#WrestleTirana

U23 World Championships 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (September 30) -- The U23 World Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from October 21 to 27. This is the second consecutive year that the tournament will be held in Tirana.

More than 650 wrestlers are entered to compete in the event with 240 wrestlers each in Freestyle and Greco-Roman and 184 wrestlers in Women's Wrestling. The tournament will begin with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle at the end.

The matches will be live on uww.org and the UWW App.

*Note: The entry list is subject to change 72 hours before the official draw of each style

57kg
Herbert AKAPIAN (AIN)
Iunus IAVBATIROV (AIN)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
DENGBURILE (CHN)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
CHIRAG (IND)
Ali Hossein MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI)
Rocco TERRANOVA (ITA)
Gakuto OZAWA (JPN)
Allan ORALBEK (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Jiguur SARANTUYA (MGL)
Stojanche STOJKOV (MKD)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Maxwell GALLAGHER (USA)

61kg
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE)
Fotis PAPADOPOULOS (CAN)
Jiliang BAI (CHN)
Elkin ESPANA SANTA (COL)
Daniel RAMIREZ (CRC)
Omar GAZASHVILI (GEO)
Lok Ming TAI (HKG)
Abhishek DHAKA (IND)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Meiryu AKAMINE (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Iukhan DOKTURBEK UULU (KGZ)
Vasile MARCU (MDA)
Arben SEJDI (MKD)
William BETANCOURT (PUR)
Emre KURAL (TUR)
Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR)
Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA)

65kg
Anatoli HRAMYKA (AIN)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN)
Klevisi PRECI (ALB)
Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Ilyas ABDURASHIDOV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Ning WANG (CHN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Giorgi SHONIA (GEO)
Jonnathan PEREZ (GUA)
Chi Hin WONG (HKG)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Bekzat YERMEKBAY (KAZ)
Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Wilfredo LOPEZ (PAN)
Yacoub GHAITH (PLE)
Daniel KULCZYNSKI (POL)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Sulaiman KARGBO (SLE)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Joshua SAUNDERS (USA)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (AIN)
Ismail KHANIEV (AIN)
Fabian KOCILERI (ALB)
Tigran GHAZARYAN (ARM)
Magomed KHANIEV (AZE)
Yves NISHIMWE (BDI)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Georgi ZHIZGOV (BUL)
Gregor MCNEIL (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Chunchen LIU (CHN)
Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Tsz Hei HEUNG (HKG)
SUJEET (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Constantin CHIRILOV (MDA)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Faisal DANA (PLE)
Mateusz LUSZCZYNSKI (POL)
Eligh RIVERA (PUR)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Yasin YESIL (TUR)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
John WILEY (USA)

74kg
Nikita DMITRIJEVS (AIN)
Arslan BAGAEV (AIN)
Klevis KOCEKU (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Bradley FULMER (AUS)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Xiaobing ZHU (CHN)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Stas WOLF (GER)
Sukhpal JINJALA (IND)
Ali REZAEI (IRI)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Murat DZHAKUPOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Batbayar BATSUKH (MGL)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta MORHUN (UKR)
Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)

79kg
Artsiom BELAVUSAU (AIN)
Arsen BALAIAN (AIN)
Arjan DANAJ (ALB)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Nelson OBROU (CAF)
Owen MARTIN (CAN)
Feng LU (CHN)
Juan CARDOZO (COL)
Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY)
Joona VUOTI (FIN)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
Sahil DALAL (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
RAFFAELE MATRULLO (ITA)
Masaki SATO (JPN)
Zhengis KANYBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gheorghi CARA (MDA)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Alie SESAY (SLE)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Bekir OVEC (TUR)
Vladyslav BODORIAK (UKR)
Patrick KENNEDY (USA)

86kg
Ilya KHAMTSOU (AIN)
Ibragim KADIEV (AIN)
Altin GANCI (ALB)
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Taran GORING (CAN)
Hui CHEN (CHN)
Gabriel IGLESIAS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Cesar UBICO ESTRADA (GUA)
DEEPAK (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Aaron AYZEROV (ISR)
Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat RAKHIMOV (KGZ)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Kweli HERNANDEZ (PUR)
Joshua ALOFIPO (SAM)
Michal VERES (SVK)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
John GUNDERSON (USA)
Steven RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

