#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

#WrestleZagreb

Kayaalp Returns with Gold at Zagreb Open; Gomi stuns Ganiev

Monday, February 9, 2026 - 01:45 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 8) -- Wearing gold medals is nothing new for Riza KAYAALP (TUR), an Olympic, world and 12-time European champion with a career spanning more than 15 years.

But wearing the Zagreb Open gold on Sunday felt different for Kayaalp.

Returning to the mat after a hiatus of 18 months, Kayaalp wrestled at the Ranking Series event and claimed the 130kg gold medal. The 36-year-old looked sharp in Zagreb, repeatedly using the trademark gut-wrench to win his bouts. He showed no signs of fading in any bout and remained in complete control throughout.

Kayaalp opened with a 9-0 technical superiority win over Aden ATTAO (USA) and followed with another 9-0 victory against Rati TALIKISHVILI (GEO). In the semifinals, he was content with winning 4-0 against Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ), getting both passivity advantages.

Facing Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) in the final, Kayaalp scored three turns from par terre to lead 7-0. Schultz was given par terre advantage in the second period but failed to score as Kayaalp secured a 7-1 victory.

"It has been a day full of pride and joy for me to return to this beautiful mat," Kayaalp said. "I returned to the place that has been a part of my life, and to wear the gold medal here again."

At the 2023 European Championships at the same Arena Zagreb, Kayaalp had won his record-tying 12th gold medal. Later that year, he qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a silver medal at the World Championships.

However, his career stalled in 2024 when he received a competition ban. Following a lengthy appeal process, Kayaalp cleared his name and returned to the sport, with the Zagreb Open being his first tournament.

"It was a stressful time. Things I never wanted happened to me," he said. "There is nothing worse in life than not being able to explain yourself. But we still have something to live for."

Kayaalp had planned to retire after the Paris Games. After missing the event, however, he returned with renewed motivation to win medals at the Olympics, World Championships and the European Championships.

"There is great fire, ambition and renewal within me," he said. "That old boredom in my mind is gone. I got angry, very angry. But now I hope to have good goals."

Riza KAYAALP (TUR) receives the gold medal from Taha AKGUL (TUR). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Taha AKGUL (TUR), a long-time teammate of Kayaalp but in Freestyle and now the President of the Turkish Wrestling Federation, called Kayaalp the magician.

"He came here with around twenty percent preparation," Akgul said about Kayaalp. "We have the European Championship ahead and we will prepare well. Hopefully, he will break Karelin's record by becoming European champion for the thirteenth time."

Kayaalp and Aleksandr KARELIN are tied at 12 European gold medals, and the former nearly broke the record in 2024. However, he got pinned by Sergey SEMENOV (UWW) in the final.

"He is the brother, the captain, the magician of the team," Akgul said. "We set out on this journey as two brothers. It was the same when I was an athlete. We won our gold medals together. Now, we want to represent Turkish wrestling in the same way."

Turkiye won the second gold medal of the day through Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR) who denied Mihail BRADU (MDA), 5-0, in the final.

As soon as the second period began, Bradu tried hitting an arm-throw on Saricicek but the Turkiye wrestler countered and flung Bradu and got four points.

That was the only action in the second period as Saricicek claimed the gold medal. Saricicek survived a tough semifinal against Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) but managed to scrap past 4-3.

Alex SZOKE (HUN) tries to score against Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) in the 97kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Alex SZOKE (HUN) took a step closer to making the Hungarian team at 97kg for the European Championships after winning gold medal at the same weight here in Zagreb.

Facing former U20 world champion Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) in the final, Szoke managed to get both par terre position and also a turn to lead 4-0, which was also the winning score for him.

Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI) emerged as the latest entry in Iran for a weight class. Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) had long been Iran's go-to at 55kg but then emerged Payam AHMADI (IRI) who won gold at U20 World Championships and silver at the senior level.

Now, Hosseinvand defeated Dad Marz in the semifinal in Zagreb and later went on to win the gold medal, defeating Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), 2-0, in the final.

Hosseinvand got both par terre advantages in the match. While he did not score any points in the final, he defended his positions and did not give any either to claim the gold medal.

At 72kg, former U20 world champion Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) controlled his final against Nika BROLADZE (GEO) and won the gold medal, posting a 4-1 victory.

Alameldin was put in par terre in the first period which gave Broladze a point. As he was unable to score any points, Broladze led only 1-0 at the break.

Broladze gave up a point via stepout at the start of the second period which gave Alameldin a 1-1 criteria lead. Alameldin then got the par terre advantage, making the score 2-1.

In the final 30 seconds, Broladze tried some desperate moves but Alameldin bodylocked him and brought him down for two points which sealed the win for him.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI) df. Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), 2-0

BRONZE: Omer RECEP (TUR) df. Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ), 8-0
BRONZE: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) df. LALIT (IND), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Koto GOMI (JPN) df. Alisher GANIEV (UZB), 10-0

BRONZE: Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) df. Yu SHIOTANI (JPN), 1-1
BRONZE: Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ) df. Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI), via fall

72kg
GOLD: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) df. Nika BROLADZE (GEO), 4-1

BRONZE: Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ) df. Abror ATABAEV (UZB), 3-3
BRONZE: Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB) df. Alejandro SANCHO (USA), 11-0

82kg
GOLD: Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR) df. Mihail BRADU (MDA), 5-0

BRONZE: Reza MOKHTARI (IRI) df. Beka MELELASHVILI (USA), 10-1
BRONZE: Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) df. Jesse PORTER (USA), 7-2

97kg
GOLD: Alex SZOKE (HUN) df. Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 4-0

BRONZE: Hadi SEYDI AVENDI (IRI) df. Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ), 1-1
BRONZE: Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB), 2-1

130kg
GOLD: Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA), 7-1

BRONZE: Darius VITEK (HUN) df. Artur SARKISJAN (CZE), 1-1
BRONZE: Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ) df. Rati TALIKISHVILI (GEO), 6-1

Returning Freestyle World Champs Steveson, Fix Enter #Trnanva2018 Field

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Kayaalp Returns with Gold at Zagreb Open; Gomi stuns Ganiev