BuchaWrestU23

Complete Rosters Released for U23 World Championships

By Eric Olanowski

BUCHAREST, Romania (November 8) - Over the next few days, United World Wrestling will be releasing the rosters for the 2018 U23 World Championships, which begins on Monday, November 12 at Bucharest's Polyvalent Hall. Greco-Roman wrestling will kick things off, followed by women's wrestling, with freestyle action closing out the championships. 

Click here for the full schedule. 

Freestyle

57kg    
Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE)
Darthe CAPELLAN (CAN)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Kumar RAVI (IND)
Alireza Nosratolah SARLAK (IRI)
Toshihiro HASEGAWA(JPN)
Rakhat KALZHAN (KAZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Drilon SYLA (KOS)
Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Razvan Marian KOVACS (ROU)
Muslim SADULAEV (RUS)
Bekir SAHIN (TUR)
Taras MARKOVYCH (UKR)
Jack Michael MUELLER (USA)
Jahongirmirza TUROBOV (UZB)

61kg    
Ruslan GASIMOV (AZE)
Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL)
Joshua BODNARCHUK(CAN)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Teimuraz VANISHVILI (GEO)
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE)
Arun ARUN (IND)
Iman Mokhtar SADEGHIKOUKANDEH (IRI)
Yudai FUJITA (JPN)
Bauyrzhan TOREBEK (KAZ)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Chinzorig TSERMAA (MGL)
Viktar SHMULIAI (POL)
Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU)
Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS)
Ivan MOLNAR(SVK)
Ertugrul KAHVECI (TUR)
Petro BILEICHUK (UKR)
Sean Christian FAUSZ (USA)
Firdavs YARASHEV (UZB)

Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) celebrates after making the Rio finals.  (Photo: Gabor Martin)

65kg    
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Dzianis MAKSIMAU (BLR)
Haji Mohamad ALI (BRN)
Dimitar IVANOV (BUL)
Dillon Emmanuel WILLIAMS (CAN)
Aly Ibrahim Abdelhamid ABDELHAMID (EGY)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Niklas Dietmar DORN (GER)
Roman ASHARIN (HUN)
Singh SURJEET(IND)
Morteza GHIASI CHEKA (IRI)
Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)
Ilyas ZHUMAY(KAZ)
Nurgazy ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ)
Vitalie BUNICI(MDA)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Patryk Krzysztof OLENCZYN (POL)
Stefan Ionut COMAN (ROU)
Islam DUDAEV(RUS)
Elbrus CHERTKOEV (SVK)
Utku DOGAN (TUR)
Andrii SVYRYD(UKR)
Colton James MCCRYSTAL (USA)
Temurjon USMONOHUNOV (UZB)

70kg    
Gevorg MKHEYAN (ARM)
Mikita SAUCHANKAU (BLR)
Mihail Iliev GEORGIEV (BUL)
Alexander CHAVES (CAN)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN(EGY)
Giorgi SULAVA (GEO)
Luis Isabel BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Nima Hossein ESHFAGHIAMIRI (IRI)
Jintaro MOTOYAMA (JPN)
Aidyn TAZHIGALI (KAZ)
Islambek OROZBEKOV(KGZ)
Stefan TONU (MDA)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Mateusz Dariusz KAMPIK (POL)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
David BAEV (RUS)
Akido Ansumana KONNEH (SLE)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Enes USLU (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
Hayden Michael HIDLAY (USA)
Ramazon IBODOV (UZB)

Returning U23 World finalist Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

