2026 U20 World Championships

U20 World Championships 2026 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (August 2) -- The U20 World Championships will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia from August 16 to 23 at the Sportova Hala Mladost.

The tournament will see around 700 wrestlers competing in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling with 120 medals on line.

Watch the U20 World Wrestling Championships 2026 live on UWW+. Use code BUNDLE20 and get 20 percent off.

Freestyle

57kg
Sasha PETROSYAN (ARM)
Muhammad ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Matsvei SYTSEVICH (BLR)
Nik Ignatov DOYCHINOV (BUL)
Javier TONITA (CAN)
Chengtao WANG (CHN)
Dunia SIBOMANA (COD)
Gaspard CHEYNOUX (FRA)
Danoush JOWKAR (GBR)
Giorgi MAISURADZE (GEO)
Isaac WONG (HKG)
Karoly BARATH (HUN)
RUPESH (IND)
Arman ELAHI (IRI)
Sina BOUSTANI (IRI)
Yamato OGAWA (JPN)
Nurassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ)
Nurtilek ZAMIRBEKOV (KGZ)
Gheorghi GAIDARJI (MDA)
Naran BARKHAS (MGL)
Raiden HOBSON (PLW)
Pavlo ILNYTSKYI (POL)
Nathaniel LYTTLE (PUR)
Magomed MAGOMEDOV (RUS)
Patrik VETRAK (SVK)
Ebubekir GUR (TUR)
Mykola BRATOV (UKR)
Isaiah CORTEZ (USA)
Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB)

61kg
Gagik GHAZARYAN (ARM)
Kristian CIKEL (AUT)
Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Cruz LEWIS (CAN)
Anchao LU (CHN)
Heritier MUAYA (COD)
Zeyad HASSANEINN (EGY)
Ruben TANGAMYAN (GEO)
Eliah LUCYGA (GER)
MAYANK (IND)
Ahora KHATERI (IRI)
Itsuki YONASHIRO (JPN)
Bekassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ)
Amir RIFOV (KGZ)
Marcel ANDRONACHE (MDA)
Moses MENDOZA (MEX)
Dulguun ENKHBAATAR (MGL)
Frederick BACHMANN (PUR)
Zelimkhan CHANIEV (RUS)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Nurettin KAPAL (TUR)
Andrii SHOKALIUK (UKR)
Aaron SEIDEL (USA)
Fakhriddin NASRIDDINOV (UZB)

65kg
Aren HAYRAPETYAN (ARM)
Bilal CETIN (AUS)
Bashir VERDIYEV (AZE)
Aleksandar DELCHEV (BUL)
Karson BROWN (CAN)
Chenqi SONG (CHN)
Khizir DASIYEV (FRA)
Mate NADIRADZE (GEO)
Mozes LASZLO (HUN)
Rohit KUMAR (IND)
Aliasghar TATHASHTIKEH (IRI)
Takuto OSEDO (JPN)
Yeraly ASKERBEK (KAZ)
Isa ISAKOV (KGZ)
Kanghyun GO (KOR)
Abdullatif ALBAKRI (KSA)
Maxim DIMOV (MDA)
Fernando PEREZ (MEX)
Amanbyek MYERVYET (MGL)
Ivan OKSIUK (POL)
Yandel MORALES (PUR)
Tamaterai HERVE (PYF)
Zalimkhan UMAROV (RUS)
Haci ZADE (TUR)
Zorab ALOIEV (UKR)
Bowen BASSETT (USA)
Sanjarbek ANVARBEKOV (UZB)

