#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series 2026 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 22) -- The 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb. Zagreb Open will begin February 4 to 8 and will be held at Arena Zagreb, the same venue as the World Championships.

Freestyle will kick off the competition on February 4 with six weight classes. February 5 will see the remaining four Freestyle weight classes and two Women's Wrestling weights in action. Day three will be four Women's Wrestling weights and two Greco-Roman.

Both Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman will be held on day four, February 7, with women's in four and Greco in two weight classes. Last and day five will be all Greco with six weight classes.

Click here for full schedule of Zagreb Open 2026 Ranking Series. 

All action will be live on UWW+. Subscribe to UWW+ to watch.

Greco-Roman

55kg
Filip BARTOSIK (CZE)
Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO)
LALIT (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Mohammad IRIHOSSEINVAND PANAHISANI (IRI)
Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ)
Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Yersin ABYIR (KAZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Sebastian KOLOMPAR (SRB)
Omer RECEP (TUR)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)
Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB)

60kg
Giorgi KOCHALIDZE (GEO)
SAHIL (IND)
Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI)
Pouya NASERPOUR (IRI)
Koto GOMI (JPN)
Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Galym KABDUNASSAROV (KAZ)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

63kg
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Adham ELSAYED (EGY)
CHETAN (IND)
Meysam DALKHANI (IRI)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ)
Saifulla KURMAN (KAZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Dejan BERKEC (SRB)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Rhett PEAK (USA)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Khusniddin OLIMBOEV (UZB)

67kg
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Mohammad KAMALI (IRI)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Dinmukhamed OMAROV (KAZ)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Otto BLACK (USA)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
Oybek SHARIBJONOV (UZB)

72kg
Estebane TSCHARNER (CIV)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Mishiko ALEKSANDRIA (GEO)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Kuldeep MALIK (IND)
Javad REZAEI (IRI)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ)
Nikolay KHAPKO (KAZ)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Ehab KHALIL (EGY)
Yehia ABDELKADER (EGY)
Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI)
Amir SAEIDI NAVA (IRI)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
PRINCE (IND)
Abolfazl MOHMEDI (IRI)
Reza MOKHTARI (IRI)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Mykyta POLITAIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Jesse PORTER (USA)
Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

87kg
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Antonio LUKAC (CRO)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Fares GHALY (EGY)
Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
ROHIT (IND)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Dogan KAYA (TUR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Zachary BRAUNAGEL (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)
Rahimjon UZOKOV (UZB)

97kg
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Luka GABISONIA (GEO)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Naser ALIZADEH 
Hadi SEYDI AVENDI (IRI)
Takahiro TSURUDA (JPN)
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)
Nurassyl AMANALY (KAZ)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Uros KRSTIN (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Abdul CEBI (TUR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB)

130kg
Marko MILANOVIC (CRO)
Artur SARKISJAN (CZE)
Rati TALIKISHVILI (GEO)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Joginder RATHEE (IND)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Courtney FREEMAN (USA)

Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)World champion at 79kg Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) is moving up to 86kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Freestyle

57kg
Nikoloz BOTCHORISHVILI (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
AMAN (IND)
ANKUSH (IND)
Atish TODKAR (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) 
Ali YAHYAPOUR (IRI)
Fuga SASAKI (JPN)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Anthony KNOX (USA)
Liam CRONIN (USA)
Spencer LEE (USA)

61kg
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Reza MOMENI (IRI)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Austin DESANTO (USA)

65kg
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
SUJEET (IND)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Peyman NEMATI (IRI)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Joseph MCKENNA (USA)

70kg
Alexander SEIWALD (AUT)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Caleb HENSON (USA)
Ian PARKER (USA)
Tyler KASAK (USA)

74kg
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Benjamin DOBLER (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
CHANDERMOHAN (IND)
DEEPAK (IND)
Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Alfred DANIEL (SLE)
David CARR (USA)
James GREEN (USA)
Jarrett JACQUES (USA)
Farhad NOURIKHORJESTAN (UWW)

