#WrestleSofia

#WrestleSofia U20 World Championships entry list

By Vinay Siwach

SOFIA, Bulgaria (August 4) -- Two weeks after the U17 World Championships, the U20 Worlds will be thrown open in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Close to 600 wrestlers will be in the Bulgarian capital eyeing the 30 world titles on offer with Iran and the USA hoping to defend their freestyle and women's wrestling team titles respectively.

Iran is led by two defending U20 world champions in Erfan ELAHI (IRI) and Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI). Elahi won the title at 70kg and will now be jumping up to 74kg while Friozpour, who has made his name at the senior level as well, will be moving from 86kg to 92kg.

Azerbaijan has two returning silver medalists in Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) and Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) at 70kg and 74kg.

At 86kg, Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) will try to win the gold he missed last time as he returns in the same weight class as the U20 European champion.

In women's wrestling, Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) at 62kg and Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) are the biggest names in the field. A few former and current U17 world champions are also entered.

Greco-Roman has none of the finalists returning but five bronze medalists are trying to better their medals from the previous edition.

The U20 World Championships begins August 15 in Sofia with all the action live on uww.org.

Freestyle 

57kg
Harutyun HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Abdelrahman MAHMOUD (EGY)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Harvey RIDINGS (GBR)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Andreas PAROTSIDIS (GRE)
Abhishek DHAKA (IND)
Ahmad MOHAMMADNEZHAD (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Kento YUMIYA (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Iukhan DOKTURBEK UULU (KGZ)
Dmitri CARASTOIANOV (MDA)
Munkh Od LKHAMBUZMAA (MGL)
Rafal SZEWC (POL)
Thomas FISCHER (SUI)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Heorhii KAZANZHY (UKR)
Jore VOLK (USA)
Azizbek NAIMOV (UZB)

61kg
Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM)
Jeyhun ALLAHVERDIYEV (AZE)
Ilyas ABDURASHIDOV (BEL)
Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY)
Akseli ERKKOLA (FIN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO)
Dimitrios OFLIDIS (GRE)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Armin HABIBZADEH (IRI)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ)
Aden SAKYBAEV (KGZ)
Fatlum BRAKA (KOS)
Diego RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Daniel KULCZYNSKI (POL)
Mika LEHMKUEHL (RSA)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR)
Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA)
Arslan RAKHIMOV (UZB)

65kg
Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG)
Artur SARDARYAN (ARM)
Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Ismail POMAKOV (BUL)
Matias RAMIREZ (CHI)
Yehia HAFEZ (EGY)
Luka JANEZASHVILI (GEO)
Jonnathan PEREZ (GUA)
SUJEET (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Olzhas OLZHAKANOV (KAZ)
Myrza ZHYRGALBEK UULU (KGZ)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Erick BAUTISTA (MEX)
Doru DINCA (ROU)
Hamza ZOPALI (TUR)
Mykyta ZUBAL (UKR)
Robert CORNELLA (USA)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Stone LEWIS (CAN)
Said ELGAHSH (EGY)
Davit KUTCHUASHVILI (GEO)
Marcell NAGY (HUN)
Mulaym YADAV (IND)
Hossein MOHAMMAD (IRI)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Rodion ANCHUGIN (KAZ)
Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Pavel ANDRUSCA (MDA)
Alexandru MATEA (ROU)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Harun SOYLER (TUR)
Ivan SEMENOV (UKR)
Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Menua YARIBEKYAN (ARM)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Petar PETKOV (BUL)
Amaan Ali GULACHA (CAN)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Balint NEMES (HUN)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Erfan ELAHI (IRI)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Iliyas YERBOLATOV (KAZ)
Nurbolot ADYL UULU (KGZ)
Gheorghi CARA (MDA)
Batbayar BATSUKH (MGL)
Kamil BARLOWSKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Arno VAN ZIJL (RSA)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Muhammed OZMUS (TUR)
Tymur HUDYMA (UKR)
Alexander FACUNDO (USA)
Jafar CHULIBOYEV (UZB)

79kg
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Soslan TIGIYEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Connor CHURCH (CAN)
Gabriel RAMOS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
DEEPAK (IND)
Sobhan YARI (IRI)
Daisuke SHIMIZU (JPN)
Shamsat TAIR (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Gigi SUBTIRICA (ROU)
Johannes HATTINGH (RSA)
Kimi KAEPPELI (SUI)
Bekir OVEC (TUR)
Oleksandr MAMROSH (UKR)
Braydew THOMPSON (USA)