70kg
Walid BEN ZAMIME (ALG)
Davit DAVTYAN (ARM)
Haji KARIMOV (AZE)
Vladislav SEIZOV (BUL)
Ryan DAHCHA (CAN)
Xin WANG (CHN)
Miscael NKUNGA (COD)
Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Bayssangour BITMURZAEV (FRA)
Zurab ABALAKI (GEO)
Ahmad ARSZUNKAEV (HUN)
Sumit BHARASKAR (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Takuro MATSUBARA (JPN)
Sungkar SEIDAKHMET (KAZ)
Zalkarbek TABALDIEV (KGZ)
Ionut TRIBOI (MDA)
Gabriel SANCHEZ (MEX)
Ankh ALTANGEREL (MGL)
Muhamed VESELI (MKD)
Victor SOTO (PUR)
Mairbek MEROV (RUS)
Dominik ZAVACKY (SVK)
Remzi TEMUR (TUR)
Emrakh HASHYMOV (UKR)
Landon ROBIDEAU (USA)

74kg
Vladimir AZARYAN (ARM)
Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE)
Artsiom BOLSUN (BLR)
Tao SHEN (CHN)
Kevin ALEMAN (ESA)
Abdoullah NAKAEV (FRA)
Koba GOGUADZE (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Mate VARGA (HUN)
Adarsh PATIL (IND)
Amirmohammad ZARRINKAM (IRI)
Mohammad MAMIVAND (IRI)
Alessio PERENTIN (ITA)
Ariya YOSHIDA (JPN)
Nurdaulet SEILBEKOV (KAZ)
Baiyt ABDYSAMATOV (KGZ)
Catalin SPINU (MDA)
Rafael GARCIA (PUR)
Islam KAZHAROV (RUS)
Umut USLU (TUR)
Bohdan OLIINYK (UKR)
Jayden JAMES (USA)
Farrukhbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)

79kg
Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM)
Eljan ISMAYILZADA (AZE)
Aliaksei KURYLA (BLR)
Loki BIGRAS (CAN)
Yesikeer NUERHEISHA (CHN)
Tristan ALEKSANDROV (EST)
Luka MARGVELIDZE (GEO)
Felix SCHMITT (GER)
Arnold TAKACS (HUN)
Saurabh YADAV (IND)
Sobhan ESMI (IRI)
Daniel SIMONIAN (ISR)
Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)
Aibek KALYAKHMET (KAZ)
Khamza ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
David ERHAN (MDA)
Trim ISMAILI (MKD)
Slade SHADOWSHOT (RSA)
Ismail KHANIEV (RUS)
Jaroslav ZAREMBA (SVK)
Alirizo BAKHROMOV (TJK)
Yasin UZUN (TUR)
Bohdan OLEKSIIENKO (UKR)
Ryan Scott BURTON (USA)

86kg
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Mahammad ABASZADA (AZE)
Alan TIGIEV (BUL)
Tejvir DHINSA (CAN)
Bolati NA ERTAI (CHN)
Jordy NGATSE (COD)
Yahia ELIWA (EGY)
Nikolai TARASSOV (EST)
Dachi PAPINASHVILI (GEO)
ARUN (IND)
Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Tomer DROZHNIAK (ISR)
Natsura OKAZAWA (JPN)
Askhab KHAJIYEV (KAZ)
Samidullo ALIMZHANOV (KGZ)
Sergiu FLUIERARU (MDA)
Bilguundalai PUREVDAGVA (MGL)
Kane ROSARIO (PUR)
Magor LORINCZ (ROU)
Akhmad MUKUTOV (RUS)
Nick SCHERRER (SUI)
Nikolaj SZILAGYI (SVK)
Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Sefa CESUR (TUR)
Artur KOSTIUK (UKR)
Aeoden SINCLAIR (USA)

92kg
Huseyn MAMMADTAGHIZADA (AZE)
Aliaksei KULAKOU (BLR)
Grigor CHERNAKOV (BUL)
Dominic WENDT (CAN)
Bie ERLAN (CHN)
Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO)
Abdurrahim SEKMEN (GER)
Youssef SOLIMAN (HUN)
NIKHIL (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Hisashi KONISHI (JPN)
Beibarys YERGALI (KAZ)
Osmonbek ZHYLKYBAEV (KGZ)
Alexandru BORS (MDA)
Darius SAS (ROU)
Artur TOGOEV (RUS)
Jacek FUDALEJ (SUI)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Eyyup CETIN (TUR)
Yehor HOROKH (UKR)
James MASTNY (USA)
Ulugbek ORTIKOV (UZB)

