#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Women's Wrestling Entries, Seeds

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 16) -- The Women's Wrestling entry list for the World Championships sees 230 wrestlers participating in the September 13-21 event in Zagreb.

Women's Wrestling will be held on September 15, 16, 17 and 18. For full schedule of the World Championships, click here.

Out of the 24, 11 Paris Olympic medalists are competing in Zagreb with one gold medalist - Sakura MOTOKI (JPN).

FREESTYLE ENTRIES | GRECO-ROMAN ENTRIES

Zagreb

Note: The entries are subject to change. Please refer to UWW for latest entries

50kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
No. 2 -- Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
No. 3 -- Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
No. 4 -- Madison PARKS (CAN)
No. 5 -- Svetlana ANKICHEVA (KAZ)
No. 6 -- Munkhnar BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
No. 7 -- Audrey JIMENEZ (USA)
No. 8 -- Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN)

Unseeded
Cheima CHEBILA (ALG)
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Yu ZHANG (CHN)
Jacqueline MOLLOCANA (ECU)
Aintzane GORRIA GONI (ESP)
ANKUSH (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Jinhee KIM (KOR)
Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
Myonggyong WON (PRK)
Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Nohalis LOYO JIMENEZ (VEN)

53kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
No. 2 -- Hyogyong CHOE (PRK)
No. 3 -- Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
No. 4 -- ANTIM (IND)
No. 5 -- Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
No. 6 -- Annika WENDLE (GER)
No. 7 -- Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
No. 8 -- Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)

Unseeded
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB)
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Felicity TAYLOR (USA)
Kseniya STANKEVICH (UWW)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)

55kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
No. 2 -- Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
No. 3 -- Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
No. 4 -- Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)
No. 5 -- Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
No. 6 -- Kyong Ryong OH (PRK)
No. 7 -- Amory ANDRICH (GER)
No. 8 -- Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)

Unseeded
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Xuejing LIANG (CHN)
Yaynelis SANZ VERDECIA (CUB)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
NISHU (IND)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Zulfiya YAKHYAROVA (KAZ)
Hyerim LEE (KOR)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)

57kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Helen MAROULIS (USA)
No. 2 -- Kexin HONG (CHN)
No. 3 -- Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
No. 4 -- Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW)
No. 5 -- Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
No. 6 -- Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
No. 7 -- Youngjin KWON (KOR)
No. 8 -- Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)

Unseeded
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
TAPSYA (IND)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Il Sim SON (PRK)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Chahd JELJELI (TUN)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW)

59kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Elena BRUGGER (GER)
No. 2 -- Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
No. 3 -- Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
No. 4 -- Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW)
No. 5 -- Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
No. 6 -- Bediha GUN (TUR)
No. 7 -- Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR)
No. 8 -- Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL)

Unseeded
Victoria CHHEN (AUS)
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Hong LIANG (CHN)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
SARIKA (IND)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Arian CARPIO (PHI)
Pyol HONG (PRK)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
Nadzeya BULANAYA (UWW)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

62kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
No. 2 -- Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
No. 3 -- Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
No. 4 -- Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)
No. 5 -- Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
No. 6 -- MANISHA (IND)
No. 7 -- Amina TANDELOVA (UWW)
No. 8 -- Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)

Unseeded
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
LILI (CHN)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Neevis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Ok Ju KIM (PRK)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
No. 2 -- Macey KILTY (USA)
No. 3 -- Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
No. 4 -- Kadriye KOCAK AKSOY (TUR)
No. 5 -- Irina RINGACI (MDA)
No. 6 -- Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
No. 7 -- Grace BULLEN (NOR)
No. 8 -- Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)

Unseeded
Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Vaishnavi PATIL (IND)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Alexis GOMEZ (MEX)
Aylah MAYALI (PLE)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

68kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Buse TOSUN (TUR)
No. 2 -- Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
No. 3 -- Sol Gum PAK (PRK)
No. 4 -- Kennedy BLADES (USA)
No. 5 -- Noemi SZABADOS (HUN)
No. 6 -- Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
No. 7 -- Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
No. 8 -- Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)

Unseeded
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Aniseta ACOSTA (ASA)
Grabriela PEDRO (BRA)
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
RADHIKA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Hannah RUEBEN (NGR)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Khanum VELIEVA (UWW)
Nabira ESENBAEVA (UZB)

72kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
No. 2 -- Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
No. 3 -- Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
No. 4 -- Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
No. 5 -- Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
No. 6 -- Nesrin BAS (TUR)
No. 7 -- Kseniia BURAKOVA (UWW)
No. 8 -- Masako FURUICHI (JPN)

Unseeded
Zelu LI (CHN)
Rosie TABORA (COD)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Jyoti BERWAL (IND)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Jiseon LEE (KOR)
Auguste GENDVILAITE (LTU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
No. 2 -- Milaimy MARIN (CUB)
No. 3 -- Genesis REASCO (ECU)
No. 4 -- Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
No. 5 -- Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
No. 6 -- Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
No. 7 -- Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN)
No. 8 -- Kylie WELKER (USA)

Unseeded
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Brianna FRASER (CAN)
QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN)
PRIYA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Seoyeon JEONG (KOR)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Damola OJO (NGR)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Kristina SHUMOVA (UWW)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

Wrestling 2026 Season Preview: Freestyle, Women's Wrestling, Greco-Roman

By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- The 2025 World Championships in Zagreb marked a turning point in international wrestling as 18 first-time world champions were crowned, signaling the arrival of a new generation well before the qualification cycle for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games begins.

