#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)

#JapanWrestling

Two-time Olympic champ Risako Kinjo brings curtain down on stellar career

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO, Japan (October 12) -- Risako KINJO (JPN), who won two Olympic gold medals under her maiden name of Kawai before capturing a fourth world title last year after giving birth, officially announced her retirement over the weekend.

"I felt that I had experienced everything that was good about being a wrestler," the 31-year-old Kinjo told the Japanese media Sunday on bringing down the curtain on one of wrestling's most sterling careers. "I felt fulfilled and happy with a life in which wrestling was my passion."

Kinjo also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child as she spoke to the media at the Japan Women's Open in Akitsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where she was coaching younger sister Yukako TSUNEMURA (JPN), who was returning to the mat for the first time since becoming a mother herself.

Kinjo first announced her retirement on her Instagram account on Saturday night, stating that in the 24 years since she started wrestling at age 7, "I have had good experiences and bad, highs and lows. But to win four world championships and two consecutive Olympics was all due to the support and encouragement of many people. I thank them all."

Kinjo first struck Olympic gold at 63kg at Rio in 2016, then won out in a duel that captivated the wrestling world with fellow Rio and four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN) for the 57kg spot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she took home a second gold.

Of the clash of the titans with Icho, Kawai remarked, "I had no more difficult period than that. I'm glad I was able to experience it."

In the Tokyo semifinals, Kinjo had to face yet another Rio gold medalist in Helen MAROULIS (USA), who had moved up from 53kg. Kinjo came away with a 2-1 win, then defeated Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW) 5-0 for the gold.

With Yukako also winning the 62kg gold, it elevated the Kawai sisters to celebrity status in the host country. The two got their start in the sport at the kids' club run by their mother. Both of their parents were national-level wrestlers.

Soon after Tokyo, Risako married former wrestler Kiryu KINJO, and in May 2022, gave birth to a baby girl. Instead of settling down to a domestic life, motherhood lit a fresh flame to continue the sport.

"I had originally planned to win the Tokyo Olympics and then retire gracefully," Kinjo said. "I even told people around me that I would quit after the Tokyo Olympics. But when I got married and got pregnant, I felt that my body wasn't only my own, and I wanted to continue wrestling.

"While I was pregnant, I watched Yukako's matches and thought to myself, 'If it were me, I would do it like this,' so after my child was born, I decided to try it again."

Her bid to win a third straight Olympic gold in Paris, however, was derailed by the reigning world 57kg champion Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN), who went on to triumph in the French capital.

Rebuffing speculation that the loss would mark her swan song, she showed her passion for the sport by sticking around. With the incentive of wanting to have her daughter see her compete and make some history, she had no qualms about moving into the non-Olympic weight of 59kg.

She suffered a setback of sorts at the Asian Championships in April 2024, when she lost to Qi ZHANG (CHN) in the semifinals and had to settle for a bronze medal.

But she righted the ship at the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships in October that year in Tirana, Albania, where she cruised into the 59kg final and defeated Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) 4-2.

"No one from Japan had ever achieved becoming a 'world No. 1 as a mama', and it would be ideal if I could do it," Kinjo recalled thinking. "When I accomplished it at the World Championships last October, as soon as it was over I thought there is nothing else that I want."

That victory added to the three consecutive senior world golds that she won from 2017 to 2019. She also has a silver from 2015, and her laurels include a world cadet (U17) gold and two world junior (U20) titles, and she was a four-time Asian champion.

Kinjo was a star at Shigakkan University during its golden era as the elite powerhouse of women's wrestling in Japan, also producing such greats as Icho, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), Eri TOSAKA (JPN), Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Sara DOSHO (JPN).

Looking ahead, she says her focus will be on raising her new baby while staying involved in the sport.

"Right now I am eight months pregnant, and first and foremost I will put my full efforts into proper childcare. And at the same time, I will be Yukako's coach and always maintain a link to wrestling," she said.

At the Japan Women's Open, a second-tier event that offers qualifying spots at the All-Japan Championships, Yukako showed she still has some rust to be knocked off. Entered at 59kg, she won her first two matches before falling to high schooler Miuna KIMURA (JPN) 4-1 in the semifinals.

The tournament also saw the return of Sakurai for her first competition since winning the gold in Paris. She needed three wins to take the 57kg title, defeating collegian Himeka HASEGAWA (JPN) 5-0 in the final.