#YasarDogu

Burroughs, Cox, Snyder Close out Yasar Dogu with Day 4 Titles

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkey (July 14) --- The United States closed out the final day at the Yasar Dogu with three gold medals -- bringing their overall freestyle championship total to five. They had a pair of winners on Day 3, then tacked on three additional golds thanks to the help of world champions Jordan BURROUGHS, J’den COX and Kyle SNYDER, who won the 74kg, 92kg and 97kg title respectively. 

Cox and Snyder now head into September’s World Championships as the top-ranked wrestlers at their respective weights, while Burroughs gained the No. 2 ranking with his win in Istanbul.

Burroughs, a four-time world and Olympic champion, was scheduled to wrestle his biggest rival Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) for the 74kg title. But Chamizo, a two-time world champion, decided to sit out of the gold-medal bout after he locked up the top seed at 74kg -- handing the American the Yasar Dogu gold. 

With Chamizo grabbing the No. 1 seed from Sidakov, the Italian will face Budapest world runner-up and fourth-ranked Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) in the top-side semifinal in Nur-Sultan, and Sidakov and Burroughs in the bottom side semifinal. That is, of course, if the seeds hold true in Kazakhstan.

J’den COX (USA) outscored his four Yasar Dogu opponents 42-0 en route to the 92kg gold medal. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

J’den Cox closed out his run to a 92kg Yasar Dogu title outscoring his opponents 42-0 --including a 10-0 victory over Bendeguz TOTH (HUN) in the finals. 

Cox, the reigning 92kg world champion, picked up four takedowns then ended the finals match against Toth with a right side gut and slides into the World Championships with an unblemished 2019 record. 

Kyle Snyder earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) in the 97kg finals and passed Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) for the weights top spot. 

Snyder, a two-time world and Olympic champion, grabbed what ended up being the match-deciding takedown early in the first period with a quick ankle pick. Though he conceded a stepout point in the second period, Snyder hung on to win his first Yasar Dogu title -- improving on his third-place finish from a year ago. 

Erica WIEBE (CAN) won her second straight Ranking Series title with a 2-1 win over Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) in the 76kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Erica WIEBE (CAN) became the third Olympic champion to win a Yasar Dogu title after scoring a 2-1 victory over Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) in the 76kg women’s wrestling finals. 

Wiebe and Da Sila Ferreira traded inactivity points, and the Brazilian led at the halfway point of the second period, but the Canadian earned her second inactivity point with 45 seconds left to hang on to win, 2-1. 

Wiebe has now defeated a world or Olympic champion in three straight tournaments en route to her gold medals. At the Sassari in late May, Wiebe stuck Olympic champion Natalia VORBIEVA (RUS) in the opening period, then followed that up by defeating reigning world champion Justina DI STASIO (CAN) to win the Canada Cup title two weeks ago.

RESULTS

Freestyle

Team Standings 
GOLD - Turkey (165 points) 
SILVER- USA (155 points) 
BRZONE - Azerbaijan (100 points) 
Fourth - India (94 points) 
Fifth - Hungary (83 points)

74kg
GOLD - Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) df. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA), via injury default
BRONZE - Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR) df. Enes USLU (TUR), via injury default 
BRONZE - Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df. Yakup GOR (TUR), 7-5 

92kg 
GOLD - J'Den Michael Tbory COX (USA) df. Bendeguz TOTH (HUN), 10-0 
BRONZE - Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE) df. Abubakar TURGAYEV (KAZ), via injury default
BRONZE - Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) df. Viky VIKY (IND), 8-0 

97kg 
GOLD - Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Ali Khalil SHABANIBENGAR (IRI), 2-1 
BRONZE - Abraham CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) df. Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE), via disqualification
BRONZE - Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN) df. Baki SAHIN (TUR), via fall 

Women's Wrestling

Team Standings
GOLD - Russia (113 points)
SILVER - Turkey (112 points)
BRONZE - Belarus (92 points)
Fourth - India (89 points)
Fifth - Canada (78 points)

72kg 
GOLD - Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)
BRONZE - Alena STARODUBTSEVA (RUS) df. Nilufar GADAEVA (UZB)

76kg 
GOLD - Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) df. Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA), 2-1 
BRONZE - Yasemin ADAR (TUR) df. Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER), 10-3
BRONZE - Iselin Maria Moen SOLHEIM (NOR) df. Alla BELINSKA (UKR), via fall 

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Double delight for Japan, Sujeet gives India gold

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN) and world silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) showed on Thursday why they will be prime contenders for gold medal at the World Championships in Zagreb in September.

Suda and Aoyagi earned two gold medals at 61kg and 70kg respectively, and reminded the world about Freestyle powerhouse Yamanashi Gakuin University in Japan.

Suda, who has not lost a match this year, won his second Ranking Series gold medal in 2025, adding to his gold from Tirana. But he needed a big comeback in the 61kg final against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the dying seconds, winning 5-3.

Zhumashbek Uulu led 3-1 with 13 seconds remaining in the match when Suda used a snap to off balance Zhumashbek Uulu and go behind. He tried a takedown but then switches the direction and brings Zhumashbek Uulu to the mat, back first.

Zhumashbek Uulu tried to defend it with a whizzer but failed and Suda turned on his head without any danger to get the two points and win 3-3 on criteria. Kyrgyzstan challenged the call but on review, Suda was awarded four points and the scored changed to a 5-3 win for the Japanese.

In February, Suda won the gold medal in Tirana after an 8-8 victory over Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) and then won the Asian Championships gold medal over UDIT (IND) 6-4 in March.

Zhumashbek Uulu, who won Mongolian Open in June at 65kg, returned to 61kg after an year of competing at 65kg. He defeated Udit earlier in the day and reached the final but failed to cross the final hurdle.

With the win, Suda has clearly shown signs that he will be a gold-medal threat in Zagreb at 61kg, a weight class won by his high school and university teammate Masanosuke ONO (JPN) in 2024.

Aoyagi, who had also won gold medal in Tirana, was more dominant in his gold medal run. In Tirana, European silver medalist Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) had pulled out injured in the final.

Incidentally, he made the final against Aoyagi in Budapest on Thursday and this time he decided to wrestler. However, the winner was the same.

Aoyagi used a head-in-the-hole move to score four points in his 8-0 victory in the final of the 70kg weight class. Andreasyan had no answer to Aoyagi's attack despite being in advantageous positions during the final.

The Armenian was put on the activity clock during which he failed to score and gave up four points. Aoyagi, leading 5-0, won a challenge when Andreasyan was awarded two points for a takedown but on review, it was clear that Andreasyan had both his feet outside before completing a takedown.

With a 6-0 lead, Aoyagi scored a beautiful duck-under for two points and lead 8-0, the final score for the winner.

SUJEET (IND)SUJEET (IND) celebrates after beating Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) in the 65kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Sujeet ends Indian drought

India failed to win any gold medals at the senior level in 2025 as it drew blank at the Asian Championships in March and Mongolian Open in June. However, Asian U23 champion SUJEET (IND) ended that curse for India by winning the 65kg gold medal in Budapest.

While he has age-group world and continental medals, Sujeet's run in Budapest and gold medal can be considered his biggest medal yet as he defeated Paris bronze medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB) in the first bout, European U23 silver medalist Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) in the quarterfinal and world medalist Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) in the semifinal.

Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) was up in the final and Sujeet, who showed glimpses of Tokyo bronze medalist Bajrang PUNIA (IND), made sure he doesn't let his guard down in the last match.

Sujeet conceded an activity point in the first period and was down 1-0 at the break against Rahimzade. But as soon as the second period began, Sujeet put pressure on Rahimzade, who kept dropping on his knees in the zone to avoid the pushout.

But Sujeet did not back down and scored a takedown when Rahimzade was on the activity clock. Leading 3-1, Sujeet added another takedown and completed a 5-1 victory over Rahimzade and captured the gold medal, his first of Ranking Series events.

At 57kg, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed three straight comebacks to win the gold medal. He defeated Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) 3-1 in the final to capture his first gold at the senior level.

Lilledahl scored a takedown using a reattack with 20 seconds remaining in the match against Bazarganov to clinch a 3-1 win. His semifinal victory over RAHUL (IND) was even more dramatic as he managed to come back from 6-2.

Rahul used a leg-turk to score six point and lead 6-2 but Lilledahl scored a stepout and then blocked an attempted duck-under and put Rahul's back on the mat for two points. In the final 20 seconds, he threw off Rahul when the Indian was trying to hit a double-leg attack and won 7-6. In his first bout of the day, he scored a pushout with just 0.01 seconds left on the clock and dashed the dreams of Niklas STECHELE (GER).

World silver medalist Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) returned to 79kg from 86kg and instantly showed results, winning the gold medal in Budapest. He blanked Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 5-0, in the final

At 125kg, Bahrain won its second gold of the tournament as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) defeated Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW), 5-3.

Photo

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE), 3-1

BRONZE: RAHUL (IND) df. Niklas STECHELE (GER), 4-0
BRONZE: Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW) df. Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 10-0

61kg
GOLD: Takara SUDA (JPN) df. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ), 5-3

BRONZE: Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) df. Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR), 4-3
BRONZE: Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ) df. Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO), 10-0

65kg
GOLD: SUJEET (IND) df. Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE), 5-1

BRONZE: Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO) df. Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 7-7
BRONZE: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) df. Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA), 9-0

70kg
GOLD: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df. Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM), 8-0

BRONZE: Sina KHALILI (IRI) df. Austin GOMEZ (MEX), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) df. Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI), 11-4

79kg
GOLD: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 5-0

BRONZE: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) df. Lucas KAHNT (GER), 10-0
BRONZE: Fariborz BABAEI (IRI) df. Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ), 2-0

97kg
GOLD: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), 11-0

BRONZE: Jonathan AIELLO (USA) df. Juhwan SEO (KOR), 10-0
BRONZE: Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) df. Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 9-4

125kg
GOLD: Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) df. Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW), 5-3

BRONZE: Robert BARAN (POL) df. Demetrius THOMAS (USA), 6-0
BRONZE: Alen KHUBULOV (BUL) df. Vladislav BAJCAJEV (HUN), 3-0