#WrestleFaenza

Alili Makes Macedonian History, Wins First-Ever Cadet European Title

By Eric Olanowski

FAENZA, Italy (June 22) -- Coming into Saturday's European finals, Macedonia had three wrestlers reach the gold-medal bout but never had a cadet wrestler win a continental title in any style. Besir ALILI (MKD) changed that after winning his nations first-ever cadet European title on the sixth day of wrestling in Faenza, Italy. 

For the second year in a row, Alili had an opportunity to do what his fellow countrymen, Boban DANOV (MKD) and Dejan Bogdanov (MKD), couldn’t do, and that was to come out on the winning end of a European gold-medal bout. That’s exactly what he did on Saturday night, rewriting a page in his nation’s history book with a 7-6 come-from-behind win against Harutyun HOVHANNISYAN (ARM) in the 48kg finals. 

The match couldn’t have started any worse for Alili, but he wasn’t going to be denied a gold medal. His Armenian opponent hit a slide by to start the match, and as Alili squared up, Hovhannisyan shot a fireman’s carry. With Alili’s arm trapped, Hovhannisyan came up to his feet and thunderously tossed the Macedonian to his back. The referrers awarded five points to Hovhannisyan for his spectacular throw, leaving Alili down 5-0 less than 30 seconds into the match. To end the exchange that left him behind 5-1, Alili was able to somehow worm his way on top for the reversal, cutting his deficit to four points. 

With under 30 seconds left in the first period, Alili pulled Hovhannisyan’s head down to the mat and locked up a front head pinch, rolling his Armenian opponent over his back three consecutive times. His six points from the front head pinches, coupled with the reversal, gave Alili the 7-5 lead heading into the break. 

From there, there was nothing flashy from Alili’s end, just sound defense and near perfect position that helped him cruise to the 7-6 victory after being down 5-0 to start the match. 

After the match, and before strolling around the mat with the Macedonian flag draped above his head, Alili celebrated sticking the perfect landing on his cartwheel to a backflip. 

Macedonia now has eight cadet European medals. They have Alili’s Day 6 gold, three silvers and four bronze medals. 

The final day of wrestling at the Cadet European Championships starts tomorrow at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live onwww.unitedworldwretling.org

RESULTS 

Team Scores 
GOLD – Russia (105 points)
SILVER – Azerbaijan (70 points)
BRONZE – Ukraine (56 points)
Fourth – Georiga (55 points)
Fifth – Turkey (38 points)

48kg 
GOLD - Besir ALILI (MKD) df. Harutyun HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 7-6 
BRONZE - Ramazan BAGAVUDINOV (RUS) df. Ramik HEYBATOV (AZE), 7-3 
BRONZE - Luka GUGESHASHVILI (GEO) df. Andrei VITAN (MDA), 10-0

55kg
GOLD - Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA) df. Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR), 5-0 
BRONZE - Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM), 8-6  
BRONZE - Magomed TAZHUDINOV (RUS) df. Burak DEMIR (GER), 12-1 

65kg
GOLD - Iman SHIKHSHABEKOV (RUS) df. Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE), 4-0 
BRONZE - Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO) df. Aliaksandr HULNIK (BLR), 11-0 
BRONZE - Narek POHOSIAN (UKR) df. Krystian Tomasz KRUPINSKI (POL), 13-2 

80kg
GOLD - Akhmedkhan TEMBOTOV (RUS) df. Denys SAHALIUK (UKR), 9-0 
BRONZE - Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO) df. Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE), via fall
BRONZE - Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) df. Nihat BEKTAS (TUR), 11-0

110kg
GOLD - Andrei BESTAEV (RUS) df. Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL), 10-0 
BRONZE - Hamlet NASIBLI (AZE) df. Hubert WISNIEWSKI (POL), 4-0 
BRONZE - David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) df. Marius UJA (MDA), 3-0 

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Freestyle Entries, Seeds

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 14) -- The Freestyle entries for the World Championships are set. In total, close to 900 wrestlers are participating in the September 13-21 tournament in Zagreb.

In Freestyle, 326 wrestlers are entered to compete at the World Championships that will begin with Freestyle action on September 13. The competition will also see 12 Paris Olympic medalist compete including two gold medalists.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change 72 hours before the Freestyle draw at the World Championships. For latest entries, refer to uww.org

WOMEN'S WRESTLING ENTRIES | GRECO-ROMAN ENTRIES

Zagreb

57kg

Seeded
No. 1 – Spencer LEE (USA)
No. 2 – Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
No. 3 – AMAN (IND)
No. 4 – Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
No. 5 – Darian CRUZ (PUR)
No. 6 – Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
No. 7 – Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
No. 8 – Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)

Unseeded
Salah KATEB (ALG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Garette SAUNDERS (CAN)
Mingzhuo LI (CHN)
Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Peter HAMMER CUDE (CRC)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Ali Hossein MOMENI (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Chongsong HAN (PRK)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Yusuf DEMIR (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)

61kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Zavur UGUEV (UWW)
No. 2 -- Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
No. 3 -- Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
No. 4 -- Takara SUDA (JPN)
No. 5 -- UDIT (IND)
No. 6 -- Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
No. 7 -- Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
No. 8 -- Nils LEUTERT (SUI)

Unseeded
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Georgii OKOROKOVV (AUS)
Zezhong SUN (CHN)
Ndjidda BOUBA (CMR)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Ahmad  JAVAN (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Sangboum HAN (KOR)
Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Kum Hyok KIM (PRK)
Dylan SHAWVER (PUR)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Jaxen FORREST (USA)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

65kg

Seeded
No. 1 – Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
No. 2 – Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)
No. 3 – Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
No. 4 – Ali RAHIMZADA (AZE)
No. 5 – Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
No. 6 – Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)
No. 7 – Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)
No. 8 – SUJEET (IND)

Unseeded
Chouaib SAHRAOUI (ALG)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Gantulga BATBAATAR (MGL)
Stephen IZOLO (NGR)
Abdullah ASSAF (PLE)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Kwang Jin KIM (PRK)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Cavit ACAR (TUR)
Andrii BILIICHUK (UKR)
Real WOODS (USA)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Wilfredo RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

70kg

Seeded
No. 1 – Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
No. 2 – Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
No. 3 – Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
No. 4 – Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
No. 5 – Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
No. 6 – Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
No. 7 – Vasile DIACON (MDA)
No. 8 – Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)

Unseeded
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Michael ZALE (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
Gabriel MUANDA (COD)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
ROHIT (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Khairiddine BEN TLILI (TUN)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
PJ DUKE (USA)
Saiyn KAZYRYK (UWW)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg

Seeded
No.1 -- Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
No. 2 -- Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
No. 3 -- Yones EMAMI (IRI)
No. 4 -- Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
No. 5 -- Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
No. 6 -- Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
No. 7 -- Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
No. 8 -- David CARR (USA)

Unseeded
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Renato DA SILVA (BRA)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
BATUQINGGELE (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Vedran LUKETIN (CRO)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Vikash KUMAR (IND)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Cristian SANTIAGO (MEX)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Ok Chol HAN (PRK)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
Vitali IHNATOVICH (UWW)
Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW)
Mirzo KHAYITOV (UZB)
Anthony MONTERO (VEN)

79kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
No. 2 -- Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
No. 3 -- Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
No. 4 -- Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
No. 5 -- Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
No. 6 -- Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
No. 7 -- Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
No. 8 -- Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)

Unseeded
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Tu Erxun AHEIYOU (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Marko NIKOLIC (CRO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
AMIT (IND)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Bumgue SEO (KOR)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Michael LABRIOLA (PUR)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Alfred DANIEL (SLE)
Azymberdi SAPAROV (TKM)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Levi HAINES (USA)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Osman GOCEN (TUR)
No. 2 -- Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
No. 3 -- Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)
No. 4 -- Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
No. 5 -- Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
No. 6 -- Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
No. 7 -- Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
No. 8 -- Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)

Unseeded
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Matteo MONTEIRO FURTADO (CPV)
Kreso SKUGOR (CRO)
Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOK (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Ethan RAMOS (PUR)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)

92kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
No. 2 -- Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
No. 3 -- Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
No. 4 -- Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
No. 5 -- Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
No. 6 -- Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
No. 7 -- Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
No. 8 -- Trent HIDLAY (USA)

Unseeded
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Hua ZE (CHN)
Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Andrian GROSUL (MDA)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Alperen TOKGOZ (TUR)
Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
No. 2 -- Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
No. 3 -- Kyle SNYDER (USA)
No. 4 -- Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
No. 5 -- Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
No. 6 -- Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
No. 7 -- Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
No. 8 -- Richard VEGH (HUN)

Unseeded
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Filip HUKLEK (CRO)
Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
VICKY (IND)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)
Magomed KURBANOV (UWW)
Cristian SARCO (VEN)

125kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
No. 2 -- Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
No. 3 -- Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
No. 4 -- Robert BARAN (POL)
No. 5 -- Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
No. 6 -- Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
No. 7 -- Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
No. 8 -- Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)

Unseeded
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Filip KOSCIC (CRO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Gyeongmin KIM (KOR)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)
Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)