Complete Freestyle World Cup Rosters Released

Thursday, April 5, 2018 - 23:59 By Eric Olanowski

Iowa, United States (April 5) - Although India does not arrive until Friday morning, each of the eight participating nations have submitted their finalized rosters for the 2018 Freestyle World Cup which begins April 7.

The eight teams have been split into two groups for the dual-meet based events which is an annual highlight of the international wrestling calendar. Group A will be comprised of the United States, Georgia, Japan and India, while Group B will be Azerbaijan, Cuba, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.

Azerbaijan
57kg Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI
57kg - Afgan KHASHALOV
61kg - Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV
65kg - Haji ALIYEV
65kg - Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV
70kg - Joshgun AZIMOV
74kg - Gadzhimurad OMAROV
79kg - Jabrayil HASANOV
86kg - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV
92kg - Aslanbek ALBOROV
97kg - Nurmagomed GADZHIYEV
97kg - Roman BAKIROV
125kg - Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV

Cuba
57kg - Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA
61kg - Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ
65kg - Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER
70kg - Franklin MAREN CASTILLO
74kg - Livan LOPEZ AZCUY
79kg - Yoan Adrian ZULUETA MORALES
86kg - Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA
92kg - Lazaro Daniel HERNANDEZ LUIS
97kg - Reineris SALAS PEREZ CUB
125kg - Yudenny ALPAJON ESTEVEZ

Georgia
57kg - Teimuraz VANISHVILI
61kg - Lasha LOMTADZE
65kg - Magamed SAIDOVI
70kg - Levan KELEKHSASHVILI
74kg - Tarzan MAISURADZE
79kg - Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI
86kg - Davit KHUTSISHVILI
92kg - Dato MARSAGISHVILI
97kg - Givi MATCHARASHVILI
125kg - Zviad METREVELI

India
57kg - Amit KUMAR
61kg - Sandeep TOMAR
65kg - Sharvan SHARVAN
70kg - Kumar ARUN
74kg - Kumar Omprakash VINOD
79kg - Sachin GIRI
86kg - Pawan KUMAR
92kg - Deepak PUNIA
97kg - Viky VIKY
125kg - Singh PUSHPENDER

Japan
57kg - Yuki TAKAHASHI
61kg - Kazuya KOYANAGI
61kg - Rinya NAKAMURA
65kg - Daichi TAKATANI
65kg - Takuto OTOGURO
70kg - Keisuke OTOGURO
70kg - Kirin KINOSHITA
74kg - Ken HOSAKA
74kg - Yuhi FUJINAMI
79kg - Sohsuke TAKATANI
86kg - Shota SHIRAI
86kg - Masao MATSUSAKA
92kg - Takashi ISHIGURO
97kg - Takeshi YAMAGUCHI
97kg - Taira SONODA
125kg -Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA
125kg -Taiki YAMAMOTO

Kazakhstan
57kg - Mukhambet KUATBEK
61kg - Rassul KALIYEV
65kg - Sayatbek OKASSOV
70kg - Meirzhan ASHIROV
74kg - Daniyar KAISANOV
79kg - Saken AITZHANOV
86kg - Elkhan ASSADOV
92kg - Iliskhan CHILAYEV
97kg - Mamed IBRAGIMOV
125kg -Daulet SHABANBAY
125kg -Oleg BOLTIN
125kg -Yermukambet INKAR

Mongolia
57kg - ERDENEBAT Bekhbayar
61kg - TUMENBILEG Tuvshintulga
65kg - BATCHULUUN Batmagnai
70kg - SANJAA Ganbayar
74kg - GANZORIG Mandakhnaran
79kg - GANTULGA Iderkhuu
86kg - ORGODOL Uitumen
92kg - LUVSANDORJ Turtogtokh
97kg - ULZIISAIKHAN Batzul
125kg - NATSAGSUREN Zolboo

United States
57kg - Thomas Patrick GILMAN
57kg - Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV
61kg - Kendric Dwayne MAPLE
61kg - Joseph Daniel COLON
65kg - Logan Jeffery STIEBER
65kg - Joseph Christopher MC KENNA
70kg - James Malcolm GREEN
70kg - Frank Aniello MOLINARO
74kg - Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS
74kg - Isaiah Alexander MARTINEZ
79kg - Kyle Douglas DAKE
79kg - Alexander David DIERINGER
86kg - David Morris TAYLOR III
86kg - Bo Dean NICKAL
92kg - J'Den Michael Tbory COX
92kg - Hayden Nicholas ZILLMER
97kg - Kyle Frederick SNYDER
97kg - Kyven Ross GADSON USA
125kg - Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI
125kg - Dominique Deshon BRADLEY

Freestyle World Cup Schedule
Saturday, April 7 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: United States v. India (Mat A) // Mongolia v. Kazakhstan (Mat B)
11:15 am: Japan v. Georgia (Mat A) // Azerbaijan v. Cuba (Mat B)
2:00 pm: Opening Ceremonies
2:30 pm: United States v. Japan (Mat A)
4:30 pm: Mongolia v. Cuba (Mat B)
5:45 pm: India v. Georgia (Mat A) // Azerbaijan v. Kazakhstan (Mat B)

Sunday, April 8 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: United States v. Georgia (Mat A) // Mongolia v. Azerbaijan (Mat B)
11:15am: India v. Japan (Mat A) // Kazakhstan v. Cuba (Mat B)
12:30pm: Fifth Place Match (Mat A) // Seventh Place Match (Mat B)
2:15 pm: Bronze Medal Match (Mat A)
4:00 pm: Gold Medal Match (Mat A)

TV Schedule
Saturday, April 7 (All Times, CST)
10:00 am: USA v. India — Olympic Channel
2:30 pm: USA v. Japan — NBCSN

Sunday, April 8 ((All Times, CST)
11:00 am: United States v. Georgia — Olympic Channel
4:00 pm: Gold Medal Match — NBCSN

2026 Muhamet Malo

'Important Gold’: Sadulaev Relishes Successful 97kg Return

Thursday, February 26, 2026 - 21:58 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 26) -- World champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) could have challenged him. Up-and-coming Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW) could have caused trouble. Or maybe Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) would have caused an upset.

None of that happened. A calm and composed Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) marked his return to the mat with yet another gold medal, winning the 97kg weight class at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event on Thursday in Tirana, Albania.

It has become increasingly rare to see Sadulaev wrestle internationally, but when he does, the results tend to be a foregone conclusion. Sadulaev last wrestled at a global event at the same Feti Borova Arena in Tirana in October 2024 when he claimed his sixth world title, stunningly dropping to 92kg.

After 15 months, he was back -- at 97kg and, the top of the podium.

"Thank you to everyone who supported me, those in the arena and those watching on TV and smartphones," Sadulaev said. "Everyone who cheered, worried, and prayed for me. I want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to all of you."

When Sadulaev stepped on the mat on Thursday, he rolled back the years. Right hand on his opponent's forehand, circling while standing tall. He would throw himself back if someone tried to attack his legs and then get a front headlock to score.

A true throwback in Tirana would have been a Sadulaev and Snyder clash but Khaniev decided to postpone that for now by beating the United States wrestler in the quarterfinals. Sadulaev got Khaniev in the final.

He was the first on board with a double-leg attack which gave him four points. He then made Khaniev toil to find an opening and when he did, Sadulaev defended like a rock. Khaniev was able to score only through stepouts -- managing four points from it while Sadulaev added three more takedowns to finish the final 10-4.

While the gold medal was a satisfactory result for Sadulaev, there was an added incentive that he was chasing.

"For me, this gold means qualifying for the European Championships, which will take place here in this same arena in two months, in April. It was very important for me to qualify there," he said.

Sadulaev, if he competes, will be at the European Championships after six years having last competed at the tournament in 2020. He won gold medal at 97kg in Rome.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) scores on Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW) in the 97kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The final against Khaniev was a virtual wrestle-off to win the spot for the continental championships, to be held from April 20 to 26. And despite beating Khaniev, Sadulaev was all praise for the youngster.

"Khaniev is young and promising," he said. "I thought we might meet before the final, but [because of the bracket] we faced each other only in the final.

"I know him well, we train in the same region, we’ve been at training camps together and worked side by side. He’s very tough, with a really good stamina. He hasn’t gained that much experience yet, but I believe he has everything ahead of him."

Khaniev, making his debut at 97kg internationally, sprung a surprise when he defeated Snyder 10-4, using some crafty counters in the second period. He also defeated Magomedov in the semifinals.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) completes a fireman's carry move. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

However, Sadulaev isn't reading much into Snyder's loss as the U.S. wrestler had lost to Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) in Tirana but went on to win the world gold in September.

"At tournaments like this, he [Snyder] usually doesn’t come in at peak form the way he does for the World Championships or the Olympic Games, where he’s been in his best shape," Sadulaev said. "So this loss doesn’t really say much. Maybe he will win the next World Championships."

The World Championships in Manama, Bahrain is scheduled in October and there is a good chance that both Sadulaev and Snyder will be there. But Sadulaev is hoping for a more decorated field.

"If everything goes well and I make it for the World Championships, four Olympic champions could compete in this weight class [in Bahrain] -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kyle [SNYDER] and Ahmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and myself, and other medalists," he said. "I think it will be the most competitive and exciting weight category."

Sadulaev, in his subtle humor, would go on.

"It’s hot enough there [Bahrain], but I think at the World Championships, it will be even hotter."

Complete Freestyle World Cup Rosters Released

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'Important Gold’: Sadulaev Relishes Successful 97kg Return