#WrestleNoviSad

U23 World Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 3) -- Around 700 wrestlers will descend upon Novi Sad, Serbia for the final World Championships of the year.

The U23 World Championships will be held in Novi Sad from October 20 to 27 at the SPENS, with Greco-Roman kicking off things followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle.

The U23 World Championships will be live on UWW+ on the UWW website and the UWW App.

Note: These are early entries and subject to change.

PJ DUKE (USA)PJ DUKE (USA), red, is won the 70kg gold medal at the U20 World Championships in August. (Photo: Amirreza Aliasgari)

Freestyle

57kg
Norik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Muhammadali ALIZADA (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Honghang LIAO (CHN)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Karamjeet HOLSTEIN (GER)
Sumit MALIK (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN)
Zhakhongir AKHMAJANOV (KAZ)
Mukhammadrasul SALIEV (KGZ)
Ion BULGARU (MDA)
Maruf KARGBO (SLE)
Bekir KESER (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)
Matsvei SYTSEVICH (UWW)
Aiandai ONDAR (UWW)
Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)

61kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Jeyhun ALLAHVERDIYEV (AZE)
Roger DOS SANTOS (BRA)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Blayne HELOU (CAN)
Yongquan LUO (CHN)
Nika ZANGALADZE (GEO)
Dario DITTRICH (GER)
SHUBHAM (IND)
Reza MOMENI (IRI)
Akito MUKAIDA (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)
Vasile MARCU (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Amir HAMAYUN (TKM)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR)
Jaxen FORREST (USA)
Fedor BALTUEV (UWW)
Mikita BERAZUN (UWW)
Behruzbey TURANMURATOV (UZB)

65kg
Andranik AVETISYAN (ARM)
Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Denis NAIM (BUL)
Ryan DAHCHA (CAN)
La ZHANG (CHN)
Said ELGAHSH (EGY)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
SUJEET (IND)
Yasin REZAEI (IRI)
Mattia BIENTINESI (ITA)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Rustem TOLEN (KAZ)
Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ)
Fiodor CEAVDARI (MDA)
Diego PERAZA AGUILAR (MEX)
Dominik JAGUSZ (POL)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Marcus BLAZE (USA)
Anatoli HRAMYKA (UWW)
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Victor PARRA ROMAN (VEN)

70kg
Davit MARGARYAN (ARM)
Alexander SEIWALD (AUT)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Kaloyan ATANASOV (BUL)
Cole COGHILL (CAN)
Matias MUNOZ RAMIREZ (CHI)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Orislandy PERDOMO BROOKS (CUB)
Yehia HAFEZ (EGY)
Denis KODAKOV GIL (ESP)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Rostislav LEICHT (GER)
Naveen KUMAR (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Kaito MORITA (JPN)
Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ)
Adis RAKHAT UULU (KGZ)
Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)
Gabriel SANCHEZ ZEPEDA (MEX)
Umut ERDOGAN (TUR)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
PJ DUKE (USA)
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (UWW)
Umar UMAROV (UWW)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Fabian KOCILERI (ALB)
Grigor CHOLAKYAN (ARM)
Magomed KHANIEV (AZE)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Petar PETKOV (BUL)
Sehajpal SIDHU (CAN)
Tao SHEN (CHN)
Omar MOURAD (EGY)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Georgios IOAKEIMIDIS (GRE)
PARVINDER (IND)
Mohammad BAKHSHI (IRI)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Dias SAGDATOV (KAZ)
Baitemir TULEBERDIEV (KGZ)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Alonzo SMILEY GARCIA (MEX)
Zelimkhan MUTSUKHAEV (POL)
Mohamed KASSEGBAMA (SLE)
Muhammed OZMUS (TUR)
Mykyta MORHUN (UKR)
Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)
Aliaksandr VIARBITSKI (UWW)
Magomed BAITUKAEV (UWW)
Jafar CHULIBOYEV (UZB)

79kg
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Farid JABBAROV (AZE)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Connor CHURCH (CAN)
Bolati NA ERTAI (CHN)
Geannis GARZON TAMAYO (CUB)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Gregor EIGENBRODT (GER)
CHANDERMOHAN (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
Subaru TAKAHARA (JPN)
Yerkhan ABIL (KAZ)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Yael PEREZ AKE (MEX)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
ANDRIJA IVANOVIC (SRB)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Vitalii MALENKOV (UKR)
Levi HAINES (USA)
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW)
Davud DAUDOV (UWW)