74kg    
Andranik GABRIELYAN (ARM)
Ismail ABDULLAEV (AZE)
Aliaksandr HRYHAROVICH (BLR)
Miroslav Donchev HRISTOV (BUL)
Tyler William ROWE (CAN)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Johann Christoph STEINFORTH (GER)
Konstantinos GKOTSIS (GRE)
Parveen MALIK (IND)
Navid Morad ZANGANEH (IRI)
Salvatore DIANA (ITA)
Yuto MIWA (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Bekzhan DZHAMBULOV (KGZ)
Alberts JURCENKO (LAT)
Andrius MAZEIKA (LTU)
Gheorghi PASCALOV (MDA)
Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR)
Maxim VASILIOGLO (ROU)
Timur BIZHOEV (RUS)
Gasimu KARGBO (SLE) 
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR)
Denys PAVLOV (UKR)
Alexander Landon SMYTHE (USA)
Muhammadali MUKHTOROV (UZB)

79kg    
Ali KHUZHEIRY(BLR) 
Engin Rashid ISMAIL (BUL)
Aidan Ross MCKEAGE(CAN)
Johnny Just BUR (FRA)
Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Gkeorgki MELETOV (GRE)
Peter NAGY (HUN)
Dinesh KUMAR (IND)
Mojtaba Yousefali ASGHARI OSMAVANDANI (IRI)
Yajuro YAMASAKI (JPN)
Yerkebulan TILEU (KAZ)
Tugs Erdene DENZENSHARAV(MGL)
Krzysztof Grzegorz SADOWIK(POL)
Omaraskhab NAZHMUDINOV( ROU)
Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS)
Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM)
Muhammet Lutfi KUCUKYILDIRIM (TUR)
Alfes DOLIDZE(UKR)
David Vincent MCFADDEN (USA)
Isa SHAPIEV (UZB)

Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) celebrates his 2018 European Championships victory by carrying the Russian flag around the mat. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

86kg    
Hovhannes MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Murad SULEYMANOV(AZE)
Raman CHYTADZE (BLR)
Alexander Robert MOORE (CAN)
Saba CHIKHRADZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE(GER)
Ilias KYDROS (GRE)
Uphar SHARMA (IND)
Kamran Ghorban GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Gabriele DORO (ITA)
Taisei MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Yeskali DAULETKAZY (KAZ)
Andrian GROSUL (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Michal Jan BIELAWSKI (POL)
Mihai Nicolae PALAGHIA (ROU)
Artur NAIFONOV (RUS)
Arif OZEN (TUR)
Bohdan POPKOV (UKR)
Myles Najee MARTIN (USA) 
Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB)

92kg    
Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE)
Artsiom RUDZIANOK (BLR)
Irakli MTSITURI (GEO)
Ilja MATUHIN  (GER)
Christos SAMARTSIDIS (GRE)
Bendeguz TOTH (HUN)
Sanjeet SANJEET (IND)
Hossein Lotfali SHAHBAZIGAZVAR (IRI)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Iliskhan CHILAYEV (KAZ)
Altangerel CHINBAT (MGL)
Zoltan GERGEN (ROU)
Aslanbek SOTIEV (RUS)
Semih YAZICI (TUR)
Bohdan HRYTSAY (UKR)
Christian William BRUNNER (USA)
Azizbek SOLIEV (UZB)            

97kg    
Sargis HOVSEPYAN (ARM)
Nurmagomed GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR)
Nishan Preet Singh RANDHAWA (CAN)
Chaoqiang YANG (CHN)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Erik Sven THIELE (GER)
Niazi IMPIS (GRE)
Karandeep Singh NAHAL (IND)
Ali Khalil SHABANIBENGAR (IRI)
Simone IANNATTONI (ITA)
Taira SONODA(JPN)
Bakdaulet ALMENTAY(KAZ)
Lukas KRASAUSKAS (LTU)
Odsuren BOLDBAATAR (MGL)
Rares POPESCU (ROU)
Martin ERASMUS (RSA)
Igor Alekseevitch OVSIANNIKOV (RUS)
Yunus Emre DEDE (TUR)
Magamed ZAKARIIEV(UKR)
Kollin Raymond MOORE (USA)
Bakhodir ASLONOV (UZB)            

Amin TAHERI(IRI) last year's 125kg U23 world bronze medalist. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

