#Trnava2018

Returning Freestyle World Champs Steveson, Fix Enter #Trnanva2018 Field

Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - 10:58 By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 4) - Daton FIX (USA) and Gable STEVESON (USA), the duo of American returning champions lead a freestyle #Trnava2018 field that boasts 245 wrestlers from 40 different nations.

Fix, the 55kg champion from a year ago enters the Junior World Championships at 57kg, while Steveson, the 120kg gold-medal winner enters at 125kg.

Steveson will be looking for his fourth age-level world title. Since stepping on the international scene in 2015, Steveson has yet to drop a match on his way to claiming two Cadet World titles, and a Junior World gold medal.

Fix, the three-time world medalist will be trying to win back-to-back Junior World titles while competing in his fifth age-level World Championship. Since taking tenth place at the 2014 Cadet World Championships, Fix has rallied to win two bronzes, and most recently, a gold medal.

Freestyle action begins on Friday, September 21 and will close the Junior World Championships.

ALB
65kg - Eriglent PRIZRENI
125kg - Paris KAREPI

ALG
57kg - Salah Eddine KATEB
65kg - Fares LAKEL
79kg - Oussama ABDELLAOUI
97kg - Mohammed FARDJ

ARM
57kg - Arsen HARUTYUNYAN
61kg - Vazgen TEVANYAN
65kg -  Gegham GALSTYAN
70kg -  Arman ANDREASYAN
74kg - Hrayr ALIKHANYAN
79kg -  Arman AVAGYAN
86kg -  Mher MARKOSYAN
125kg - Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN

AUT
74kg -Simon MARCHL
79kg -Benjamin GREIL

AZE
57kg -  Aliabbas RZAZADE
61kg -  Intigam VALIZADA
65kg -  Royal AGHAMALIYEV
70kg -  Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV
74kg -  Ismail ABDULLAEV
79kg -  Orkhan ABASOV
86kg -  Magomed ASIYATILOV
92kg -  Askhab HAMZATOV
97kg -  Alimagomed ALIKHMAEV
125kg - Rahid HAMIDLI

BLR
57kg -  Uladzislau KOIKA
61kg -  Dzmitry HERASIMENKA
65kg -  Mikita STRAKH
70kg -  Aliaksandr KURYSHTA
86kg -  Arkadzi PAHASIAN
92kg -  Vasil PAULIUCHENKA
97kg -  Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI
125kg - Uladzislau ASIPENKA

BUL
61kg -  Alish Gyoksel ALISH
65kg -  Nikola Delchev LEVENOV
70kg -  Veselin Georgiev PETROV
74kg -  Dzhemal Rushen ALI
79kg -  Oktay Ruzhdi HASAN
86kg -  Ivan Kostadinov STEFANOV
125kg - Daniel Milanov VESELINOV

CAN
57kg -  Brayden TODD
61kg -  Marco PALERMO
65kg -  Connor MCNEICE
70kg -  Gunnar SALES
74kg - Ty BRIDGWATER
86kg - Connor PATTISON
92kg - Hunter LEE
97kg -  Richard DESCHATELETS
125kg - Aly BARGHOUT

CHN
57kg -  Wanhao ZOU
61kg -  Minghu LIU
65kg -  Chao ZHENG
70kg -  Jun ZHAO
74kg -  Yi LI
79kg -  Gangsuhe GANGSUHE
86kg -  Danan XU
92kg -  Awusayiman HABILA
97kg - Qirui BING
125kg - Benxin DUAN

Vojtech PISKOR (CZE), two-time World Team represenative.

CZE
61kg -  David KOPRIVA
86kg -  Vojtech PISKOR
92kg -  Matous VONDAL

EGY
57kg -  Gamal MOHAMED
74kg -  Samy MOUSTAFA
86kg -  Hassan FOUAD

EST
65kg - Marek KUETT
74kg - Erik REINBOK

FRA
61kg - Arman ELOYAN
79kg - Charles AFA

GEO
57kg -  Teimuraz VANISHVILI
61kg -  Ramaz TURMANIDZE
65kg -  Giorgi ELBAKIDZE
70kg -  Iveriko JULAKIDZE
74kg -  Goga MAMIAURI
79kg -  Tornike KVINIKADZE
86kg -  Demur MEGENEISHVILI
92kg -  Beka NADASHVILI
97kg -  Zuriko URTASHVILI
125kg - Aleksi ZHORZHOLIANI

GER
57kg -  Horst Junior LEHR
70kg -  Tino RETTINGER
74kg -  Kevin LUCHT
86kg -  Johannes DEML
92kg -  Ertugrul AGCA

