#WrestleAmman

U20 Worlds: New stars in focus; Iran aims Freestyle title defense

Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 9) -- A week after the top U17 wrestlers were in Istanbul fighting it out to become world champions, the best at the U20 level will be in Amman, Jordan for the U20 World Championships which begins August 14.

A host of returning champions, continental champions and senior-level medalists will be in action in Freestyle with Iran, the United States, India and Azerbaijan among the favorites to win the team title like in Sofia, Bulgaria a year ago.

Iran won the team title with the U.S. finishing second and India third. This year too, Iran is fielding a strong team led by returning champion at 125kg Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI). But can the other teams displace Iran from the top? Here's a look:

Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) will be the defending champion at 125kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

125kg
Masoumi at 125kg is clearly the favorite to win the gold medal but Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), the U17 world champ a week ago, will fancy his chances as well.

The U17 Euro champ and U20 Euro silver medalist has been in terrific form this year and an upset win over Masoumi, who finished fifth at the senior Asian Championships this year, cannot be ruled out.

Other at 125kg will be U20 European champ Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), U23 European silver medalist Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR), U20 Pan-Am champ Karanveer MAHIL (CAN) and Christian CARROLL (USA).

Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)2022 U20 world 61kg champion Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN) is dropping down to 57kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

57kg
At 57kg, returning bronze medalist Ahmad JAVAN (IRI), who is also a bronze medalist at the U23 World Championships, will first look to reach the final before trying to win the title. In his way stands U20 European champ Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE) and returning silver medalist Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ) who won the Asian title in 2022.

The 61kg returning U20 world champion -- Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN) -- is dropping down to 57kg in his bid for his second world title at the U20 level. He is coming back from a knee injury he suffered at the Meiji Cup in June. The U.S. is sending 2022 U17 world champ Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) who won the U20 Pan-Am title this year.

U20 Asian champ UDIT (IND) was replaced by SAGAR (IND) after the former got injured during the Asian Games selection trials and had to be stretched off.

92kg
Iran will bank highly on Mohammadmobin AZIMI (IRI) to win the gold medal at 92kg as he comes into the competition as a two-time U20 Asian champion and an internationally unbeaten wrestler. He will have to battle it out with U20 European champion Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM) who also won the 86kg silver medal at the U23 European Championships this year.

Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) at 92kg will use his experience as a silver medalist at the senior Asian Championships and two gold medals at the U23 Asian Championships to win the world title, giving Azimi and others a tough competition.

Turkiye will be sending Muhammed GIMRI (TUR), the silver medalist from the U23 and U20 European Championships this year, with the hope of winning the first Freestyle U20 world title since 2018.

The U20 Pan-Am Jack DARRAH (USA) will also be in the race to finish on the podium with the U.S. hoping to make it to the top.

Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)Returning medalists from 70kg, Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) and Hossein AGHAEI (IRI) are entered at 74kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

74kg
The U.S. also has last year's 70kg silver medalist Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) who is jumping to 74kg, a weight class he won the U20 Pan-Am Championships. Reaching the final at 74kg this year will be a daunting task.

Mesenbrink's path to the gold medal may go through a familiar opponent Hossein AGHAEI (IRI), returning bronze from 70kg, who Mesenbrink defeated 9-7 in a thrilling quarterfinal last year. Aghaei won the U20 Asian silver medalist at 74kg.

Joining them in the field is returning silver medalist Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN) who will look to repeat his run from last year and upgrade his silver to gold in only his second international tournament.

U20 Asian champ Yerkhan BEXULTANOV (KAZ) will return to Amman a city where he dominated the continental final against Aghaei after a stunning 8-7 semifinal win over Asadbek KARIMOV (UZB). Bexultanov will have to be cautious of Karimov as he will also be in Amman with revenge on his mind.

Bettering the competition are U23 Asian champion Feng LU (CHN), former U17 Worlds silver medalist Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO), U20 Euro champ Stas WOLF (GER) and Amaan GULACHA (CAN) who was second to Mesenbrink at the Pan-Ams.

Keep an eye on Raul CASO (ITA) and JAIDEEP (IND), former U17 World Championships, who can cause an upset in any given match.

86kg
Another returning silver medalist for the U.S. is Bennett BERGE (USA) who will aim to change the color of his medal from last year. In all likelihood, he will have to beat returning champion Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) who defeated Berge 10-5 in the final. Magamadov has added U23 and U20 European Championships titles since then.

Magamadov will be looking to defend his world title over Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM) who he defeated in the U20 European finals. Mkrtchyan won a silver medal at  79kg last year in Sofia. Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO) is another wrestler who will be Amman who Magamadov defeated at the European tournament.

U20 Asian champion Mukul DAHIYA (IND) will be another wrestler looking to upset the returning champion along with Amirhossein ALIZADEH (IRI) who was second to Dahiya in the same city as it hosted the U20 Asians as well.

Bronze medalist from that tournament, Imangali KALDYBEK (KAZ), will also be in the fray along with Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR) who won bronze in Europe.