79kg
Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
AMIT (IND)
Sobhan ESMI (IRI)
Adel PANAEIAN (IRI)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Daniel BRAUNAGEL (USA)
Dean HAMITI (USA)
Evan WICK (USA)

86kg
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Connor CHURCH (CAN)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Sandeep MANN (IND)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Shane JONES (PUR)
Gabriel MC DUFFIE (SLE)
Parker KECKEISEN (USA)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)

92kg
Zaur BERADZE (GEO)
Jointy KUMAR (IND)
Mobin AZIMI (IRI)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Dustin PLOTT (USA)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)
Trent HIDLAY (USA)

97kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Samuel PEREIRA (CAN)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Deepak CHAHAL (IND)
VICKY (IND)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Stephen BUCHANAN (USA)
Zane LANHAM (USA)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Aleksandre ABRAMISHVILI (GEO)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Mahendra GAIKWAD (IND)
Mortaza JANMOHAMMADZADEH (IRI)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Demetrius THOMAS (USA)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN), world 65kg champion, is entered at 68kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Katie DUTCHAK (CAN)
Ena ZEMUNIC (CRO)
Laura BOGATIC (CRO)
Laura FATH (HUN)
MUSKAN (IND)
NEELAM (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Agata GOLUCHOWSKA WALERZAK (POL)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI)
Kendra RYAN (USA)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW)

53kg
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Anjali KACHHAWA (IND)
ANTIM (IND)
Umi IMAI (JPN)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Everest LEYDECKER (USA)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)
Sydney PETZINGER (USA)

55kg
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
JYOTI (IND)
Nagisa HARADA (JPN)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Amani JONES (USA)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
MANISHA (IND)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Felicitas DOMAJEVA (NOR)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Tindra DALMYR (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Iris SLATKA (CRO)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
RAJNITA (IND)
Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Abigail NETTE (USA)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)

62kg
Lais NUNES (BRA)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
ANJLI (IND)
Bhagyashree FAND (IND)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Alara BOYD (USA)
Macey KILTY (USA)
Marilyn GARCIA (USA)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW)

65kg
Marijana SUMSKI (CRO)
PULKIT (IND)
Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Agnes NYGREN (SWE)

68kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Gerda BARTH (GER)
Laura KOEHLER (GER)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
NISHA (IND)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Kennedy BLADES (USA)
Solin PIEARCY (USA)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW)

72kg
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Diksha MALIK (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Jyoti BERWAL (IND)
PRIYA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Tristan KELLY (USA)

#WrestleTirana

Bisultanov Throws His Way to Second European Gold

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (April 21) -- In one of the most viral and recognizable videos of the many social media edits of wrestling is the one of Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) performing a huge arm throw. He did it at the 2022 European Championships, which he went on to win.

Four years later, Bisultanov had to rely on the arm throw again to beat an Olympic champion and to win his second European title, making him the first wrestler from Denmark to achieve the feat.

Starting as the underdog against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) in the 87kg final in Tirana on Tuesday, Bisultanov performed a near-perfect throw, tossing Novikov on the mat for four points. That gave Bisultanov a huge advantage and Novikov played catch up in the six-minute final. He scored two counter exposure in the same sequence but Bisultanov still led 4-4 on criteria.

Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN), red, performs the arm throw to score four points against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

The Denmark wrestler scored a stepout and got the passivity point in the second period to extend his lead to 6-4, leaving Novikov needing at least three points for the win. Novikov tried a desperate throw in the final moments but Bisultanov blocked him and secured the fall.

When the final ended, Bisultanov was a two-time European champion. Novikov, who had defeated Bisultanov twice before including at the Paris Olympics, was now the second best in Europe two times in a row. 

"Last time I lost to him, it was the Olympics," Bisultanov said. "Before that, it was the European Championships [2023]. I have not wrestled at the European Championships since that."