HUN
57kg -  Rajmund FARKAS
70kg -  Botond GULYAS
74kg -  Botond LUKACS
79kg -  Milan MESTER
86kg -  Patrik SZUROVSZKI

Naveen NAVEEN (IND), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

IND
57kg -  Naveen NAVEEN
61kg -  Suraj Rajkumar KOKATE
65kg -  Karan KARAN
70kg -  Vishal KALIRAMANA
74kg -  Sachin RATHI
79kg -  Sachin GIRI
86kg -  Deepak PUNIA
92kg -  Somveer SOMVEER
97kg -  Hussain NASIR
125kg - Mohit MOHIT

IRI
57kg -  Reza ALIJANZADEHJOUYBARI
61kg -  Mehdi ESHGHIVASOUKOLAEI
65kg -  Amirhossein MAGHSOUDI
70kg -  Amirhossein KAVOUSI
74kg -  Ali SAVADKOUHI
79kg -  Sajjad GHOLAMI
86kg -  Seyedabolfazl HASHEMIJOUYBARI
92kg -  Abbas Ali FOROUTANRAMI
97kg -  Sajad AZIZI
125kg - Amir YARI

ISR
79kg - David LABKOVSKY
86kg -  Uri KALASHNIKOV
125kg - Lior ALTSHULER

JPN
57kg -  Daiki ARAKI
61kg -  Kodai OGAWA
65kg -  Takuma TANIYAMA
70kg -  Jintaro MOTOYAMA
74kg -  Yuto MIWA
79kg -  Hayato ISHIGURO
86kg -  Shutaro YAMADA
92kg -  Takuma OTSU
92kg -  Shohei YAMAZAKI
97kg -  Hiroto NINOMIYA
125kg - Akiho MORI / Kota TOYAMA

Serik BAKYTKHANOV (KAZ), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

KAZ
57kg -  Rakhat KALZHAN
61kg -  Syrbaz TALGAT
65kg -  Kuanysh DUISENKUL
70kg -  Nurkozha KAIPANOV
74kg -  Aibar ZHYLKAIDAROV
79kg -  Daniyar MELDEBEK
86kg -  Aslan DZICOEV
92kg -  Alisher YERGALI
97kg -  Serik BAKYTKHANOV
125kg - Omar EYUBOV

KOR
57kg -  Hyeonsu CHO
61kg -  Minsu CHO
65kg -  Sangho HAN
70kg -  Jinwoo MOON
74kg -  Gihwan LEE
79kg -  Jaegyun GO
86kg -  Jayong JIN
92kg -  Myeongseok CHOO
97kg -  Hyunsu HAN
125kg - Ki Bum KIM

KSA
57kg - Tuorki HAZOAZI
61kg - Hassan M WADDAN

LTU
65kg - Gytis JOVAISA
79kg - Dominykas VILIUSIS

MDA
57kg -  Ion BUTNARU
61kg -  Leomid COLESNIC
65kg -  Nicolai GRAHMEZ
70kg -  Vasile DIACON
74kg -  Piotr CARASENI
79kg -  Andrian GROSUL
86kg -  Ivan NEDEALCO
92kg -  Gheorghe ERHAN
125kg - Samhan JABRAILOV

BYAMBASUREN Bat-Erdene (MGL), Junior Asian runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

MGL
57kg -  Tumentsogt BOLD
61kg -  Jamsranjav DUGERKHOROL
65kg -  Bud BATBAATAR
70kg -  Tergel TUMURKHUYAG
74kg -  Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN
79kg -  Tserendash BAASANDORJ
92kg -  Altangerel CHINBAT
97kg -  Mungunshagai TUMURBAT
125kg - Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR

MKD
65kg - Fati VEJSELI

PAK
70kg - Ghulam GHOUS
97kg - Haroon ABID

POL
61kg -  Karol Jakub CZEGUS
70kg -  Szymon WOJTKOWSKI
74kg -  Pawel Tomasz MALICKI
79kg -  Jakub SZYMULA
86kg -  Michal Jan BIELAWSKI
92kg -  Matthew WROBLEWSKI
125kg - Jakub BRYLEWSKI

RSA
61kg - Frederik NORTJE
74kg - Matthew BARTLETT

RUS
57kg -  Akhmed IDRISOV
61kg -  Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV
65kg -  Saiyn KAZYRYK
70kg -  Razambek ZHAMALOV
74kg -  Devid BETANOV
79kg -  Aslanbek GVARAMIIA
86kg -  Alik SHEBZUKHOV
92kg -  Khokh KHUGAEV
97kg -  Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV
125kg - Soslan KHINCHAGOV

