#WrestleTirana

U23 World Championships 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (September 30) -- The U23 World Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from October 21 to 27. This is the second consecutive year that the tournament will be held in Tirana.

More than 650 wrestlers are entered to compete in the event with 240 wrestlers each in Freestyle and Greco-Roman and 184 wrestlers in Women's Wrestling. The tournament will begin with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle at the end.

The matches will be live on uww.org and the UWW App.

*Note: The entry list is subject to change 72 hours before the official draw of each style

57kg
Herbert AKAPIAN (AIN)
Iunus IAVBATIROV (AIN)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
DENGBURILE (CHN)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
CHIRAG (IND)
Ali Hossein MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI)
Rocco TERRANOVA (ITA)
Gakuto OZAWA (JPN)
Allan ORALBEK (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Jiguur SARANTUYA (MGL)
Stojanche STOJKOV (MKD)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Maxwell GALLAGHER (USA)

61kg
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE)
Fotis PAPADOPOULOS (CAN)
Jiliang BAI (CHN)
Elkin ESPANA SANTA (COL)
Daniel RAMIREZ (CRC)
Omar GAZASHVILI (GEO)
Lok Ming TAI (HKG)
Abhishek DHAKA (IND)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Meiryu AKAMINE (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Iukhan DOKTURBEK UULU (KGZ)
Vasile MARCU (MDA)
Arben SEJDI (MKD)
William BETANCOURT (PUR)
Emre KURAL (TUR)
Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR)
Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA)

65kg
Anatoli HRAMYKA (AIN)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN)
Klevisi PRECI (ALB)
Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Ilyas ABDURASHIDOV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Ning WANG (CHN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Giorgi SHONIA (GEO)
Jonnathan PEREZ (GUA)
Chi Hin WONG (HKG)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Bekzat YERMEKBAY (KAZ)
Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Wilfredo LOPEZ (PAN)
Yacoub GHAITH (PLE)
Daniel KULCZYNSKI (POL)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Sulaiman KARGBO (SLE)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Joshua SAUNDERS (USA)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (AIN)
Ismail KHANIEV (AIN)
Fabian KOCILERI (ALB)
Tigran GHAZARYAN (ARM)
Magomed KHANIEV (AZE)
Yves NISHIMWE (BDI)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Georgi ZHIZGOV (BUL)
Gregor MCNEIL (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Chunchen LIU (CHN)
Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Tsz Hei HEUNG (HKG)
SUJEET (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Constantin CHIRILOV (MDA)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Faisal DANA (PLE)
Mateusz LUSZCZYNSKI (POL)
Eligh RIVERA (PUR)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Yasin YESIL (TUR)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
John WILEY (USA)

74kg
Nikita DMITRIJEVS (AIN)
Arslan BAGAEV (AIN)
Klevis KOCEKU (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Bradley FULMER (AUS)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Xiaobing ZHU (CHN)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Stas WOLF (GER)
Sukhpal JINJALA (IND)
Ali REZAEI (IRI)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Murat DZHAKUPOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Batbayar BATSUKH (MGL)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta MORHUN (UKR)
Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)

79kg
Artsiom BELAVUSAU (AIN)
Arsen BALAIAN (AIN)
Arjan DANAJ (ALB)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Nelson OBROU (CAF)
Owen MARTIN (CAN)
Feng LU (CHN)
Juan CARDOZO (COL)
Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY)
Joona VUOTI (FIN)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
Sahil DALAL (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
RAFFAELE MATRULLO (ITA)
Masaki SATO (JPN)
Zhengis KANYBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gheorghi CARA (MDA)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Alie SESAY (SLE)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Bekir OVEC (TUR)
Vladyslav BODORIAK (UKR)
Patrick KENNEDY (USA)

86kg
Ilya KHAMTSOU (AIN)
Ibragim KADIEV (AIN)
Altin GANCI (ALB)
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Taran GORING (CAN)
Hui CHEN (CHN)
Gabriel IGLESIAS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Cesar UBICO ESTRADA (GUA)
DEEPAK (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Aaron AYZEROV (ISR)
Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat RAKHIMOV (KGZ)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Kweli HERNANDEZ (PUR)
Joshua ALOFIPO (SAM)
Michal VERES (SVK)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
John GUNDERSON (USA)
Steven RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

92kg
Aliaksei PARKHOMENKA (AIN)
Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Aiden STEVENSON (CAN)
Junpeng ZHOU (CHN)
Mukhammedsultan KOPBAYEV (ESP)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
SUMIT (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Satoshi MIURA (JPN)
Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
Davids PIROZNIKS (LAT)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Filip SZUCKI (POL)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

97kg
Uladzislau KAZLOU (AIN)
Sergei KOZYREV (AIN)
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Aslan ABAKAROV (AZE)
Callum KNOX (CAN)
Aman WULAHATI (CHN)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Emmanuel OSEI SARFO (GHA)
VICKY (IND)
Mahdi HAJILOUEIAN (IRI)
Yuta SASAKI (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Taron SHAHINYAN (POL)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Massoma ENDENE (USA)

125kg
Pavel DZIATLAU (AIN)
Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN)
Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
Jinhai WANG (CHN)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Anirudh KUMAR (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Toyoki HAMADA (JPN)
Omarkhan NADIROV (KAZ)
Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA)
Batmagnai ENKHTUVSHIN (MGL)
Michal DUBOWSKI (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar Ihab SAREM (SYR)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Lucas STODDARD (USA)

Umi ITO (JPN)Umi ITO (JPN) is the returning champion at 50kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Natallia VARAKINA (AIN)
Natalia PUDOVA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Kelyn YOUNG (CAN)
Linjie DENG (CHN)
Justine VIGOUROUX (FRA)
KOMAL (IND)
Umi ITO (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Zineb ECH CHABKI (MAR)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Yusneiry AGRAZAL (PAN)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Ana PIRVU (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Yi Hui LIN (TPE)
Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)
Sage MORTIMER (USA)
Mariana ROJAS (VEN)

53kg
Viktoryia VOLK (AIN)
Venera NAFIKOVA (AIN)
Esmeralda NELA (ALB)
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Xiaomin XIE (CHN)
Yusmy CHAPARRO URREGO (COL)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Yu SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Ellen OESTMAN (SWE)
Sila AYKUL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Elena IVALDI (USA)

55kg
Aliaksandra BULAVA (AIN)
Ekaterina KARPUSHKINA (AIN)
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Victoria SEAL (CAN)
Antonia VALDES ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Ying LU (CHN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Bhavika PATEL (IND)
Neon GOMI (JPN)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Otgontuya BAYANMUNKH (MGL)
Emma MALMGREN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Amani JONES (USA)

57kg
Aryna MARTYNAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Shuang HAN (CHN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
Ruka NATAMI (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Patrycja STRZELCZYK (POL)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Sofia MACALUSO (USA)

59kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN)
Gular HABIBOVA (AZE)
Gabriela CROSS (CAN)
Hong LIANG (CHN)
Alexa CUERO (COL)
Tsz Ying HEUNG (HKG)
ANJLI (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Guldana BEKESH (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Gabriele DILYTE (LTU)
Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR)
Khulan BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Julia NOWICKA (POL)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Skye REALIN (USA)

62kg
Nadzeya BULANAYA (AIN)
Ekaterina KOSHKINA (AIN)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI)
Jolie BRISCO (CAN)
Hanying ZHANG (CHN)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
NITIKA (IND)
Nayu UCHIDA (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Olha PADOSHYK (POL)
Karoline ORTIZ (PUR)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Macey KILTY (USA)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg
Kseniya TSIARENIA (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Kleona SHABANI (ALB)
Angelina ELLIS TODDINGTON (CAN)
Yuqi RAO (CHN)
Karolina POK (HUN)
SHIKSHA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Rin TERAMOTO (JPN)
Guldana OSSERBAY (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Ingrid SKARD (NOR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Sofiia KUSHNIR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

68kg
Alina SHAUCHUK (AIN)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Yati GU (CHN)
Nicoll PARRADO (COL)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
MONIKA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Ayse ERKAN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Brooklyn HAYS (USA)

72kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Olesia BEZUGLOVA (AIN)
Vianne ROULEAU (CAN)
Yufei GAO (CHN)
Maria CEBALLOS (COL)
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Kritika JAMWAL (IND)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Yuka FUJIKURA (JPN)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Tsogzolmaa DORJSUREN (MGL)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Haticenur SARI (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Kylie WELKER (USA)

76kg
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (AIN)
Brianna FRASER (CAN)
Shuiyan CHENG (CHN)
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Zsofia VIRAG (HUN)
PRIYA (IND)
Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Sandra GUERRERO (PUR)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)

Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)Paris Olympic bronze medalist Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) is entered at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Maksim STUPAKEVICH (AIN)
Adam ULBASHEV (AIN)
Andi MUCA (ALB)
Arayik TOPALYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Cristopher VERASTEGUI (COL)
Tamazi GLONTI (GEO)
Vishvajit MORE (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Kohei YAMAGIWA (JPN)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
William SULLIVAN (USA)