92kg
Aliaksei PARKHOMENKA (AIN)
Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Aiden STEVENSON (CAN)
Junpeng ZHOU (CHN)
Mukhammedsultan KOPBAYEV (ESP)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
SUMIT (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Satoshi MIURA (JPN)
Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
Davids PIROZNIKS (LAT)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Filip SZUCKI (POL)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

97kg
Uladzislau KAZLOU (AIN)
Sergei KOZYREV (AIN)
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Aslan ABAKAROV (AZE)
Callum KNOX (CAN)
Aman WULAHATI (CHN)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Emmanuel OSEI SARFO (GHA)
VICKY (IND)
Mahdi HAJILOUEIAN (IRI)
Yuta SASAKI (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Taron SHAHINYAN (POL)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Massoma ENDENE (USA)

125kg
Pavel DZIATLAU (AIN)
Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN)
Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
Jinhai WANG (CHN)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Anirudh KUMAR (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Toyoki HAMADA (JPN)
Omarkhan NADIROV (KAZ)
Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA)
Batmagnai ENKHTUVSHIN (MGL)
Michal DUBOWSKI (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar Ihab SAREM (SYR)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Lucas STODDARD (USA)

Umi ITO (JPN)Umi ITO (JPN) is the returning champion at 50kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Natallia VARAKINA (AIN)
Natalia PUDOVA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Kelyn YOUNG (CAN)
Linjie DENG (CHN)
Justine VIGOUROUX (FRA)
KOMAL (IND)
Umi ITO (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Zineb ECH CHABKI (MAR)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Yusneiry AGRAZAL (PAN)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Ana PIRVU (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Yi Hui LIN (TPE)
Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)
Sage MORTIMER (USA)
Mariana ROJAS (VEN)

53kg
Viktoryia VOLK (AIN)
Venera NAFIKOVA (AIN)
Esmeralda NELA (ALB)
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Xiaomin XIE (CHN)
Yusmy CHAPARRO URREGO (COL)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Yu SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Ellen OESTMAN (SWE)
Sila AYKUL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Elena IVALDI (USA)

55kg
Aliaksandra BULAVA (AIN)
Ekaterina KARPUSHKINA (AIN)
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Victoria SEAL (CAN)
Antonia VALDES ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Ying LU (CHN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Bhavika PATEL (IND)
Neon GOMI (JPN)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Otgontuya BAYANMUNKH (MGL)
Emma MALMGREN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Amani JONES (USA)

57kg
Aryna MARTYNAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Shuang HAN (CHN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
Ruka NATAMI (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Patrycja STRZELCZYK (POL)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Sofia MACALUSO (USA)

59kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN)
Gular HABIBOVA (AZE)
Gabriela CROSS (CAN)
Hong LIANG (CHN)
Alexa CUERO (COL)
Tsz Ying HEUNG (HKG)
ANJLI (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Guldana BEKESH (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Gabriele DILYTE (LTU)
Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR)
Khulan BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Julia NOWICKA (POL)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Skye REALIN (USA)

62kg
Nadzeya BULANAYA (AIN)
Ekaterina KOSHKINA (AIN)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI)
Jolie BRISCO (CAN)
Hanying ZHANG (CHN)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
NITIKA (IND)
Nayu UCHIDA (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Olha PADOSHYK (POL)
Karoline ORTIZ (PUR)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Macey KILTY (USA)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg
Kseniya TSIARENIA (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Kleona SHABANI (ALB)
Angelina ELLIS TODDINGTON (CAN)
Yuqi RAO (CHN)
Karolina POK (HUN)
SHIKSHA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Rin TERAMOTO (JPN)
Guldana OSSERBAY (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Ingrid SKARD (NOR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Sofiia KUSHNIR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

68kg
Alina SHAUCHUK (AIN)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Yati GU (CHN)
Nicoll PARRADO (COL)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
MONIKA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Ayse ERKAN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Brooklyn HAYS (USA)

72kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Olesia BEZUGLOVA (AIN)
Vianne ROULEAU (CAN)
Yufei GAO (CHN)
Maria CEBALLOS (COL)
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Kritika JAMWAL (IND)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Yuka FUJIKURA (JPN)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Tsogzolmaa DORJSUREN (MGL)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Haticenur SARI (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Kylie WELKER (USA)