125kg  
Vitali PIASNIAK (BLR)
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Er SONGBU (CHN)
Reagan Mbo MABUBA (COD)
Khaled Omr Zaki Mohamed ABDALLA (EGY)
Jere Tapani HEINO (FIN)
Rolandi ANDRIADZE (GEO)
Mihaly NAGY (HUN)
Abhijeet Chandrakant KATAKE (IND)
Amin Hossein TAHERI (IRI)
Yasuhiro YAMAMOTO(JPN)
Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
Samhan JABRAILOV (MDA)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
Kamil Tomasz KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Marian LUNGU (ROU)
Said Gamidovitch GAMIDOV  (RUS)
Georgii NOGAEV (SVK)
Huseyin Mehmet CIVELEK (TUR)
Oleksandr KOLDOVSKYI (UKR)
Youssif Ibrahim HEMIDA (USA)
Sardorbek KHOLMATOV (UZB)

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN), 2017 world champion. (Photo by Tony Rotundo)

Greco-Roman

55kg    
Norayr HAKHOYAN (ARM)
Nedyalko Petrov PETROV (BUL) 
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA(GEO)
Bence KOVACS (HUN)
Ravin RAVIN (IND)
Reza Kheirollah KHEDRI (IRI)
Shota OGAWA(JPN)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Balbai DORDOKOV (KGZ)
Florin TITA (ROU)
Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS)
Sebastian KOLOMPAR (SRB)
Dogus AYAZCI(TUR)
Vladyslav KOROSTELOV (UKR)
Dalton Duane DUFFIELD (USA)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV(UZB)            

60kg 
Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG) 
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL)
Libin DING (CHN)
Dicther Hans TORO CASTANEDA (COL)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Dato CHKHARTISHVILI(GEO)
Christopher Josef KRAEMER (GER)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Manish MANISH (IND)
Mehdi Seifollah MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)
Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ)
Rustam TEIISHOV (KGZ)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Artur PETROSIAN (RUS)
Ardit FAZLJIJA(SWE)
Kerem KAMAL(TUR)
Viktor PETRYK(UKR)
Randon Drew MIRANDA (USA)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)            

Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU), 2018 European champion. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

63kg    
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Ramiz MAMMADOV (AZE)
Yahor BELIAK (BLR)
Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO)
Marton JASZ (HUN)
Rajeet RAJEET(IND)
Meysam Karamali DALKHANI(IRI)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
Tangirbergen NAURYZBAYEV (KAZ)
Tynar SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Alexandru BICIU (MDA)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Magomed Nazirovitch MAGOMEDOV (RUS)
Onur ATALAY (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Travis Michael RICE (USA)
Turabek TIRKASHEV (UZB)            

67kg   
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Karim JAFAROV (AZE)
Azamat TAKHOYEU (BLR)
Deyvid Tihomirov DIMITROV  (BUL)
Xin HUANG (CHN)
Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY)
Alejandro Ruslan CONCEPCION CASTILLO (ESP)
Mikko Petteri PELTOKANGAS(FIN)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Otto LOSONCZI (HUN)
Ravinder RAVINDER (IND)
Hossein Nasrollah ASSADI KOLMATI  (IRI)
Ryo NAKAHASHI (JPN)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Nurmoldo ANARBEKOV (KGZ)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS(LAT)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valeriu TODEREAN (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Alexandru SOLOMON(ROU)
Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Serhii KOZUB (UKR)
Nolan Robert BAKER (USA)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)            

72kg    
Armen HAKOBYAN (ARM)
Islambek DADOV (AZE)
Ruslan AHAMALYIEU (BLR)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Toni Tapio OJALA (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE(GEO)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Kumar AJAY (IND)
Ali Reizollah ARSALAN(IRI)
Muto SAWADA (JPN)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Nikita MASJUKS (LAT)
Vegard JOERGENSEN(NOR)
Adrian Ionut AGACHE(ROU)
Narek OGANIAN (RUS)
Foday JAYAH (SLE)
Aleksa ERSKI (SRB)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)
Logan Edward KASS (USA)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)            

