#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

Kiyooka hands Susaki first domestic loss in 6 years, Narikuni shines in Freestyle

By Vinay Siwach

SHIGA, Japan (October 2) -- For six years, Yui SUSAKI (JPN) built a career defined by near perfection. She remained unbeaten in Japan, captured Olympic gold, and added several world titles to her name, moving steadily toward an unprecedented winning streak.

That streak was first broken at the Paris Olympics last year, when Susaki suffered her first international defeat at 50kg, ending a 95-match winning run.

Susaki was dealt with further setback on Tuesday at National Sports Festival in Shiga. As she returned to competition at 53kg, testing herself in a higher weight class after a career largely spent at 50kg, the Tokyo Olympic champion was defeated by world champion Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) in the quarterfinals, marking her first domestic loss since 2019.

The National Sports Festival, held annually in rotating prefectures, features Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling in all six Olympic weight classes. Women’s competition includes only two divisions: 53kg and 62kg. Tuesday’s 53kg quarterfinal was Susaki’s first test at the higher weight. After her 2-1 victory over Susaki, Kiyooka went on to claim the gold medal, two months ahead of the Emperor’s Cup in December.

At 62kg, Asian 57kg champion Sara NATAMI (JPN), representing Shiga, gave the local fans a big reason to cheer, as she overcame a deficit to pin world 59kg champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) in the final, winning the gold despite trailing 8-1 in the second period.

In Freestyle, world 70kg champion Yoshunsuke AOYAGI (JPN) lost a close 3-3 decision in the 74kg quarterfinals to 2022 world 70kg champion Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN), who had transitioned to Greco-Roman after his world title three years ago. Narikuni went on to win the gold after reigning 74kg world champion Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) withdrew from the semifinals due to injury.

At 65kg, two-time world U20 champion Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN) captured the gold medal, just three weeks before beginning his pursuit of a world U23 title in Novi Sad, Serbia.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by MAMO (@mamo_wrestling)

A lot of debate has surrounded Susaki's return to the mat after her Paris loss to Vinesh PHOGAT (IND). She took her time before coming back and, after careful deliberation, decided to enter the National Sports Festival, which offered only 53kg as the option.

After winning her first bout, Susaki faced a tough opponent in Kiyooka, known for some of the toughest defense on the mat. Susaki began the quarterfinal with her usual movements, attempting sweep singles but failed to score. Kiyooka, who won her world gold at 55kg, was put on the 30-second activity clock in the first period and, after failing to score, Susaki led 1-0.

In the second period, Susaki went on the activity clock. After she failed to score, Kiyooka claimed the 1-1 criteria lead with two minutes remaining. With just 30 seconds left, Susaki went for Kiyooka’s left leg following a misdirection to the right.

She was unable to complete the takedown or force a stepout that would have secured victory for her. But Kiyooka prevented Susaki to pass behind and control the takedown. Susaki’s corner challenged for the final pushout but the sequence was well after the clock had expired.

"It’s very frustrating that I couldn’t win such a close match at the end," Susaki told the media. “It shows my lack of skill that I wasn’t able to take advantage, so I’m very disappointed."

The 26-year-old was particularly upset about not finishing the final takedown, which could have handed her the win.

"I made a one-legged tackle and misjudged how to handle it," she said. "I’m very disappointed that I made such a poor decision with so little time left. I wanted to go for it more from the beginning, but it didn’t work out as I wanted."

Susaki hinted that she will compete at the Emperor’s Cup in December but is still undecided about which weight class she will enter.

"There are still two months until the Emperor’s Cup, so I want to prepare well in those two months so I can win,” she said. "I came all the way here aiming to win. It’s really disappointing, but no matter the challenges, my goal remains the same: I’ll definitely win gold.

"Taking into account the situation and this result, I would like to discuss it with the team and decide the weight class. It was my first match in a year, so it was different from practice. I was a little nervous. I want to find the causes of my mistakes and do my best at the Emperor’s Cup."

Sara NATAMI (JPN)Sara NATAMI (JPN) celebrates after beating Sakura ONISHI (JPN). (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

Natami’s hometown triumph at 62kg left Onishi in tears after Natami pinned her for the fall in the final. Onishi had built an 8-1 lead but was on the defensive in the second period. Both wrestlers launched a few attacks, but when Onishi went for a single-leg, Natami stood firm, unbalancing her opponent. Onishi fell to the mat, and Natami controlled her to secure the victory.

Just two weeks prior, Onishi had won the 59kg gold medal at the World Championships in Zagreb. She moved up to 62kg, an Olympic weight class, in her bid to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN) won the 74kg gold medal. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

Meanwhile, Narikuni demonstrated he remains a top contender in Freestyle after claiming gold at 74kg. He had recently competed at the Zagreb World Championships in Greco-Roman at 72kg, attempting to add to his Freestyle world title. In Shiga, he returned to Freestyle and faced Aoyagi in the quarterfinals.

During a scramble, both wrestlers went out of bounds and were initially called neutral. Aoyagi challenged, but the review showed it was actually a neutral position. Narikuni was awarded one point for the lost challenge. Aoyagi scored two points by tripping Narikuni, who landed on his back without danger, and added a stepout as he circled inside as Narikuni was trying to force a stepout.

With less than a minute remaining, Narikuni constantly pressured Aoyagi, who dropped to his knees to avoid a stepout. He attempted a counter duckunder, but Narikuni defended and executed a front headlock roll for two points, giving him a 3-3 criteria lead.

After defeating Aoyagi, Narikuni advanced via walkover in the semifinals before decisively beating Masaki SATO (JPN) 8-1 in the final to claim the gold. The victory prompted Paris Olympic 57kg champion and 2022 world champion Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) to post on social media: “Why do you even wrestle Greco?”

RESULTS

Freestyle Winners

57kg: Fuga SASAKI
65kg: Yuto NISHIUCHI
74kg: Taishi NARIKUNI
86kg: Fumiya IGARASHI
97kg: Yudai TAKAHASHI
125kg: Taiki YAMAMOTO

Women's Wrestling Winners

53kg: Moe KIYOOKA
62kg: Sara NATAMI

Greco-Roman Winners

60kg: Koto GOMI
67kg: Chiezo MARUYAMA
77kg: Kodai SAKURABA
87kg: Tatsuya FUJII
97kg: Takahiro TSURUDA
130kg: Sota OKUMURA