#Trnava2018

Three Reigning Greco-Roman Junior World Champions Registered for #Trnava2018

By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (August 31) - The 2018 Junior World Championships kick off September 17-23 and each participating nation has summited their final entries to United World Wrestling. Nearly 265 Greco-Roman wrestlers from 43 nations will make the journey to Trnava, Slovakia with hopes of becoming a Junior World Champion. 

Three reigning champions in Kamal BEY (USA), Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) are registered to defend their titles from last years Tampere Junior World Championships. 

Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS), the three-time age-level world champion and most dominant age-level wrestler in the world was expected to compete for Russia at 82kg but is not registered for the Junior World Championships. Instead, Russia has entered Shamil OZHAEV (RUS) at GR 82kg.

Greco-Roman wrestling begins on September 17 and will be wrestled through September 19. 

ROSTERS
ALG 
60kg - Mourtada NAANAA    

72kg - Amar MOUMENE        

ARM
55kg - Tigran MINASYAN       
60kg - Ararat MANUCHARYAN         
63kg - Hrachya POGHOSYAN
67kg - Malkhas AMOYAN      
77kg - Vahe POGHOSYAN     
82kg - Erik ELOYAN    
87kg - Hakob BAGHDASARYAN        
97kg - Razmik KHACHATRYAN          
130kg - David OVASAPYAN     

AUT 
97kg - Markus RAGGINGER  

AZE 
55kg - Zulfigar ALIYEV           
60kg -  Hasan MAMMADLI     
63kg - Elnur MUSAYEV          
67kg - Mahammadali HASANOV      
72kg - Ulvu GANIZADE          
77kg - Nasir HASANOV          
82kg - Nazarshah FATULLAYEV         
130kg - Sarkhan MAMMADOV            

BLR
55kg - Aliaksandr NIAHODA  
60kg - Ihar DROZD     
63kg - Maksim NEHODA       
67kg - Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK         
72kg - Martun BADALIAN      
77kg - Yauheni YUROU          
82kg - Kiryl MASKEVICH        
87kg - Ihar YARASHEVICH     
97kg - Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU      
130kg - Ilya YUDCHYTS            

BRA 
67kg - Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR      

BUL
60kg - Ivo ILIEV    
63kg - Nikalas SULEV
67kg - Krasimir DORMUSHEV       
72kg - Krasimir KRUMOV
77kg - Zahari ZASHEV         
82kg - Svetoslav NIKOLOV  
97kg -Delian ALISHAHI       
130kg - Ignat MILENOV          

CHI
130kg - Diego ALMENDRAS RODRIQUEZ           

2016 Junior World Championship arena shot. Photo by Justin Hoch.

CHN
55kg - Liguo CAO       
60kg - Libin DING       
63kg - Delin WANG   
67kg - Xin HUANG     
72kg - Chuan ZHANG
77kg - Yilana YILANA
82kg - Wentao SU     
87kg - Maimaiti KAISAIER     
97kg - Yiming LI         
130kg - Lingzhe MENG            

CRO
72kg - Pavel PUKLAVEC         
82kg - Karlo KODRIC  
87kg - Filip SMETKO  
130kg - Ante MILKOVIC           

CZE
67kg - Denis MERTL   
72kg - Jakub BIELESZ
77kg - David PRUSA / Daniel VARGA
87kg - Jakub KROCAK
130kg - Ondrej DADAK

Mohamed ELSAYED, 2016 Cadet World Champion. Photo by Justin Hoch.

EGY
63kg - Hassan MOHAMED     
67kg - Mohamed ELSAYED    
72kg - Gamal MARZOUK       
130kg - Youssef ISSA   

EST
63kg - Denis BOLUNOV         
67kg - Kristo VIIDAS   
72kg - Andris PENT    
77kg - Hans Uku LEITHAM     
82kg - Ranet KALJOLA            
87kg - Ardo PAJUR    
97kg - Hendrik KALME           

FIN
67kg - Elmer Joakim MATTILA           
72kg - Akseli Elias YLI HANNUKSELA
77kg - Waltteri Harri Kristian LATVALA         
97kg - Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN       

GEO
55kg - Ramaz SILAGAVA       
60kg- Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI         
63kg - Leri ABULADZE           
67kg - Joni KHETSURIANI      
72kg - Nikoloz TCHIKAIDZE    
77kg - Beka GURULI  
82kg - Aivengo RIKADZE        
87kg - Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE         
97kg - Nika LOMIDZE
130kg - Beka MAKARIDZE        

GER
60kg - Andrej GINC    
63kg - Chlovelle Van MEIER  
72kg - Anthony Ezra SANDERS          
87kg - Nikolaos PAPADOPOULOS      
130kg - Franz RICHTER            

HUN
60kg - Tamas TOEROEK         
63kg - Krisztian Istvan VANCZA         
67kg - Tibor Sandor GYUERKY           
72kg - Gergely BAK    
77kg - Moric KISMONI           
82kg - Istvan TAKACSHUN
87kg - Alex SZOKE     
97kg - Balint VATZI    
130kg - Roland VATZI  

Vijay VIJAY (IND), 2018 Junior Asian Championship runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

IND
55kg - Vijay VIJAY      
60kg - Sachin RANA   
63kg - Manjeet MANJEET      
67kg - Malkit HOODA
72kg - Kuldeep MALIK           
77kg - Sajan SAJAN    
82kg - Sanjeet SANJEET         
87kg - Kumar SUNIL  
97kg - Viresh KUNDU
130kg - Aryan PANWAR          

IRI
55kg - Pouya NASERPOUR    
60kg - Ali NEJATI        
63kg - Bahram MAROUFKHANI IMCHEH      
67kg - Yousef HOSSEINVAND FATHI
72kg - Amin KAVIYANINEJAD
77kg - Shayan AFIFI   
82kg - Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU    
87kg - Mohammadhadi SARAVI        
97kg - Vahid DADKHAH GHASEM ABADI      
130kg - Amin MIRZAZADEH    

ISR
67kg - Shamil ALAEV

ITA
55kg - Giovanni FRENI           
60kg - Jacopo SANDRON       
67kg - Ignazio SANFILIPPO    
77kg - Mirco MINGUZZI        
97kg - Luca SVAICARIITA

JPN
55kg - Shota OGAWA            
60kg - Kazuki YABE    
63kg - Harushi SHIMAYA       
67kg - Taishi HORIE   
72kg - Minto MAEDA
77kg- Rai HAYASHI   
82kg - Yudai SASAKI / Masao TANAKA          
87kg - Ryohta NASUKAWA    
97kg - Akira YAMANAKA / Naoki MATSUMOTO   
130kg - Sota OKUMURA          

Merey BEKENOV (KAZ), 2018 Junior Asian Champion. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka. 

KAZ
55kg - Alpamys DASTANBEK
60kg- Galym KABDUNASSAROV      
63kg - Madiyar MALTEKBAYEV         
67kg - Merey BEKENOV        
72kg - Daulet LARIONOV       
77kg - Temirlan YESPENBET  
82kg - Stanislav RYLSKIY        
87kg - Sanzhar TEMIRBEK     
97kg - Islam UMAYEV            
130kg - Anton SAVENKO         

KGZ
55kg - Nurtazin KERIMBERDI UULU  
60kg - Dastan KADYROV        
63kg - Erbol BAKIROV            
67kg - Khalmurat IBRAGIMOV          
72kg - Ilim BILIMOV   
77kg - Akzhol MAKHMUDOV
82kg - Ilgiz BILIMOV  
87kg - Amankeldi TALANTBEK UULU

KOR
55kg - Doohoon KIM  
60kg - Seongmin KIM
63kg - Kyoungsub KIM           
67kg - Unho HAN       
72kg - Jueun JEONG  
77kg - Boseong KANG           
82kg - Inseob KIM      
87kg - Junyeop PARK
97kg - Jeongbin KWON          
130kg - Taeho YIM       

KSA
55kg - Tuorki Ali M HAZOAZI
60kg - Hassan M WADDAN    

LTU
60kg - Gytis KULEVICIUS        
77kg - Titas KERSEVICIUS      
97kg - Arnoldas BARANOVAS            

MDA
67kg - Valentin PETIC             
72kg - Anatolie POPOV          

NOR
67kg - Haavard JOERGENSEN
77kg - Per Anders KURE        

POL
60kg - Sebastian NOWICKI         
63kg - Mateusz SZEWCZUK          
67kg - Filip PETRONCZAK         
72kg - Gracjan GLOGIEWICZ
82kg - Piotr DUK            
87kg - Michal DYBKA            
97kg - Gerard KURNICZAK   
130kg - Patryk KAMINSKI  

POR
55kg - Andre CARDOSO OLIVEIRA SILVA       
63kg - Daniel DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA  

ROU
55kg - Florin TITA      
60kg - Razvan ARNAUT         
82kg - Nicu Samuel OJOG     
130kg - Lenard Istvan BEREI    

Oleg AGAKHANOV, 2018 Junior European Champion. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne. 

RUS
55kg - Emin SEFERSHAEV     
60kg- Abu AMAEV   
63kg - Azamat KAIROV          
67kg - Miakhdi IAKHIAEV      
72kg - Sergei STEPANOV       
77kg - Islam OPIEV    
82kg - Shamil OZHAEV          
87kg - Ilia ERMOLENKO         
97kg - Artur SARGSIAN         
130kg - Oleg AGAKHANOV      

SRB
55kg - Sebastian KOLOMPAR
67kg - Adam KATONA            
72kg - Sava MIJOKOVIC         
77kg - Andrija Luka MALETIN
82kg - Branko KOVACEVIC     

SUI
55kg - Dimitar SANDOV        
87kg - Ramon BETSCHART     
97kg - Damian VON EUW      

SVK
63kg - Istvan SLUKA   
67kg - Nikolas HULMAN        
72kg - Gergely BUERSOELY   
77kg - Bence HOLOCSI          
82kg - Zoltan MEGALY           

SWE
67kg - Elias ANDERSSON      
72kg - Mats AHLGREN      
77kg - Per OLOFSSON  
82kg - Anders OLSSON    
130kg - Jacob LOGAARD        

TJK
67kg - Faridun AKHMEDOV   
72kg - Bakhtovar KHASANOV            
77kg - Daler REZA ZADE        
130kg - Azmuddin VAKHOBOV           

TKM
63kg - Seydylla TAZAYEV       

TUR
55kg - Cihat Ahmet LIMAN    
60kg - Kerem KAMAL
63kg - Abdullah TOPRAK       
67kg - Ismail GUN     
72kg - Erkan ERGEN  
77kg - Alper Murat ERDURAN           
82kg - Muhutdin SARICICEK  
87kg - Bedirhan TAN
97kg - Beytullah KAYISDAG   
130kg - Fatih BOZKURT           

UKR
55kg - Vladyslav KUZKO         
60kg- Ihor KUROCHKIN        
63kg - Oleksandr HRUSHYN  
67kg - Parviz NASIBOV          
72kg - Ihor BYCHKOV
77kg - Dmytro GARDUBEI
82kg - Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH
87kg - Dmytro KIIASHOK
97kg - Oleksandr YEVDOKIMOV
130kg - Vladyslav KOVALENKO            

Kamal BEY (USA), 2017 Junior World Champion. Photo by Marion Stein. 

USA
55kg - Brady KOONTZ            
60kg - Taylor LA MONT         
63kg - Alston NUTTER           
67kg - Peyton OMANIA         
72kg - Tyler DOW      
77kg - Kamal BEY       
82kg - Andrew BERREYESA   
87kg - Barret HUGHES          
97kg - Chad PORTER  
130kg - Cohlton SCHULTZ       

UZB
63kg - Turabek TIRKASHEV   
67kg - Kamol KUZIEV
72kg - Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV     
82kg - Alijon KHUSEYNOV     
97kg - Abubakr ALIMOV        
130kg - Temur Mirzo MAMAJANOV   

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

On return, Dzhuzupbekov secures gold at Ulaanbaatar Open 2025

By Vinay Siwach

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 29) -- Paris Olympic bronze medalist Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) looked rusty on his return to competition since winning the medal in August 2024. But he had enough experience to win gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Open 2025, his first competition since.

"This was my first start after the Olympics," Dzhuzupekov said. "It was very difficult, to be honest. It was quite tough to wrestle here, especially since the climate is different."

In his three bouts at 97kg, Dzhuzupbekov struggled for conditioning. He opened the day with a 10-6 win over Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) before beating Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL) 9-1. But it was his last match against Asian bronze medalist NITESH (IND) which troubled him the most.

Dzhuzupekov began the match with an arm-throw for four but Nitesh scored a reversal to make it 5-1 and the Indian the scored a turn to close the gap to 5-3 at the break. On resumption, Dzhuzupbekov held his position and was only called passive with just over a minute left.

Nitesh, now trailing 5-4, needed a turn to turn the match in his favor but he failed to score any and Dzhuzupbekov defended the one-point lead to win the gold medal at 97kg.

"It's dry here, and we're at an altitude of about 1,400 meters," he said. "That made it really challenging. It was hard for the whole team to compete. But overall, I’m happy with the result. Starting with the very first match it was really tough, I couldn't  breathe properly here. We’ll analyze things and keep preparing." 

Dzhuzupbekov has been off since winning bronze in Paris and got married after the Olympics. But as one of three medalists for Kyrgyzstan's Greco team, Dzhuzupbekov is now hoping to build on that result.

"I’ll be preparing for the World Championships," he said. "But I think there will be another tournament after this one — probably in Hungary or Poland. And we’ll likely prepare differently for that. Overall, I think the team spirit is good right now. I don’t focus too much on any one opponent, because the competition is very strong. Especially with all the Europeans — they’re all big and strong. I think I just have to be ready, be in good shape. I try not to overthink who I’ll wrestle or how the match will go. I just believe that if I’m in good form, I’ll win."

Dzhuzupbekov's gold was one of the three Kyrgyzstan won on day one of the tournament which doesn't award team title as it is not a championships.

Asian Championships silver medalist and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series gold medalist Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) defeated Murat FIRAT (TUR) in Round 2 bout and won the gold medal at 67kg.

Firat got the first par terre advantage in the first period but he failed to score and just before the break, Beishekeev surprised him with a headlock throw for four to lead 4-1. In the second period, Beishekeev got the par terre but he did not score and was happy to defend his 5-1 lead and win.

World U23 champion Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) won the gold medal at 87kg after won his bouts with dominance. He defeated Batbayar TSOGTBAATAR (MGL), 8-0, and Karan KAMBOJ (IND), 9-0, to finish at the top. 

Alperen BERBER (TUR) was also entered but he pulled out injured after suffering a hamstring injury in his first bout against Karan KAMBOJ (IND).

Another Turkiye wrestler who pulled out injured was Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR). He suffered an infection in his elbow day before coming to Mongolia and did not wrestle a single bout. Since only three wrestlers were entered at 82kg, Akbudak still managed to win gold.

But the gold medal was historic. Shahin BADAGHI (QAT) became the first wrestler from Qatar to win gold medal at any international event in Greco-Roman.

Badaghi, an Iranian transfer to Qatar, defeated PRINCE (IND) 9-0 in the only bout the two wrestled in the day. Badaghi scored a takedown and then a suplex for a 6-0 lead. India lost a challenge to make it 7-0 before Badaghi scored a takedown to finish the bout via technical superiority.

Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) gave Turkiye its lone gold medal after beating Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) in the 77kg final, 5-1. In the earlier Nelson bracket bout, Yilmaz defeated the Kyrgyzstan wrestler 11-3.

Iran and India also won gold medals as Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) put on a show to win four of his bouts and the gold medal at 72kg.

For India, Anil MOR (IND) won the gold medal at 55kg after he pinned Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ) in the evening session. In his four bouts, Mor gave only two points, against Muratbek Uulu, but pinned him to remain one of the most dominant wrestler of the day.

The 19-year-old was wrestling his first senior international tournament and hails from Bass village, Hisar district in Haryana. He trains at the Guru Mehar Singh Akhada in Rohtak which has always given wrestlers to the Indian team.

For his Round 5 bout against Muratbek Uuku, Mor decided to defend more than attack.

"I had watched his bouts and he was trying to do the underhook and then throw you for the fall," Mor said. "I never gave my arm to him for the drag to underhook."

Though he was given passive in the first period, Mor knew that he has to get out of the par terre position quickly. He did so by sneaking out of Muratbek Uulu's gold and then scoring a takedown.

Instead of going for the turns, Mor held Muratbek Uulu to the mat and then secured the fall to get his first-ever senior medal internationally.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Anil MOR (IND)
SILVER: Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
BRONZE: Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)

67kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
SILVER: Murat FIRAT (TUR)
BRONZE: NEERAJ (IND)

72kg
GOLD: Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
SILVER: Mustafa SAHIN (TUR)
BRONZE: Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ)

77kg
GOLD: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) df. Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ), 5-1

BRONZE: Nishant PHOGAT (IND) df. Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL), 11-0

82kg
GOLD: Shahin BADAGHI (QAT)
SILVER: PRINCE (IND)
BRONZE: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)

87kg
GOLD: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
SILVER: Batbayar TSOGTBAATAR (MGL)
BRONZE: Karan KAMBOJ (IND)

97kg
GOLD: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
SILVER: NITESH (IND)
BRONZE: Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)