#HungarianGP2019

World Champion Azizli Headlines Hungarian Grand Prix Entry List

Thursday, February 14, 2019 - 14:57 By Eric Olanowski

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GYOR, Hungary (February 14) - Azerbaijan's reigning world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI headlines a Hungarian Grand Prix field of 175 wrestlers from 25 different nations which boasts an impressive eight returning world medalists (listed in bold below).

Though they only enter three wrestlers, Azerbaijan has arguably the most successful team in the tournament. Their three entries are Azizli, Rasul CHUNAYEV, and Sabah SHARIATI. 

Azizli is coming off a run to his first world title and is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world at 55kg, while Chunayev and Shariati both hold Rio Olympic bronze medals. 

Chunayev, who's 25 points is good enough for the No. 4-ranking in the world at 72kg, has three world medals to go along with his Rio bronze-medal finish. In 2015, he won the world title and grabbed bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 world championships.

The last Azeri entry is Sabah Shariati, who will be making his 2019 season debut at 130kg. 

Korea and Serbia are two other nations that enter stacked squads into the second Ranking Series event of the year.

Korea's team features Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo, two-time world champion RYU Hansu, and reigning 130kg world bronze medalist KIM Minseok. 

Kim Hyeonwoo brings 25 Ranking Series points into the Hungarian Grand Prix and is ranked third in the world after a bronze-medal finish at last weekend's Zagreb Open. 

Kim Minseok, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the world at 130kg, is looking to bounce back after failing to medal at the Zagreb Open, and two-time world champion Ryu Hansu will make his season debut at 67kg. 

Serbia's team will be led by 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES and reigning world bronze medalist Mihail KAJALA. Both wrestlers are ranked fourth in the world at 77kg and 97kg respectively. 

The Hungarian Grand Prix begins on February 23 at the Olimpiai Sportpark in Gyor, Hungary. 

Early Entries

Algeria 
55kg - Abdelkarim FERGAT
60kg - Abdennour LAOUNI
67kg - Ishak GHAIOU
72kg - Tarek Aziz BENAISSA
77kg - Akrem BOUDJEMLINE
87kg - Bachir SID AZARA
87kg - Adem BOUDJEMLINE
97kg - Hemza HALOUI

Azerbaijan
60kg - Eldaniz AZIZLI
72kg - Rasul CHUNAYEV
130kg - Sabah SHARIATI

Belarus
60kg - Maksim KAZHARSKI
67kg - Soslan DAUROV
77kg - Pavel LIAKH
77kg - Tsimur BERDYIEU
82kg - Viktar SASUNOUSKI
87kg - Mikalai STADUB
87kg - Radzik KULIYEU
97kg - Aliaksandr HRABOVIK
130kg - Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA
130kg - Georgi CHUGOSHVILI

Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ, the 2017 world bronze medalists, moved up to No. 3 in this months world rankings after his bronze-medal performance at the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Zagreb Open. (Photo: Tony Rotundo )

Chile
67kg - Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ
130kg - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ

China
60kg - WALIHAN Sailike
63kg - TUO Erbatu 
63kg - HU Di 
67kg - ZHANG Gaoquan
67kg - TIAN Qiye
72kg - ZHANG Hujun
77kg - ZHANG Ridong
82kg - QIAN Haitao
87kg - NA Junjie 
87kg - PENG Fei
97kg - ALIMUJIANG Abudourexiti
97kg - XIAO Di
97kg - ZHANG Gang
130kg - MENG Lingzhe

Czech Republic
72kg - Daniel VARGA
77kg - Petr NOVAK
77kg - Oldrich VARGA
97kg - Artur OMAROV
97kg - Ondrej DADAK
130kg - Stepan DAVID

Denmark
67kg - Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS
82kg - Rajbek BISULTANOV

Heiki NABI, the two-time world champion is set to make his 2019 Ranking Series debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo: Martin Gabor )

Estonia 
60kg - Helary MAEGISALU
67kg - Denis BOLUNOV
130kg - Heiki NABI

Finland
60kg - Lauri Johannes MAEHOENEN
77kg - Niko Olavi Oskari ERKKOLA
77kg - Tero Antero Matias HALMESMAEKI
82kg - Jarno Krister AALANDER
87kg - Rami Antero HIETANIEMI
97kg - Antti Matias MAEKINEN
130kg - Tuomas Heikki Juhani LAHTI

Georgia
60kg - Ramaz SURMANIDZE
60kg - Gizo MELADZE
72kg - Sachino DAVITAIA
77kg - Demuri KAVTARADZE
82kg - Lasha GOBADZE
82kg - Gela BOLKVADZE

Germany
72kg - Michael Felix WIDMAYER
82kg - Marius BRAUN
130kg - Jello KRAHMER

Iran
55kg - Reza Kheirollah KHEDRI
60kg - Shirzad Ali BEHESHTITALA
63kg - Meysam Karamali DALKHANI
63kg - Mohammad Naser NOURBAKHSH
67kg - Mohammad Hossein ELYASI
72kg - Mohammadreza Alireza AGHANIACHARI
77kg - Payam Abdeh Saleh BOVEYRI PAYANI
82kg - Jamal Yadollah ESMAEILIKHATOONABAD
87kg - Yousef Ahmad GHADERIAN
97kg - Hassan Ali ARYANEZHAD
130kg - Shahab Morteza GHOUREHJILI

Italy
60kg - Jacopo SANDRON
67kg - Ignazio SANFILIPPO
77kg - Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA
87kg - Fabio PARISI
87kg - Mirco MINGUZZI
97kg - Daigoro TIMONCINI

Rio Olympic silver medalist Shinobu OTA (JPN) will compete at 63kg at the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo: Martin Gabor )

Japan
63kg - Shinobu OTA
67kg - Katsuaki ENDO
67kg - Shogo TAKAHASHI
67kg - Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA
72kg - Tomohiro INOUE
77kg - Naotsugu SHOJI
77kg - Masato SUMI
77kg - Kodai SAKURABA
87kg - Takahiro TSURUDA
97kg - Masaaki SHIKIYA
130kg - Arata SONODA

Korea
60kg - KIM Seunghak
60kg - LEE Jungbaik
67kg - KIM Dohyeong
67kg - RYU Hansu
77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo
87kg - PARK Heageun
97kg - LEE Seyeol
130kg - KIM Seungjun
130kg - KIM Minseok

Moldova 
63kg - Alexandru BICIU
63kg - Donior ISLAMOV
77kg - Daniel CATARAGA
77kg - Igor BESLEAGA

Nowary
63kg - Stig-Andre BERGE
67kg - Haavard JOERGENSEN
130kg - Oskar MARVIK

Romania
55kg - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ
60kg - Virgil MUNTEANU
63kg - Mihai Radu MIHUT
72kg - Ilie COJOCARI
130kg - Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU
130kg - Constantin HUTULEAC

Viktor NEMES, the 2017 world champion confirmed that he'll be wrestling in Hungary next weekend. (Photo: Tony Rotundo) 

Serbia
63kg - Tamas NAD
67kg - Mate NEMES
77kg - Viktor NEMES
87kg - Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV
87kg - Vladimir STANKIC
97kg - Mihail KAJALA

Slovakia
77kg - Leos DRMOLA
97kg - Tamas SOOS

Sweden
67kg - Danielo Giuseppe DI FEOLA
72kg - Oskar Simon ERLANDSSON
77kg - Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS
97kg - Pontus Johan LUND
97kg - Kristoffer Zakarias BERG

Ukraine
60kg - Viktor PETRYK
67kg - Ruslan KUDRYNETS
67kg - Bohdan KOVERNYUK
72kg - Artur POLITAIEV
77kg - Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV
77kg - Dmytro PYSHKOV
82kg - Yaroslav FILCHAKOV
82kg - Oleksandr BELOTSKYI
87kg - Andrii ANTONIUK
87kg - Iurii SHKRIUBA
97kg - Yevhenii SAVETA
97kg - Mykola KRYSOV
97kg - Zielimkhan DZIHASOV
130kg - Vladyslav VORONYI
130kg - Mykola KUCHMII

Kamal BEY, the United States' 2017 junior world champion, is looking to rebound after being disqualified from the Zagreb Open. (Photo: Kadir Kaliskan) 

USA
60kg - Dalton ROBERTS
63kg - Travis RICE
72kg - Patrick SMITH
77kg - Ravaughn PERKINS
77kg - Kamal BEY
87kg - Patrick MARTINEZ
87kg - Kevin RADFORD JR
87kg - Benjamin PROVISOR
97kg - Nicholas BOYKIN
97kg - Tracy HANCOCK
130kg - Robert SMITH

SCHEDULE

Friday (February 22) 
Till 12:00 - Final entries for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg
15:00 - Referee meeting
16:00 - Technical conference – all teams 
17:00 - Draw – GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg

page3image1443946080Saturday (February 23) 
08:00 - Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
10:00 - Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
Till 12:00 - Final entries/ Inscriptions définitives pour GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16:30 - Draw – GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
17:00 - Opening Ceremony 
18:00 - Finals for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg Award ceremonies 

Sunday (February 24) 
8.30- Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
10.00-15.00- Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16.00-19.15- Finals for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg and Award ceremonies

Monday (February 25) 
Departure of the delegations

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Maroulis, Blades lead strong U.S. team to Budapest

Saturday, July 12, 2025 - 09:46 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 11) -- Although it will a Ranking Series by name, Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial tournament starting on Thursday in Budapest will serve more than just that for many wrestlers.

For some it will be about the ranking points, for other it is a preparatory tour for the World Championships. The United States is bringing its world team, almost while some others will test this event to select their representatives for the World Championships, to be held in September in Zagreb.

Helen MAROULIS (USA), who has not wrestled since winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in August 2024, will be leading the team which also has Paris Olympics silver medalist Kennedy BLADES (USA), who continues to shine at 68kg, a weight class she moved from 76kg at the start of the season.

