The fourth meeting between Nichita and Adekuoroye will take place August 8 in the 57kg semifinals.

7. GR 67kg QUARTERFINAL – No. 2 Luis ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB) vs. No. 7 Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
If there were ever a lesson from losing a match, Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) certainly learned it the hard way.

Earlier this year at the Hungarian Open Ranking Series event, Esmaelil led reigning Olympic champion Orta, 7-5, with 0.4 seconds left in the match.

But before we get to the ending of the match, it’s important to note that Esmaeili was in a domestic battle with reigning Olympic gold medalist Reza GERAEI (IRI) for Iran’s 67kg Paris Olympic spot. If Esmaeili beat Orta, he cemented his spot on Iran’s Olympic team. If he lost, Esmaeili and Geraei would go to a three-match wrestle off and the winner goes to Paris.

Now, circling back to the match: With less than a second to go in the match, Esmaeili began celebrating as he thought the clock expired.

During Esmaeili’s lapse of judgement, Orta, being the experienced guy, continued to wrestle through the whistle. Orta took a peek at the clock, saw there was still time left, locked up a throw and picked up four points, stealing the match, 9-7.

Esmaeili will try to get his revenge on Orta August 7 in the 67kg quarterfinals.

*Esmaeili ended up beating Geraei in two straight matches to earn the Olympic spot.

6. WW 57kg SEMIFINAL - No. 1 Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) vs. No. 5 Helen MAROULIS (USA)
Through the first two meetings between Sakurai and Maroulis, it’s been a one-sided affair. Sakurai is 2-0 against Maroulis, outscoring the Rio Olympic champion, 9-0, while picking up four offensive takedowns and not surrendering a single point.

Sakurai and Maroulis’ meeting at the 2022 World Championships was a slow-paced match, where the Japanese wrestler did enough to win but didn’t really establish her dominance.

That came in the second match.

In their second meeting, the biggest difference was Sakurai’s tatical use of her right hand when tied up with Maroulis. She used it to score three takedowns—one from an underhook front headlock, one from a underhook throw-by and the final one coming from a two-on-one—besting the American, 6-0.

The third meeting between Sakurai and Maroulis would take place August 8 in the 57kg semifinals.

Wrestling at the Paris Olympic Games starts Agust 5-11 and can be followed on www.uww.org.