#WrestleIstanbul

U17 World Championships entries

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Türkiye (July 24) — Young stars will assemble in Istanbul beginning next week for the U17 World Championships, the first of the five in different age-groups.

Monday will see Greco-Roman action and it will be on Iran to lose the team title which they won in Rome, Italy last year.

The US, team title winners in 2022, will look to continue its success in World Championships. It will be challenged by India, winners of 2021. Azerbaijan, which almost won the tittle last year, will be in focus as well along with Iran and AIN teams.

Japan is sending a strong women’s wrestling squad and like always will be the favorite to win the team gold.

It will be interesting to see if India, which has taking huge strides in women’s wrestling in recent times, will be able to challenge Japan or not like it does at the continental level.

The U17 World Championships will be live on uww.org and the UWW App with all the bouts, highlights, interviews, news and photos.

 

Freestyle

45kg
Agashirin AGASHERINOV (AIN)
Gor BUNIATYAN (ARM)
Jafar JAFAROV (AZE)
Mate TSINADZE (GEO)
Dhanraj SHIRKE (IND)
Ahora Farhad KHATERI (IRI)
Atsuki MATSUURA (JPN)
Nurmukhamed TURDALY (KAZ)
Daniel NEGRU (MDA)
Buyanjargal BATMUNKH (MGL)
Frederick BACHMANN JR (PUR)
Azymberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Ebubekir GUR (TUR)
Ignacio VILLASENOR (USA)
Bobojon IBADULLAEV (UZB)

48kg
Ali SULTANOV (AIN)
Yahor MIKHAILAU (AIN)
Mihran SLOYAN (ARM)
Bashir VERDIYEV (AZE)
Gegi ONIANI (GEO)
RUPESH (IND)
Sam Reza SAYAR (IRI)
Lior SHMULKO (ISR)
Yamato FURUSAWA (JPN)
Yeraly ZHETPISSOV (KAZ)
Zakhidzhon MIRZAEV (KGZ)
Enkhkhuslen TUSHIGBAYAR (MGL)
Oliwier ORZECHOWSKI (POL)
Joseph BACHMANN (PUR)
Marian RUSU (ROU)
Dominick AOUN (RSA)
Efe KARATAS (TUR)
Paul KENNY (USA)
Abdumalik JALOLDINOV (UZB) 

51kg
Usman INDIRBAEV (AIN)
Sasha PETROSYAN (ARM)
Kristian CIKEL (AUT)
Sadraddin HASANOV (AZE)
Giorgi MAISURADZE (GEO)
ROHIT (IND)
Amirmohammad NAVAZI (IRI)
Yamato OGAWA (JPN)
Olzhas ZHAUYNBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurdoolot BEKBOLOTOV (KGZ)
Vladimir ICHIZLI (MDA)
Myanganbanzragch TUMENTOGTOKH (MGL)
Yandel MORALES (PUR)
Mokbel SAHLI (TUN)
Kahraman ESKI (TUR)
Christian CASTILLO (USA)
Abbos KUZIEV (UZB)

55kg
Akhmad MUSAKHADZHIEV (AIN)
Ilya KOSTSENICH (AIN)
Abdelghani AID (ALG)
Samvel GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Haji KARIMOV (AZE)
Oubayda ITAEV (FRA)
Danoush JOWKAR (GBR)
Arshak LULUKYAN (GEO)
Aik KAZARIAN (GRE)
ANKUSH (IND)
Amirreza TEYMORIZAD (IRI)
Ariya YOSHIDA (JPN)
Allan ORALBEK (KAZ)
Aktilek ZHOLDOSHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Inseong BAK (KOR)
Victor DRAGOMAN (MDA)
Naran BARKHAS (MGL)
Stefan STOJKOV (MKD)
Jaeden BROWN (NZL)
Jakub KESY (POL)
Derick MARTINEZ (PUR)
Roehan DU PLESSIS (RSA)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Haci ZADE (TUR)
Marcus BLAZE (USA)
Shohrukhbek SAPOEV (UZB)