Returning the continental tournament after three years, Paris bronze medalist Bisultanov showed early signs of form in Tiran when he won three bouts via technical superiority. He began with an 8-0 win against Matej MANDIC (CRO), then a similar victory over Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) and a 9-0 shutout in the quarterfinals against Ihar YARASHEVICH (UKR).

In the semifinals, he faced Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) but took just 46 seconds in the second period to pin the Ukrainian, who had beaten Novikov last week.

"I'm speechless," Bisultanov said. "Actually, I told my coaches I would win it by finishing every match before time. And thank God, a few seconds before the time finished in the final, they called the pin. So I completed my promise to my coaches."

WATCH: All Matches of Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) at European Championships

Giving a small insight into the planning he had for Novikov, Bisultanov explained how one training session in Porec, Croatia in February helped them devise a strategy.

"I had only one sparring session with Novikov in that camp," he said. "My coach told me defend the par terre by moving behind. But during that training session, I tried to defend and Novikov rolled me two times."

"So before the final, my coach reminded me how to defend. And I told my coach. that the last time I tried this defense, he rolled me. Then coach said just do what you would like to do. I did the arm throw."

Bisultanov missed out on a medal at the 2025 World Championships, but the 24-year-old reteriated that he is not finished yet.

"I want to achieve even more," he said. "I know I'm not done. My ultimate goal is to be an Olympic champion."

Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) is now a five-time European champion. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Amoyan Claims Fifth Straight Title

Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) is quickly becoming a European legend as he claimed his fifth straight gold medal on Tuesday.

In what was a rematch of the 2025 final, Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) was looking to avenge his 3-1 loss against Amoyan. While Zoidze was able to make it a close final this time around, he was not able to stop Amoyan from a 1-1 win.

Both wrestlers exchanged passivity points but it was Amoyan who got the first position which gave the Armenian the criteria for the win.

"Every year the victory becomes more difficult for me," Amoyan said. "I have truly gone through a very difficult journey, and I still have more to achieve in order to accomplish even greater victory."

Amoyan began his European Championships career in 2020 but he finished 16th at 72kg, In 2021, he fell short at the last hurdle and finished with a silver medal at 72kg.

But in 2022, he moved up to 77kg and won his first of the five gold medals. 

"Honestly, I don’t think about whether it will be the 5th, 6th, or 7th title," he said. What matters to me is the victory itself. I go into every tournament aiming only to win the gold medal."

At 55kg, 18-year-old Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) fell short against the experienced Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) who defended his European title with a 2-1 victory.

Lolua had the 1-1 criteria lead after both wrestlers exchanged par terre positions. However, in a flurry of action with just about a minute remaining, Sefershaev managed to push Lolua out of bounds and take a 2-1 lead. He defended the lead to claim the gold medal, his third at the European Championships.

Veteran Sergey EMELIN (UWW) also won his third European title in contrasting manner than Sefershaev. Facing U23 world champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) for the gold medal, Emelin got the par terre and gut-wrenched the Moldova wrestler for a 9-0 win.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) df. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), 2-1

BRONZE: Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Omer RECEP (TUR), 8-0
BRONZE: Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL) df. Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 3-1

63kg
GOLD: Sergey EMELIN (UWW) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 9-0

BRONZE: Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Mairbek SALIMOV (POL), 11-0
BRONZE: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Pridon ABULADZE (GEO), 6-2

77kg
GOLD: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), 1-1

BRONZE: Edvin BAFF (SWE) df. Alexandrin GUTU (MDA), 2-1
BRONZE: Robert FRITSCH (HUN) df. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO), 1-1

87kg
GOLD: Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) df. Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), via fall (8-4)

BRONZE: Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) df. Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW), 1-1
BRONZE: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Dogan KAYA (TUR), 5-1

130kg
GOLD: Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Darius VITEK (HUN), 7-1

BRONZE: Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW) df. Marat KAMPAROV (UWW), 10-5
BRONZE: Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 3-1