76kg
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (AIN)
Brianna FRASER (CAN)
Shuiyan CHENG (CHN)
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Zsofia VIRAG (HUN)
PRIYA (IND)
Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Sandra GUERRERO (PUR)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)

Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)Paris Olympic bronze medalist Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) is entered at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Maksim STUPAKEVICH (AIN)
Adam ULBASHEV (AIN)
Andi MUCA (ALB)
Arayik TOPALYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Cristopher VERASTEGUI (COL)
Tamazi GLONTI (GEO)
Vishvajit MORE (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Kohei YAMAGIWA (JPN)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
William SULLIVAN (USA)

60kg
Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Ziyue XI (CHN)
Ronaldo SANCHEZ (COL)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
SURAJ (IND)
Mohammadmehdi GHOLAMPOUR (IRI)
Yasuhito MORI (JPN)
Doszhan UTEPKALIYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Bohdan HRYSHYN (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Talibsho KHAIBARAU (AIN)
Astemir BIZHOEV (AIN)
Amarildo LASKA (ALB)
Arman VARDANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Yunlong HU (CHN)
Ronaldo SANCHEZ RAMIREZ (COL)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Ankit ANKIT (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Komei SAWADA (JPN)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Mukhammed KALBAEV (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ (MEX)
Bredi SLINKERS (NED)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Adrian ANTON (ROU)
Bekir ATES (TUR)
Vasyl MYSHANYCH (UKR)
Jonathan GURULE (USA)

67kg
Viachaslau ZHEHALAU (AIN)
Daniial AGAEV (AIN)
Daniel DAJANI (ALB)
Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Farid KHALILOV (AZE)
Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL)
Gavin ELDRIDGE (CAN)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Kang ZHEN (CHN)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Yanis NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
SACHIN (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Alexandr GURALI (MDA)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Niklas Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Oleh KHALILOV (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg
Illia VALEUSKI (AIN)
Imran ALIEV (AIN)
Ardit ZENELI (ALB)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Bin XU (CHN)
Nilson SINISTERRA (COL)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Junior BENITEZ ORTIZ (ESP)
Kristo MERILAIN (EST)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Aakash PUNIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Kensaku ONO (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Piotr STOLARCZYK (POL)
Brandon NAVARRO (PUR)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Georgios BARBANOS (SWE)
Muhammed GOCMEN (TUR)
Marian HOLUBOVSKYI (UKR)
Justus SCOTT (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Zakhar YANEVICH (AIN)
Ismail BARAKHOEV (AIN)
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Martik PETROSYAN (ARM)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Yang CHANG (CHN)
Alonso PARRA GARCIA (COL)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Frederik MATHIESEN (DEN)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
KARAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Shu YAMADA (JPN)
Temirlan KARATAY (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hassan BARNAWI (KSA)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Ludvig GUNHEIM HATLAND (NOR)
Konrad KOZLOWSKI (POL)
Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Simon BORKENHAGEN (SWE)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Mykyta POLITAIEV (UKR)
Hunter GARVIN (USA)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Vadzim PALEYENKA (AIN)
Imam ALIEV (AIN)
Teo SPIRI (ALB)
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Kun HUANG (CHN)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Miklos KIRALYHAZI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Leon RIVALTA (ITA)
Daizo TANIZAKI (JPN)
Almir TOLEBAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Islam ALIEV (POL)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Joshua ALOFIPO (SAM)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yusuf GOLBASI (TUR)
Ivan CHMYR (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)
Daniel BELLO VEGA (VEN)

87kg
Ilya MIALESHCHYK (AIN)
Aues GONIBOV (AIN)
Julijan SHEHU (ALB)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Joju SAMADOV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Jie WANG (CHN)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Rohit BURA (IND)
Yasin Ali YAZDI (IRI)
Yudai KOBORI (JPN)
Baglan KUANYSH (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)
Vladyslav DIAHILEV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Brian RUIZ MARIN (VEN)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN)
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Zichen YANG (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Aapo VIITALA (FIN)
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Christos CHATSATOUROV (GRE)
Nitesh NITESH (IND)
Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI)
Riku NAKAHARA (JPN)
Beibit KORGANOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Igor SHEPETUN (POL)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Algot KAELLMAN (SWE)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Wyatt VOELKER (USA)
Juan DIAZ BLANCO (VEN)