SUI
57kg - Nino LEUTERT
70kg - Tobias PORTMANN

SVK
61kg -  Pavol RAPCAN
65kg -  Balazs HAKSZER
70kg -  Daniel CHOMANIC
74kg -  Martin HORINEK
79kg -  Christopher BEDNARIK
92kg -  Dominik PECHA
97kg -  Viliam OROSS

TKM
65kg -  Perman HOMMADOV
86kg -  Azat GAJYYEV
97kg -  Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV

TPE
61kg - Chia Hung CHANG
74kg - Hsiang-Wei WENG

TUR
57kg -  Ahmet TAS
61kg -  Ertugrul KAHVECI
65kg -  Ahmet Salim YIGIT
70kg -  Hasan KAYA
74kg -  Isa DEMIR
79kg -  Ramazan Ishak SARI
86kg -  Arif OZEN
92kg -  Erhan YAYLACI
97kg -  Feyzullah AKTURK
125kg - Oktay GUNGOR

UAE
125kg -Bader ALALI

UKR
57kg -  Andrii DZHELEP
61kg -  Ihor NYKYFORUK
65kg -  Denys BOROHAN
70kg -  Stepan LYLYK
74kg -  Mahomed HADZHYMAHOMEDOV
79kg -  Adlan BATAIEV
86kg - Andrii HYKA
92kg -  Oleksandr BYKANOV
97kg -  Ruslan HEORHIIEV
125kg - Yurii IDZINSKYI

Aaron BROOKS (USA), 2017 Cadet World champion. Photo by Martin Gabor.

USA
57kg -  Brandon COURTNEY
57kg -  Daton FIX
61kg -  Josh SAUNDERS
65kg -  Domonick DEMAS
70kg -  Brady BERGE
74kg -  Mekhi LEWIS
79kg -  Aaron BROOKS
86kg -  Lou DEPREZ
92kg -  Jacob WARNER
97kg -  Daniel KERKVLIET JR
125kg - Gable STEVESON

UZB
57kg -  Gulomjon ABDULLAEV
61kg -  Abbos RAKHMONOV
65kg -  Ikhtiyor NORMURODOV
86kg -  Davlatbek ASHUROV
92kg -  Makhsud VEYSALOV
125kg - Khasanboy RAKHIMOV

2026 U23 European Championships

Flying Islamgereev Wins U23 European Gold

Thursday, March 12, 2026 - 02:15 By Vinay Siwach

ZRENJANIN, Serbia (March 10) -- Bozigit ISLAMGEREEV (RUS) has become an internet sensation in the last 24 hours.

At the U23 European Championships in Zrenjanin, Serbia, Islamgereev, scored a buzzer-beating 'flying squirrel' move over Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) at 86kg. The video, posted by United World Wrestling, has spread beyond the combat sports world and to masses.

While the move itself has been around for long, no wrestling video has attained the level of virality as Islamgereev's move has, At least not since Snoop DOGG and Kevin HART discussed Mohammadali GERAEI's (IRI) acrobatics on their channel after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"Everyone was shocked," Islamgereev said. "My videos are everywhere now, I can’t even keep up with Instagram anymore, I’m all over the feed. Everyone congratulated me, absolutely everyone. People are surprised, shocked. Everyone is asking how this even happened."

During the 86kg quarterfinal, Islamgereev was trailing 8-3 with 15 seconds left in the match against Magamadov, the favorite to win gold in Zrenjanin. Islamgereev scored a stepout and caution point to cut the lead to 8-5 with 7 seconds left.

At this point, the Russian coaches had hands on their hands as winning from was impossible. Or so it seemed.

Islamgereev took a few steps forward towards Magamadov, who stayed low to avoid a double-leg attack which could have cost him two or four points. But the Russian jumped over Magamadov and locked him from behind while himself being upside down and slammed the French wrestler to score four points.

"Honestly, I have a lot of respect for my opponent," he said. "Rakhim is a very tough wrestler. At the beginning of the match things weren’t going my way, I made a lot of mistakes. There were literally only a few seconds left, probably around 10 seconds, when I pushed him out. Then there were about 7 seconds remaining.

"I couldn’t get to his legs at all. I thought to myself that since I couldn’t attack from below, I would try from above. So I jumped. It just happened that way, he kind of… I caught him really well, and he also turned a bit, and I managed to catch him in that moment and score four points. It was very unexpected, but very pleasant."

Bozigit ISLAMGEREEV (RUS) won the 86kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

The move meant that Islamgereev won 9-8. France challenged the call but there was little doubt that it was for four points and it was confirmed on review. The lost challenge added another point for Islamgereev who won 10-8.

"He was standing very low and I couldn’t make a leg attack," he explained. "So I decided to try from above. At the end, there were only a couple of seconds left, there was no time to think too much. In that moment you either take the risk or end up with nothing. I took the risk. That’s how it happened, I jumped.

"The main thing is first to fake an attack to the legs and trick him. As soon as he leans down, you need to jump upward so he can’t catch your legs. Then you have to be careful, you need to land on both feet so you can lift him and score four points."

As the crowd erupted, Islamgereev celebrated and pointed towards his coach Asker YUSUPOV, who in the stands and jumping around celebrating the victory.

"Yes, of course [I remember the reaction of the crowd], especially my coach," he said. "I looked at him and he was so happy, literally jumping. I think it was the first time in my life I saw him that joyful."

In the final on Wednesday, he defeated Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 2-1, to become the U23 European champion.

The Dagestan native, who was born in the village Kostek, has been training in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in central Russia. He also won a silver medal at the U20 World Championships last year.

"This is a lesson for me that you should never give up," he said. "You always have to believe, first in God and then in yourself. By doing that, you prove to yourself that, you can win and pull it off no matter how many seconds are left. Even with just a few seconds remaining, even when you need four points, you can still come back and do it."

Islamgereev was the fourth Russian to win the gold medal in Freestyle and Khabib DAVUDGADZHIEV (RUS) became the fifth after he defeated Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 4-1, in the 125kg final.

Russia won the team title with 199 points, while Azerbaijan was second with 170 points. Armenia finished third with 116 points.

Azerbaijan captured a gold on Wednesday through Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) at 92kg after he defeated Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR), 11-0, in a controlled final.

Armenia also won a gold medal, at 61kg, with Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM) beating Jeyhun ALLAHVERDIYEV (AZE), 2-1, in the final.

Mikayelyan was leading 1-1 on criteria after both wrestlers exchanged passivity points but he scored a stepout to take a 2-1 lead which Allahverdiyev failed to break.

Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) celebrates after winning the gold medal at 74kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Itaev Downs Wagin

Zagreb Open Ranking Series bronze medalist Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) defeated U20 European champion Manuel WAGIN (GER) to win the 74kg gold medal. He became only the third wrestler from France to win the gold at U23 Europeans in Freestyle.

Itaev was cautious to start but Wagin's lack of concentration allowed him to score a takedown which put Itaev on the board with two points. He scored a stepout to lead 3-0 at the break.

A scramble in the second period made it 5-3 and Wagin tried a desperate chest-wrap but Itaev brought him down in danger to score four points and all but seal the match. Wagin scored a front head roll for two points but lost the final, 9-5. Germany challenged in vain and the lost challenged added one more point to Itaev's score.

"I am very happy," Itaev said. "Step-by-step I am improving. Wagin is my friend and very intelligent wrestler but I managed to win. Hopefully, I can win a senior medal as well."

RESULTS

61kg
GOLD: Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM) df. Jeyhun ALLAHVERDIYEV (AZE), 2-1

BRONZE: Andrii SHOKALIUK (UKR) df. Besir ALILI (MKD), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Tolga OZBEK (TUR) df. Vasile MARCU (MDA), 2-1

74kg
GOLD: Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) df. Manuel WAGIN (GER), 10-5

BRONZE: Saba KOBAKHIDZE (GEO) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 11-4
BRONZE: Magomed BAITUKAEV (RUS) df. Aliaksandr HULNIK (BLR), 11-2

86kg
GOLD: Bozigit ISLAMGEREEV (RUS) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 2-1

BRONZE: Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) df. Vasif KHUDIYEV (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Artur KOSTIUK (UKR) df. Marius RETCO (MDA), 4-3

92kg
GOLD: Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) df. Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR), 11-0

BRONZE: Alexandru BORS (MDA) df. Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN), 11-0
BRONZE: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (RUS) df. Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM), 10-0

125kg
GOLD: Khabib DAVUDGADZHIEV (RUS) df. Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) df. Aleksandre ABRAMISHVILI (GEO), 14-4
BRONZE: Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM) df. Stsiapan MANDRYK (BLR), 10-0

Returning Freestyle World Champs Steveson, Fix Enter #Trnanva2018 Field

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Flying Islamgereev Wins U23 European Gold