86kg
Ibrahim SULA (ALB)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Lukas LINS (AUT)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Aiden STEVENSON (CAN)
Minghui LIANG (CHN)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO)
Theodoros SINGIRIDIS (GRE)
Zeteny GANGL (HUN)
ASHISH (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Aaron AYZEROV (ISR)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Fumiya IGARASHI (JPN)
Mukhanbet MAMBETOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Kevin DE LEON (MEX)
Igor SZUCKI (POL)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Ahmet YAGAN (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
Rocco WELSH (USA)
Arsen BALAIAN (UWW)

92kg
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Sadig MUSTAFAZADE (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Judah ARTHURS (CAN)
Yuanchong YANG (CHN)
Mukhammedsultan KOPBAYEV (ESP)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Daniel FISCHER (GER)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
SACHIN (IND)
Mobin AZIMI (IRI)
Daisuke MASUDA (JPN)
Aibek AITBEKOV (KAZ)
Ulukbek SOOROMBEKOV (KGZ)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Filip SZUCKI (POL)
David JAKSIK (SVK)
Orazmuhammet HOJALYYEV (TKM)
Alperen TOKGOZ (TUR)
Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR)
Joshua BARR (USA)
Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

97kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Zafar ALIYEV (AZE)
Andriyan VALKANOV (BUL)
Samuel PEREIRA (CAN)
Feilong GAO (CHN)
Aabdelrahman SHEYATAN (EGY)
Aimar ALZON EGUINOA (ESP)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
VICKY (IND)
Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI)
Nikita GOUBARETS (ISR)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Constantin BUZA (MDA)
Juan ITURRIZA RUIZ (MEX)
Wiktor HASA (POL)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Ibrahim BENEKLI (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Garavous KOUEKABAKILAHO (USA)
Soslan DZHAGAEV (UWW)
Otabek NAZIRBOEV (UZB)

125kg
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Khetag KARSANOV (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
Yiwei ZHUANG (CHN)
Mostafa SALAHELDIN (EGY)
Giga SHAVADZE (GEO)
Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)
Alessandro SCARAMELLA (ITA)
Ryusei FUJITA (JPN)
Bauyrzhan SOVETOV (KAZ)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Daniel HERRERA (USA)
Pavel DZIATLAU (UWW)
Khabib DAVUDGADZHIEV (UWW)
Namoz ABDURASHIDOV (UZB)

Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), at 62kg, is aiming to become the third wrestler to win all world and Olympic gold. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Aika BRADY (AUS)
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Madison MACKENZIE (CAN)
Jinyue LIANG (CHN)
Greili BENCOSME CARVAJAL (CUB)
Maria CAZALLA TORRES (ESP)
Hanny KUMARI (IND)
Minoriho YONEHARA (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Ana PALACIOS HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Marija SPIRKOVSKA (MKD)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Andela VASILJEVIC (SRB)
Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN)
Songul KAVAK (TUR)
Aida KERYMOVA (UKR)
Audrey JIMENEZ (USA)
Natalia PUDOVA (UWW)
Sviatlana KATENKA (UWW)
Mushtariy TOLIPBEKOVA (UZB)
Nohalis LOYO JIMENEZ (VEN)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Antonia VALDES ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Suiyi CHEN (CHN)
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Maria FERONE (ITA)
Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Sherriffa DOVER (SLE)
Milana MITROVIC (SRB)
Sila AYKUL (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)
Brianna GONZALEZ (USA)
Viktoryia VOLK (UWW)
Ekaterina KARPUSHKINA (UWW)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)
Alexa ALVAREZ VALENZUELA (VEN)

55kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Sophia BECHARD (CAN)
Tianai SHI (CHN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
NISHU (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Josefina RAMIREZ DUARTE (MEX)
Patrycja STRZELCZYK (POL)
Alexandra VOICULESCU (ROU)
Isidora ZIVKOVIC (SRB)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Albina RILLIA (UKR)
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)
Kira SOLOBCHUK (UWW)

57kg
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Yifan TANG (CHN)
Yaynelis SANZ VERDECIA (CUB)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Inna ALIMOVA (LTU)
Bertha ROJAS CHAVEZ (MEX)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Chahd JELJELI (TUN)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Cecilia WILLIAMS (USA)
Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (UWW)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (UWW)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Olivia LICHTI (CAN)
Limin CHEN (CHN)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
SARIKA (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Ruka NATAMI (JPN)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Madalina PRISACARI (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Olha PADOSHYK (POL)
JOVANA RADIVOJEVIC (SRB)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Yuliia PAKHNIUK (UKR)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)
Uladzislava KUDZIN (UWW)
Ekaterina RADYSHEVA (UWW)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

62kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Annika FINES (CAN)
Huan YANG (CHN)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
SAVITA (IND)
Immacolata DANISE (ITA)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Gabriela RUDOI (MDA)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Hannah BANGURA (SLE)
Sara SARIC (SRB)
Kerstin NYGREN (SWE)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
Yana TRETSIAK (UWW)
Ekaterina KOSHKINA (UWW)
Nigina SABIROVA (UZB)
Astrid MONTERO CHIRINOS (VEN)

65kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Maria SAWIAK (CAN)
Yuqi RAO (CHN)
Vanja GERSAK PEREZ (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
PULKIT (IND)
Bianca CONTRAFATTO (ITA)
Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
Zhangyl BEKEN (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Davaajargal ALTANSUKH (MGL)
Cara DU PLESSIS (RSA)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR)
Isabella MIR (USA)
Kseniya TSIARENIA (UWW)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW)
Mukhayyo NARZILLOEVA (UZB)

68kg
Angelina ELLIS TODDINGTON (CAN)
Chunshu DU (CHN)
Gerda BARTH (GER)
Karolina POK (HUN)
SRISHTI (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Seia MOCHINAGA (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Debanhi TAPIA GARCIA (MEX)
Karolina DOMASZUK (POL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Brooklyn HAYS (USA)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW)
Gilbery GARCIA FRANCO (VEN)

72kg
Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL)
Vianne ROULEAU (CAN)
Yuqi LIU (CHN)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Laura KOEHLER (GER)
Diksha MALIK (IND)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Shamshiyabanu TASTANBEK (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Michelle OLEA RUIZ (MEX)
Haticenur SARI (TUR)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)
Jasmine ROBINSON (USA)
Liliana ROZHINA (UWW)
Sevinchoy POLVONOVA (UZB)

76kg
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Nyla BURGESS (CAN)
Yifei SHEN (CHN)
PRIYA (IND)
Makoto KOMADA (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Edna JIMENEZ VILLALBA (MEX)
Damola OJO (NGR)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ZENKINA (UKR)
Kylie WELKER (USA)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)

Fardin HEYDAYATI (IRI)Fardin HEYDAYATI (IRI) will look to defend his GR 130kg title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Andi MUCA (ALB)
Arayik TOPALYAN (ARM)
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Baoji WU (CHN)
Giorgi KOCHALIDZE (GEO)
Vishvajit MORE (IND)
Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Yehuda YOSEF (ISR)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Nurbolot BERDIKULOV (KGZ)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Isaac MARIN MATA (MEX)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Sabolc LOSONC (SRB)
Adem LAMLOUM (TUN)
Servan CINAR (TUR)
Yehor ODNOVOL (UKR)
Kenneth CROSBY (USA)
Alibek AMIROV (UWW)
Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB)
Dieymer ROSAL AMUNDARAY (VEN)

60kg
Mikel TROPLINI (ALB)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE)
Borislav KIRILOV (BUL)
Zhaojian WANG (CHN)
Brian SANTIAGO (DEN)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
KUNAL (IND)
Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Koto GOMI (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Kubanych ARINOV (KGZ)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Alhaji TURAY (SLE)
Roland VARGA (SRB)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Bohdan HRYSHYN (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Ilia PANIUTIN (UWW)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

63kg
Ergi UKU (ALB)
Davit JOTYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Kristiyan MILENKOV (BUL)
Xiaoli FAN (CHN)
Robert BOSNJAK (CRO)
Jeremy PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU)
Adham ELSAYED (EGY)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
GAURAV (IND)
Javad ABOUTALEBI NAVID (IRI)
Miruto TOKUHIGA (JPN)
Nurdaulet KAPAS (KAZ)
Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Angel SEGURA TELLEZ (MEX)
Ilias LAAOUINA (NED)
Andrej VELISAVLJEV (SRB)
Algot GAMELIUS (SWE)
Servet ANGI (TUR)
Vadym MATROS (UKR)
Kaden ERCANBRACK (USA)
Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (UWW)
Khusniddin OLIMBOEV (UZB)

67kg
Ardit ZENELI (ALB)
Ruben MIRANYAN (ARM)
Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Nestor ALMANZA TRUYOL (CHI)
Hanqing YONG (CHN)
Yonat VELIZ MARTINEZ (CUB)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Attila JOZSA (HUN)
NISHANT (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Alexandr GURALI (MDA)
Brandon ALVAREZ MATA (MEX)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Adrian ANTON (ROU)
Dejan BERKEC (SRB)
Oussama NASR (TUN)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Imed KHUDZHADZE (UKR)
Otto BLACK (USA)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Oybek SHARIBJONOV (UZB)

72kg
Xhorxh FRROKAJ (ALB)
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Sergey STOEV (BUL)
Waili HAIBIER (CHN)
Jakub SIMCIK (CZE)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Mate VEGH (HUN)
ANIL (IND)
Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Hajime KIKUTA (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ)
Vasile ZABICA (MDA)
Jorge GOMEZ GARCIA (MEX)
Piotr STOLARCZYK (POL)
Leonard IURASCU (ROU)
Mihajlo ALEMPIJEVIC (SRB)
Simon BORKENHAGEN (SWE)
Eren ULKU (TUR)
Oleh KHALILOV (UKR)
Aliaksandr KIKINIOU (USA)
Viachaslau ZHEHALAU (UWW)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM)
Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)
Azis ATANASOV (BUL)
Chunyang PAN (CHN)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Rasmus ULRIKSEN (DEN)
Yehia ABDELKADER (EGY)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO)
Radu PLACINTA (GER)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
ANKIT (IND)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Yeldos KAMELOV (KAZ)
Nurel DUISHONBEKOV (KGZ)
Rokas CEPAUSKAS (LTU)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Benjamin HANSEN (NOR)
Zalan PEK (SRB)
Fritz REBER (SUI)
Edvin BAFF (SWE)
Muslim BARGA (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Aydin RIX MCELHINNEY (USA)
Illia VALEUSKI (UWW)
Ismail BARAKHOEV (UWW)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Teo SPIRI (ALB)
Iurik PETROSIAN (ARM)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Martin SHISHEKOV (BUL)
Maimaiti ABUDOUSHALAMU (CHN)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Mohamed DYAB (EGY)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
Dominik CZUCZOR (HUN)
PRINCE (IND)
Abolfazl MOHMEDI (IRI)
Reon KAKEGAWA (JPN)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Diego MACIAS TORRES (MEX)
Stanislaw FUSSY (POL)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
ABDULMASIH (UWW)
Gamzat GADZHIEV (UWW)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

87kg
Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Xinyu LIU (CHN)
Frederik MATHIESEN (DEN)
Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
Elias LYYSKI (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE ((FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Rohit BURA (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Leon RIVALTA (ITA)
Daisei ISOE (JPN)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Artykbek ALYMBEK UULU (KGZ)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Yassine BEN LABED (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)
Ivan CHMYR (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Zaur SHANGEREEV (UWW)
Murodjon ALIMJANOV (UZB)
Brian RUIZ MARIN (VEN)

97kg
Arshak GEGHAMYAN (ARM)
Ali GULIYEV (AZE)
Mihail MELEHOV (BUL)
Zichen YANG (CHN)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Aapo VIITALA (FIN)
Luka GABISONIA (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
NAMAN (IND)
Hadi SEYDI AVENDI (IRI)
Kyo KITAWAKI (JPN)
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Ilia CERNOVOL (MDA)
Dorian TREJO OLGUIN (MEX)
Uros KRSTIN (SRB)
Muhittin HELVACI (TUR)
Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)
Maxwell RAMBERG (USA)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (UWW)
Maksim AVERIN (UWW)
Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB)
Juan DIAZ BLANCO (VEN)

130kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Aykhan MARDANOV (AZE)
Shuangyu CHEN (CHN)
Artur SARKISJAN (CZE)
Kevin USPENSKI (EST)
Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO)
Grigorios KONTOVOUNISIOS (GRE)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Joginder RATHEE (IND)
Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Ayumu IWASAWA (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Nurbolot TOKTOGONOV (KGZ)
David MOLNAR (SRB)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Viachaslau FEDARYNA (UWW)
Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW)
Damirkhon RAKHMATOV (UZB)
Luis TALAVERA LUNA (VEN)

#WrestleTirana

Masterful Uguev Repeats as European Champion

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (April 26) -- Zavur UGUEV (UWW) became a two-time European champion in Tirana on Sunday. For a wrestler of Uguev's pedigree, the number looks bleak.

But the 31-year-old, who will turn 32 on May 21, doesn't rue the missed golds but says those were the experiences that helped him win gold later.

"Last year I won my first European gold medal," Uguev said. "My first two or three medals, I was still young and things didn’t work out. There were very experienced athletes competing, and I gained experience from them."

In his two appearances at the European Championships in 2017 and 2018, Uguev suffered losses to Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE). In the 2018 final, Edisherashvili scored a takedown in the last seven seconds to win.

"[From] losing in the finals in the last 7 seconds in Kaspiysk, I gained great experience," he said. "But last year, I was in great shape and I’m happy that in my career I now have two European Championship gold medals."

His second gold in Tirana may have gone under that radar given the return and dominance of Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), who won his sixth European gold on Saturday and first in six years.

However, if there was an award for the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament, Uguev would handsomely beat all others wrestlers to it.

On Sunday, Uguev defended his 61kg gold medal in Tirana with rather ease after defeating former world champion and home-favorite Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB). The 4-0 win over Abakarov consisted one activity clock, one stepout and a two-point takedown from Uguev.

Even the low-scoring final was a masterclass from Uguev, one of the few who still mixes the art of defense and positioning to win bouts.

UWW Plus

At one point, Abakarov would keep trying the two-on-one on Uguev's arm and instead of panicking, Uguev would casually block Abakarov using his head. After the two-minute mark in the match, Abakarov had a similar grip and Uguev was blocking using his head and grip one of Abakarov's wrist.

Abakarov moved to a position from which he could either whizzer or wrist snap Uguev. However, as soon as Abakarov moved sideways, Uguev placed his foot behind Abakarov and let go off his grip, quickly switching to a leg-attack. He scored a stepout to lead 2-0 after one activity period point.

Uguev set up his takedown in the second period when Abakarov took a shot from space and Uguev blocked it using a chest wrap. Instead of scoring exposure from front, Uguev jumped behind and locked Abakarov who tried to break the grip. But Uguev scored a takedown on the edge to lead 4-0, his winning score.

Zavur UGUEV (UWW)Zavur UGUEV (UWW) pins Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) in the 61kg semifinals. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

It was in the semifinals against Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), Uguev fell behind 3-2 but he brought down Harutyunyan in danger for two points before holding the Armenian in such a grip that he failed to move despite having split hands. Eventually, he gave up to Uguev's pressure who won via fall.

"The final is always a tough contest, both last and this year," Uguev said. "Last year it was Harutyunyan, a four-time European champion, and this year it’s Abakarov, the world champion. It’s a real pleasure to compete against them. I’ve come here solely to compete against them."

Two months ago, Uguev was in Tirana and he put on a wrestling masterclass, winning the 61kg gold medal. However, it was in Tirana that he lost to phenom Masanosuke ONO (JPN) and Vitali ARUJAU (USA) and finished fifth at the World Championships.

"I was here at the start of February for the ranking tournament, and I suppose I had some thoughts about it [losing World Championships in Tirana]," he said. "But I managed to win that tournament, and I came here with the sole intention of winning. The first attempt [2024 World Championships] didn’t go to plan."

Zavur UGUEV (UWW)Zavur UGUEV (UWW) after winning the 61kg gold medal in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

The three-time world champion and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist at 57kg has been competing at 61kg for three years now. While he will eventually move to 57kg for a run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Uguev says he is enjoying wrestling at a higher weight and not dieting during competitions.

"I’ll be wrestling in 65kg soon," he said jokingly. "I’ll probably be dropping down to 57kg. I’ll probably compete for another year or so [at 61kg], and then I’ll keep dropping down. I’m not actually that heavy to begin with, and I reckon anyone competing at 57kg is roughly the same weight as me. For now, I don’t see the point in cutting weight, and I think it’s better to stay as I am for the time being, compete for another year or so. I think that this year, or early next year, we’ll start thinking about which weight class to move to.

"Now that I’ve moved up to 61kg, I’m really enjoying the competition. When I was competing at 57kg, I struggled so much. Now, when I watch the wrestlers like Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW), for example, I’m reminded of my own days on the mat. It’s just that when you’re on a diet, you don’t want to think about anything else. All you can think about is food. Now I feel comfortable. I’m not dieting; I enjoy wrestling and I’m managing to do well at it."

As for European Championships golds, Uguev isn't stopping.

"I'm not going to stop here," he said. "I'm not chasing numbers, I'll keep wrestling as long as I have the strength."