130kg
Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN)
Dmitrii BABORYKO (AIN)
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Jianqun HE (CHN)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Fekry EISSA (EGY)
Eerik PANK (EST)
Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Koppany LASZLO (HUN)
Uttam RANA (IND)
Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Koei YAMADA (JPN)
Assylbek ABDIKALYK (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Rostislav COVALI (MDA)
Tomasz WAWRZYNCZYK (POL)
Muhammet BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Keith MILEY (USA)

#WrestlePontevedra

U20 Worlds: Zakriev dominates to gold; Abdevali repeats

By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 3) -- Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN) was unsure if he would be participating in the U20 World Championships. Zakriev began preparing only two days before the start of the tournament in Spain.

"We were told that we wouldn’t come here," Zakriev said. "I went into relaxed mode. It was only three days before we were told that we could go. The way was really long and difficult, we were cutting weight at the airport. We had to change four flights on our way. We arrived at midnight and early next day I had my first match in the morning. I didn’t even have time to rest."

Zakriev did not show any signs of distress as he began the competition with a technical superiority win and reached the final with two more wins. On Tuesday, the 19-year-old won the gold medal at 63kg in Pontevedra, Spain, being the final against Otto BLACK (USA) 8-0.

A minute into the final and Zakriev had Black on the backfoot with a stepout and takedown. Black never got a chance to come back into the final as Zakriev finished it in two minutes and 40 seconds.

Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN)Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN) tries to complete a throw against Otto BLACK (USA) in the 63kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

"I was very confident," he said. "Last year I was third at the national championships, and this year I finished first. I haven’t lost any single match for a year now."

The dominance of Zakriev was evident in the U20 European Championships as well as he outscored his opponents 29-0 in four bouts, winning the gold medal over Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), an opponent he defeated 16-4 in the semifinals on Monday.

Hailing from Chechnya, Zakriev grew up in Goyty village and began training after his parents took him to the academy when he was eight years old.

"I will be moving to the Olympic weight class of 67kg from next year," he said.

The United States suffered another heartbreak in the final as Isaiah CORTEZ (USA) lost the 55kg final against Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI).

Unlike Black, Cortez had his chances to take the lead against Ahmadi Vafa in the final. He even had the Iranian in a fall position but failed to finish it. Ahmadi Vafa eventually won the final 11-3 in a match that was closer than the scoreline shows.

Ahmadi Vafa got the first par terre advantage and he used a high gut-wrench to take a 5-0 lead over Cortez. He used an arm spin to score two more points to make the lead 7-0. Cortez cut it to 7-2 just before the break with exposure.

Cortez, however, failed to score from par terre and Ahmadi Vafa led 7-3 with 1:25 left on the clock. Two desperate bodylock throws ended up in Cortez giving up points.

Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) scores two points over Isaiah CORTEZ (USA) in the 55kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

"I wrestled really well to reach the final. I had analyzed my American opponent’s wrestling style, and thank God, I was able to wrestle with the best results and win the gold medal," Ahmadi Vafa said.

A former U17 world champion, Ahmadi Vafa finished without a medal last year at the U20 Worlds. A gold medal in Pontevedra gave him some relief from his medalless campaign from last year.

"Last year, I couldn’t win a good medal and lost in the world championships," he said. "This year, I managed to win gold. Next year, I have the junior competitions again, but my main goal is to be selected for the senior competitions."

This was the first time since 2017 that the U.S. had two finalists in Greco-Roman at the U20 World Championships. Kamal BEY (USA) won the title in 2017. However, the wait for a new U20 world champion just grew for the U.S.

Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) won his second U20 world gold medal at 77kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Defending U20 world champion Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) added the second gold medal, winning the 77kg weight class. Wrestling Magomed IARBILOV (AIN) in the final, Abdevali got the par terre advantage but failed to score and Iarbilov scored a reversal to lead 1-1 on criteria.

Abdevali scored an arm-drag takedown in the second period to lead 3-1 and defended it till the end of the time to win his second gold medal at this level.