65kg
At 65kg, a few wrestlers with major international experience will battle it out for the gold. Leading the lot will be Mohammad Reza SHAKERI (IRI) who won the Yasar Dogu gold last month. He was in Sofia but lost 6-5 in the quarterfinal finishing fifth.

Others in the field include 2023 U23 and 2022 U20 European champion Mykyta ZUBAL (UKR), one of the biggest threats to the gold medal as he finished fifth last year, Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), who won a silver at the U20 European Championships, former U17 world champion Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB) and Jaskaran SINGH (IND) who lost to Kadamov in that final. Singh won the U20 Asian title in Amman in July.

The U.S. will see Jesse MENDEZ (USA) who wrestled at the 2021 U20 World Championships. U20 European bronze medalist Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) and U23 Asian silver medalist Aden SAKYBAEV (KGZ) are also wrestling.

70kg
Close to 10 wrestlers will be hoping it to the final at 70kg with senior Asian silver medalist Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB) leading the pack. He will have the 2021 U17 world champ at 65kg Meyer SHAPIRO (USA), Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) who was also the U17 world champ in 2021 at 55kg, and Ali REZAEI (IRI) who won the silver medal at the Yasar Dogu.

Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) won the U20 European Championships and will look to add a world medal to his resume. Returning fifth-placer Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM) will look to finish on the podium this year. He won U23 European silver medal and U20 Euro silver as well but at 74kg. Saba KOBAKHIDZE (GEO) was the silver medalist at U20 Euros and he will also be in Amman.

Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)Can Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), former U17 world champ at 92kg, win at 97kg? (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

97kg
All four 97kg medalists from the U20 European Championships are entered for the World Championships. Champion Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR), who was the silver medalist at the U20 Euros last year, will be one of the favorites to win. He can have potential bouts against silver medalist Dogan UZUN (TUR) and two bronze medalists Zafar ALIYEV (AZE) and Nika PANTSULAIA (GEO).

U20 Asian champion and 2022 U17 world champ at 92kg Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ) will look to add another world medal as he continues to shine at the age-group level. 2021 U20 Euro champ Islam KILCHUKOV (AIN), U20 Asian bronze medalist Deepak CHAHAL (IND) and U20 Pan-Am champ Camden MC DANEL (USA) will also look to finish on the podium.

Sagar JAGLAN (IND)Sagar JAGLAN (IND) will be wrestling at 79kg, a year after winning bronze at 74kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

61kg
India has two returning bronze medalists, Mohit KUMAR (IND) at 61kg and Sagar JAGLAN (IND) at 79kg.

To upgrade his medal, Kumar, who won the U20 Asian title, will have to face 2021 U17 world champion Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI), U20 African champ Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) and Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA) who won the Pan-Ams at this age-group.

2021 U17 world silver medalist Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ) and Besir ALILI (MKD) who finished fifth at the 2022 senior European Championships are also in action.

79kg
Former U17 world champion and senior Worlds fifth Jaglan, who won a bronze medal at 74kg last year after losing the semifinal to Kamiya, won the U23 and U20 Asian titles at 79kg and will be a top contender for the gold in Amman. He is joined by Farzad SAFI (IRI) who lost to Jaglan in the U20 Asian final.

U20 European champion Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO) is entered along with Gregor EIGENBRODT (GER) who lost to Adeishvili in the final, U20 Euro bronze medalist Narek GRIGORYAN (ARM), U20 Asian bronze medalist Magzhan ZHANYRBAY (KAZ) and Matthew SINGLETON (USA).

#WrestlePontevedra

Begenjov wins Turkmenistan's historic world title in Freestyle

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - 23:12 By Vinay Siwach

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 7) -- After falling agonizingly short of a World Championship medal two years in a row, Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) made amends in the most impressive way possible -- winning Turkmenistan's first-ever world title in Freestyle.

Begenjov won the gold medal in 79kg weight class at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on Saturday, becoming the first Freestyle world champion of his country. It is only the second time Turkmenistan has won a gold medal at any World Championships. Shorat KHODAYEV (TKM) won a U17 world gold in 1994.

"It was my dream," Begenjov said. "I made my dream come true. I’ve become a world champion. It’s the first time in the history of my country [in Freestyle]."

Begenjov had competed at the U17 World Championships in 2022 and 2023, finishing 12th and fifth respectively. This year, he finished fifth at Asian Championships, 12th at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers and won bronze at the U23 Asian Championships. The loss at the Asian Championships hurt Begenjov.

"I was so disappointed after losing at the Asian Championships," he said. "I started training harder and last month I won the U20 Asian Championships and now the World Championships."

Not only did he win gold, Begenjov did so without conceding a point in the tournament. He outscored his opponents 46-0, including the 5-0 win over Jackary RYDER (USA) in the final.

He led 1-0 at the break after Ryder failed to score after being put on the activity clock. Begenjov used his fake attacks to keep Ryder on check and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 2-0.

Ryder did get on Begenjov's leg a couple of times but failed to finish those attacks. On one occasion, Ryder was trying to lift after a single-leg attack but Begejnov grabbed Ryder's leg and he fell on his back, giving up two points as Begenjov extended his lead to 4-0. A lost challenge made it 5-0.

