#WrestleZagreb

WATCH: Tumur-Ochir's underhook supremacy

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 13) -- When Tulga TUMUR-OCHIR (MGL) walked back to the center after winning the bout against Evan HENDERSON (USA), he made it look rather casual.

The World Championships bronze medalist had performed a classy underhook throw for four points and won the quarterfinal 12-1 at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series last week. The bout had a lot of setups and transitions but one that stood out, perhaps in the whole tournament, was that underhook.

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) and Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) are at the top among underhooks. It's typical Iran style to attack and defend using the same setup. But Tumur-Ochir's underhook is very underrated.

An epic throw still fresh in the memory was against Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in the bronze medal bout at the 2019 World Championships which Punia survived after a long bridge position.

In Zagreb, Tumur-Ochir was more relaxed and after leading 8-1 at the break, he got into a dominant position. He put the underhook in place and snapped Henderson. Realizing that Henderson was ready for it, Tumur-Ochir quickly moved to grab for the inside leg and score a pushout. It was a little too far to control and Henderson defended with force.

Henderson pounced on an off-balance Tumur-Ochir and tried to get his arms around the Mongolian's back and almost got it. However, the underhook was still intact.

As Henderson tried to push his opponent to the mat, Tumur-Ochir flung a massive throw using the set underhook and power from his hips. The toss was worth four and victory.

And if the follow-through is a thing in wrestling, Tumur-Ochir perfected that as well. The grip was strong and the ties controlled. Tumur-Ochir made sure that Henderson lands on his back and not land on his arms which would have resulted in only two points for Tumur-Ochir.

Henderson was disappointed in losing that position as he slammed the mat after the bout. But there is little one can do when Tumur-Ochir gets going with those near-perfect underhooks.

Perhaps that was the reason Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN) franticly moved away from Tumur-Ochir in the semifinals. But as Musukaev's conditioning worsened, TUmur-Ochir got his hands in the perfect place, scoring via stepouts and a takedown to win 6-1.

Then Joseph MCKENNA (USA) faced the wrath in the final. The first takedown scored by Tumur-Ochir in the second minute was a fake. He got an underhook on McKenna and as the latter defended it, Tumur-Ochir bent and hit a double-leg. In the second period, he once again put McKenna on the spot and hit the single leg using a similar setup.

With Tumur-Ochir becoming a big threat in 65kg, it would be a big test for veterans who have dominated this weight class so far.

But one bout that will test Tumur-Ochir will be against world champion Amouzad who is exceptional with his underhook, a move which made him the Asian and the world champion last year.

With the Asian Championships around the corner, this bout is more than a mere possibility.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2025 Ranking Series Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 21) -- The first Ranking Series of the year will kick off in Zagreb, Croatia on February 5 at the Zagreb Arena.

The tournament will also mark the beginning of the new season and a new Olympic cycle for wrestlers with Ranking Series points up for grabs.

Wrestling will be on UWW+ live on uww.org and the UWW app. Follow UWW on Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube.

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
RAHUL (IND)
AMAN (IND)
Ahora KHATERI (IRI)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Daniel DESHAZER (USA)
Brandon COURTNEY (USA)
Spencer LEE (USA)

61kg
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO)
PANKAJ (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Reza Hossein MOMENI (IRI)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Nahshon GARRETT (USA)
Michael MCGEE (USA)

65kg
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
SIDDHARTH (IND)
Yasin REZAEI (IRI)
Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)
Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI)
Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR)
Joseph MCKENNA (USA)
Evan HENDERSON (USA)

70kg
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Anuj KUMAR (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
James GREEN (USA)
Jarrett JACQUES (USA)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)

74kg
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Vedran LUKETIN (CRO)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Ali REZAEI (IRI)
Andrzej SOKALSKI (POL)
Szymon WOJTKOWSKI (POL)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
David CARR (USA)

79kg
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
AMIT (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Evan WICK (USA)
Rocco WELSH (USA)

86kg
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Krzysztof SADOWIK (POL)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Trent HIDLAY (USA)
Nathan JACKSON (USA)

92kg
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Iuza TSERTSVADZE (GEO)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
SACHIN (IND)
Mohammadmobin AZIMI (IRI)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Aaron BROOKS (USA)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)

97kg
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Gadzhimurad MAGOMEDSAIDOV (AZE)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
SAHIL (IND)
Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)
Jonathan AIELLO (USA)

125kg
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
DINESH (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Trent HILLGER (USA)
Hayden ZILLMER (USA)
Mason PARRIS (USA)

Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) and Kennedy BLADES (USA) at the Paris Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Shivanee PAWAR (IND)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)

53kg
JYOTI (IND)

55kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

57kg
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
TAPSYA (IND)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
ANJLI (IND)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Michaela BECK (USA)
Sofia MACALUSO (USA)

62kg
Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Bhagyashree FAND (IND)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

65kg
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
MANISHA (IND)
Macey KILTY (USA)

68kg
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Karolina POK (HUN)
RADHIKA (IND)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Kennedy BLADES (USA)

72kg
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Noemi OSVATH NAGY (HUN)
PRIYANKA (IND)
Skylar GROTE (USA)
Kylie WELKER (USA)

76kg
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (AIN)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
PRIYA (IND)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
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
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
LALIT (IND)
Mahdi AHADI (IRI)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Andrew KOONTZ (USA)
Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB)

60kg
Sadyk LALAEV (AIN)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (AIN)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Huseyn GARIBOV (AZE)
Edmond DOMOKOS (HUN)
PRAVESH (IND)
Pouya NASERPOUR (IRI)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

63kg
Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
UMESH (IND)
Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Ellis COLEMAN (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Otto BLACK (USA)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

67kg
Daniial AGAEV (AIN)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Farid KHALILOV (AZE)
Namaz RUSTAMOV (AZE)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Vinayak PATIL (IND)
Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Noe POC (SRB)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Nozimjon BOYKUZIEV (UZB)

72kg
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (AIN)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Denis MERTL (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Iman KHOON (IRI)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Illia VALEUSKI (AIN)
Maksim SHEDZ (AIN)
Sergei KUTUZOV (AIN)
Sergei STEPANOV (AIN)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
KARAN (IND)
Amin KAVIYANI (IRI)
Amir ABDI (IRI)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Ilya BITSEYEU (AIN)
Shuai MAMEDAU (AIN)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Dominik BOTOS (HUN)
Aman KUMAR (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Uros LECIC (SRB)
Jesse PORTER (USA)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

87kg
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (AIN)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (AIN)
Aues GONIBOV (AIN)
Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Naser ALIZADEH (IRI)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Milos PEROVIC (SRB)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Spencer WOODS (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Rahimjon UZOKOV (UZB)

97kg
Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU (AIN)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (AIN)
Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN)
Artur SARGSIAN (AIN)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Ondrej DADAK (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Vendel VITAI (HUN)
SONU (IND)
Hamidreza BADKAN (IRI)
Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Uros KRSTIN (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)

130kg
Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (AIN)
Sergei SEMENOV (AIN)
Marat KAMPAROV (AIN)
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Artur SARKISJAN (CZE)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Koppany LASZLO (HUN)
Uttam RANA (IND)
Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)
Courtney FREEMAN (USA)
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB)