#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series entry list

By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 20) -- Wrestling fans will be treated to a grand season-opening Ranking Series event as Zagreb Open will see close to 600 wrestlers on the mat next month.

All three styles have big stars coming to set the tone for an important season which also includes Paris Olympics qualifying World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Croatian capital will see Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kyle SNYDER (USA), Ravi KUMAR (IND), Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), J'den COX (USA), Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) on the mat in freestyle.

Women's wrestling will see a strong Japanese team including world and Olympic champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) entered for the competition. Most of the Japanese team comprises the winners of the Emperor's Cup from December. The USA is also bringing a strong women's team with Helen MAROULIS (USA), Kayla MIRACLE (USA), Yelena MAKOYED (USA) among others.

Canada, China and India will also be represented by strong squads and the competition will see most wrestlers shifting to Olympic weight classes as well.

The Greco-Roman battles will restart as Iran, Azerbaijan and Hungary are bringing full squads. Most of the European countries are also entered means the likes of the Sterkenburg twins from the Netherlands and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) are also entered.

The competition begins February 1 with freestyle followed by women's wrestling and ending with Greco-Roman.

All the live action and highlights can be accessed at uww.org or on the official UWW app.

Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will return to mat in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Valentin DAMOUR (FRA)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Aman AMAN (IND)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Rikuto ARAI (JPN)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Darian Toi CRUZ (PUR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)

61kg
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
PANKAJ (IND)
Reza ATRI (IRI)
Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Daniel DESHAZER (USA)
 
65kgAgustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Ryoma ANRAKU (JPN)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)
Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR)
Evan HENDERSON (USA)
Joseph MC KENNA (USA)
Nicholas LEE (USA)

70kg
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
AGUDAMU (CHN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)
Hayden HIDLAY (USA)
Tyler BERGER (USA)
 
74kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Miroslav KIROV (BUL)
Emmanuel OLAPADE (CAN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Jasmit PHULKA (CAN)
Shengsong XIA (CHN)
Nuerlanbieke WURENIBAI (CHN)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN)
Kojiro SHIGA (JPN)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Joseph LAVALLEE (USA)
Thomas GANTT JR (USA)
Jason NOLF (USA)

79kg
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Callum MCNEICE (CAN)
Peilong LI (CHN)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ramazan SARI (TUR)
Chandler MARSTELLER (USA)
 
86kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Xiao SUN (CHN)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Ruslan VALIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Mark HALL (USA)

92kg
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Pruthviraj PATIL (IND)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Radoslaw MARCINKIEWICZ (POL)
Jonathan AIELLO (USA)
Kollin MOORE (USA)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Sahil SEHRAWAT (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Morgan SMITH (USA)
Jden COX (USA)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Reheman RUSIDANMU (CHN)
Benxin DUAN (CHN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Hayden ZILLMER (USA)
Jordan WOOD (USA)
Ceron FRANCISCO (USA)

Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)Koumba LARROQUE (FRA), blue, will compete at 68kg at the Zagreb Open. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Patricia BERMUDEZ (ARG)
Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Meng FAN (CHN)
Jiang ZHU (CHN)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Shivani PAWAR (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Erin GOLSTON (USA)
Jasmina IMMAEVA (UZB)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Diana WEICKER (CAN)
Yuhong ZHONG (CHN)
Li DENG (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Tetiana PROFATILOVA (FRA)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Vivien MATYI (HUN)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN)
Sushma SHOKEEN (IND)
Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Ahinsa FERNANDO (SRI)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)
Dominique PARRISH (USA)
Alisha HOWK (USA)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

55kg
Dorcas JOSE (ANG)
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Lauren MASON (USA)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

57kg
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Tianna KENNETT (CAN)
Hannah TAYLOR (CAN)
Alexandria TOWN (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Ningning RONG (CHN)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
SITO (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Sae NANJO (JPN)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Helen MAROULIS (USA)
Alexandra HEDRICK (USA)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

59kg
Lidia VUVU (ANG)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Viktoria BORSOS (HUN)
Yui SAKANO (JPN)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)

62kg
Sara LANDO (ANG)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
ZHUOMALAGA (CHN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Lauren LOUIVE (USA)
Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
Ariukhan JUMABAEVA (UZB)
Dilfuza AIMBETOVA (UZB)

65kg
Iva GERIC (CRO)
BHATERI (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Forrest MOLINARI (USA)
Mallory VELTE (USA)
Emma BRUNTIL (USA)

68kg
Sofiya GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Olivia DI BACCO (CAN)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
RADHIKA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Natalia STRZALKA (POL)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Marilyn GARCIA (USA)
Solin PIEARCY (USA)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)

72kg
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
REETIKA (IND)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Skylar GROTE (USA)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg
Taylor FOLLENSBEE (CAN)
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Juan WANG (CHN)
Qian ZHOU (CHN)
Genesis REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar HAMZA (EGY)
Cynthia VESCAN (FRA)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
KIRAN (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Ayano MORO (JPN)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Precious BELL (USA)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) and Seyed SHORABI (IRI) will resume their rivalry at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
MANJEET (IND)
Mohammad JAVAHERI FARID (IRI)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Dalton DUFFIELD (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Liguo CAO (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN)
Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
GYANENDER (IND)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Maito KAWANA (JPN)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Michal TRACZ (POL)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Randon MIRANDA (USA)

63kg
Mbiayavanga ADRIANO (ANG)
Aker AL OBAIDI (AUT)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
SAGAR (IND)
Aref Hossein MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Jesse THIELKE (USA)
Samuel JONES (USA)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

67kg
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Husiyuetu HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Lei LI (CHN)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Elmer MATTILA (FIN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Karanjit SINGH (IND)
ASHU (IND)
Reza Mahdi ABBASI (IRI)
Seyed SOHRABI (IRI)
Eito NISHIDA (JPN)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

72kg
Stefan STEIGL (AUT)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Jian TAN (CHN)
Lovro ZURAK (CRO)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Jiri CAPEK (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Sajjad Ali IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI)
Amir ABDI (IRI)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Britton HOLMES (USA)
Patrick SMITH (USA)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Jamol JUMABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Francisco KADIMA (ANG)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
SAJAN (IND)
Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI)
Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Minto MAEDA (JPN)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Kodai SAKURABA (JPN)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Per KURE (NOR)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Maksym ZAKHARCHUK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Tunjay VAZIRZADE (AZE)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Marcel HEIN (DEN)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Pejman POSHTAM (IRI)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Spencer WOODS (USA)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

87kgBachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Lukas STAUDACHER (AUT)
Mahammad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Chengwu WANG (CHN)
Maimaiti KAISAIER (CHN)
Yi YANG (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
SUSHANT (IND)
Hamidreza BADKAN (IRI)
Naser ALIZADEH (IRI)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Masato SUMI (JPN)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Zarko DICKOV (SRB)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Alan VERA GARCIA (USA)
Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

97kg
Mawete KIANGEBENI (ANG)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Zamir MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Yan LIU (CHN)
Yiming LI (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Loic SAMEN (FRA)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Lucas SHERIDAN (USA)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

130kg
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
NAVEEN (IND)
Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)
Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Sota OKUMURA (JPN)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafal KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Tanner FARMER (USA)
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB)

#WrestlePontevedra

Begenjov wins Turkmenistan's historic world title in Freestyle

By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 7) -- After falling agonizingly short of a World Championship medal two years in a row, Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) made amends in the most impressive way possible -- winning Turkmenistan's first-ever world title in Freestyle.

Begenjov won the gold medal in 79kg weight class at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on Saturday, becoming the first Freestyle world champion of his country. It is only the second time Turkmenistan has won a gold medal at any World Championships. Shorat KHODAYEV (TKM) won a U17 world gold in 1994.

"It was my dream," Begenjov said. "I made my dream come true. I’ve become a world champion. It’s the first time in the history of my country [in Freestyle]."

Begenjov had competed at the U17 World Championships in 2022 and 2023, finishing 12th and fifth respectively. This year, he finished fifth at Asian Championships, 12th at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers and won bronze at the U23 Asian Championships. The loss at the Asian Championships hurt Begenjov.

"I was so disappointed after losing at the Asian Championships," he said. "I started training harder and last month I won the U20 Asian Championships and now the World Championships."

Not only did he win gold, Begenjov did so without conceding a point in the tournament. He outscored his opponents 46-0, including the 5-0 win over Jackary RYDER (USA) in the final.

He led 1-0 at the break after Ryder failed to score after being put on the activity clock. Begenjov used his fake attacks to keep Ryder on check and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 2-0.

Ryder did get on Begenjov's leg a couple of times but failed to finish those attacks. On one occasion, Ryder was trying to lift after a single-leg attack but Begejnov grabbed Ryder's leg and he fell on his back, giving up two points as Begenjov extended his lead to 4-0. A lost challenge made it 5-0.

The 18-year-old plans to compete at the U23 World Championships but doesn't plan to compete at the senior level yet.

"I have to train harder to repeat this and win the senior world title," he said. "I am physically not strong enough yet for senior level."

Trained by his uncle in Ashgabat, Begenov graduated from school earlier this year and joined the university.

"I will start my first year," he said. "I will study stock exchange. We have this faculty in Turkmenistan."

Apart from Ryder's silver medal, the United States won gold and three bronze medals. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) upgraded his silver from last year to gold, winning the 57kg weight class by beating Lev PAVLOV (AIN) in the final.

This was Lilledahl's fourth straight age-group world final after he made two at U17 level and one at U20. He won silver in 2021 and upgraded to gold in 2022 at the U17 Worlds.

In the final against Pavlov, who he had beaten on his way to the final last year in Amman, Lilledahl got two activity points while Pavlov got one. Pavlov failed to find a perfect opening to score a point in the final seconds and dropped the final 2-1.

"When I wrestled him before, it was a lot more wide open," Lilledahl said. "With it being the finals [this year], he would kind of just wrestle to win. That's what you have to do. You're here to win. 

"That's pretty much what I figured would happen. He doesn't really like to create a lot of action, which kind of plays against me because I like the action. It was a stylistic matchup. Having wrestled him before, we kind of knew each other and knew how each other felt and stuff like that."

Aitmukhan adds U20 title

World champion at 92kg Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) gave the U20 World Championships a try and went home with a gold medal. Aitmukhan became Kazakhstan's first Freestyle world champion at the senior level last year at 92kg in Belgrade.

By winning the 97kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Aitmukhan as became only the fourth wrestler from Kazakhstan, and first in 24 years, to win a gold in Freestyle at U20 World Championships.

Aitmukhan was so dominant in the final that Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) could not stop him from winning the final 10-0.

Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) completes a takedown in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran won the gold medal at 65kg as Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) shut out Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), and won the final 10-2. Khorramdel lost his semifinal to Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN) last year but won a bronze medal in the 61kg weight class.

The U20 Asian champion had a difficult path to the final as he had to make a comeback in his opening bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), winning 12-11. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) also fought hard but lost 9-6 before Khorramdel hung on for a 6-4 win over Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) in the semifinals.

Hosokawa was displeased with his performance as Khorramdel blocked him from the right side and Hosokawa failed to score from his strong position. 

While Hosokawa lost, his Nippon Sports Science University teammate Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) won the gold medal at 70kg. Two days before his bouts, Yamashita had announced in the dining hall that he could "only see the gold medal". Yamashita made sure he took it home.

In a high-paced final, Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) failed to challenge Yamashita's speed and style and lost 6-0 in the 70kg final.

"This was my first international world tournament," Yamashita said. "I played with the intention of having fun and had a lot of fun. This is my goal for this year, but after competing, I realized that the senior world championships or the Olympics would be even more amazing. "

It was not all fun for Baitukaev on the mat as Yamashita showed his A game. Yamashita got the first point via stepout and earned a second when the 30-second activity clock against Baitukaev ended. Yamashita blasted a double in the second period to get two points and turned using head-in-middle lace to lead 6-0. Baitukaev had no energy left to attack and Yamashita won the gold medal.

Yamashita celebrated by gesturing like he was taking out the imaginary Samurai swords. 

"I came up with it when I was thinking of doing a performance based on Japanese culture," he said. "It's a Japanese tradition since ancient times. I did it because I admired it."

Yamashita trains with Olympic champions Rei HIGUCHI (JPN and Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) at NSSU and wants to replicate the success his teammates had.

"I realized that what I was doing was correct," he said. "It was a great environment to have someone close to me that I was aiming for. I was really moved by watching the matches. I was inspired by that."

For him to be at the Olympics, Yamashita will have to wait at least four years and jump to 74kg to make the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm still thinking about it, but I guess I can only be 74kg to qualify for the Olympics," he said "I would like to be at 74kg for Los Angeles."

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Lev PAVLOV (AIN), 2-1

BRONZE: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) df. Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: ANKUSH (IND) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)  df. Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), 10-2

BRONZE: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) df. Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via fall (9-0) 
BRONZE: Peter DUKE (USA) df. Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ), 18-7

79kg
GOLD: Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) df. Zackary RYDER (USA), 5-0

BRONZE: Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) df. Said SAIDULOV (AIN), 5-4
BRONZE: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. AMIT (IND), 13-2

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam JAKSIK (SVK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 2-1

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) vs. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)

SF 1: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Marcus BLAZE (USA), 7-2
SF 2: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) vs. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

SF 1: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Shingo ANDO (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-1

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) vs. Joshua BARR (USA)

SF 1: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI), 12-2
SF 2: Joshua BARR (USA) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Sali SALIEV (BUL) vs. Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Sali SALIEV (BUL) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 5-4
SF 2: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA)

SF 1: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Benjamin KUETER (USA) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 13-3