#WrestleRome

Matteo Pellicone Entries

By Eric Olanowski

For the second consecutive year, the Italian ancient port city of Ostia will host the opening Ranking Series event of the year, the Matteo Pellcione. The "Pellicone" kicks off March 4-7 and will feature 360 athletes from 32 different countries.

57kg
Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA( CUB)
Brandon Jesus ESCOBAR AMADOR (HON)
Pankaj PANKAJ (IND)
Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ)
Daulet TEMIRZHANOV (KAZ)
Ali M M ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Saban KIZILTAS (TUR)
Nicholas Raymond SURIANO (USA)
Joseph Daniel COLON (USA)

61kg
Anvar SUVINIITTY (FIN)
Kumar RAVI( IND)
Suraj Sanju ANNIKERI (IND)
Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Tyler Lee GRAFF (USA)
Ethan Ryan LIZAK (USA)


Bajrang PUNIA (IND) is one of two freestyle wrestlers looking to win back-to-back Matteo Pellicone titles. (Photo: Bajrang Punia)

65kg
Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER (CUB)
Mauricio Javier SANCHEZ SALTOS (ECU)
Rohit ROHIT (IND)
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Behnam Eshagh EHSANPOOR (IRI)
Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Jose Javier RODRIGUEZ COLON (PUR)
David HABAT (SLO)
Selim KOZAN (TUR)
Hamza ALACA (TUR)
Joseph Christopher MCKENNA (USA)

70kg
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ)
Mustafa KAYA (TUR)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Alec William PANTALEO (USA)


London Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is on a quest to win his third Ranking Series gold medal and first since the '19 Yasar Dogu. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

74kg
Jeandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB)
Sandeep Singh MANN (IND)
Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND)
Jitender JITENDER (IND)
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR)
Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR)
Malik Michael AMINE (SMR)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Yakup GOR (TUR)
Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)

79kg
Rahul RATHI (IND)
Salvatore DIANA (ITA)
Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ)
Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR)
Muhamed Mustafa MC BRYDE (USA)
David Vincent MC FADDEN (USA)

86kg
Clayton Steven PYE (CAN)
Hunter Jeffery LEE (CAN)
Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB)
Chahar PARVEEN (IND)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Aron CANEVA (ITA)
Simone IANNATTONI (ITA)
Yeskali DAULETKAZY (KAZ)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Ethan Adrian RAMOS (PUR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Mark John HALL II (USA)
Myles Najee MARTIN (USA)

92kg
Gino Tanislado AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Parveen PARVEEN (IND)
Elkhan ASSADOV (KAZ)
Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)
James Patrick DOWNEY III (USA)
 

97kg
Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)
Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Evan Amadour RAMOS (PUR)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Kollin Raymond MOORE (USA)
Hayden Nicholas ZILLMER (USA)


Rio Olympic champion Taha AKGUL (TUR) is returning to the mat for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in early '20. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

125kg
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Amin Hossein TAHERI (IRI)
Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Anthony Robert NELSON (USA)


Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) is 23-0 in Ranking Series events and is looking to bag his seventh RS gold. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Arjun HALAKURKI (IND)
Giovanni FRENI (ITA)
Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ)
Andre Ricardo CARDOSO OLIVEIRA SILVA (POR)
Joshua Xavier MEDINA (PUR)
Viktor VEDERNIKOV (RUS)
Serif KILIC (TUR)
Elcin ALI (TUR)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)

60kg
Adam Takahashi MACFADYEN( CAN)
Luis Alberto ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB)
Antonio Jordan RUIZ MORA (ECU)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Gyanender GYANENDER (IND)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Zhanserik SARSENBIYEV (KAZ)
Antonio MARTINS CABRAL (POR)
Emin Narimanovitch SEFERSHAEV (RUS)
Ahmet UYAR (TUR)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Dylan Steven GREGERSON (USA)

63kg
Sachin RANA (IND)
Giovanni Paolo ALESSIO (ITA)
Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ)
Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ)
Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Julinho Benjamim CORREIA DJU (POR)
Marat Maksumovitch GARIPOV (RUS)
Aleksei TADYKIN (RUS)
Abdurrahman ALTAN (TUR)
Mehmet CEKER (TUR)
Samuel Lee JONES (USA)


Rio Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) will compete at 67kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

67kg
Daniel Troy COLES (CAN)
Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB)
Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU)
Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY)
Mate KRASZNA I(HUN)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Ashu ASHU (IND)
Steve MOMILIA (ITA)
Nurbek KYZYROV (KAZ)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ)
Nazir Rachidovitch ABDULLAEV (RUS)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Haci KARAKUS (TUR)
Atakan YUKSEL( TUR)
Raymond Anthony BUNKER III (USA)
Jamel Rasheed JOHNSON (USA)

72kg
Cristhian Alberto RIVAS CASTRO( ECU)
Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)
Amit AMIT (IND)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)

