#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)

Trailblazer Epp Mae retires as Estonia's top wrestler

By Vinay Siwach

ESTONIA (January 28) -- European champion and two-time World Championships medalist Epp MAE (EST) announced her retirement earlier in January at an emotional press conference in Tallinn. She left her shoes on the mat, symbolizing retirement from wrestling.

The 32-year-old is Estonia's most successful wrestler in Women's Wrestling, winning gold at the European Championships in 2021 and silver medals in the 2017 and 2022 editions. She also has a bronze medal from 2019.

At the World Championships, Mae became the first Estonian wrestler to win a medal, enter the final, and even have two medals. She won silver in the 76kg in 2021, plus three bronze medals in 2015, 2019, and 2022.

"The day I announced my retirement was very emotional and hard because something so big in your life came to an end," Mae told UWW. "I knew that I was about to retire because I was expecting a baby. But it was difficult to stand in front of the people and say that this part of my life has ended, so announcing was harder than deciding it inside myself."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Epp Mäe (@eppmae)

Mae is a two-time Olympian for Estonia. She made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games and finished 13th. She improved to eighth at the 2020 Tokyo Games. For the 2024 Paris Olympics, Mae tried qualifying in the 76kg weight class but failed to achieve that. Her last international competition was the World Olympic Qualifier in May in Istanbul.

"To be honest, I did not expect my career to be this long, as it is," she said. "I did not have any role models in female wrestling in Estonia when I was growing up. So I had no idea whether it was possible to earn money or live from wrestling and how far it was possible to go from my country. I dedicated my life and my career to wrestling as much as I could. An athlete should know it's time to step down. It aligned for me with a wish to start a family."

Epp MAE (EST)An emotional Epp MAE (EST) announcing her retirement in a wrestling club in Tallinn on January 9. (Photo: ERR / Siim Lõvi)

Mae took up wrestling after her father, a former wrestler, pushed her into the sport. However, there were no partners to train with and Mae did not have any national competitions. She even trained in judo and sumo just to get training.

When Estonia did start a national championship in women's wrestling, Mae dominated, winning it 12 times in her career. For other sports, she is a four-time Estonian sumo champion, a four-time Estonian beach wrestling champion, and has also been an Estonian judo champion on one occasion.

"I have always laughed that the population of Estonia is 1.3 million and I am one in a million to choose to do something like this and be successful," she said. "Coming from a small nation, it is not easy to break through to the top. Most likely you don't have training partners at home. you have to travel a lot away from your country and get to train at a level that you need to succeed."

Epp MAE (EST)Epp MAE (EST), red, wrestling at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Internationally, Mae made her debut in 2007 at the U17 European Championships, winning a bronze medal in the 70kg weight class. She began her senior career at the Yasar Dogu in 2011 and won a silver medal at 72kg at the age of 18.

In 2012, Mae clinched the U20 European Championships and remains the only Estonian wrestler to win gold at the continental event at any age group. A decade later, she reached the final of the World Championships at 76kg, marking another historic landmark in Estonian wrestling.

"As I said there was no one in front of me to lead the way, I am happy that I went through everything to get to places and results that I managed to and kind of make a path for all the girls from Estonia who will ever wish or have this doubt whether it is possible to get that far," she said. "I am happy that they have a path already in front of them. I wish that they would want to go bigger and further than I did. I will be more than excited and happy if someone did do that."

Epp MAE (EST)Epp MAE (EST) wrestling in the 2021 World Championships final at 76kg in Oslo. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Reflecting on her career two-decade-long career, Mae did share her disappointment of not winning a medal at the Olympics but was happy to have achieved what she has for Estonia.

"My father recently told a journalist that what I did [in wrestling] was against the odds because we did not have all the possibilities and facilities a bigger team would have," she said. "So I think I did good in my career by achieving the results that I did. Little sad that I did not win a medal at the Olympics. But I can leave wrestling knowing that I gave everything. There is never going to be any doubt that what if I could have done this or that."

Now off the mat, Mae will concentrate on her family and follow the sport from afar.

"I will keep following wrestling and the wrestling friends I have made during the years. I will keep following them," she said. "For Estonia wrestling, I wish all the girls in different age groups we have right now will be motivated just to go as far as possible and always try to achieve the best for you. I will try to help Estonian wrestling as I can and I hope they will not stop developing Estonian female wrestling."