86kg
Gurgen SIMONYAN (ARM)
Sabuhi AMIRASLANOV (AZE)
Zhulien IVANOV (BUL)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO)
Angelos KOUKLARIS (GRE)
Cesar ESTRADA (GUA)
Nandor HAJDUCH (HUN)
Jointy KUMAR (IND)
Aref RANJBARI (IRI)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Fumiya IGARASHI (JPN)
Muslim ZHAKSYLYK (KAZ)
Aslan MAMASADYKOV (KGZ)
Pureun KIM (KOR)
Lilian BALAN (MDA)
Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)
Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR)
Nazar DOD (UKR)
Bennett BERGE (USA)

92kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Suray RUFAD (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Kiril KILDAU (GER)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
AKASH (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Satoshi MIURA (JPN)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Kutman TEMIRBEKOV (KGZ)
Seohyun CHA (KOR)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Juan RUIZ (MEX)
Yildiray PALA (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Jaxon SMITH (USA)
Ravshanbek JUMABOEV (UZB)

97kg
Harutyun KIRAKOSYAN (ARM)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY)
Luka KHUTCHUA (GEO)
NIRAJ (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Toyoki HAMADA (JPN)
Zelimkhan MUSSIKHANOV (KAZ)
Joobin PARK (KOR)
Vilius MIKALAUSKAS (LTU)
Georgian TRIPON (ROU)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Benjamin KUETER (USA)

125kg
Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Roger LI (CAN)
Merab SULEIMANASHVILI (GEO)
Mahendra GAIKWAD (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Ryusei FUJITA (JPN)
Bekzat TAZHI (KAZ)
Adil MISIRCI (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Nicholas FELDMAN (USA)
Namoz ABDURASHIDOV (UZB)

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) is a senior world bronze and Asian champion. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Emine OSMAN (BUL)
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Karolina MUELLEROVA (CZE)
Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND)
Umi ITO (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Imane BOUJNANE (MAR)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Marija SPIRKOVSKA (MKD)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Ana PIRVU (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Ellen OESTMAN (SWE)
Yung LIN (TPE)
Sevval CAYIR (TUR)
Aida KERYMOVA (UKR)
Audrey JIMENEZ (USA)

53kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Nazife TAIR (BUL)
Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY)
Chadia AYACHI (FRA)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Vivien MATYI (HUN)
ANTIM (IND)
Ayaka KIMURA (JPN)
Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Patricia IURASCU (ROU)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

55kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Robbie PINGAL (CAN)
Antonia ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
MANJU (IND)
Immacolata DANISE (ITA)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Andrea BARRIENTOS (MEX)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Pei LIAO (TPE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Albina RILLIA (UKR)
Adriana MARIN (USA)
Sarbinaz JIENBAEVA (UZB)

57kg
Gabriela CROSS (CAN)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Celeste SION (FRA)
Adrienn BERES (HUN)
SITO (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Ruka NATAMI (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Bertha CHAVEZ (MEX)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Julia NOWICKA (POL)
Ana PUIU (ROU)
Melda DERNEKCI (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Sofia MACALUSO (USA)

59kg
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Viktoria BORSOS (HUN)
Bhagyashree FAND (IND)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Madina AMAN (KAZ)
Hedda KVAALE (NOR)
Aleksandra WITOS (POL)
Kara LE ROUX (RSA)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Yuliia LESKOVETS (UKR)
Savannah COSME (USA)

62kg
Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Mima TANEVA (BUL)
Angelina TODDINGTON (CAN)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
Sonam MALIK (IND)
Bianca CONTRAFATTO (ITA)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Bermet NURIDIN KYZY (KGZ)
Viktoria OEVERBY (NOR)
Wiktoria STANETA (POL)
Yu LO (TPE)
Busra EFE (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
Rushana ABDIRASULOVA (UZB)

65kg
Valentina KOZHUHAROVA (BUL)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
PRIYANKA (IND)
Veronica BRASCHI (ITA)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Korlan AMANOVA (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Melanie VILLALBA (MEX)
Davaajargal ALTANSUKH (MGL)
Zofia POLOWCZYK (POL)
Nora SVENSSON (SWE)
Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
Derya KARADUMAN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Reese LARRAMENDY (USA)
Gulmira AITMURATOVA (UZB)

68kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL)
Nicoll OSORIO (COL)
Menatalla BADRAN (EGY)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Nikoleta BARMPA (GER)
ARJU (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Zhibekzhan SABYRZHANOVA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Sandra MENCHACA (MEX)
Patrycja SLOMSKA (POL)
Caroline KVIST (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Yevheniia SIEDYKH (UKR)
Destiny RODRIGUEZ (USA)
Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB)

72kg
Marziya SADIGOVA (AZE)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Nyla BURGESS (CAN)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Zsofia VIRAG (HUN)
REETIKA (IND)
Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Ximena RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Ping HUNG (TPE)
Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)
Amit ELOR (USA)

76kg
Ana SANTOS (BRA)
Vianne ROULEAU (CAN)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Eleni CHRYSIKAKI (GER)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Priya MALIK (IND)
Ayano MORO (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Elena MARGAS (ROU)
Melisa SARITAC (TUR)
Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR)
Tristan KELLY (USA)

Emre MUTLU (TUR)Emre MUTLU (TUR) is a U23 European champion. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Paolo MILKOV (BUL)
Abdalla SHAABAN (EGY)
luka JAVAKHADZE (GEO)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Anup KUMAR (IND)
Seyedarash NEGAHDARI (IRI)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ)
Vilius ADOMAVICIUS (LTU)
Marco ALVAREZ (MEX)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Mykola HAVRYCHKIN (UKR)
Jonathan GURULE (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

60kg
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Borislav KIRILOV (BUL)
Ronaldo RAMIREZ (COL)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
SUMIT (IND)
Saeid Morad ESMAEILI (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Koto GOMI (JPN)
Bakytzhan KABDYL (KAZ)
Adilet ABYKEEV (KGZ)
Ismail ETTALIBI (MAR)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Aleksandar BERAROV (SRB)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Yong SU (TPE)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Volodymyr VOITOVYCH (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Akmal KHAMROEV (UZB)

63kg
Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
Arman VARDANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Ivan KOSTOV (BUL)
Matias RAMIREZ (CHI)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Ioannis PETKOS (GER)
David MANYIK (HUN)
UMESH (IND)
Iman Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN)
Dinislam SAGITZHAN (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Donatas RINDEIKIS (LTU)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Oleh KHALILOV (UKR)
Haiden DRURY (USA)

67kg
Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE)
Angelo DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Radoslav DIMITROV (BUL)
Nestor TRUYOL (CHI)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Abdelrahman OMAR (EGY)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN)
Yanis NIFRI (FRA)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Marco STOLL (GER)
Zsolt TAKACS (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Seyed SOHRABI (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Steve MOMILIA (ITA)
Ryohma TOYOTA (JPN)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Erlan MARS UULU (KGZ)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Alexei HAHLOVSCHI (MDA)
Kasper OEVERBY (NOR)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Iulian LUNGU (ROU)
Fritz REBER (SUI)
Onur YURTADA (TUR)
Marian HOLUBOVSKYI (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)
Ilyosjon ABDINAZAROV (UZB)

72kg
Haithem ISSAAD (ALG)
Arman KHACHIKYAN (ARM)
Matthias HAUTHALER (AUT)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Dimitar STEFCHEV (BUL)
Niko KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Jakub SIMCIK (CZE)
Emad GHALY (EGY)
Junior ORTIZ (ESP)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Alexandros BATZAKIDIS (GER)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Amir ABDI (IRI)
Ariell SOSUNOV (ISR)
Eito NISHIDA (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Alibek BERDIEV (KGZ)
Minseo OH (KOR)
Rokas CEPAUSKAS (LTU)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Elsi ORDONEZ (MEX)
Magomed EDAEV (NOR)
Igor BOTEZ (ROU)
Daniel DU TOIT (RSA)
David LOHER (SUI)
Georgios BARBANOS (SWE)
Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK)
Omer DOGAN (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Richard FEDALEN (USA)

77kg
Henrik GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Guilherme DE ARRUDA (BRA)
Martin DIMITROV (BUL)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Omar OKIL (EGY)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Rajmund ZURAI (HUN)
SACHIN (IND)
Masoud GHAFI (IRI)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Nurel DUISHONBEKOV (KGZ)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Diego TORRES (MEX)
Benjamin HANSEN (NOR)
Filip LOCH (POL)
Simon BORKENHAGEN (SWE)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Ramazan PASHAIEV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