60kg
Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Ziyue XI (CHN)
Ronaldo SANCHEZ (COL)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
SURAJ (IND)
Mohammadmehdi GHOLAMPOUR (IRI)
Yasuhito MORI (JPN)
Doszhan UTEPKALIYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Bohdan HRYSHYN (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Talibsho KHAIBARAU (AIN)
Astemir BIZHOEV (AIN)
Amarildo LASKA (ALB)
Arman VARDANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Yunlong HU (CHN)
Ronaldo SANCHEZ RAMIREZ (COL)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Ankit ANKIT (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Komei SAWADA (JPN)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Mukhammed KALBAEV (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ (MEX)
Bredi SLINKERS (NED)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Adrian ANTON (ROU)
Bekir ATES (TUR)
Vasyl MYSHANYCH (UKR)
Jonathan GURULE (USA)

67kg
Viachaslau ZHEHALAU (AIN)
Daniial AGAEV (AIN)
Daniel DAJANI (ALB)
Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Farid KHALILOV (AZE)
Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL)
Gavin ELDRIDGE (CAN)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Kang ZHEN (CHN)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Yanis NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
SACHIN (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Alexandr GURALI (MDA)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Niklas Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Oleh KHALILOV (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg
Illia VALEUSKI (AIN)
Imran ALIEV (AIN)
Ardit ZENELI (ALB)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Bin XU (CHN)
Nilson SINISTERRA (COL)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Junior BENITEZ ORTIZ (ESP)
Kristo MERILAIN (EST)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Aakash PUNIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Kensaku ONO (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Piotr STOLARCZYK (POL)
Brandon NAVARRO (PUR)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Georgios BARBANOS (SWE)
Muhammed GOCMEN (TUR)
Marian HOLUBOVSKYI (UKR)
Justus SCOTT (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Zakhar YANEVICH (AIN)
Ismail BARAKHOEV (AIN)
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Martik PETROSYAN (ARM)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Yang CHANG (CHN)
Alonso PARRA GARCIA (COL)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Frederik MATHIESEN (DEN)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
KARAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Shu YAMADA (JPN)
Temirlan KARATAY (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hassan BARNAWI (KSA)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Ludvig GUNHEIM HATLAND (NOR)
Konrad KOZLOWSKI (POL)
Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Simon BORKENHAGEN (SWE)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Mykyta POLITAIEV (UKR)
Hunter GARVIN (USA)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Vadzim PALEYENKA (AIN)
Imam ALIEV (AIN)
Teo SPIRI (ALB)
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Kun HUANG (CHN)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Miklos KIRALYHAZI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Leon RIVALTA (ITA)
Daizo TANIZAKI (JPN)
Almir TOLEBAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Islam ALIEV (POL)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Joshua ALOFIPO (SAM)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yusuf GOLBASI (TUR)
Ivan CHMYR (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)
Daniel BELLO VEGA (VEN)

87kg
Ilya MIALESHCHYK (AIN)
Aues GONIBOV (AIN)
Julijan SHEHU (ALB)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Joju SAMADOV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Jie WANG (CHN)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Rohit BURA (IND)
Yasin Ali YAZDI (IRI)
Yudai KOBORI (JPN)
Baglan KUANYSH (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)
Vladyslav DIAHILEV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Brian RUIZ MARIN (VEN)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN)
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Zichen YANG (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Aapo VIITALA (FIN)
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Christos CHATSATOUROV (GRE)
Nitesh NITESH (IND)
Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI)
Riku NAKAHARA (JPN)
Beibit KORGANOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Igor SHEPETUN (POL)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Algot KAELLMAN (SWE)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Wyatt VOELKER (USA)
Juan DIAZ BLANCO (VEN)

130kg
Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN)
Dmitrii BABORYKO (AIN)
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Jianqun HE (CHN)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Fekry EISSA (EGY)
Eerik PANK (EST)
Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Koppany LASZLO (HUN)
Uttam RANA (IND)
Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Koei YAMADA (JPN)
Assylbek ABDIKALYK (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Rostislav COVALI (MDA)
Tomasz WAWRZYNCZYK (POL)
Muhammet BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Keith MILEY (USA)

#WrestleTirana

Paris medalists Valiev, Amouzad make golden return in Tirana

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 26) -- Three Paris Olympic medalists were in action on day one of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and two returned with medals.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB) and Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI), medalists at 74kg and 65kg, have announced themselves as early contenders for their respective continental championships. Islam DUDAEV (ALB), the third Paris medalist in action on Thursday, lost his 1/8 final at 65g.

Returning to action for the first time since winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, Valiev claimed the gold medal at 74kg in Tirana, Albania. To make the victory sweeter, he defeated four-time European champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) in the final at home.

Salkazanov has won gold medal at the European Championships for four straight editions and was expected to win this year, especially with the tournament to be held in Bratislava, Slovakia. But with Valiev beating Salkazanov, the odds have changed.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB)Chermen VALIEV (ALB) and Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) in a tangle during the 74kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

The two wrestlers were matched up for similar style of wrestling and were slow off the blocks. Valiev, however, kept his half shots on which forced Salkazanov to be on the activity clock. Valiev was up 1-0 at the break.

Valiev followed a similar strategy in the second period and Salkazanov was again put on the activity clock and Valiev led 2-0. The score was too steep for Salkazanov and his desperate attempts in the end as Valiev won 2-0.

Albania's other Paris Olympic bronze medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB) did not have a similar luck at 65kg as he lost to Kaisei TANABE (JPN) and finished without a medal.

However, Paris silver medalist at 65kg Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) expectedly made it to the final and won gold medal after a 5-1 win over Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ).

He opened the scoring with a takedown and continued with his attacks. A takedown on the edge made it 4-0 and Zhumashbek Uulu was cautioned for fleeing which made it 5-0. Amouzad took a step back and was content with the lead.

Zhumashbek Uulu got a point at the end for negative wrestling from Amouzad but that did not stop the Iranian from winning 5-1.

The second gold medal for Iran was won by Ali MOMENI (IRI), who was in Tirana last year for the U23 World Championships and won bronze medal. He earned gold at 57kg with a fall over Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK) in the second period.

Momeni was down 2-1 at the break but never looked worried about the match up against Belolyubskii. A half whipover from Momeni in the second period caught Belolyubskii unbalanced and Momeni was quick to hold him on the mat and get the fall.

Momeni's gold more or less confirms his spot on the Asian Championships team as he also defeated Hadi REZAEI (IRI) in the first match who could have made a claim for the spot if he had won.

Despite the loss, Belolyubskii can take heart from the fact that he became the first Tajik wrestler to win a medal at a Ranking Series event. He opened his day with a 4-1 win over Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), dominated Weiyu LI (CHN) for an 8-1 win and defeated Sultan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) 10-4 in semifinals.

Japan won two gold medals as well, another example of the serious depth it has in wrestling.

Asian silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) was up against former European champion Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) but remained unfazed in his 4-1 victory at 70kg. Tevanyan would be upset with his approach in the final as he defended a little too much.

As Aoyagi led 1-0 after the break, Tevanyan got the criteria 1-1 lead for Aoyagi's passivity. However, the referees deemed Tevanyan passive one more time and Aoyagi kept Tevanyan from scoring to lead 2-1. Any further attempts from Tevanyan were also thwarted by Aoyagi who got two more points for a throw at the end.

Takara SUDA (JPN)Takara SUDA (JPN) defeated Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) in the 61kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 61kg, Takara SUDA (JPN) upset former U23 world champion Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) in a thrilling final.

Suda was quick off the blocks and scored a stepout and then hit a double leg for a 3-0 lead. Mongush stopped Suda with a chestwrap and then exposed him for two points. A reversal made it 4-2 before Suda got a takedown to lead 6-2 at the break.

Mongush began the second period with an attempted headpinch but Suda blocked it and pinned Mongush on the mat for two points to lead 8-2. Just when it seemed like he will run away with the gold medal, Mongush mounted a comeback. He scored a stepout and Suda was cautioned for fleeing.

With the score 8-4, Mongush scored another stepout and managed a takedown with 31 seconds left on the clock. A stepout without fleeing made it 8-8 but Suda kept the criteria lead for four two-point moves. He held on for the remaining 11 seconds and won the gold medal.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Ali MOMENI (IRI) df. Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK), via fall

BRONZE: Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ) df. Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ), 3-2
BRONZE: Sultan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) df. Weiyu LI (CHN), 9-9

61kg
GOLD: Takara SUDA (JPN) df. Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW), 8-8

BRONZE: Mukhamed BALGABAY (KAZ) df. Stilyan ILIEV (BUL), 7-0
BRONZE: Artem GOBAEV (UWW) df. Leomid COLESNIC (MDA), 3-0 

65kg
GOLD: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) df. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ), 5-1

BRONZE: Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ) df. Kaisei TANABE (JPN), 3-1
BRONZE: Real WOODS (USA) df. Kaiji OGINO (JPN), 9-1

70kg
GOLD: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 4-1

BRONZE: Vasile DIACON (MDA) df. Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO), 10-0 
BRONZE: William LEWAN (USA) df. James GREEN (USA), 4-3

74kg
GOLD: Chermen VALIEV (ALB) df. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 2-0

BRONZE: Yones EMAMI (IRI) df. Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), 6-1
BRONZE: Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) df. Magoma DIBIRGADZHIEV (UWW), 1-1

86kg
GOLD: Chandler MARSTELLER (USA) df. Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ), 2-0

BRONZE: Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO) df. Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ), via fall (4-8)
BRONZE: Rustem MYRZAGALIYEV (KAZ) df. Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL), 8-1