Reigning U23 world champion, Fatih CENGIZ (TUR). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

77kg    
Seryozha BERNETSYAN (ARM)
Shuai MAMEDAU (BLR)
Zahari Rosenov ZASHEV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN)
Ahmed Ibrahim Gomaa HASSAN (EGY)
Matias Olavi Iisakki LIPASTI (FIN)
Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO)
Karan MOSEBACH (GER)
Zotlan LEVAI (HUN)
Sajan SAJAN (IND)
Seyedmohammad Seyedali CHOOBCHIAN LANGEROUDI (IRI)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Renat ILIAZ UULU (KGZ)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Daniel CATARAGA  (MDA)
Brage Haugmo RINGHEIM (NOR)
Krzysztof Marek NIKLAS (POL)
George Vlad MARIEA  (ROU)
Ismail SAIDKHASANOV (RUS)
Andrija Luka MALETIN (SRB)
Leos DRMOLA(SVK)
Khalid KERCHIYEV (SWE)
Daler REZA ZADE (TJK) 
Fatih CENGIZ (TUR)
Elmar NURALIIEV (UKR)
Jesse Alexander PORTER (USA)       

82kg    
Gegham TORGOMYAN (ARM)
Eltun VAZIRZADE (AZE)
Mikita KLIMOVICH (BLR)
Rosian Ognyanov DERMANSKI (BUL)
Haitao QIAN (CHN)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Ahmed Hassan Aly Mahmoud AHMED (EGY)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Sanjeet SANJEET (IND)
Mahdi Asgar EBRAHIMI (IRI)
Takahiro TSURUDA (JPN)
Yevgeniy POLIVADOV(KAZ)
Abdulaziz ASHYMBEKOV (KGZ)
Viorel BURDUJA (MDA)
Mihail BRADU(MDA)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Nicu Samuel OJOG (ROU)
Vaag MARGARIAN (RUS)
Zarko DICKOV  (SRB)
Oskar Alexander Patrick JOHANSSON (SWE)
Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Carter Joseph NIELSEN (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

Reigning U23 world bronze medalist, Islam ABBASOV (AZE). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

87kg    
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Anton KURS (BLR)
Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL)
Junjie NA (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB)
Mohamed Moustafa Ahmed Abdall METWALLY (EGY)
Toni Heikki Herman METSOMAEKI (FIN)
Khalis Salah Mohamed Ramadan GHILMANOU( FRA)
Gurami KHETSURIANI(GEO)
Bertalan PAPP(HUN)
Kumar SUNIL  (IND)
Mahdi Ebrahim FALLAHHAMIDABADI (IRI)
Kanta SHIOKAWA (JPN)
Elmar UKALI (KAZ)
Kalidin ASYKEEV (KGZ)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU) 
Michal Andrzej DYBKA (POL)
Ionut Alexandru CARAS (ROU)
Gazi KHALILOV (RUS)
Boris PETRUSIC (SRB) 
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ  (TUR)
Semen NOVIKOV (UKR)
George SIKES IV (USA)

97kg    
Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE)
Dzmitry KAMINSKI (BLR)
Simeon Srdzhan STANKOVICH (BUL)
Abudourexiti ALIMUJIANG (CHN)
Kevin BAUMANN (EST)
Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Jan ZIRN (GER)
Anestis ZARIFES (GRE)
Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO(HON)
Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN)
Deepanshu DEEPANSHU (IND)
Ali Akbar HEIDARI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV(KGZ)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Gerard Cyprian KURNICZAK (POL)
Cristian Teodor CHIRA(ROU)
Aleksandr GOLOVIN (RUS)
Dorde PESUT  (SRB)
Aslan KULIYEV(TKM)
Suleyman ERBAY (TUR)
Vladen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Temur Mirzo MAMAJANOV (UZB)            

Cadet world champion and junior world silver medalist, Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

130kg  
Edgar KHACHATRYAN(ARM)
Artsiom SHUMSKI (BLR) 
Shuai KONG (CHN)
Ante MILKOVIC (CRO)
Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Artur VITITIN (EST)
Konsta Johannes MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Ravi SHARMA(IND)
Aliakbar Hossein YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI)
Satoshi KAIZUKA (JPN) 
Mansur SHADUKAYEV(KAZ)
Oskar MARVIK(NOR)
Rafal Andrzej KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Lenard Istvan BEREI (ROU)
Nokhcho LABAZANOV(RUS)
Boban ZIVANOVIC (SRB)
Georgii NOGAEV (SVK)
Azmuddin VAKHOBOV (TJK)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Andrii VOZNIUK (UKR)
Cohlton Michael SCHULTZ (USA)
Daler RAKHMATOV (UZB)

China's 2018 57kg world champion RONG Ningning is entered at 59kg. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.

Women’s Wrestling 

50kg    
Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Kseniya STANKEVICH (BLR)
Natassya LU (CAN)
Yuhong ZHONG (CHN)
Ainztane GORRIA GONI (ESP)
Lisa ERSEL (GER)
Bianka RECZI (HUN)
Divya TOMAR  (IND)
Miho IGARASHI (JPN)
Svetlana ANKICHEVA  (KAZ)
Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)
Miesinnei Mercy GENESIS (NGR)
Dominika Karolina SZYNKOWSKA (POL)
Stefania Claudia PRICEPUTU (ROU)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA(RUS)
Aynur ERGE (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Cody Mae PFAU (USA)            

53kg    
Katsiaryna PICHKOUSKAYA (BLR)
Kremena Krasimirova PETROVA (BUL)
Kristina Katelyn MCLAREN (CAN)
Junling OUYANG (CHN)
Hilary Ysaline HONORINE (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER) 
Ankush ANKUSH (IND)
Momoka KADOYA (JPN)
Aigul NURALIM (KAZ)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR(MGL)
Silje Knutsen KIPPERNES (NOR)
Katarzyna KAMINSKA (POL)
Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU)
Milana DADASHEVA (RUS)
Zeynep YETGIL(TUR)
Khrystyna BEREZA (UKR)
Charlotte Michele FOWLER (USA)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)            

55kg    
Sviatlana LAMASHEVICH (BLR)
Chelsey Elizabeth SICARD (CAN)
Elena Heike BRUGGER(GER)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
Pinki PINKI (IND)
Saki IGARASHI(JPN)
Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ)
Bolor Erdene BAT ORSHIKH (MGL)
Suzanna Georgiana SEICARIU(ROU)
Marina SIMONYAN (RUS)
Mehlika OZTURK (TUR)
Khrystyna Zoryana DEMKO (UKR)
Dominique Olivia PARRISH (USA)
Shakhodat DJULLIBAEVA ((UZB)            

Last year's world bronze meadlist, Becka LEATHERS (USA). (Photo by Stephen Alvarado)

57kg    
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) 
Alexandria Rebekkah TOWN (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Neetu NEETU (IND)
Akie HANAI (JPN)
Altynay SATYLGAN (KAZ)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Madalina Simona TUDOR (ROU)
Alexandra ANDREEVA(RUS)
Elif YANIK (TUR)
Alina AKOBIIA(UKR)
Becka Anne LEATHERS (USA)
Amina ALIMBETOVA (UZB)            

59kg    
Nade DRAGUNOVA (BLR)
Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
Ningning RONG (CHN)
Anjali ANJALI (IND)
Yuzuru KUMANO (JPN)
Madina BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Kornelija ZAICEVAITE (LTU)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Alejandra ROMERO BONILLA(MEX)
Narantsatsral NARMANDAKH(MGL)
Bisola MAKANJUOLA (NGR)
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)
Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL)
Denisa Iuliana FODOR(ROU)
Zelfira SADRADDINOVA (RUS)
Nuray KARADAG (TUR)
Olena KREMZER (UKR)
Abigail Elizabeth NETTE (USA)