The 18-year-old plans to compete at the U23 World Championships but doesn't plan to compete at the senior level yet.

"I have to train harder to repeat this and win the senior world title," he said. "I am physically not strong enough yet for senior level."

Trained by his uncle in Ashgabat, Begenov graduated from school earlier this year and joined the university.

"I will start my first year," he said. "I will study stock exchange. We have this faculty in Turkmenistan."

Apart from Ryder's silver medal, the United States won gold and three bronze medals. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) upgraded his silver from last year to gold, winning the 57kg weight class by beating Lev PAVLOV (AIN) in the final.

This was Lilledahl's fourth straight age-group world final after he made two at U17 level and one at U20. He won silver in 2021 and upgraded to gold in 2022 at the U17 Worlds.

In the final against Pavlov, who he had beaten on his way to the final last year in Amman, Lilledahl got two activity points while Pavlov got one. Pavlov failed to find a perfect opening to score a point in the final seconds and dropped the final 2-1.

"When I wrestled him before, it was a lot more wide open," Lilledahl said. "With it being the finals [this year], he would kind of just wrestle to win. That's what you have to do. You're here to win. 

"That's pretty much what I figured would happen. He doesn't really like to create a lot of action, which kind of plays against me because I like the action. It was a stylistic matchup. Having wrestled him before, we kind of knew each other and knew how each other felt and stuff like that."

Aitmukhan adds U20 title

World champion at 92kg Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) gave the U20 World Championships a try and went home with a gold medal. Aitmukhan became Kazakhstan's first Freestyle world champion at the senior level last year at 92kg in Belgrade.

By winning the 97kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Aitmukhan as became only the fourth wrestler from Kazakhstan, and first in 24 years, to win a gold in Freestyle at U20 World Championships.

Aitmukhan was so dominant in the final that Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) could not stop him from winning the final 10-0.

Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) completes a takedown in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran won the gold medal at 65kg as Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) shut out Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), and won the final 10-2. Khorramdel lost his semifinal to Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN) last year but won a bronze medal in the 61kg weight class.

The U20 Asian champion had a difficult path to the final as he had to make a comeback in his opening bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), winning 12-11. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) also fought hard but lost 9-6 before Khorramdel hung on for a 6-4 win over Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) in the semifinals.

Hosokawa was displeased with his performance as Khorramdel blocked him from the right side and Hosokawa failed to score from his strong position. 

While Hosokawa lost, his Nippon Sports Science University teammate Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) won the gold medal at 70kg. Two days before his bouts, Yamashita had announced in the dining hall that he could "only see the gold medal". Yamashita made sure he took it home.

In a high-paced final, Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) failed to challenge Yamashita's speed and style and lost 6-0 in the 70kg final.

"This was my first international world tournament," Yamashita said. "I played with the intention of having fun and had a lot of fun. This is my goal for this year, but after competing, I realized that the senior world championships or the Olympics would be even more amazing. "

It was not all fun for Baitukaev on the mat as Yamashita showed his A game. Yamashita got the first point via stepout and earned a second when the 30-second activity clock against Baitukaev ended. Yamashita blasted a double in the second period to get two points and turned using head-in-middle lace to lead 6-0. Baitukaev had no energy left to attack and Yamashita won the gold medal.

Yamashita celebrated by gesturing like he was taking out the imaginary Samurai swords. 

"I came up with it when I was thinking of doing a performance based on Japanese culture," he said. "It's a Japanese tradition since ancient times. I did it because I admired it."

Yamashita trains with Olympic champions Rei HIGUCHI (JPN and Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) at NSSU and wants to replicate the success his teammates had.

"I realized that what I was doing was correct," he said. "It was a great environment to have someone close to me that I was aiming for. I was really moved by watching the matches. I was inspired by that."

For him to be at the Olympics, Yamashita will have to wait at least four years and jump to 74kg to make the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm still thinking about it, but I guess I can only be 74kg to qualify for the Olympics," he said "I would like to be at 74kg for Los Angeles."

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Lev PAVLOV (AIN), 2-1

BRONZE: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) df. Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: ANKUSH (IND) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)  df. Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), 10-2

BRONZE: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) df. Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via fall (9-0) 
BRONZE: Peter DUKE (USA) df. Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ), 18-7

79kg
GOLD: Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) df. Zackary RYDER (USA), 5-0

BRONZE: Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) df. Said SAIDULOV (AIN), 5-4
BRONZE: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. AMIT (IND), 13-2

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam JAKSIK (SVK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 2-1

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) vs. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)

SF 1: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Marcus BLAZE (USA), 7-2
SF 2: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) vs. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

SF 1: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Shingo ANDO (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-1

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) vs. Joshua BARR (USA)

SF 1: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI), 12-2
SF 2: Joshua BARR (USA) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Sali SALIEV (BUL) vs. Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Sali SALIEV (BUL) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 5-4
SF 2: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA)

SF 1: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Benjamin KUETER (USA) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 13-3