82kg
Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Rauf ALIYEV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Fares GHALY (EGY)
Olavi LAISARV (EST)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Odysseas ROUNGERIS (GRE)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
Leon RIVALTA (ITA)
Renta YAMAGUCHI (JPN)
Azimkhon ABDALIYEV (KAZ)
Artykbek ALYMBEK UULU (KGZ)
Mihai GUTU (MDA)
Christian NUNEZ (MEX)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
James HOLDER (RSA)
Milos PEROVIC (SRB)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Shan LIN (TPE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Adrian ARTSISHEUSKIY (USA)

87kg
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Ivan MANOV (BUL)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Kareem ELDESOUKY (EGY)
Robin USPENSKI (EST)
Aapo VIITALA (FIN)
Beka MELELASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Surjeet SINGH (IND)
Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI)
Tomofumi IWAI (JPN)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Nartu ABDURAKHMANOV (KGZ)
Donghyun YUN (KOR)
Damian MATVEIKO (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Algot KAELLMAN (SWE)
Furkan TAS (TUR)
Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR)
Kodiak STEPHENS (USA)
Azamatjon ABDUBANNOBOV (UZB)

97kg
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Marko MILANOVIC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Kote SITCHINAVA (GEO)
Connor SAMMET (GER)
Archontis XOURAS (GRE)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Ali ABEDIDARZI (IRI) 
Riku NAKAHARA (JPN)
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Joowan KIM (KOR)
Rostislav COVALI (MDA)
Mateusz IWANOWSKI (POL)
Ionut GOSA (ROU)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Maans KLOSTERMANN (SWE)
Oktay DEMIR (TUR)
Vladyslav DRAHANCHUK (UKR)
Christian CARROLL (USA)
Islomjon RAKHMATOV (UZB)

130kg
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Artur SARKISJAN (CZE)
Fekry EISSA (EGY)
Eerik PANK (EST)
Mate GOKADZE (GEO)
Rafail GKIRNIS (GRE)
Adolf BAZSO (HUN)
PARVESH (IND)
Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Koei YAMADA (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Junho PARK (KOR)
Dominik KRAWCZYK (POL)
Talip CIFTCI (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB)

#WrestleBaku

Ringaci rules Baku; Ukraine best WW team at U23 Euros

By United World Wrestling Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (May 24) -- For around 15 seconds in the first period, Ekaterina KOSHKINA (AIN) must have thought she had the 65kg gold medal bout in her control.

Koshkina had Irina RINGACI (MDA) exactly where she would have wanted: in the center, on the defensive and gripping her right leg firmly. The 22-year-old had done all these things right. But she couldn’t execute the most crucial thing, the takedown.

Instead, in that moment of desperation, Ringaci showed why at the young age of 22 she has already seen her reputation grow leaps and bounds. First, she mustered all her strength to ensure Koshkina couldn’t affect a takedown and then, combining that with her flexibility she staged a perfect escape to break free from her opponent’s grasp.

Irina RINGACI (MDA)Irina RINGACI (MDA) won the 65kg gold medal at the U23 European Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In one motion, Ringaci freed her leg, got in a controlling position herself and flipped Koshkina on her back to score two points, adding to her 2-1 lead. That play, only two minutes into the final, set the tone for the rest of the bout as Ringaci won 11-3 to win her third U23 European Championship gold medal.

Conceding only five points and scoring 29, it was also quite a way for her to announce her readiness for the Paris Olympics. Only 22, Ringaci has won every possible title. In 2021, she won the senior World Championship gold (in 65kg) as a teenager and followed it up with two bronze medals in 68kg. She has two senior European Championship titles, a World Cup medal and U20 World Championship gold, apart from the third U23 continental crown.

Will the Olympic podium be the young wrestler’s next destination? We’ll know in August.

UkraineUkraine won the team title with 160 points. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Bondar leads Ukraine to team title

With three gold medals, Ukraine celebrated winning the women’s wrestling team title with 168 points. On Thursday, Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR) defeated Laura KUEHN (GER) 6-0 on Thursday to win the 76kg title. And in the first gold medal bout on Friday, Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) defeated Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE) to be crowned the champion in 53kg category.

Malanchuk found the going difficult and was trailing until a minute-and-a-half remaining in the match. That’s when she attempted a suplex but Mammadova didn’t land in danger. Malanchuk was rewarded with two points for that takedown and she got a couple more for the rollover.