60kg
Iasin BERSANUKAEV (AIN)
Uladzislau VARABYOU (AIN)
Aren HAYRAPETYAN (ARM)
Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
Daniel GURBOVIC (CZE)
Abdoullah NAKAEV (FRA)
Tengiz BARBAKADZE (GEO)
Nick ECKENBERGER (GER)
TUSHAR (IND)
Sajad PIRDAYEH (IRI)
Akito MAEHARA (JPN)
Yeraly ZHENISSOV (KAZ)
Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)
Cristi CEBAN (MDA)
Gabriel SANCHEZ (MEX)
Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL)
Adrian SIKORA (POL)
Yandro SOTO RIVERA (PUR)
Bernardo SZILAGYI (ROU)
Petrus VAN DER WALT (RSA)
Bekjan RUSLANOV (TKM)
Vahid YILMAZ (TUR)
Benjamin DAVINO (USA)
Shamsiddin JUMABOEV (UZB)

65kg
Magomed ALIBAKHARCHIEV (AIN)
Aliaksandr KAMBAYEU (AIN)
Miguel ANTONIO (ANG)
Vladimir AZARYAN (ARM)
Mirzaagha AKHUNDOV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Lukas BRANDL (CZE)
Fares ELSAWY (EGY)
Denis KODAKOV GIL (ESP)
Khizir DASIYEV (FRA)
Zurab ABALAKI (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Vasileios KESIDIS (GRE)
SOURABH (IND)
Sina Mahdi KHALILI (IRI)
Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)
Almas SABYR (KAZ)
Nursadyk NURDINOV (KGZ)
Juyoung KIM (KOR)
Catalin SPINU (MDA)
Ankh Erdene ALTANGEREL (MGL)
Antoni MAJCHRZAK (POL)
Elvis SOLIS (PUR)
Justin RAFFIN (SUI)
Samuel SEDLAK (SVK)
Arslan MAMISHOV (TKM)
Remzi TEMUR (TUR)
Brock MANTANONA (USA)
Zafarbek KAMOLOV (UZB)

71kg
Islam KAZHAROV (AIN)
Mohamed CHIBIKH (ALG)
Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM)
Ismayil RAHIMLI (AZE)
Stiliyan DZHOROV (BUL)
Ondrej KOCMANEK (CZE)
Nikolai TARASSOV (EST)
Nodar TEVZADZE (GEO)
Felix SCHMITT (GER)
Avraam MOUSTOPOULOS (GRE)
NARENDER (IND)
Seyedabolfazl HOSSEINI (IRI)
Reuven RABINSKY (ISR)
Tatsuki KAMIYA (JPN)
Nurdaulet SEILBEKOV (KAZ)
Raatbek RAKHAT UULU (KGZ)
Piotr CARADJOV (MDA)
Bilguundalai PUREVDAGVA (MGL)
Gracjan MATYJASEK (POL)
Victor SOTO RIVERA (PUR)
Alp BEGENJOV (TKM)
Ferhat YIGIT (TUR)
Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)
Asadbek FAYZULLAEV (UZB)

80kg
Magomed IDRISOV (AIN)
Maksim RYHOSIK (AIN)
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Ismayil ASADLI (AZE)
Grigor CHERNAKOV (BUL)
Vladislav RJABTSEV (EST)
Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Theofilos KESIDIS (GRE)
Adam MIZSEI (HUN)
Saurabh YADAV (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Daniel SIMONIAN (ISR)
Natsura OKAZAWA (JPN)
Askhab KHAJIYEV (KAZ)
Alexandru BORS (MDA)
Byambadorj ENKHBAT (MGL)
Omer MEMEDI (MKD)
Bartlomiej NOWAKOWSKI (POL)
Nick SCHERRER (SUI)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Huseyin KABAKTAS (TUR)
Zackary D RYDER (USA)
Mukhammadali RAKHIMOV (UZB)

92kg
Alimirza ABDULKADIROV (AIN)
Aliaksei KULAKOU (AIN)
Varuzhan HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)
Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO)
Erwin PLUSCHNIK (GER)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Bence VERESS (HUN)
VINAY (IND)
Toohid NOORY (IRI)
Genki HOKI (JPN)
Samir DURSUNOV (KAZ)
Demuul ARIUNTUYA (MGL)
Ilija ATANASOV (MKD)
Pieter Lafras UYS (NAM)
Balazs LORINCZ (ROU)
Suleyman MUSAGULYYEV (TKM)
Eyyup CETIN (TUR)
Aeoden SINCLAIR (USA)
Isomjon ISLAMOV (UZB)