97kg
Farhad SULEYMANLI (AZE)
Aliaksei KHADUNOU (BLR)
Valentin BORISOV (BUL)
Harjot SHERGILL (CAN)
Yuanchong YANG (CHN)
Joona JUNNILA (FIN)
Ashab DADAEV (FRA)
Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Robert ERDELYI (HUN)
LACKY (IND)
Toohid NOORY (IRI)
Noah LEIBOWITZ (JPN)
Samir DURSUNOV (KAZ)
Al Baro AKHMETOV (KGZ)
Alexei USANOV (MDA)
Ilija ATANASOV (MKD)
Balazs LORINCZ (ROU)
Rodion SANAKOEV (RUS)
Adam KOSC (SVK)
Suleyman RIZA (TUR)
Rostyslav KURYLIAK (UKR)
Michael BOYLE (USA)

125kg
Henrik HAYKYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Yaraslau KOKHAN (BLR)
Dian MANEV (BUL)
Jagroop DHINSA (CAN)
Chenghan YANG (CHN)
Youssef ABOUDAWABA (EGY)
Aleksandre ABRAMISHVILI (GEO)
Daniel SZILAGYI (HUN)
RONAK (IND)
Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)
Hosei FUJITA (JPN)
Riza IZAKHAR (KAZ)
Baejoon JANG (KOR)
Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL)
Brian TECHEREAN (ROU)
Soslan GABUEV (RUS)
Rusen GULER (TUR)
Ivan MYROSHNYCHENKO (UKR)
Dreshaun ROSS (USA)

Wrestling Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) will be chasing his third U20 world title in Greco-Roman 97kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman 

55kg
Edgar PETROSYAN (ARM)
Emin JAVADLI (AZE)
Yuri LANDIM (BRA)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Jiale LI (CHN)
Dunia SIBOMANA (COD)
Jakub SEDLAK (CZE)
Nolan PISSOCHER (FRA)
Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO)
Lenny WOERNER (GER)
Vasileios PAPAGEORGIOU (GRE)
HARIOM (IND)
Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Hiro SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Yerassyl MUSSAN (KAZ)
Nurmukhammed EGEMBERDIEV (KGZ)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Ilia KANDALIN (RUS)
Denizhan OGUN (TUR)
Denys KIRYK (UKR)
Ezekiel WITT (USA)
Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB)

60kg
Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM)
Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE)
Rasim IBRAHIMAU (BLR)
Pedro DE SOUZA (BRA)
Zhivko HINKOV (BUL)
Augusto VARGAS (CHI)
Ziming DING (CHN)
Heritier MUAYA (COD)
Karim ELEMARY (EGY)
Magomed VARAEV (FRA)
Kakhaber GOGINASHVILI (GEO)
Ivan SEIBEL (GER)
Samarth MHAKAVE (IND)
Amirali HEYDARI (IRI)
Takuma NAKASHIMA (JPN)
Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)
Marlen ABDYSAMATOV (KGZ)
Alin CHITIC (MDA)
Zeus GONZALEZ (MEX)
Dragos DRAGA (ROU)
Ilia PANIUTIN (RUS)
Levin MEIER (SUI)
Nikolasz PALENYIK (SVK)
Furkan ODEN (TUR)
Nazarii BABINSKYI (UKR)
Manuel SALDATE (USA)
Dostonbek ORIPOV (UZB)

63kg
Aleks MARGARYAN (ARM)
Tural AHMADOV (AZE)
Zhaojian WANG (CHN)
Clisman CARRACEDO (ECU)
Matias ARPIAINEN (FIN)
Davit GABEDAVA (GEO)
Timur DEMIR (GER)
Marios KAPANTAIS (GRE)
Levente FIGE (HUN)
Aditya TATE (IND)
Ali GHARIBI (IRI)
Taiga HIBARINO (JPN)
Dias KERTAY (KAZ)
Sirozhidin NORMATOV (KGZ)
Haitham BARAHMAH (KSA)
Vlad DUMINICA (MDA)
Daniel GUEVARA (MEX)
Martin AAK (NOR)
Filip IWASZKO (POL)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Salim KAZMAKHOV (RUS)
Andrej VELISAVLJEV (SRB)
Balint VARGA (SVK)
Omer ALTAS (TUR)
Maksut SULTANOV (UKR)
Nicholas SORROW (USA)
Kuvonchbek ISMOILOV (UZB)