A few scenes in Zagreb showed what the titles meant. A women’s champion hugging anyone she could find, a Freestyle winner delivering revenge, and a Greco-Roman champion lifting a nation’s pride. Now, 2026 will determine whether those champions can turn a breakthrough into sustained dominance, or if the veterans will reclaim control.

For traditional powers like the United States, Iran, and Japan, maintaining dominance will be harder than ever as more countries close the gap.

In Women’s Wrestling, Japan is being challenged by the DPR Korea, while in Freestyle the U.S. and Iran remain the central rivalry. In Greco-Roman, Iran is undoubtedly the best team in the world but Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are closing the gap as another strong season approaches.

As wrestling moves toward LA 2028, 2026 becomes the year where storylines start to stick. The UWW Pro Series is part of that shift, taking its final shape before launch. Wrestlers will be rewarded for their ranks for the year and will stand a chance to win a grand prize.

The fans can follow wrestling with United World Wrestling through UWW+ on uww.org, Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube.

Freestyle

A Sadulaev vs Yazdani final at the World Championships. A match-up like no other can happen in 2026.

The 2026 season begins with a question: when will Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) return? A dream match against Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) is now firmly on the cards. Yazdani, the 2016 Olympic champion at 74kg, is now competing at 97kg, ten years later. Sadulaev, who won Olympic gold at 86kg in Rio, moved to 97kg soon after that gold.

The Iranian may compete at the Zagreb Open or at the Tirana Ranking Series. If the return is delayed, world silver medalist Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) will likely carry the weight for Iran early in the season.

At the same time, several major stars are preparing comebacks. Olympic champion Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) is expected to return after recovering from shoulder surgery, while Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) is also set to resume competition, most likely around May.

READ THE FULL FREESTYLE PREVIEW HERE

Women’s Wrestling

Japan captured five of the 10 medals on offer at the World Championships and nothing less is expected from its wrestlers. But out of the first four weight classes, it managed to win only one gold and missed out on medals in two of them.

Missing a medal at 50kg is rare for Japan. It happened in 2009, then in 2019 and in 2025. So what can be expected from the best country in Women's Wrestling or perhaps wrestling?

The DPR Korea, China, India, Ukraine and the United States keep challenging Japan at various competitions but it has managed to hold its own. With the gap closing, 2026 will be a similar story.

Continental Championships will be the first test for countries building towards the year-ending World Championships. But these tournaments can also witness the returns of a few wrestlers. Yui SUSAKI (JPN), Anastasia NICHITA (MDA), Amit ELOR (USA), Maria YEFREMOVA (UKR), and possibly VINESH (IND).

Additionally, several medal contenders are shifting weight classes in 2026, opening their paths to medals at the World Championships and later at the Olympics.

READ THE FULL WOMEN'S WRESTLING PREVIEW HERE

Greco-Roman

Iran ruled Greco-Roman in 2025 with dominant performances at all levels, and it was not even close. Barring that one battle with Uzbekistan at the U17 World Championships, Iran remained untouched. In 2022 and 2023, it showed signs of long-term dominance and in 2024, it won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Then in 2025, it won team titles at all age-group levels.

At the World Championships in Zagreb, it won four gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Out of the 10 wrestlers, eight won medals, missing only at 77kg and 60kg. Will 2026 be Iran's year again?

Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI), Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) and Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) make the core team. World champion Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) has been the latest sensation, going unbeaten in 2025 and winning the U23 world gold at 87kg. Alireza MOHAMADI (IRI) is also a proven wrestler at 87kg having won an Olympic and world silver.

Iran has a second team which can challenge any established star in the world. U20 and U23 world champion Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) is a wrestler waiting for his turn at 130kg. Hedayati is getting closer to beating Mirzazadeh in selection for the Iran team.

Payam AHMADI (IRI), Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) and Ahmadi VAFA (IRI) are already part of the team while younger stars wait for their turns.

But there has been an influx of talent in Greco-Roman in the new cycle especially with Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Japan, Armenia and UWW wrestlers stepping up.

READ THE FULL GRECO-ROMAN PREVIEW HERE