110kg
Rakhman MALAKHMEDOV (AIN)
Yaraslau KOKHAN (AIN)
Henrik HAYKYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Marwan MOHAMED (EGY)
Aleksandre ABRAMISHVILI (GEO)
Balint FABIAN (HUN)
Singh JASPOORAN (IND)
Abolfazl NEZHAD (IRI)
Hosei FUJITA (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL)
Balazs CSIPKES (ROU)
Rusen GULER (TUR)
Sampson STILLWELL (USA)
Eldorbek KHASANOV (UZB) 

Women’s Wrestling

40kg
Raniia RAKHMANOVA (AIN)
Nurana ASADLI (AIN)
Klara WINKLER (GER)
RACHANA (IND)
Koharu AKUTSU (JPN)
Anel BURKUTBAYEVA (KAZ)
Ainaz ABDYKADYROVA (KGZ)
Fatma YILMAZ (TUR)
Jaclyn BOUZAKIS (USA)
Shokhista SHONAZAROVA (UZB)

43kg
Aleksandra BEREZOVSKAIA (AIN)
Alina MAZHAROUSKAYA (AIN)
Saadat GULIYEVA (AZE)
Maria GKIKA (GRE)
PARVEEN (IND)
Mona EZAKA (JPN)
Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ)
Kinga JARONIEK (POL)
Diana VOICULESCU (ROU)
Yagmur KARABACAK (TUR)
Morgan TURNER (USA)
Nilufar NURMUKHAMMADOVA (UZB)

46kg
Diana RYBCHENKO (AIN)
Valeryia TSITOVA (AIN)
Dounia ZITOUNI (ALG)
Vicky LEON (ECU)
Josephine WRENSCH (GER)
MUSKAN (IND)
Natsumi MASUDA (JPN)
Meiramgul AKHMETZHAN (KAZ)
Aidana ABDYKERIM KYZY (KGZ)
Lonisa REKA (KOS)
Daniella HOSSEIN BEKY (NOR)
Dominika KONKEL (POL)
Wan Yi HUANG (TPE)
Hava KONCA (TUR)
Rianne MURPHY (USA)

49kg
Tana TIULIUSH (AIN)
Sviatlana KATENKA (AIN)
Eleni ZAGLIVERI (GER)
Anna KOEBLO (HUN)
DRISHTI (IND)
Rinka OGAWA (JPN)
Arina ABDULLINA (KAZ)
Diana AMANTUROVA (KGZ)
Eunhye OH (KOR)
Chuluun Erdene BATTOGTOKH (MGL)
Lucja KORCZ (POL)
Chloe BREWIS (RSA)
Wei Ting CHEN (TPE)
Nil AKTAS (TUR)
Heather CRULL (USA)

53kg
Olga OVCHINNIKOVA (AIN)
Valeryia MIKITSICH (AIN)
Fatima BOUCHIBI (ALG)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Lisette BOETTKER (EST)
Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)
Liliana KAPUVARI (HUN)
RAJNITA (IND)
Fabiana RINELLA (ITA)
Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
Elmira SAPARBEKOVA (KAZ)
Aziza SHUMKAROVA (KGZ)
Bayasgalan MONGOLKHUU (MGL)
Amelia TOMALA (POL)
Milica SEKULOVIC (SRB)
Anja EPP (SUI)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Yi Hsuan TSENG (TPE)
Ozlem GURSOY (TUR)
Karlee BROOKS (USA)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)

57kg
Mariia BELIASOVA (AIN)
Alina KOZHYNA (AIN)
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Sabah KHAMIS (EGY)
Rosa MOLINA RODRIGUEZ (ESP)
NEHA (IND)
Denise PIRODDU (ITA)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Zhasmin ISKANDAROVA (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Yeo Jin MIN (KOR)
Enkhdangina DEJINBEE (MGL)
Mirijam HANSEN (NOR)
Nikola PIECHOCKA (POL)
Eliana WHITE (PUR)
Kai Yi LI (TPE)
Eylem ENGIN (TUR)
Everest LEYDECKER (USA)
Durdona SAIDOVA (UZB)

61kg
Ekaterina RADYSHEVA (AIN)
Aliautsina SHKURATAVA (AIN)
Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI)
Maram ALY (EGY)
Ainara PORTILLO (ESP)
Nella HONKANIEMI (FIN)
Leana SIERRA (FRA)
Leonie STEIGERT (GER)
Loukia KARAGIANNI (GRE)
Eda BALAZS (HUN)
SAVITA (IND)
Konami ONO (JPN)
Sofya ZMAZNEVA (KAZ)
Akylai CHYNYBAEVA (KGZ)
Paulina PAVILIONYTE (LTU)
Munkhchimeg URJIN (MGL)
Leah SAMSONSEN (NOR)
Emilia SWIERCZEWSKA (POL)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Haylie JAFFEE (USA)

65kg
Margarita SALNAZARIAN (AIN)
Maryia MAKARCHANKA (AIN)
Mouda HAMDOUN (EGY)
Lise LANDOUZY (FRA)
Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO)
Viktoria PUPP (HUN)
SHIKSHA (IND)
Chisato YOSHIDA (JPN)
Meiramgul MAKSOT (KAZ)
Aiana ASAMALIKOVA (KGZ)
Marina AKHAI (MGL)
Maja NOWAKOWSKA (POL)
Sabina PETRACHE (ROU)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
May PRADO (USA)
Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB)

69kg
Liliana KAZMINA (AIN)
Karyna FISHCHUK (AIN)
Joseth MAVUNGU (ANG)
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Alexandra KOLLAR (HUN)
SRISHTI (IND)
Ai SAKAI (JPN)
Ingkar YERGALI (KAZ)
Nur SHARIPOVA (KGZ)
Viktorija IRKLE (LAT)
Azzaya ERDENEBILEG (MGL)
Paulina KUCHARCZYK (POL)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Hua Fang KO (TPE)
Elif KURT (TUR)
Jasmine ROBINSON (USA)
Nigina RAJABOVA (UZB)

73kg
Diana TITOVA (AIN)
Aliaksandra KAZLOVA (AIN)
Melissa BELAID (ALG)
Anabela RADOS (CRO)
Laia HORTA GALLARDO (ESP)
Ambre BOUZILLARD (FRA)
Lotta ENGLICH (GER)
Petra MUELLER (HUN)
KAJAL (IND)
Ako UCHIYAMA (JPN)
Meruyert NAZARBAYEVA (KAZ)
Akylai ABDRAKHMANOVA (KGZ)
Sarah RANDRIANANDRASANA (MAD)
Ionela COJOCARU (ROU)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Piper FOWLER (USA)
Asaloy AMANGELDIEVA (UZB) 

Greco-Roman

45kg
RUSTEM ABATSIEV (AIN)
Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Turan DASHDAMIROV (AZE)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Nika TSETSKHLADZE (GEO)
Athanasios TSINIAS (GRE)
Pranjl KANGRA (IND)
Alireza AMIRIGHASRODDASHTI (IRI)
Kaisei YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Zharas SOVETOV (KAZ)
Kadyrbek ALMANBETOV (KGZ)
Igor CAZAC (MDA)
Zoltan BOTH (SVK)
Mehmet SARP (TUR)
Henry ASLIKYAN (USA)
Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB)

48kg
Murat KHATIT (AIN)
Maksim BRADZIAK (AIN)
Edgar PETROSYAN (ARM)
Elnar ZIYADOV (AZE)
Pedro DE SOUZA (BRA)
Karim ELEMARY (EGY)
Iuri CHAPIDZE (GEO)
Ivan SEIBEL (GER)
Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
Siddhanath PATIL (IND)
Payam AHMADI BALOOTAKI (IRI)
Haruku SHIINA (JPN)
Beknur MUKAN (KAZ)
Elmar ISHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Maksat SEYTIYEV (TKM)
Abdulsamet UCAR (TUR)
Ezekiel  WITT (USA)
Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB)

51kg
Ilia KANDALIN (AIN)
Rasim IBRAHIMAU (AIN)
Artur BROYAN (ARM)
Ali SEYIDALILI (AZE)
Moises PERALTA (ECU)
Omar IBRAHIM (EGY)
Nolan PISSOCHER (FRA)
Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO)
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
Manu YADAV (IND)
Mohammad MOHMADI (IRI)
Haruya FUKASAWA (JPN)
Zhanbolat SAPARBEK (KAZ)
Cholponbek TOROBEKOV (KGZ)
Dragos DRAGA (ROU)
Husniddin ULUGBEKOV (TKM)
Omer ALTAS (TUR)
Hudson LOGES (USA)
Dostonbek ORIPOV (UZB)

55kg
Airat SALIKHOV (AIN)
Danila CHARAPENKA (AIN)
Yuri KARAPETYAN (ARM)
Daniel STRUZINJSKI (AUT)
Tural AHMADOV (AZE)
Alyosha ILIEV (BUL)
Ahmed SHABAN (EGY)
Richard PAJUVIIDIK (EST)
Atte SUHONEN (FIN)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Levente FIGE (HUN)
SURAJ (IND)
Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI)
Mustafa AL SAEEDI (IRQ)
David ZILMAN SHEVCHENKO (ISR)
Shu TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)
Kuttubek RYSMATOV (KGZ)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Mario MARIUT (NOR)
Dawid SZTAJKOWSKI (POL)
Nodirjon SANGOV (TJK)
Bayramgeldi YAGMYROV (TKM)
Shu Wei CHUNG (TPE)
Halil CINAR (TUR)
Jordyn RANEY (USA)
AYTJAN KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

60kg
Mingiian GORIAEV (AIN)
Kiryl VALEUSKI (AIN)
Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM)
Roman KARIMOV (AZE)
Kristiyan MILENKOV (BUL)
Clisman CARRACEDO VELIZ (ECU)
Mohamed IBRAHIM (EGY)
Nikita MURADOV (EST)
Saba SURMANIDZE (GEO)
Sokratis KONSTANTINIDIS (GRE)
VARUN (IND)
Ali Amir DEZFOOLINEZHAD (IRI)
Aviv VOLOCH (ISR)
Daichi SAKASHITA (JPN)
Yerdaulet LASSIM (KAZ)
Bekzhan ESENBEK (KGZ)
Eimantas ANDRIUSKA (LTU)
Alin MURARU (MDA)
Kajetan JAKUBOWSKI (POL)
Kemal KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Kemal SAHBAZ (TUR)
Samuel HERRING (USA)
Ogabek MUKIMOV (UZB)

65kg
Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN)
Ihar ANOSHKA (AIN)
Petros ASHKARYAN (ARM)
Yusif AHMADLI (AZE)
Antonio HRISTOV (BUL)
Jure RAJKOVIC (CRO)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Daniel JEREMEJEV (EST)
Giorgi TCHIKAIDZE (GEO)
Athanasios EFTHYMIADIS (GRE)
Attila JOZSA (HUN)
Sachin KUMAR (IND)
Amir SAEIDI NAVA (IRI)
Ali AL TAIE (IRQ)
Amir RADZIBOB (ISR)
Tsubasa EGUCHI (JPN)
Alibek TURLYGAZY (KAZ)
Erjan AKYLBEK UULU (KGZ)
Taeyong KWON (KOR)
Octavian CERNETCHI (MDA)
Nelson CHANTACA (MEX)
Hubert WYSOCZANSKI (POL)
Constantin LUNGU (ROU)
Zalan PEK (SRB)
Shatlyk YUNUSOV (TKM)
Ibrahim AYDEMIR (TUR)
William GREENWOOD (USA)
Islombek KARIMJONOV (UZB)

71kg
Abdurakhman ABDULKADYROV (AIN)
Ivan BIALIAYEU (AIN)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Lars MATT (AUT)
Javad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Sergey STOEV (BUL)
Marko KLARIC (CRO)
Youssef BADAWY (EGY)
Nikita MEZOV (EST)
Severi MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Luka LOMADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Dominik CZUCZOR (HUN)
Sohamraj MORE (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHAMADIAN (IRI)
Idrees JAF (IRQ)
Timur NADORGIN (ISR)
Shuya MIURA (JPN)
Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ)
Elkhan CHOENBEKOV (KGZ)
Seongmin JANG (KOR)
Minijus LEONAVICIUS (LTU)
Cristian RISCA (MDA)
Antoni TRETTER (POL)
Ognjen TODOSIJEVIC (SRB)
Dominik HERVAI (SVK)
Isodzhon NURAKHMADOV (TJK)
Alkan AKAR (TUR)
Arvin KHOSRAVY (USA)
Temirbek ABDULLAEV (UZB)

80kg
Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN)
Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN)
Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM)
Paul MAIER (AUT)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Miguel VEGA SALAZAR (COL)
Marin ZOVKO (CRO)
Seef ABDALAZIZ (EGY)
Marcus UHTJAERV (EST)
Haik SARGSYAN (FRA)
Saba GAPRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE)
Szabolcs SZINAY (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABBASI (IRI)
Itzhak NEMSADZE (ISR)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Beibarys SHYMYRBEK (KAZ)
Bakyt DZHAKUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Alexandr PLESCAN (MDA)
Mohammed K T ELNAGAR (PLE)
Stanislaw FUSSY (POL)
Dusan STOKIC (SRB)
Emir DAYAL (TUR)
Adam WATERS (USA)
Bekmurod RUSTAMOV (UZB)

92kg
Saipula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Pavel SAVITSKI (AIN)
Grisha VOSKANYAN (ARM)
Mikayil ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Radostin VASILEV (BUL)
Andrej RODIN (CRO)
Abdelfattah ABDELZAHER (EGY)
Saba PURTSELADZE (GEO)
Ole STERNING (GER)
Dimitrios PAPPAS (GRE)
Vendel Roland VITAI (HUN)
RAMANDEEP (IND)
Aliakbar ASGHARIVALADI (IRI)
Rondo KODAMA (JPN)
Maxim UKRAINTSEV (KAZ)
Nurbolot SYRGABAI UULU (KGZ)
Dorian TREJO (MEX)
Pieter UYS (NAM)
Gabriel STAN (ROU)
Stevan KOJIC (SRB)
Alihan BEREKET (TUR)
Aiden COOLEY (USA)
Sardorbek RUSTAMOV (UZB)

110kg
Eldar EMIROV (AIN)
Tsimafei LAZAR (AIN)
Mahir GURBANLI (AZE)
Iliyan DIMITROV (BUL)
Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Renar JOONAS (EST)
Tomas RUSI (FIN)
Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO)
Daniel SZILAGYI (HUN)
RONAK (IND)
Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI)
Ryosei KATAMATSU (JPN)
Bekzhan ISMAGULOV (KAZ)
Talasbek BOOBEKOV (KGZ)
Danila ZUBCOV (MDA)
Pawel JANZEN (POL)
Andreas KERN (SVK)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Nicholas SAHAKIAN (USA)
Jaloliddin SAYFIDDINOV (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

Lee strikes gold as U.S., Iran shine at Zagreb Open

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 5) -- Spencer LEE (USA) did not compete internationally, for circumstances beyond his control, for eight years after winning his U20 world title in 2016. But in a year since he came back in February 2024, Lee has competed in six tournaments in less than a year.

Lee competed at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix in January and won gold. Two weeks later he won the Zagreb Open gold medal at 57kg on Wednesday, marking his debut at a Ranking Series event.

The Paris Olympic silver medalist led a strong performance of the wrestlers from United States as they won two gold medals as six weight classes concluded on day one of the Zagreb Open at Arena Zagreb.

Lee did not look as dominant as he did in Paris before the final but still managed to pull out a good defensive game and win the gold medal with rather ease.

In the final, Lee defeated Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE), 6-2, after a similar win over Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) in the semifinals. He opened the day with an 11-0 drubbing of Luka GVINJILIA (GEO).

"It's good to get competition right now," Lee said. "[It] showed that I'm really not ready yet."

Though Lee was not convinced about his readiness, his coach Dan DENNIS kept pushing Lee and reminded him of the progress he is making bout after bout.

"I think it [progress] comes from being more successful early and then I was in on three shots, kicked out of all three of them," he said. "He's (Dan Dennis) just saying that you just kind of kept progressing. You even got taken down, good counter from him, got to keep wrestling, keep moving."

In the final, Lee scored two takedowns, first one a double-leg and second a counter, as his scoring actions to beat Bazarganov, a bronze medalist at the European Championships last year.

The win takes second-ranked Lee to 43000 ranking points, same as top ranked Rei HIGUCHI (JPN), the gold medalist from Paris Olympics. If Lee can finish top eight at any other Ranking Series or Pan-Am Championships, he will move to the top. However, Lee was not sure if he will be in action internationally before the World Championships.

"I think that ranking tournaments are awesome because good guys come," he said. "The points are obviously a nice bonus to that just because you can get seeded in the bracket. I love competing. Obviously I need more of it. So maybe. This tournament was tough. So good for me."

Zahid VALENCIA (USA)Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won the 86kg gold medal in Zagreb. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Zahid VALENCIA (USA) was the second gold medalist for the U.S. as he won gold medal at 86kg after beating Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0, in the final. Valencia was good with his counters and after building a 4-0 lead at the break, he scored two more takedown in the second period to win the gold medal.

The two bronze medals at this weight class went to Nathan JACKSON (USA) and Trent HIDLAY (USA), making sure all three U.S. wrestlers finish on the podium at the weight class.

Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) defeated Ibrahim KHARI (IRI) 10-0 in the 61kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Iran wins 2 golds

Iran also won two gold medals but the tournament left it with more questions than answers for the Asian Championships team.

At 61kg, Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) defeated Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) 10-0 to confirm his spot for the Asian Championships. Khari, who won silver at the U20 World Championships last year, failed to give Javan a fight in the final.

Prior to the final, Javan defeated Nashon GARRETT (USA) 7-2 in the quarterfinals and Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) 9-3 in the semifinals.

Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI)Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) defeated Joseph MC KENNA (USA) 8-6 in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) undoubtedly gave Iran its biggest win of the day as he came back to beat Joseph MC KENNA (USA) 8-6 in the 65kg final.

McKenna got the first two takedowns to lead 4-0 before Ebrahim answered with his own to lead 4-4 at the break. Ebrahim began the second period with another takedown to go ahead 6-4 but with less than a minute to go, McKenna hit ankle pick and transitioned into a leg-attack. He scored a takedown to lead 6-6 on criteria.

In the dying seconds of the bout, Ebrahim  tried a front headpinch but McKenna defended it as he had Ebrahim's one leg locked. However, the Iranian managed to get his leg out of McKenna's hands, he tried to circle back and complete a takedown but McKenna held his knee pad which was penalized as one point, giving the win to Ebrahim 7-6.

The United States challenged that call but it remained and McKenna was docked one more point for lost challenge, making the score 8-6.

Both Iran and the U.S. had two silver medalists as well after Sina KHALILI (IRI) lost the final at 70kg and David CARR (USA) dropped the final at 74kg.

Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE), a former U20 world champion, gave no chance to Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final and shut him down for a 12-1 win victory.

The weight class also had Paris Olympian and 2023 world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) who was stunned in the first bout of the day by Jarrett JACKQUES (USA) who scored a takedown in his 3-2 win Muszukajev.

Carr ran into three-time world medalist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) in the final and finished with a silver medal at 74kg.

Salkazanov scored a takedown on each side of the break to complete a 4-0 win.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Spencer LEE (USA) df. Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE), 6-2

BRONZE: Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) df. Luka GVINJILIA (GEO), 11-2 
BRONZE: Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB) df. Ahora KHATERI (IRI), 11-0

61kg
GOLD: Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) df. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI), 10-0

BRONZE: Nahshon GARRETT (USA) df. Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO), 16-11
BRONZE: Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) df. Reza MOMENI (IRI), 8-4

65kg
GOLD: Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) df. Joseph MC KENNA (USA), 8-6

BRONZE: Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) df. Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR), 2-2
BRONZE: Ali RAHIMZADA (AZE) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 6-0

70kg
GOLD: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Sina KHALILI (IRI), 12-1

BRONZE: Austin GOMEZ (MEX) df. Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI), 9-3
BRONZE: Vasile DIACON (MDA) df. James GREEN (USA), via inj. def.

74kg
GOLD: Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df. David CARR (USA), 4-0

BRONZE: Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) df. Kamil RYBICKI (POL), 10-0
BRONZE: Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-2

86kg
GOLD: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) df. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0

BRONZE: Nathan JACKSON (USA) df. Matthew FINESILVER (ISR), 12-2
BRONZE: Trent HIDLAY (USA) df. Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO), 10-4