77kg
Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Singh GURPREET (IND)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Ciro RUSSO (ITA)
Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Marciano George ALI (PUR)
Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Fatih CENGIZ (TUR)
Patrick Harrison SMITH (USA)
Peyton Burke WALSH (USA)
Benjamin Errol PROVISOR (USA)


Reigning 77kg world champion Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) will compete up at 82kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

82kg
Laszlo SZABO( HUN)
Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Singh HARPREET (IND)
Miras BARSHYLYKOV (KAZ)
Adlan AKIEV( RUS)
Emrah KUS( TUR)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Salih AYDIN (TUR)
Terrence Mosley ZALESKI (USA)
John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA)
Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA)

87kg
Ioannis NARLIDIS (CAN)
Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB)
Petr NOVAK (CZE)
Ariel Andres ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ (HON)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Nikolay KOZHUKHOV (ISR)
Fabio PARISI (ITA)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Simone FIDELBO (ITA)
Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Josef Patrick RAU (USA)
Alan Ernesto VERA GARCIA (USA)
Patrick Anthony MARTINEZ (USA)


Reigning two-time world champion Musa EVLOEV (RUS) is searching for his third Ranking Series title (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

97kg
Gabriel Alejandro ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Ondrej DADAK (CZE)
Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON)
Balazs KISS (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Hardeep HARDEEP (IND)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Yerulan ISKAKOV (KAZ)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Cenk ILDEM (TUR)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Daniel Collett MILLER (USA)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)

130kg
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Samuele VARICELLI (ITA)
Luca GODINO (ITA)
Nurmakhan TINALIYEV (KAZ)
Mansur SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RUS)
Riza KAYAALP( TUR)
Adam Jacob COON (USA)
Cohlton Michael SCHULTZ (USA)
Lance Westley CATHCART (USA)


'19 world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is one of three women's wrestling returning champions. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Patricia Alejandra BERMUDEZ (ARG)
Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Kamila BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA (BRA)
Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL)
Madison Bianca PARKS (CAN)
Yusneylis GUZMAN LOPEZ (CUB)
Lucia Yamileth YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Meenakshi MEENAKSHI (IND)
Svetlana ANKICHEVA (KAZ)
Valentina Ivanovna ISLAMOVA BRIK (KAZ)
Emilia Alina VUC (ROU)
Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS)
Mariia TIUMEREKOVA (RUS)
Aynur ERGE (TUR)
Whitney CONDER( USA)
Victoria Lacey ANTHONY (USA)

53kg
Diana Mary Helen WEICKER (CAN)
Samantha Leigh STEWART (CAN)
Lianna de la Caridad MONTERO HERRERA (CUB)
Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU)
Nandini Bajirao SALOKHE (IND)
Divya KAKRAN (IND)
Carmen DI DIO (ITA)
Sara ETTAKI (ITA)
Assylzat SAGYMBAY (KAZ)
Tatyana AKHMETOVA AMANZHOL (KAZ)
Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS)
Aleksandra SKIRENKO (RUS)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS)
Esra PUL (TUR)
Areana Louise VILLAESCUSA (USA)
Alexandra Wray HEDRICK (USA)

55kg
Jacqueline Del Rocio MOLLOCANA ELENO (ECU)
Ambra CAMPAGN A(ITA)
Aisha UALISHAN( KAZ)
Viktoriia VAULINA (RUS)


Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR), the two-time world medal winner, will compete at 57kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

57kg
Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL)
Tianna Grace KENNETT (CAN)
Anju ANJU (IND)
Arianna CARIERI (ITA)
Morena DE VITA (ITA)
Rebecca DE LEO (ITA)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Francesca INDELICATO (ITA)
Altynay SATYLGAN( KAZ)
Emma TISSINA (KAZ)
Nazira MARSBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Nuraida ANARKULOVA (KGZ)
Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)
Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS)
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (RUS)
Mehlika OZTURK (TUR)
Jenna Rose BURKERT (USA)
Allison Mackenzie RAGAN (USA)

59kg
Anshu ANSHU (IND)
Sarita SARITA( IND)
Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
Aleksandra NITSENKO (RUS)
Elif YANIK (TUR)
Abigail Elizabeth NETTE (USA)

62kg
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Michelle Christina FAZZARI (CAN)
Jessica Lise BROUILLETTE (CAN)
Marianna SASTIN (HUN)
Sakshi MALIK (IND)
Sonam SONAM (IND)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Sara DA COL (ITA)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Ayaulym KASSYMOVA (KAZ)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Aminat Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI (NGR)
Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS)
Anzhela FOMENKO (RUS)
Cansu AKSOY (TUR)
Mallory Maxine VELTE (USA)

65kg
Nisha NISHA (IND)
Veronica BRASCHI (ITA)
Gaukhar MUKATAY (KAZ)
Aina TEMIRTASSOVA (KAZ)
Dinara KUDAEVA SALIKHOVA (RUS)
Henna Katarina JOHANSSON( SWE)
Asli TUGCU (TUR)