"I feel great that I was able to win my second world championship medal," he said. "It felt even better than when I won the first time. I’m just at the beginning of my journey, and there’s a long way to go until the Olympics."

Alireza is the fourth of the five Abdevali brothers but said that he felt no pressure to win because of his family name.

"I didn’t feel any pressure. My older brother, Saeid, is a great wrestler, and he gives me motivation and spirit to be a fighter."

Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) scores on Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI) in the 130kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran could have won three gold medals on Tuesday but former U20 European champion Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) denied Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI), 5-3, in the 130kg final.

Darabos trailed 3-0 at the break after giving up a turn from par terre. However, when he got the par terre in the second period, he turned Fathitazangi twice and took a 5-3 lead and defended it.

This is the first U20 world champion for Hungary since 2019 and the first since 2012 in the highest weight class.

Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) won the 87kg gold medal after beating Joju SAMADOV (AZE) in the final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Zhanyshov upgrades

Returning bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) upgraded to gold after he defeated Joju SAMADOV (AZE), 8-0, in the 87kg final to win Kyrgyzstan's first U20 world title in Greco-Roman since 2019. Incidentally, the last U20 world champion -- Erbol BAKIROV (KGZ) -- also hails from the same village, Taygaray, as Zhanyshov.

In the final, Samadov found it difficult to match the pace of Zhanyshov and failed to stop any of his attacks. He gave up five stepouts in the final.

"I had a great training camp with the senior team," Zhanyshov said. "I already have experience wrestling at the senior level. The difference is that on age-group levels you have to be prepared technically, performing throws and moves, while at the senior level that won’t be enough. You have to be physically and functionally very well prepared. So, my level is now senior."

Having trained with world champions Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) and Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ), Zhanyshov felt motivated by his seniors and was determined to win the gold medal.

"Makhmudov and Sharshenbekov are my wrestling role models," he said.

sd

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Isaiah CORTEZ (USA), 11-3

BRONZE: Alibek AMIROV (11) df. Rahim HASANOV (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Aibek AITBEKOV (KAZ) df. Maxim SARMANOV (MDA), 10-1

63kg
GOLD: Erzu ZAKRIEV (AIN) df. Otto BLACK (USA), 8-0

BRONZE: Erfan JARKANI (IRI) df. Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 6-2
BRONZE: Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM) df. Enes ULKU (TUR), 2-1

77kg
GOLD: Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) df. Magomed IARBILOV (AIN), 3-1

BRONZE: Levente LEVAI (HUN) df. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR), 3-2
BRONZE: Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO) df. Karl BAFF (SWE), 5-3 

87kg
GOLD: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) df. Joju SAMADOV (AZE), 8-0

BRONZE: Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Patrik GORDAN (ROU), 10-0
BRONZE: Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM) df. Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ), 3-1

130kg
GOLD: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI), 5-3

BRONZE: Aden ATTAO (USA) df. Aleksandr MELEKHOV (AIN), via fall
BRONZE: Samagan ORMONOV (KGZ) df. Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), via fall

Semifinals 

60kg
GOLD: Servet ANGI (TUR) vs. Mohammadmehdi GHOLAMPOUR (IRI)

SF 1: Servet ANGI (TUR) df. Ongdassyn KHAMITOV (KAZ), 9-8
SF 2: Mohammadmehdi GHOLAMPOUR (IRI) df. Papik DZHAVADIAN (AIN), 9-8

67kg
GOLD: Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) vs. Yussuf ASHRAPOV (KAZ)

SF 1: Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) df. Kojiro HASEGAWA (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Yussuf ASHRAPOV (KAZ) df. Grair OGANESIAN (AIN), 7-5

72kg
GOLD: Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN) vs. Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN) df. Muhammed GOCMEN (TUR), 1-1
SF 2: Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM) df. Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE), 4-1

82kg
GOLD: Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) vs. Alperen BERBER (TUR)

SF 1: Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) df. Abdurakhman ABDULKADYROV (AIN), via inj. def.
SF 2: Alperen BERBER (TUR) df. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN), 12-0

97kg
GOLD: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) vs. Darius KIEFER (GER)

SF 1: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) df. Anatolii AVERIN (AIN), 7-4
SF 2: Darius KIEFER (GER) df. Ahmet EREMEKTER (TUR), via fall