#YasarDogu

Yasar Dogu Set to Welcome Wrestling's Biggest Stars

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkey (July 1) -- The most anticipated freestyle Ranking Series event of the year, the Yasar Dogu, will take place July 11 to 14 in Istanbul, and more than 275 wrestlers from 21 countries are expected to make the journey to Turkey's most populated city. The goal remains simple: try to pocket the remaining Ranking Series points before heading to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, for September's World Championships. 

Since the Budapest World Championships, wrestlers have been stashing away Ranking Series points with hopes of becoming one of the forty top-four seeded wrestlers come September. The Yasar Dogu leaves those on the cusp of earning a top-four seed one last opportunity to gain those additional much-needed Ranking Series points. 

Heading into Istanbul, five wrestlers have seized the No. 1 seed, 17 wrestlers have cemented at least a top-four seed, leaving 23 seeds open for the taking in Istanbul. Though they're not all entered, there are still 150 wrestlers who could steal a seed from a current top-four seeded wrestler if they were to win a gold medal in a weight class with 20+ wrestlers in Turkey. 

Wrestling begins July 11 and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

Freestyle

57kg
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)
Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL)
Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL)
Gamal Abdelnaser Hanafy MOHAMED (EGY)
Kumar RAVI (IND)
Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA)
Minir REDJEPI (MKD)
Haljit OSMAN (MKD)
Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Saban KIZILTAS (TUR)

61kg
Mohamed Al Amine LAKEL (ALG)
Mirjalal HASAN ZADA (AZE)
Asgar MAMMADALIYEV (AZE)
Yasser Eshhata Abady AHMED (EGY)
Rahul Balasaheb AWARE (IND)
Sandeep TOMAR (IND)
Utkarsh Pandharinath KALE (IND)
Behnam Eshagh EHSANPOOR (IRI)
Elmedin SEJFULAU (MKD)
Selehattin SERT (TUR)
Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR)
Recep TOPAL (TUR)
Tyler Lee GRAFF (USA)


Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) enters the Yasar Dogu as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

65kg
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Haji Mohamad ALI (BRN)
Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY)
Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN)
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Sonba Tanaji GONGANE (IND)
Peiman Bioukagha BIABANI (IRI)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Tilek SHARSHEEV (KGZ)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Masoud NIAZI (NED)
Kaireddine BEN TELILI (TUN)
Cengizhan ERDOGAN (TUR)
Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)
Mehmet Emin OGUT (TUR)
Zain Allen RETHERFORD (USA)
John Michael DIAKOMIHALIS (USA)

70kg
Fares LAKEL (ALG)
Murtazali Raxmatullayevic MUSLIMOV (AZE)
Gitinomagomed GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Adam BATIROV (BRN)
Mihail Iliev GEORGIEV (BUL)
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Rajnesh RAJNEESH (IND)
Meisam Abolfazl NASIRI (IRI)
Adilet MAMATAEV (KGZ)
Riad REDJEPI (MKD)
Omer Faruk CAYIR (TUR)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Mustafa KAYA (TUR)
James Malcolm GREEN (USA)

Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) enters the Yasar Dogu as the second-ranked wrestler in the world at 74kg. The Italian sits four points behind top-ranked Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

74kg
Ishak BOUKHORS (ALG)
Toghrul ASGAROV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Miroslav Stefanov KIROV (BUL)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Zsombor Istvan GULYAS (HUN)
Amit Kumar DHANKHAR (IND)
Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI)
Mostafa Mohabbali HOSSEINKHANI (IRI)
Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
Mansur SYRGAK UULU (KGZ)
Mohamed SESAY (SLE)
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Maher GHANMI (TUN)
Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Yakup GOR (TUR)
Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA)

79kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE)
Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE)
Benjamin SEZGIN (GER)
Botond LUKACS (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Parveen RANA (IND)
Bahman Mohammad TEYMOURI (IRI)
Foday KARGBO (SLE)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ramazan Ishak SAR I(TUR)
Ender COSKUN (TUR)
Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR)
Alexander David DIERINGER (USA)

Even though he's locked up his No. 1 seed for the World Championships, top-ranked Fatih ERDIN (TUR) will still wrestle at the Yasar Dogu. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

86kg
Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE)
Svetoslav Zhivkov DIMITROV (BUL)
Khaled Masoud Ismail ELMOATAMADAWI (EGY)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Patrik SZUROVSZKI (HUN)
Richard Ferenc LIGETI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI)
Aligadzhi GAMIDGADZHIEV (KGZ)
Muhammad ALI (PAK)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN)
Selim YASAR (TUR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Fatih ERDIN (TUR)
James Patrick DOWNEY III (USA)

92kg
Mohammed FARDJ (ALG)
Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)
Bendeguz TOTH (HUN)
Viky VIKY (IND)
Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)
Ibrahim BOLUKBASI (TUR)
J'Den Michael Tbory COX (USA)

97kg
Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE)
Hosam Mohamed Mostafa MERGHANY (EGY)
Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN)
Balasz Attila JUHASZ (HUN)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Reza Mohammad Ali YAZDANI (IRI)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ)
Mohamed BUNDU (SLE)
Rustam ISKANDARI (TJK)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Baki SAHIN (TUR)
Fatih YASARLI (TUR)
Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA)

Taha AKGUL (TUR) needs to at least score one Ranking Series to stop a potential world semifinals matchup between his biggest rival, Geno PETRIASHVILI (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

125kg
Seyed Mohammadreza AZARSHAKIB (AZE)
Khaled Omr Zaki Mohamed ABDALLA (EGY)
Ahmed Mahmoud Elsayed Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
Mihaly NAGY (HUN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Komeil Nemat GHASEMI (IRI)
Farkhod ANAKULOV (TJK)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Abdullah OMAC (TUR)
Fatih CAKIROGLU (TUR)
Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)

Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 Day 4: Tazhudinov, Ghasempour lose

By Vinay Siwach

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 21) -- The final day at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 will see four Freestyle weight classes in action -- 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg. Every weight class has a world champion wrestling today.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER

12:50: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) drops his semifinal against Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) 15-3. Aitmukhan with three exposure for six points in the second period. Tazhudinov struggled to finish his attacks. We have a Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) vs Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) final.

12:40: World silver medalist Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) with a lace to beat Rifat GIDAK (TUR) 11-0 and enter the final at 97kg.

12:37: Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) reaches the 86kg final with an 5-1 win over Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the semifinal. Dzhioev will now take on Saipudunov for the gold medal.

12:33: Another Bahrain wrestler in the final as Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN) survives an late onslaught from Osman GOCEN (TUR) and wins 8-6 at 86kg. Gocen got a four-pointer which kept him in the match which was otherwise dominated by Saipudinov

12:30: Top match at 74kg semifinal as Younes EMAMI (IRI) holds off Norkhoza KAIPONOV (KAZ) 6-5. Kaiponov was up 4-1 and scored a stepout to make it 5-1. Emami got a stepout to make it 5-2 and a beautiful duckunder to close it to 5-4. He continued the action and used a gut-wrench to make it 6-5 with less than a minute remaining. He defended his lead to enter the final in which he will take on Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)

12:22: Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE) with a takedown in the final 10 seconds to upset Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) who was leading 5-2 till the last 30 seconds. The takedown gave Novruzov a 5-5 criteria lead before Asluev tried to hit exposure. Novruzov got an counter exposure for the 7-5 win. 

12:15: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) is into the 125kg final after a 7-0 blanking of Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) in the semifinal. Easy win for the world champion

12:11: World silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) goes down 7-6 against Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) in the 125kg semifinal. Sharipov scored a four-pointer and led 5-0. But in Meshvildishvili comes back in the second period to make it 6-4 and needed three points for a win. He scored a takedown to make it 6-6 but was down on criteria. In the final 10 seconds, he was close to scoring two times but Sharipov managed to defend. A lost challenge gave him another point.

12:06: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) downs Olympic bronze medalist Mogomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) 12-2 at 97kg. Aitmukhan with a four-pointer and three takedowns in his victory. Solid defense as well whenever Magomedov seemed threatening.

11:55: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) with a cradle to get the fall over Abossolo CEDRIC (CMR) in the second period of his 97kg quarterfinal.

11:50: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) wins his quarterfinal at 97kg against Muhammad GULZAR (PAK) 11-0 after three rolls from par terre. He will wrestle Rifat GIDAK (TUR) who defeated Oucif HOUSSEM (ALG) 13-2

11:42: After taking out Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), Arsenii DHZIOEV (AZE) continues his winning run and enters the semifinal at 86kg with an 11-0 victory over Benferdjallah FATEH (ALG)

11:30: Younes EMAMI (IRI) with an strong defensive performance as he beats Orozbek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), 5-2, at 74kg. Emami got a point every time he seemed passive in the match.

11:20: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) powers his way to a 10-0 victory over Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ) at 125kg. World champion Zare is a strong favorite to win gold here.

11:18: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) stops Shams QURAISHI (AFG) from more upsets but not after an incredible match. Quraishi managed to score 9 points on Asluev before dropping his bout 12-9

11:10: Olympic champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) opens his 97kg with an 11-1 technical superiority win over 92kg U20 world champion Sherzod POYONOV (UZB).

11:00: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) works his incredible underhook and manages an easy 11-0 victory over Iqbal AHMADI (AFG) at 97kg. Azarpira is a world silver medalist from Zagreb.

10:50: Former world 92kg champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) makes it look easy rolling to a 10-0 win over Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY) at 97kg.

10:45: Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) takes out Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) in the opening bout at 86kg. In a bout of two halves, Ghasempour got a takedown and passivity point in opening period before Dzhioev scored a takedown during Ghasempour's activity time to lead 3-3 on criteria with just over a minute left. Ghasempour tried a desperate leg attack at the end only to give a takedown and hand the win to Dzhioev

10:37: Osman GOCEN (TUR) hangs on for a 2-2 criteria win over Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB) at 86kg. It was a scramble in which both wrestlers were awarded two points each with Gocen getting it later and holding the criteria. No points were scored in the second period but both wrestler were involved in scrambles. Gocen manages to hold off and win.

10:33: Haider BUTT (PAK) led 3-0 against Farhad MALIK ZADA (AFG) and on the way to give Afghanistan it's first win of the tournament. However, Malik Zada with a comeback and beats the Pakistan wrestler 8-4 at 86kg.

10:25: Orozbek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) took his own time but he manages to beat Khaireddine BEN TLILI (TUN), 11-1, in their 74kg. A four-pointer in the first period for Toktomambetov

10:15: Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ), one of the four world champs in action today, starts off with an 11-0 victory over Jafar CHULIBOYEV (UZB) at 74kg. He got a stepout before a takedown and four turns.

10:10: Afghanistan is really having a solid Games for itself. After some impressive wins yesterday and a fifth-place finish, Shams QURAISHI (AFG) gets a fall at 74kg against Omar MOURAD (EGY).

10:00: Last day of the ISG 2025 with four weight classes in Freestyle. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) vs Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) likely to face in the 97kg.