67kg
Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Murad ALIYEV (AZE)
Mikhail MARKOUSKI (BLR)
Kristiyan MILENKOV (BUL)
Sebastian BUSTAMANTE (CHI)
Qiqiang ZHANG (CHN)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO)
Sebastian WAGNER (GER)
Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
ROVIND (IND)
Iliya ALIKHANI (IRI)
Shuya MIURA (JPN)
Kazybek KALMAGAMBETOV (KAZ)
Akim APILOV (KGZ)
Byeonggi SEO (KOR)
Maxim DAMASCHIN (MDA)
Ilias LAAOUINA (NED)
Tamaterai HERVE (PYF)
Iosif ZLOTAR (ROU)
Amir SOVMIZ (RUS)
Roland CSICSO (SVK)
Haci ALTAN (TUR)
Denys KOVSHUN (UKR)
Amryn NUTTER (USA)
Ogabek MUKIMOV (UZB)

72kg
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Kamran RAJABLI (AZE)
Nikola COLES (CAN)
Xin CHEN (CHN)
Jure RAJKOVIC (CRO)
Bruno HANZEL (CZE)
Mohamed IBRAHIM (EGY)
Andreas VAELJA (EST)
Nikolozi KARUMIDZE (GEO)
Artur GOTTFRIED (GER)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Barna TOPLAK (HUN)
VINIT (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHAMADIAN (IRI)
Timur NADORGIN (ISR)
Kento NOMURA (JPN)
Marlan BAKAYEV (KAZ)
Yrysbek KHAMDAMOV (KGZ)
Ignat MEICO (MDA)
Jorge GOMEZ (MEX)
Mingiian GORIAEV (RUS)
Djordje HIRCL (SRB)
Salih YAZICI (TUR)
Dmytro DEMIANOVSKYI (UKR)
Eligio ESGUERRA (USA)
Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM)
Lars MATT (AUT)
Javidan NAHMATOV (AZE)
Uladzimir NEHODA (BLR)
Miguel XAVIER (BRA)
Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL)
Zheying SONG (CHN)
Harryson NSIAMAZA (COD)
Luka KAJANNE (FIN)
Giorgi GOGELASHVILI (GEO)
Adamantios PAPADATOS (GRE)
Zalan TOPLAK (HUN)
Dheeraj MALIK (IND)
Amir SAEIDI NAVA (IRI)
Daichi TSUTSUMI (JPN)
Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ)
Elkhan CHOENBEKOV (KGZ)
Andrei CERNOUS (MDA)
Noe WOLSKI (POL)
Nazar BERKOVSKII (RUS)
Zalan PEK (SRB)
Ruben STRAAKEVED (SWE)
Alkan AKAR (TUR)
Nestor BARAN (UKR)
Leister BOWLING (USA)
Ogabek ASKARALIEV (UZB)

82kg
Vahe HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Kiryl VALEUSKI (BLR)
Martin SHISHEKOV (BUL)
Jordy NGATSE (COD)
Miguel VEGA SALAZAR (COL)
Petr ZAK (CZE)
Mohamed SHAABAN (EGY)
Severi MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Luka PIPIA (GEO)
Vasileios SEMERTZIDIS (GRE)
Szabolcs SZINAY (HUN)
PRINCE (IND)
Alireza MOHAMMAD HOSSEINI (IRI)
Rondo KODAMA (JPN)
Nurdaulet RAKHMAN (KAZ)
Nurislam OSKONBAEV (KGZ)
Heder SALDANA (MEX)
Kane ROSARIO (PUR)
Ramazan NEKHAI (RUS)
Dominik HERVAI (SVK)
Ismail BEREKET (TUR)
Kyrylo UHRIK (UKR)
Arvin KHOSRAVY (USA)
Bekmurod RUSTAMOV (UZB)

87kg
Iurik PETROSIAN (ARM)
Paul MAIER (AUT)
Orkhan HAJIYEV (AZE)
Danil SKLIZKOU (BLR)
Valentin VALENTINOV (BUL)
Qiangle WANG (CHN)
Josef CERNY (CZE)
Marcus UHTJAERV (EST)
Luka KOCHALIDZE (GEO)
Anton BUCHHOLZ (GER)
Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE)
Zalan VARGA (HUN)
AKHIL (IND)
Amirhossein NEMATZADEH (IRI)
Itzhak NEMSADZE (ISR)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Alikhan TAGAYEV (KAZ)
Mirsaid IUNUSOV (KGZ)
Tigran MANUKYAN (LTU)
Marius STIHARU (MDA)
Gabriel STAN (ROU)
Manvel ARUTIUNIAN (RUS)
Abdulvahab KALAFAT (TUR)
Vladyslav SOLODCHUK (UKR)
Aidan SQUIER (USA)

97kg
Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM)
Rihad IBRAHIMLI (AZE)
Xinyu LIU (CHN)
Andrej RODIN (CRO)
Farag AHMED (EGY)
Pauli PERKIOE (FIN)
Arman MKRTCHYAN (GEO)
Dimitrios PAPPAS (GRE)
Vendel VITAI (HUN)
Akshay RANA (IND)
Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Ryosei KATAMATSU (JPN)
Maxim UKRAINTSEV (KAZ)
Asankadyr ZAIIRBEKOV (KGZ)
Jaehyuk LEE (KOR)
Dorian TREJO OLGUIN (MEX)
Yassine BEN LABED (POL)
Ilia KOMAROV (RUS)
Emir Omer BOZBAG (TUR)
Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)
Cittadino TUTTLE (USA)
Fakhrikamol KOMILJONOV (UZB)

130kg
Seyran KIRAKOSYAN (ARM)
Museyi HUSEYN (AZE)
Mihail KRALEV (BUL)
Chengmao CUI (CHN)
Karel CECH (CZE)
Essam HUSSEIN (EGY)
Tomas RUSI (FIN)
Yonis LAADILI (FRA)
Saba PURTSELADZE (GEO)
Koppany LASZLO (HUN)
Piyush KUMAR (IND)
Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI)
Kosei MIYAKE (JPN)
Bakhtiyar KAZIYEV (KAZ)
Alisher OSKONBAEV (KGZ)
Omer AMIROGLU (KSA)
Ali ILIASOV (RUS)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR)
Trayvn BOGER (USA)
Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB)

Wrestling Sakura ONISHI (JPN)Sakura ONISHI (JPN) is a two-time U20 world champion. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Serineh CRANE (ARM)
Sviatlana KATENKA (BLR)
Victoria STEFANOV (CAN)
Yuting YUAN (CHN)
Rita RANTONEN (FIN)
Josephine WRENSCH (GER)
Maria GKIKA (GRE)
PARVEEN (IND)
Yuu KATSUME (JPN)
Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ)
Akak MAMBETSADYKOVA (KGZ)
Yerin CHOI (KOR)
Olivia VAN KLEUNEN (NED)
Karolina ZIEN (POL)
Leticia OLIVEIRA (POR)
Heklanys RIVERA (PUR)
Diana VOICULESCU (ROU)
Margarita IARYGINA (RUS)
Sabina PIPOVA (SVK)
Wan Yi HUANG (TPE)
Nil AKTAS (TUR)
Yelyzaveta KULAKIVSKA (UKR)
Morgan TURNER (USA)
Nilufar NURMUKHAMMADOVA (UZB)

53kg
Esra MAMMADLI (AZE)
Aliaksandra VISTSIAK (BLR)
Evily BERNARDINO (BRA)
Kaura COLES (CAN)
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Fiona GASSER (GER)
Szonja NEMETH (HUN)
MUSKAN (IND)
Mei KOIWA (JPN)
Dinara DAUYLKYZY (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Ilona VALCHUK (POL)
Aneishka SANTOS (PUR)
Electra GARAIACU (ROU)
Ekaterina CHIKANOVA (RUS)
Remziye KARADAG (TUR)
Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR)
Taylor WHITING (USA)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)
Alexa ALVAREZ (VEN)

55kg
Valeryia MIKITSICH (BLR)
Nataliya BOYADZHIEVA (BUL)
Elizabeth CHAPMAN (CAN)
Meilin ZHOU (CHN)
Lisette BOETTKER (EST)
Sara RANTONEN (FIN)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Angela CRAPIO (ITA)
Nana KOZUKA (JPN)
Shodiyona DILMURATOVA (KAZ)
Elmira KARABALAEVA (KGZ)
Amelia TOMALA (POL)
Ashley DIAZ (PUR)
Olesia MALAKHOVA (RUS)
Milica PEROVIC (SRB)
Anja EPP (SUI)
Elif ATAKAN (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Everest LEYDECKER (USA)
Munisa MINGYASHAROVA (UZB)

57kg
Olga POPOVA (BUL)
Agnia KRAKOVSKA (CAN)
Xinyu WANG (CHN)
Nini TSITSVIDZE (GEO)
Ioanna XENIDOU (GRE)
Liliana KAPUVARI (HUN)
Tanvi MAGDUM (IND)
Konami ONO (JPN)
Anna STRATAN (KAZ)
Csilla VAN OS (NED)
Julia GIBALSKA (POL)
Tilly KAKUK (PUR)
Dolzhon TSYNGUEVA (RUS)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Yu Hsuan CHENG (TPE)
Chahd JELJELI (TUN)
Su SOYALP (TUR)
Diana KOTVYTSKA (UKR)
Karlee BROOKS (USA)
Ulbiyke KARLYBAEVA (UZB)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Varvara ALISEYENKA (BLR)
Kai Nessa PARE (CAN)
Jiayi HUANG (CHN)
Rosa MOLINA (ESP)
Lisa SHAVADZE (GEO)
Eda BALAZS (HUN)
KOMAL (IND)
Sae NOGUCHI (JPN)
Aizhan MURATBAY (KAZ)
Madalina PRISACARI (MDA)
Gundegmaa ENKHBAATAR (MGL)
Helena STELMASZCZYK (POL)
Jania DUNIGAN (PUR)
Alina BAROEVA (RUS)
Karin SAMUELSSON (SWE)
Chaima DAHI (TUN)
Elif Sude ELMALI (TUR)
Oleksandra MALKOVA (UKR)
Caley GRABER (USA)

62kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Evilly JESUS COSTA (BRA)
Andrea NISEVA (BUL)
Taylor ENGELEN (CAN)
Yifan ZHU (CHN)
Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)
Leonie STEIGERT (GER)
Barbara BAGER (HUN)
SAVITA (IND)
Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
Zhaidar MUKAT (KAZ)
Aizhamal TALANTBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Gabriela RUDOI (MDA)
Ekaterina RADYSHEVA (RUS)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Yen Yi LI (TPE)
Ozdenur OZMEZ (TUR)
Albina KLIEFAS (UKR)
Bella WILLIAMS (USA)
Feruza KAIRATDINOVA (UZB)

65kg
Khushleen JHALLI (CAN)
Zhengwei MA (CHN)
Anna MAZGAJOVA (CZE)
Chandni BANKS (GBR)
Annalena POHL (GER)
Vasiliki KARAVANOU (GRE)
Viktoria PUPP (HUN)
YASHITA (IND)
Miyu OGASHI (JPN)
Zhangyl BEKEN (KAZ)
Asel ZHAPAROVA (KGZ)
Mirijam HANSEN (NOR)
Margarita SALNAZARIAN (RUS)
Saga SVENSSON (SWE)
Beyza Nur AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna BORYSIUK (UKR)
Riley HANRAHAN (USA)
Mukhayyo NARZILLOEVA (UZB)

68kg
Rayssa DE SOUZA (BRA)
Mackenzie CAYER (CAN)
Chenling SONG (CHN)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
Shirin TAKEMOTO (JPN)
Uldana TILEUKHAN (KAZ)
Alexandra MOISEI (MDA)
Leah SAMSONSEN (NOR)
Evangeliia BEREZHNOVA (RUS)
Michaela SEBOEKOVA (SVK)
Elif Sevval KURT (TUR)
Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR)
Taina FERNANDEZ (USA)
Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB)

72kg
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Wenjin QIU (CHN)
Petra MUELLER (HUN)
Tanu SHARMA (IND)
Chisato YOSHIDA (JPN)
Meiramgul MAKSOT (KAZ)
Greta TVERSKYTE (LTU)
Liliana KAZMINA (RUS)
Ilayda CIN (TUR)
Daryna ZAISHLA (UKR)
Gretchen DONALLY (USA)

76kg
Sophia PEREZ (BRA)
Jingru SUN (CHN)
KAJAL (IND)
Miyu TAKAYAMA (JPN)
Zeinep ELAMAS (KAZ)
Dominika POCHOWSKA (POL)
Paola RODRIGUEZ (PUR)
Diana TITOVA (RUS)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR)
Piper FOWLER (USA)
Sevinchoy POLVONOVA (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

Olympic Champs Fumita, Higuchi Emerge Unscathed on Return Since Paris 2024

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (May 21) -- They both were returning to the mat for the first time since winning gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and both moved up a weight class, for now, with the next Olympic qualifiers still far off.

And each was watched and cheered on for the first time by their most precious fan.

Kenichiro FUMITA and Rei HIGUCHI shook off the rust and emerged unscathed on Thursday to advance to their respective finals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Fumita, the Paris gold medalist at Greco 60kg, handily won two matches to secure a spot in the 63kg final on Friday, where he will face 2025 world team member Manato NAKAMURA in a bid for his first Meiji Cup title since 2022 and fifth overall.

Higuchi, who struck gold in Paris at freestyle 57kg, needed three wins to set up a showdown in the 61kg final with defending champion and former world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA.

Arash YOSHIDA, coming off winning a second straight freestyle 97kg gold at the Asian Championships, also advanced to the finals on the opening day of the four-day Meiji Cup, which is serving as the second of two domestic qualifiers for both this year's World Championships and, in the Olympic weight classes, the Asian Games that will be hosted by Japan.

Winners from the first qualifier, the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships held in December, can clinch a spot with a victory at the Meiji Cup; if the two champions are different, a playoff will be held at the end of the day.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) hits a four-point throw in his round one bout. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

Fumita, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, had planned to return to competition at the Emperor's Cup, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

As for the move up to 63kg, he said, "Looking at the competitions and my own personal objectives, and my current physical ability, I decided to enter at 63kg. I've really on been on edge up to this point leading up to the competition. It's quite a few years since I've had a match at Komazawa. But I feel great, and was able to enjoy myself."

The return from a long layoff can be as testing mentally as it is physically, and Fumita used the experiences of others to guide him through it.

"I thought I would feel more pressure," said Fumita, who advanced to the final with a 7-1 victory over Kensho NATAMI in the semifinals. "After Paris, I watched [fellow gold medalists] Kotaro [KIYOOKA] and Nao [KUSAKA] up close before their [comeback] matches, and both said they were very nervous.

"Having seen that, it gave me an image of what to expect. I stayed calm and, staying aware of what was going on around me, I felt I was able to control the matches."

Helping calm his nerves was the lilty voice of a child clearly heard amid the sparse crowd on the opening day as she yelled, "Papa, ganbatte (fight hard)!" For the first time, the oldest of his two
daughters, now 3, was old enough to see him compete and understand what he was doing.

Fumita related the emotions he went through seeing fellow Nippon Sport Science University alumnus Shota TANOKURA being inspired by his son loudly yelling that set phrase as he ended his career at the Meiji Cup two years ago.

"I was very moved seeing how he responded," Fumita said. "To continue my career and win with my children with me is really a special feeling. Here, I am wholeheartedly determined to perform for them."

Fumita said there are still aspects of his job about which his daughter is blissfully oblivious.

"Sometimes I take [my daughter] to practice. For her, it is really a fun place. So she thinks I go to a fun place every day and I'm just someone who plays all the time," he said with a laugh.

Fumita already has a memento from his first competition in over two years -- a gash over his left eye that was treated with tape wrapped around his head.

"It happens a lot in practice and in matches," Fumita said. "I have many photos of me in the past with my head taped. It gave me a feeling of going back to my roots, which I thought was great."

Higuchi, who like Fumita is 30, an alumnus of NSSU and is sponsored by children's clothing giant Miki House, was wrestling for the first time in front of his 2-year-old daughter (and like Fumita, he has a second infant daughter).

"She kind of knows what's going on," said Higuchi, who defeated world U23 bronze medalist Akito MUKAIDA 12-1 in the semifinals.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) reached the 61kg final at the Meiji Cup. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

For Higuchi, a battle with weight loss proved more daunting than any opponent he faced on the mat on Friday. He normally should have had no trouble making weight at 61kg, but said he didn't manage it correctly.

"It was my first competition in awhile, and my preparation did not go so well," he said. "There are parts that I have to work on. All went well in practice, but I need to do better at conditioning and cutting weight or I won't be able to win out in December [at the Emperor's Cup]."

A notoriously slow starter, Higuchi said he gradually began to find his groove, culminating in his one-sided win over Mukaida.

"My first match, my movement was not very good," he said. "The water loss as a I cut weight didn't go so well either, so the first and second matches were touch and go.

"During the second match, I was able to get in gear. In the third match in the semifinals, my opponent was third at the world U23, which normally should have been a close match. But I was able to put on a fairly good performance, which I give a grade of 80 [out of 100]."

Higuchi is looking forward to mixing it up with another high-level opponent, one he knows quite well. Hasegawa is yet another NSSU alumnus who still trains at the facility.

"From an emotional viewpoint, I was really excited about facing tough opponents," Higuchi said. "Tomorrow, Hasegawa is world-class wrestler. I don't know if I will win or lose, but I'm really happy to be able to have such a showdown on this big stage."

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)Asian champion Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) returned to the final of Meiji Cup at 97kg. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi) 

At 97kg, defending champion Yoshida stormed to a pair of 10-0 victories, defeating Satoshi MIURA, a 2025 world U23 bronze medalist at 86kg, in the semifinals to advance to the final against teenager Noah LEIBOWITZ.

The final will be a repeat of the gold-medal match at the Emperor's Cup, which Yoshida won 11-0.

Leibowitz is now a freshman at Nihon University, from which Yoshida just graduated in March. Since then, he began living on his own for the first time.

"I have to prepare my own meals," Yoshida said on how his life has changed. "Instead of always being with a group, I am living a life on my own. My father brings over dinner every Friday, but other than that, I prepare it myself. My specialty is pork kimchi; actually that's all I can make."

Meanwhile, Taishi NARIKUNI, who attempted a rare freestyle-Greco double at the Asian Championships in Bishkek, advanced to the freestyle 70kg final, where he will face collegiate champion Yuma TOMIYAMA.

In women's action, world U20 bronze medalist Shirin TAKEMOTO pulled an upset of sorts at 72kg, knocking off Asian silver medalist Mahiro YOSHITAKE 11-6 in the semifinals. She will face Chisato YOSHIDA in the final.

At 65kg, Asian silver medalist Nana IKEHATA scored a takedown and stepout in the final 1:10 to edge Misuzu ENAMOTO 4-3 and set up a gold-medal clash with Hiyori MOTOKI, the younger sister of Paris Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI.