#WrestleCoralville

Hosts USA announces FS/WW World Cup teams

Wednesday, November 16, 2022 - 02:23 By Gary Abbott

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CORALVILLE, Iowa (November 15) --- USA Wrestling announced its lineups for both its men’s and women’s freestyle teams which will compete at the Freestyle and Women’s Freestyle World Cup at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, December 10-11.

The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships. The top five teams in men’s freestyle and the top five teams in women’s freestyle from the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September have confirmed their participation. There is also an All-World Team in each discipline, featuring the top available athlete from the World Championships in each weight class that were not from a nation that qualified for the World Cup.

The U.S. World Cup teams will feature two Olympic champions, four world champions and 10 past world medalists. It will also include a number of talented young stars who are making an impact internationally.

The freestyle team will feature a pair of Olympic and world champions, Jordan BURROUGHS at 79kg and Kyle SNYDER at 97kg. Burroughs is a 2012 Olympic champion, a six-time world champion and has won 10 career world and Olympic medals. Burroughs is the first U.S. wrestler to win seven world and Olympic titles. Snyder is a 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time world champion and has won eight career world and Olympic medals.

Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS, a 2022 world silver medalist, will compete at 65kg. Two other members of the 2022 world team are on the USA lineup, Seth GROSS at 61kg and Hayden ZILLMER at 125kg. Nick GWIAZDOWSKI, a two-time world bronze medalist, is also on the U.S. freestyle team at 125kg. 

The United States, which won the 2022 world team title, will be joined in the World Cup by second-place Iran, third-place Japan, fourth-place Mongolia and fifth-place Georgia, in addition to the All-World Team.

In women’s wrestling, a pair of world champions are on the team, 2019 world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER at 55kg and 2022 world champion Amit ELOR at 72kg. Winchester was also a member of the 2020 Olympic team. Elor became the first USA wrestler to win three world titles in the same year, also capturing a U20 world title and a U23 world title.

The team also features two-time world silver medalist Kayla MIRACLE at 62kg, two-time world bronze medalist Alyssa LAMPE at 50kg, two-time world bronze medalist Mallory VELTE at 65kg and 2021 world bronze medalist Jenna BURKERT at 55kg. Also competing on the U.S. team is 2022 World Team member Dymond GUILFORD at 76kg. 

The women’s team features a local athlete, Felicity TAYLOR at 53kg, who is a member of the women’s wrestling team at the University of Iowa and is a native Iowan. 

The United States, which was second at the 2022 World Championships in women’s wrestling, will be joined in the World Cup by World champion Japan, third place China, fourth place Mongolia and fifth place Ukraine, in addition to the All-World Team. 

Ticket packages for the 2022 Men’s and Women’s Freestyle World Cup are currently on sale. The seating capacity for Xtream Arena for the World Cup will be approximately 5,300. Ticket packages include a Gold package for $275, a Silver package for $200 and All-Session tickets for $90.

A special presentation of teams and Team USA Meet & Greet will also be held on Friday, December 9, with tickets available at $10. Fans can receive a free youth ticket for the Friday night event, with the purchase of an adult general admission ticket.

Men’s and Women’s Freestyle World Cup tickets -> https://worldcupiowacity.com/tickets/

USA's Freestyle World Cup Team:
57kg – Zane RICHARDS 
57kg – Nick SURIANO 
61kg – Seth GROSS 
61kg – Daniel DESHAZER 
65kg – Yianni DIAKOMIHALIS 
65kg – Evan HENDERSON|
70kg – Tyler BERGER
70kg – Alec PANTALEO 
74kg – Jason NOLF 
74kg – Vincenzo JOSEPH
79kg – Jordan BURROUGHS 
79kg – Chance MARSTELLER 
86kg – Zahid VALENCIA 
86kg – Mark HALL
92kg – Nathan JACKSON
92kg – Jay AIELLO 
97kg – Kyle SNYDER 
97kg – Kollin MOORE 
125kg – Hayden ZILLMER 
125kg – Nick GWIAZDOWSKI 

USA's Women's Wrestling World Cup Team:
50 kg – Alyssa LAMPE 
50 kg – Erin GOLSTON 
53 kg – Felicity TAYLOR
53 kg – Ronna GROSS
55 kg – Jacarra WINCHESTER 
55 kg – Jenna BURKERT
57 kg – Alexandra HEDRICK
57 kg – Amanda MARTINEZ
59 kg – Lexie BASHAM 
59 kg – Michaela BECK 
62 kg – Kayla MIRACLE 
62 kg – Jennifer ROGERS 
65 kg – Mallory VELTE
68 kg – Sienna RAMIREZ
68 kg – Solin PIEARCY 
72 kg – Amit ELOR 
72 kg – Skylar GROTE 
76 kg – Dymond GUILFORD 
76 kg – Yelena MAKOYEV 

#JapanWrestling

Tokyo champ Shidochi dealt setback in return from two-year layoff

Friday, June 20, 2025 - 16:02 By Ken Marantz

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Top photo: Haruna MURAYAMA flips Mayu SHIDOCHI onto her back for a 2-point takedown during their women's 53kg quarterfinal match. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

TOKYO (June 20) -- Through their years as university teammates and beyond, Tokyo Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI and Haruna MURAYAMA each compiled a long list of laurels that included three world titles.

But when their paths crossed on the mat, Shidochi had been the dominant one. Murayama showed on Friday that those days are over.

Shidochi, returning to the mat after a two-year layoff that included giving birth to her first child, saw her bid for a shot at a fourth world title end when Murayama dealt her a 5-1 loss in the women's 53kg quarterfinals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo, the second of two qualifiers for this year's World Championships.

Shidochi, who won the Tokyo Olympic gold at 53kg under her maiden name of MUKAIDA, was ahead on criteria in the second period after each received an activity point, but Murayama (nee OKUNO) went ahead with a pair of takedowns.

"It's really disappointing," said Shidochi, who had a 9-0 career record against Murayama before losing to her for the first time at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships in December 2022. "I lost to Okuno at the Tokyo qualifier and I really wanted to get revenge for that."

Mayu SHIDOCHI (JPN)Haruna MURAYAMA works to get behind Mayu SHIDOCHI for a takedown during their women's 53kg quarterfinal match. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Shidochi, who will turn 28 on Sunday, had last competed two years at the Meiji Cup, which was part of the qualifying process for the Paris Olympics. Her dreams of an Olympic repeat ended with a loss by fall in the second round to Akari FUJINAMI, who went on to take the 53kg gold in Paris.

Shidochi, who has her sights set on the 2026 Asian Games to be hosted by Japan, had planned to return in July at a lower-tier national tournament, where she could qualify for this year's Emperor's Cup, a qualifier for the Asian Games. But she moved it up a month when she found out her status as a former Olympic champion granted her entry into the Meiji Cup.

"Even though I lost like this at this tournament, I'm glad I took up the challenge," she said. "Ilost, but I found out things that I need to work on. I want to use that to step up my game so I can win in December."

Shidochi said that is probably more nerves than rustiness that did her in against Murayama, who is two years her junior.

"When I was warming up, I was moving really well," she said. "But during the match, I thought I could do more. I wasn't moving my feet. In preparation, I trained hard and did my research. I was really looking forward to it, but it didn't work out."

Murayama still has her work cut out for her if she wants to be on the plane to Zagreb. In Saturday's final, she will face Moe KIYOOKA, who last year succeeded her as the world 55kg champion. The two met in the final at the 2023 Emperor's Cup, which Kiyooka won 5-1.

A victory by Kiyooka would give her the world team spot outright. If Murayama wins, it will set up a playoff between the two later in the session, although Murayama has another option.

Murayama won the 55kg title at the Emperor's Cup, but opted not contest that playoff.

In another weight class that started Friday and will end Saturday, world 72kg champion Ami ISHII looks poised to grab the world team spot at 68kg after easily winning her lone match of the day in a four-woman round-robin that is down to three after Rin MIYAGI's injury withdrawal.

Ishii will clinch the spot with a victory in her final match against Seia MOCHINAGA. Meanwhile, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI will need to take the playoff route if he wants to improve on the world silver medal at freestyle 70kg that he won last year.

Aoyagi, the Emperor's Cup champion, was dealt a last-second 3-2 defeat in the semifinals by world U20 champion Ryoya YAMASHITA, who will take on Shoya MIURA in Saturday's final in a battle of 19-year-olds.

Aoyagi, a two time world U23 medalist, is coming off winning a gold at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series tournament in Tirana and his second career Asian medal with a bronze in Amman.

Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI scores a takedown during his 4-4 victory over Emperor's Cup champion Ryunosuke KAMIYA in the freestyle 74kg semifinals. (Photo: Takeo Yakubi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

There will also be a playoff at freestyle 74kg, where Emperor's Cup champion Ryunosuke KAMIYA was dealt a nail-biting loss to 19-year-old collegiate champion Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI.

Gharehdaghi, whose father is Iranian, has already made Japan's team to the U20 worlds. To get the senior worlds, he will first have to get through fellow collegian Subaru TAKAHARA, who has qualified for the U23 worlds.

At freestyle 61kg, 2021 world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA scored in double-digits in all three of his victories to advance to the final, capped by a 10-2 semifinal win over Aiki KAWAI.

In the final, Hasegawa will face Akito MUKAIDA -- Shidochi's younger brother, who has already qualified for the World U23 Championships.