World champion Tamyra STOCK MENSAH (USA) will try to improve on her runner-up finish from last year's Matteo Pellicone. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

68kg
Sofiya Hristova GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL)
Olivia Grace DI BACCO (CAN)
Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Anita ANITA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Battsetseg SORONZONBOLD (MGL)
Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
Anastasiia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (RUS)
Tindra Linnea SJOEBERG (SWE)
Asli DEMIR (TUR)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA)
Tamyra Mariama STOCK MENSAH (USA)
Alexandria Junis GLAUDE (USA)

72kg
Yekaterina LARIONOVA (KAZ)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Marina SUROVTSEVA (RUS)
Kristina DUDAEVA (RUS)
Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)


Olympic champions Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) and Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) are both entered at 76kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

76kg
Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA)
Mariya Gerginova ORYASHKOVA (BUL)
Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)
Milaimys de la Caridad MARIN POTRILLE (CUB)
Genesis Rosangela REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar Amer Ibrahim HAMZA (EGY)
Kiran KIRAN (IND)
Eleni PJOLLAJ (ITA)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS)
Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS)
Precious Rosanna BELL (USA)

#WrestleZagreb

Chung puts Korea in World C'ships final

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 20) -- Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) has long been the training partner of former world champion Hansyu RYU (KOR) at national camps in Korea as both hail from Busan and wrestled at the Kyungsung University.

Eight years after Ryu became a world champion in Paris, Korea's last gold at World Championships, Chung would try to emulate his role model after he made the 63kg final at the World Championships in Zagreb on Saturday.

In his previous two trips to the World Championships, Chung finished eight and 25th but has now assured himself at least a silver medal in 2025. This is also Korea's first medal since Min Seok KIM (KOR) won bronze in 2018.

Chung opened his campaign with a 7-1 victory over Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) before picking up a fall over Manato NAKAMURA (JPN). Tokyo bronze medalist Sergey EMELIN (UWW) was next but Chung defended from par terre and posted a 1-1 criteria win.

In the semifinals, Chung had Asian silver medalist Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI) but he stepped up. Keshtkar got the first par terre position but was not able to score any points, going to the break leading 1-0.

The second period saw Chung go for the reverse throw for two points and Keshtkar was docked two points for a leg foul, giving a 5-1 lead to Chung. Keshtkar tried making a comeback and got a takedown to cut the lead to 5-3 but that was all he had as Chung claimed the victory in the semifinals.

But to win his country's first gold since 2017, Chung will have to go through Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) who looks unbeatable. A month after winning the gold medal at the U20 World Championships, the Uzbek star is now in the World Championships final with a dominant 8-0 win over Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA).

Khalmakhanov needed only 37 seconds to finish his semifinals against Erimenco as he used an over-under grip to slam him on the mat for two points. He continued the same sequence for two more points and lead 6-0. A trap arm gut was enough to get him two more points and the win.

Iran managed two more wrestlers in the final at the World Championships with Olympic champion Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) and Olympic silver medalist Alireza MOHAMADI (IRI) a win away from winning their first world titles at 67kg and 87kg respectively.

Esmaeili particularly looked in the form of his life as he blanked his 36-0 in four bouts with none going the full distance of the six minutes. He began with a 9-0 win over 2022 world champion Sebastian NAD (SRB) before two 8-0 wins against Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) and Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR), 8-0.

In the semifinals, he used a five-point throw to beat Daniial AGAEV (UWW). Using a bodylock, he scored his first takedown and then turned Agaev for a 4-0 lead. He then got the par terre position and reverse lifted Agaev and slammed him for five points.

For the gold medal, he will have to get past Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JARAFOV (AZE), a returning silver medalist. Jafarov faced Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) in the semifinal and used a correct throw from par terre to beat the Kyrgyzstan wrestlers 3-1.

Mohamadi had a very contrasting semifinal against David LOSONCZI (HUN) at 87kg. He seemed to be sailing to victory with 5-1 lead and under a minute left but Losonczi locked his waist and threw him for a takedown for two points. Hungary challenged the call asking for four points but it was awarded only two on review and Hungary lost the challenge to give one more point to Mohamadi.

With a 6-3 win, Mohamadi, a silver medalist at 82kg from 2023, will now try to win the gold medal against former European champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

Trusting his defense in the semifinal against Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW), Komarov held on to his 1-1 criteria lead to win the bout. Komarov was the beneficiary of the new Greco-Roman rule which states that the criteria will remain with the wrestler who got the first point in a 1-1 finish.

Irrespective of what happens in the final on Sunday, Iran has already won the Greco-Roman team title. This is the first time in the country's history that Iran has won both Freestyle and Greco-Roman team title at the same World Championships.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) vs. Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

SF 1: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), 5-3
SF 2: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 8-0

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) vs. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)

SF 1: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Daniial AGAEV (UWW), 10-0
SF 2: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) vs. Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)

SF 1: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), 6-3
SF 2: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW), 1-1