Yukako KAWA (JPN) is coming off a runner-up finish at the 2018 World Championships. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

62kg
Kathrin MATHIS (AUT)
Krystsina SAZYKINA (BLR)
Braxton Rei STONE (CAN)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO(ESP)
Luisa Helga Gerda NIEMESCH (GER)
Viktoria FELHO (HUN)
Devi POOJA (IND)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Yukako KAWA I(JPN)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Gantuya ENKHBAT  (MGL)
Natalia Gizela KUBATY (POL)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Tatiana SMOLIAK (RUS)
Maria JUHASZOVA (SVK)
Olivia Louise HENNINGSSON (SWE) 
Asli TUGCU (TUR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK(UKR)
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA)
Sakhipjamal ALEUATDINOVA(UZB)            

65kg    
Hanna SADCHANKA (BLR)
Sofiya Hristova GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Haley Ann Noelle HEFFEL (CAN)
Yumei ZHONG(CHN)
Luzie MANZKE(GER)
Reshma Anil MANE (IND)
Ayana GEMPEI(JPN)
Aina TEMIRTASSOVA  (KAZ)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE(LTU)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
Adina Ionela IRIMIA (ROU)
Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
Amasallay JALLOH (SLE)
Moa Lena Maria NYGREN (SWE)
Asli DEMIR (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA)
Bakhtigul BALTANIYAZOVA (UZB)            

Four-time age-level (two cadet and two junior) world champion, Khanum VELIEVA (RUS). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

68kg    
Viktoria Ivanova BOBEVA (BUL)
Alexia Rose SHERLAND (CAN)
Chuying TANG(CHN)
Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)
Samar Amer Ibrahim HAMZA(EGY)
Nikoletta Renata SZMOLKA (HUN)
Suman SUMAN (IND)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Valeriya GONCHAROVA (KAZ)
Khishigmaa MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Natalia Iwona STRZALKA (POL)
Ana Simona BUIBAR (ROU)
Khanum VELIEVA (RUS)
Beste ALTUG (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA(UKR)
Alexandria Junis GLAUDE (USA)

72kg    
Shauna Ailein KUEBECK (CAN)
Xiaoqian WANG (CHN)
Naina NAINA  (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Nomin Erdene PURVEE (MGL)
Patrycja SPERKA (POL)
Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU)
Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Romana VOVCHAK (UKR)
Rachel Ann WATTERS (USA)
Shakhribonu ELLIEVA  (UZB)

76kg    
Sabira ALIYEVA (AZE)
Gracelynn DOOGAN (CAN)
Paliha PALIHA(CHN)
Estefania del Jesus RAMIREZ PERDOMO (ESP)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Pooja POOJA (IND)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI  (JPN)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Zagardulam NAIGALSUREN (MGL)
Iselin Maria Moen SOLHEIM (NOR)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Daria SHISTEROVA (RUS)
Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR)
Anastasiia SHUSTOVA(UKR)
Korinahe Jacquia BULLOCK (USA)

#WrestleZagreb

Ex-Japan champ Shimoyamada trying to put Australia on wrestling map

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (Sept. 3) -- When Tsuchiku SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) decided to relocate from his native Japan to Australia, he wasn't showered with gifts from a grateful federation looking for an established wrestler to give the country a global boost.

He was more interested in golden beaches than bringing his new homeland gold medals.

"I was in Cairns, and I was feeling like, 'I want to move to Australia,'" Shimoyamada said during a trip back to Japan in July for a tournament. "I like this place. It's good for me. The lifestyle is easy."

Four years after announcing his retirement and three years after making the bold move to Land Down Under, the 31-year-old is back in the game, hoping to put a country more known for its swimmers and rugby players onto the world wrestling map.

While a longshot at best, Shimoyamada, a two-time Japan national champion and two-time Asian medalist, will get a chance to become Australia's first-ever world medalist when he takes the mat at Greco 67kg next week in Zagreb.

