#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

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19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.

#WrestleNoviSad

Yakushenko levels up with first U23 World Championships gold

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 15:49 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 22) -- Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) has lost only one bout in 2025 but that one loss remains tied to him when he steps on the mat.

At the U20 European Championships final, Yakushenko lost to Darius KIEFER (GER), 5-3, losing his gold medal to the German wrestler. But using that loss as a lesson and motivation, Yakushenko has now won two world titles in the space of two months.

The 19-year-old won gold at the U20 World Championships in August and on Wednesday at the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Yakushenko won his first U23 world title.

"If I hadn’t lost at the Europeans, I wouldn’t have won at Worlds," Yakushenko said. "Sometimes a loss can be for the better. It motivated me and helped me mentally."

Yakushenko, who avenged that loss to Kiefer at U20 Worlds, wrestled with great temperament at the U23 Worlds despite carrying an injury after his first bout. In four matches, he began with a win over Luka GABISONIA (GEO), held off Abubakar KHASLAKHANU (UWW) and defeated Richard KARELSON (EST) in the semifinals.

Facing senior Asia silver medalist Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) in the final, Yakushenko used a stepout and turn from par terre to lead 4-0. Matsiyev was docked two points for a defensive foul as Yakushenko extended his lead to 6-0.

When Matsiyev got the par terre position in the second period, Yakushenko easily defended it and managed to win the final 6-1, thus claiming gold.

"I’m euphoric right now," he said. "I feel that it really wasn’t that easy. I guess I just worked hard and prepared well, went through good training. My shoulder hurts a little. But I think it’s actually from the rib."

Yakushenko was in Porec, Croatia at the preparatory camp for senior World Championships. Though he did not participate in the tournament, Yakushenko was part of the Ukraine team and watched the matches in Zagreb.

"We had a camp in Croatia, where many countries were present," he said. "I watched, got motivated, I was overwhelmed with emotions. My weight category is very strong, but I think everything is within my reach."

The two-time U20 world champion believes that needs to build more strength to be ready for the senior level but will not shy from a chance to earn his spot on the senior Ukrainian team next year.

"I still need to build more physical strength," he said. "But technically, I don’t think I have problems, and my endurance is good too. 

"There should be the Ukrainian Cup in November, I’m not sure yet. It’s the qualification event for the European Championships. Maybe I’ll compete there, give our senior team a bit of a shake-up. I don’t know yet, I’ll depend on what my coach says. Whatever he decides, I’ll do."

Iran closer to cleansweep

Iran won its third gold medal in Greco at the U23 World Championships and has now all-but-confirmed the team trophy. With the team title in Novi Sad, Iran will assert its domination in Greco as it won team titles in all World Championships -- U17 in Athens, U20 in Samokov and senior in Zagreb -- to go with the one in Novi Sad, Serbia.

It consolidated its position on the top when former U23 world champion at 63kg, Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) won gold at 72kg on Wednesday. Mohammadi defeated Abror ATABAEV (UZB), 5-1, in the final.

Mohammadi was awarded the par terre in he first period and he hit a front headlock which was scored two and one more point was awarded for a stepout. But Iran challenged, claiming four points on the throw, which was confirmed on review but the stepout point was removed as it was a push.

After the challenge, Mohammadi led 5-0 and when Atabaev was given par terre in the second period, Mohammadi defended that position with ease and went on to win the gold medal.

Azerbaijan won its second gold medal in Greco-Roman after Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) held off Alibek AMIROV (UWW), 3-2, in the 55kg final. With the win, he also avenged his U23 European Championships semifinals loss to Amirov.

Egypt got its first world title at any level since 2023 and first at U23 in six years after Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) blanked Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 3-0, in the 67kg. Incidentally, Egypt's other two U23 world titles, both won by Mohamed EL SAYED (EGY) in 2018 and 2019, have come at 67kg.

Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) completes a five-pointer. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Gutu in third straight final

Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) is a win away from becoming the first three-time U23 world champion after he reached the 82kg final in Novi Sad.

Gutu, wrestling at the U23 Worlds for the fifth time, reached the his fourth straight final after beating Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL) in the semifinals. Gutu won gold medals in 2023 and 2024 and has a silver medal from 2022.

He began with a takedown before adding a stepout for a 3-0 lead. The par terre gave him one more point and he threw Tabaev out-of-bounds for one more point and lead 5-0. The second period saw him add one stepout as he won the semifinal 6-0.

For his third straight gold medal, Gutu will face Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR) who defeated Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO), 1-1, in the other semifinal, thanks to the first-point criteria in a 1-1 finish.

