#WrestleZagreb

Updated Grand Prix Zagreb Open Entry List

By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 13) -- For the first time since the Nur-Sultan World Championships, two-time world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) will make his long-awaited return to the mat. The Rio Olympic runner-up and Ukrainian Parliamentary member will kick off his '21 campaign later this week at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, which gets underway January 16-17 in Zagreb, Croatia's Dom Sportova Hall. 

Beleniuk is apart of a loaded competition list that'll feature 165 athletes from 18 different nations. In addition to Beleniuk, other starts to keep an eye on are:
60kg: Stig Andre BERGE (NOR): Rio Olympic bronze medalist 
60kg: Victor CIOBANU (MDA): '18 world silver medalist
63kg: Elmura tTASMURADOV (UZB): Rio Olympic bronze medalist 
67kg: Morten THORESEN (NOR): '20 European champion 
67kg: Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL): '18 world bronze
77kg: Daniel CATARAGA (MDA): Two-time U23 world champion // '16 world silver medalist 
82kg: Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN): Two-time European champion
82kg: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE): '19 world silver medalist 
97kg: Felix BALDAUF (NOR): '17 European champion

Reigning Zagreb Open champions that are entered:
67kg: Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
77kg: Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
87kg: Oskar JOHANSSON (SWE)

55kg
Steven ECKER (GER)
Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
Giovanni FRENI (ITA)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Snorre LUND (NOR)
Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

60kg
Ivan LIZATOVIĆ (CRO)
Luka PRIHISTAL (CRO)
Juuso LATVALA (FIN)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Micha TRACZ (POL)
Dawid ERSETIC (POL)
Alexander BICA (SWE)
Ardit FAZLIJA( SWE)
Ahmet UYAR  (TUR)|
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Mukhammadkodir YUSUPOV (UZB)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)


63kg
Dominik CELIČEK (CRO)
Andrej GINC (GER)
Deniz MENEKSE (GER)
Giovanni Paolo ALESSIO (ITA)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Stig Andre BERGE (NOR)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIĆ (SRB)
Niklas OHLEN (SWE)
Elmura tTASMURADOV (UZB)

67kg
Elmer MATTIL (FIN)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Steve MOMILIA (ITA)
Francesco BELLINO (ITA)
Ruben MARVICE (ITA)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Daniel SOINI (SWE)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Enes BAŞAR (TUR)
Haci KARAKUŞ (TUR)
Ime NASIBOV (UKR)
Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)

72kg
Marko NIKOLIĆ (CRO)
Akseli YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Titas KERSEVICIUS (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Sebastian AAK (NOR)
Aron PINTER (SRB)
Didrik SILVERIN (SWE)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
|Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

77kg
Božo STARČEVIĆ (CRO)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJAŠEVIĆ (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Roni PUROLAINEN (FIN)
Michael WIDMAYER (GER)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Ciro RUSSO (ITA)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Edgar BABAYAN (POL)
Mateusz WOLNY (POL)
Iwan NYLYPIUK (POL)
Dawid KLIMEK (POL)
Albin OLOFSON(SWE)
Lukas AHLGREN (SWE)
Nicolas CHRISTEN (SUI)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Vladimir YAKOVLEV (UKR)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Elmar NURALIEV (UKR)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

82kg
Filip ŠAČIĆ (CRO)
Antun BORČIĆ (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIĆ (CRO)
Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Marius BRAUN (GER)
Simon OLLINGER (GER)
Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU)
Magnus GRONVIK (NOR)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Marc WEBER (SUI)

87kg
Tomislav HADER (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Matej MANDIĆ (CRO)
Petr NOVAK (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Vili ROPPONEN (FIN)
Juho PAHIKAINEN (FIN)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Simone FIDELBO(ITA)
Veronica PARISI (ITA)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Julius MATUZEVICIUS (LTU)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Eividas STANKEVICIUS (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Vladislav GUTU (MDA)
Aleksandar ST JEPANETIC (SWE)
Oskar JOHANSSON (SWE)
Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Dogan GÖKTAŞ (TUR)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Zhan BELENYUK (UKR)
Joe RAU (USA)

97kg
Ivan RATKOVIĆ (CRO)
Nikola CONAR (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Ondrej DADAK (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Ilja KLASNER (GER)
Patrick NEUMAIER (GER)
Jan ZIRN (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Nikoloz KAKHEKASHVILI (ITA)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Pontus LUND (SWE)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Dzihasov ZIELIMKHAN (UKR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)

130kg
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Konsta MAENPAA (FIN)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Franz RICHTER (GER)
Samuele VARICELLI (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafał KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Muhammet Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR)
Nikolai KUCHMIY (UKR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

UWW to continue tests for Greco-Roman tie-breaker rule

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 19) — The Technical Commission of United World Wrestling has decided to further test the tie-breaking rule for Greco-Roman bouts that end with a 1-1 score.

UWW had announced in March that it would test a new Greco-Roman rule at the European Championships in April. This rule awarded victory in a 1-1 Greco-Roman bout to the wrestler who scored the first technical point.

Testing at the European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia yielded positive results. However, to fully evaluate the rule, the Commission agreed to conduct further tests at more events.

Beginning with the U15 European Championships in Caorle, Italy from June 25, all future events till the 2025 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will be conducted under the new rule which awards the victory to the wrestler who scored the first technical point if the match ends 1-1. This means that the 2025 World Championships in Zagreb will be part of the testing.

The change comes after it was unanimously acknowledged that the existing rule, which awards victory to the athlete who scores the last point, may unintentionally encourage passivity at the start of the bout. Wrestlers could strategically aim to secure a passivity point in the second period, ultimately winning the match without demonstrating consistent engagement throughout.

UWW once again stresses that the modification will be implemented exclusively for Greco-Roman and will apply only to matches that end with a 1-1 score. For all other score scenarios, the existing wrestling rules will remain in effect.