It will be the third World Championships of his career and first since 2021, when he nearly knocked off the Olympic champion and symbolically left his shoes on the mat after a repechage-round loss as a sign of his retirement. He finished ninth in his only other appearance in 2018.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) had left his shoes on the mat during the 2021 World Championships to mark his retirement. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Success breeds success, and Australian wrestling officials are hoping that Shimoyamada, in addition to helping cultivate a new generation of wrestlers, can produce results that will spark more interest in the sport. Getting through the rounds, even if he falls short of a medal, would have a positive effect, says one official.

"That would be a very good achievement for us," says Aryan Negahdari, president of New South Wales Wrestling Federation, who accompanied him and several wrestlers to Japan. "For many, many years, we haven't a wrestler making it into the semifinals, or even the quarterfinals of the World Championships. Even that itself would be a good achievement."

While Australia has never won a world medal, it may be surprising to learn that the country has actually brought home three Olympic medals -- although it has been nearly eight decades since the most recent one.

Eddie SCARF broke the ice with a bronze medal at freestyle 87kg at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Australia then got two at the 1948 London Games, a silver from Richard GARRARD at freestyle 73kg and a bronze from Joseph ARMSTRONG at freestyle over-87kg. The closest the country has come since then was a fourth place at Freestyle 62kg by Cris BROWN at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

On the world stage, the highest finishes by Australians were fifth places by Jackie BRYDON at women's 50kg in 1993 at Stavern, Norway, and Macedonian-born Lila RISTEVSKA at women's 47kg at Moscow 1995. There have been three men who have placed sixth, all in freestyle, with the most recent being Uzbekistan-born Talgat ILYASOV at 74kg at New York 2003.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMA (JPN)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA advances to the semifinals at the All-Japan Non-Student Championships in July with a 52-second win over Kokoro GOTO. (Photo: Koji Fuse / wrestling-spirits.jp)

As a Greco wrestler, Shimoyamada will be trying to beat even longer odds. Up to now, Australia has never placed higher than 18th at a World Championships.

Following his graduation from Nippon Sports Science University, which also produced Paris Olympic champions Kenichiro FUMITA and Nao KUSAKA as well as Tokyo bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU, Shimoyamada joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department team. He stayed on the force after ending his wrestling career, but found it wasn't for him.

"When I was back in Japan, I started working for the police," he says. "To be honest, it was stressful. It was not for me."

A trip to Australia opened his eyes to a place where he could start a new life. At first, he planned to only go into coaching, but a practical reason arose that led him to decide to return to the mat -- it helped him get the visa he needed to live in the country.

"I didn't think about wrestling by myself, I thought I could help as a coach," he says. "But for the visa condition, it's better to keep active."

In 2023, he received a residence visa as a "global talent," and in January 2024, United World Wrestling approved his switch of national affiliation to Australia.

Unfortunately, the approval did not come in time for him to try to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is still working on gaining citizenship. His need to find a way to make a living proved harder than he expected as he settled in Sydney.

"I'm teaching wrestling, and I'm working as a lifeguard at a swimming pool," he said. "Life is not easy. It's expensive, everything, rent, bills, car."

Shimoyamada's need for gainful employment produced a symbiotic relationship with his hosts, who suddenly found themselves blessed with a world-class competitor to help raise the level of the sport.

"I really think we're super lucky to have him because not only is he a high-level athlete, but he has been helping us a lot as a coach, especially Greco-Roman coach," Negahdari says. "So because of him, we have a lot more athletes doing Greco-Roman, training under Tsuchika."

Shimoyamada's arrival also gave Australia a bonus of sorts -- a connection with an established power in the sport. Through Shimoyamada's ties with his alma mater NSSU, there have been numerous exchanges of wrestlers between the two countries.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMA faces Keitaro ONO in his opening match at the All-Japan Non-Student Championships in July. (Photo: Koji Fuse / wrestling-spirits.jp)

In the early summer, Paris Olympic silver medalist Daichi TAKATANI and former women's U23 world champion Yu SAKAMOTO went to Australia to put on clinic. In July, Shimoyamada led a contingent of Australian wrestlers who participated in the All-Japan Non-Student Championships (a second-tier national tournament) before training at NSSU.

"He's also been very good for us to build connections with Japan," Nagahdari says. "We've been coming [to Japan] for four years now, like twice a year, training with the Japanese teams. We've had a lot of Japanese athletes coming over to Australia to do seminars for us, to do training with us...It has been very, very beneficial for us in many different ways."

Shimoyamada entered the Non-Student meet at 72kg to give him the high-level competition he needed as preparation for the World Championships, and which is sorely lacking back in Australia. Aside from the low-level Oceania Championships and tournaments in Australia, it was his first outing since the 2021 World Championships.

He held his own, although he lost in the semifinals to Yamato HAGIWARA before winning his bronze-medal match over Rintaro SOGABE, the younger brother of Paris Olympian Kyotaro SOGABE, a fellow NSSU alum who will be Japan's entry at 67kg and a potential opponent of Shimoyamada in Zagreb.

Shimoyamada made his international debut at the 2016 Asian Championships in Bangkok, placing eighth. He won his first All-Japan title in December 2017, earning a return to the continental meet in 2018 in Bishkek, where he took home the silver medal after losing in the final to Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ).

Just when it looked like he had lost his edge after losing back-to-back All-Japan finals to Shogo TAKAHASHI in 2018 and 2019, Shimoyamada rebounded to claim his second title in 2020 with a victory over rising NSSU star Katsuaki ENDO. After Shimoyamada left the scene, Endo and Kyotaro Sogabe would battle ruthlessly for supremacy at 67kg.

His final year wrestling for Japan may have been his most productive. At the 2021 Asian Championships in Almaty, he avenged his loss to Kebispayev from three years before to capture the elusive gold. He followed that with a victory at the All-Japan Invitational Championships, known as the Meiji Cup, to clinch his ticket to the World Championships in Oslo.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) was dominating Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) in their match at the 2021 World Championships before being pinned. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

In the second round, Shimoyamada encountered Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), one of the few gold medalists from the Tokyo Olympics two months earlier who were entered at the worlds. It would probably be the most impressive loss of his career.

Shimoyamada was dominating the Iranian, scoring with a 4-point arm throw to build up a 6-1 lead. But disaster struck with just over a minute to go. Geraei caught Shimoyamada in a lapse and bear-hugged him backward directly to his back for a shocking victory by fall.

Shimoyamada then lost his repechage match to teenager Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), and the last we saw of him was him walking off the mat, leaving his shoes behind.

Fast forward four years, and Shimoyamada is now competing for himself and his adopted homeland. While he would like to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, age and opportunity might be too big hurdles to get over.

"I think that's a last challenge, for the Olympics, because I'm not young," Shimoyamada said. "If I can make it for Australia, that's good. Everyone will get interested in wrestling. That's what I should do."

Looking long range, Australian officials are hoping to develop talent to make a good showing when the country hosts the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032. They are hoping that Shimoyamada can spark enough interest and help raise the level in time.

"I think we're in the very early stages, compared to international standards," Nagahdari says. "But I think we can definitely see a very huge improvement, like in the last few years. We have a lot more members now, the number of our wrestlers. For example, compared to only three or four years ago, it has doubled. It's growing slowly, but at a good pace.

"It's a very slow progress, because you know that wrestling is super hard. It takes like a decade to build an athlete to that level. And we're really focusing our efforts toward the Brisbane Olympics in 2032."

Shimoyamada is determined to do whatever he can to make it happen.

"It's hard to get a gold medal at the World Championships and the Olympics, to be honest," he says. "If I make the Olympics, the next generation can become interested in getting to the Olympics or World Championships and they will practice hard."