Koto GOMI (JPN)Koto GOMI (JPN) celebrates after winning the 60kg semifinal against Maxwell BLACK (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 60kg, Koto GOMI (JPN) will try to the six-year gold medal drought for Japan after he reached the 60kg final on Wednesday after a dominant performance. He faced Maxwell BLACK (USA) in the semifinals and like his previous bouts, he began by scoring as soon as the match began.

An arm-drag to takedown gave him a 2-0 lead before he got the par terre position and scored three rolls using high gut-wrench and win 9-0.

He will face Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI) for gold after he made a remarkable comeback in the final 20 seconds. Down 3-1 against Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB), Abbaspour scored a stepout which was also called fleeing with 13 seconds left. However, Bakhramov still held the criteria at 3-3 as he had a two-point move.

But Abbaspour did not give up and scored another stepout with five seconds left, giving him a match-winning 4-3 lead. Uzbekistan challenged it but only to lose it and add one more point to Abbaspour's score.

The 5-3 defeat left the teenager Bakhramov in tears while the Iran corner celebrated the unexpected win in the semifinals.

U.S. perfect

Audrey JIMINEZ (USA) will get another chance of winning her first-ever world title after she reached the 50kg finals after posting a controlled 5-2 win against Aida KERYMOVA (UKR) in the semifinals. Jiminez, who had four age-group world silver medals, scored a takedown and one turn in the second period to overcome a 2-1 deficit and post the win.

She will face Jinyue LIANG (CHN) for that much-awaited gold after Liang saw off Natalia PUDOVA (UWW) in the other semifinal. Liang scored a takedown in the second period to lead 2-1 and then got in scramble which that scored two points each. She then hit a headlock for four to make the score 8-3, her winning score in the final.

Former U20 world champion Jasmine ROBINSON (USA) reached the final at 72kg with her third technical superiority win in three bouts. She defeated former U17 world champion Veronika VILK (CRO), 10-0, in the semifinals using her trademark double blasts.

Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ) will look to stop Robinson from winning her first U23 world title after she reached the final at 72kg after beating Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN), 6-3.

Returning champion at 72kg, Kylie WELKER (USA), who moved up to 76kg, reached the final after a 16-6 technical superiority win over Edna JIMENEZ VILLALBA (MEX).

Welker began with a four-pointer before two turns made it 8-0. But Villalba also hit a four-pointer to cut the lead to 8-4. She then had Welker in danger to make it 8-6 bit a reversal and three lace turns tilted the semifinal 15-6 in favor to Welker, who scored a stepout in the second period for the win.

She will take on returning bronze medalist Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW) who posted a 4-1 win over Elmira YASIN (TUR) in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) df. Alibek AMIROV (UWW), 3-2

BRONZE: Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB) df. Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), 8-0
BRONZE: Vishvajit MORE (IND) df. Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ), 5-4

67kg
GOLD: Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) df. Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 3-0

BRONZE: Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) df. Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 7-1
BRONZE: Otto BLACK (USA) df. Attila JOZSA (HUN), via inj. def.

72kg
GOLD: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Abror ATABAEV (UZB), 5-1

BRONZE: Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) df. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM), 3-1
BRONZE: Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) df. Danil GRIGOREV (UWW), 10-0

97kg
GOLD: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) df. Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Richard KARELSON (EST) df. Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (UWW), 7-7
BRONZE: Maksim AVERIN (UWW) df. Arshak GEGHAMYAN (ARM), 1-1

Greco-Roman Semifinals

60kg
GOLD: Koto GOMI (JPN) vs. Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI)

SF 1: Koto GOMI (JPN) df. Maxwell BLACK (USA), 9-0
SF 2: Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI) df. Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 5-3

82kg
GOLD: Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) vs. Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)

SF 1: Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) df. Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL), 6-0
SF 2: Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR) df. Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO), 1-1

Women's Wrestling Semifinals

50kg
GOLD: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) vs. Jinyue LIANG (CHN)

SF 1: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) df. Aida KERYMOVA (UKR), 5-2
SF 2: Jinyue LIANG (CHN) df. Natalia PUDOVA (UWW), 8-3

72kg
GOLD: Jasmine ROBINSON (USA) vs. Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)

SF 1: Jasmine ROBINSON (USA) df. Veronika VILK (CRO), 10-0 
SF 2: Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ) df. Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN), 6-3

76kg
GOLD: Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW) vs. Kylie WELKER (USA)

SF 1: Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW) df. Elmira YASIN (TUR), 4-1
SF 2: Kylie WELKER (USA) df. Edna JIMENEZ VILLALBA (MEX), 16-6