From trailing by two points, she now had a lead of four after Mammadova lost a challenge and Malanchuk then built on the advantage, finishing strongly with three two-point takedowns to win the bout 13-2.

Later in the day, Iryna BONDAR’S (UKR) fearless wrestling in the 62kg gold medal match ensured the country would finish on top.

Yana TRETSIAK (AIN) tried to keep the scorelines tight in the hope of launching a late attack but in her attempt to stop Bondar from scoring, she conceded passivity points in the opening round. The match-defining moment, however, came at the halfway stage of the second period.

Bondar was rewarded for her patience as she found the tiniest of openings to launch a speedy single-leg attack. It got her into a dominant position to execute a four-point takedown. Bondar didn’t let of off Trtsiak’s grips and rolled her on the mat twice to win the bout by technical superiority (11-0).

Apart from the three gold medals, Ukraine also won three silver with Mariia VYNNYK (55kg), Manola SKOBELSKA (68kg) and Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (72kg) coming second best in their respective finals.

Turkiye finished second in the team standings with 118 points, followed by hosts Azerbaijan who ended with 76 points. Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) won the gold at 57kg category, much to the happiness of the home fans.

Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) was one of the two finalists for Azerbaijan as he reached the 70kg gold medal bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Azerbaijan eye freestyle gold medals

The host nation will hope to add more gold medals to its account two of its freestyle wrestlers qualified for the finals.

In the 70kg category, Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) orchestrated a comprehensive drubbing of Mikita DZEMCHANKA (AIN) in the semifinals, winning 11-0 to put himself in contention for his maiden U23 title. Heybatov was in control for most parts of his bouts on Friday, but his resolve will be tested in the final where he will face Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN).

Sheriev is the reigning U23 World Champion and conceded only two points en route to the final while scoring 33 across the three bouts.

The other home favourite who will fight for the title is Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) in 79kg. The 21-year-old did not allow his opponents to score a single point as he spent a little more than 10 minutes on the mat to reach his maiden U23 European Championship final.

However, to win his first-ever gold medal in this competition, Tcokaev will have to get the better of defending champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), also a senior European Championship silver medallist.

 

df

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) df. Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE), 13-2

BRONZE: Venera NAFIKOVA (AIN) df. Sevval CAYIR (TUR), via fall (5-1)
BRONZE: Viktoryia VOLK (AIN) df. Laura STANELYTE (LTU), 12-1

57kg
GOLD: Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) df. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR), 5-3

BRONZE: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Nesrin SYULEYMANOVA (BUL), 11-0
BRONZE: Volha HARDZEI (AIN) df. Jana PETROVIC (SRB), 5-0

62kg
GOLD: Iryna BONDAR (UKR) df. Yana TRETSIAK (AIN), 11-0

BRONZE: Viktoria VESSO (EST) df. Ineta DANTAITE (LTU), 13-0
BRONZE: Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) df. Iris THIEBAUX (FRA), via fall

65kg
GOLD: Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Ekaterina KOSHKINA (AIN), 11-3

BRONZE: Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) df. Ingrid SKARD (NOR), 10-0
BRONZE: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Laura GODINO (ITA), via fall (9-0)

72kg
GOLD: Alina SHAUCHUK (AIN) df. Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR),

BRONZE: Bukrenaz SERT (TUR) df. Marziya SADIGOVA (AZE), 13-0
BRONZE: Olesia BEZUGLOVA (AIN) df. Gia KASTELAN (CRO), 

Freestyle Semifinals

57kg
GOLD: Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR) vs. Artem GOBAEV (AIN)

SF 1: Artem GOBAEV (AIN) df. Luka GVINJILIA (GEO), 12-1
SF 2: Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR) df. Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR), via fall (10-0)

65kg
GOLD: Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) vs. Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN)

SF 1: Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 9-6
SF 2: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN) df. Serghei CILCIC (MDA), 11-0

70kg
GOLD: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) vs. Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)

SF 1: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Mikita DZEMCHANKA (AIN), 11-0
SF 2: Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) df. Bohdan OLIINYK (UKR), 11-0

79kg
GOLD: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) vs. Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)

SF 1: Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) df. Marius RETCO (MDA), 10-0
SF 2: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) df. Arsen BALAIAN (AIN), 3-1

97kg
GOLD: Radu LEFTER (MDA) vs. Soslan DZHAGAEV (AIN)

SF 1: Soslan DZHAGAEV (AIN) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Radu LEFTER (MDA) df. Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 14-4