Turkiye, Canada, India, Kazakhstan and a few United World Wrestling wrestlers will light up Budapest from July 17 to 20. Women's Wrestling will be held on 18 and 19. 

A few other individual stars will be making an appearance, namely, Irina RINGACI (MDA), Grace BULLEN (NOR), Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) and Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ).

Here's a breakdown of all 10 weight classes for Women' Wrestling in Budapest:

For Maroulis, who booked her World Championships spot on the U.S. team in June, the Budapest Ranking Series will pose a challenge as she returns to the mat. Having dominated the 'Final X' competition in the U.S., Maroulis will now look to show her dominance at the international stage. The U.S. has also entered Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) to the competition at 57kg.

Tokyo silver medalist and former European champion Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW) and 2025 European champion Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW) look to be the toughest challenge for Maroulis in the bracket. 

India's world U17 champion and world U20 medalist NEHA (IND) has made a few headlines by winning the Mongolian Open Ranking Series and followed that up with a gold medal at Yasar Dogu. Budapest will be a stern test for the youngster.

European silver medalist Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) is also in the mix to get Ranking points and get a seed for the World Championships.

Blades should run through the 68kg bracket in Budapest. She has the likes of world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) and European champion Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW) in the draw but Blades is a level above the field entered for the competition.

Blades won the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in February and also her first Pan-Am title in May. She is currently 12th in the rankings but has a chance to jump as high as sixth with a gold medal.

Tosun won a bronze medal at the European Championships in her first competition since the Paris Games and looked in good form, something she would love to carry to Budapest as well. An appearance in the final and she can well become the top ranked wrestler at 68kg.

Shevchenko made a great impression by winning the European gold in a tough bracket and has a consolidate on that win with a good show in Budapest.

Other names include Kendra DACHER (FRA), Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ) and Brooklyn HAYS (USA).

Dymond GUILFORD (USA)Both Dymond GUILFORD (USA) and Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) are entered at 76kg which could give us a rematch of Tirana final from February. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 76kg, a rematch of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series final is on the cards as both Medet Kyzy and Dymond GUILFORD (USA) are entered. Guilford managed to beat Medet Kyzy in the final in Tirana but Medet Kyzy has since won the Asian Championships and Yasar Dogu golds.

Two young stars in the bracket include PRIYA (IND) and Elmira YASIN (TUR), both have multiple age-group continental and world medals. Former Asian champion Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) is also entered.

The 62kg and 65kg weight classes can throw some interesting match-ups, especially with Bullen and Rigaci continuing their season at 65kg. Bullen is a regular 62kg while Ringaci was at 68kg at Olympics and World Championships.

Ringaci and Bullen met in the 65kg final of the European Championships this year and the latter managed to beat Ringaci to capture the gold medal. Both can meet again in Budapest.

World bronze medalist Macey KILTY (USA), who will be in Zagreb for the U.S., will look to win gold and throw her hat in the ring as a contender for world title in Zagreb.

Dudova, Ana GODINEZ (CAN), MANISHA (IND), Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR), Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA), Alina KASABIEVA (UWW) and Amina TANDELOVA (UWW) are some of the names that highlight 62kg.

Dudova won bronze at the European Championships while Godinez won the Pan-Am gold in May. Manisha was the Asian champion in April but lost at the Mongolian Open in June and will be keen on returning to winning ways.

Kolawale is the African champion while Nwachukwu won the 'Final X' and will be in Zagreb for the World Championships. Kasabieva has blown hot and cold so far, but had good wins at the Mongolian Open to build some momentum in the season.

Tandelova, the youngster with medals at Zagreb Open and European U23s, finished fifth at the senior Europeans but has the potential to be on the podium in Budapest.

At 53kg, world and Asian bronze medalist ANTIM (IND) will start as the favorite in the bracket, especially after her domination at the Mongolian Open. She won gold in Mongolia without giving up a point in four bouts.

European medalist Zeynep YETGIL (TUR), Felicity TAYLOR (USA) and Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW) will look to finish on the podium as well.

In what will be one of the biggest brackets in Budapest, the 50kg will see European silver medalist Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), Mongolia Open winner Natalia PUDOVA (UWW), European bronze medalist Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW), multiple world age-group medalist Audrey JIMENEZ (USA), Madison PARKS (CAN), Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) among others.

Pudova and Demirhan put on a stunning 50kg final in Ulaanbaatar which the former managed to win 7-6 despite comebacks from Demirhan. A medal in Budapest will put Pudova as one of the contenders for a podium-finish in Zagreb.

Pan-Am champion Karla GODINEZ (CAN), European champion Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) and the U.S. rep for Zagreb Worlds Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA) and Turkiye's young sensation Tuba DEMIR (TUR) will be the key names at 55kg.

At 59kg, world bronze medalist Othelie HOEIE (NOR) will look to win her first Ranking Series medal but has a tough road to medal bouts. She will have Elena BRUGGER (GER), Erika BOGNAR (HUN), Bediha GUN (TUR), Abigail NETTE (USA) and Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) in the same bracket.

Gun suffered a heartbreaking loss in the European finals but won Yasar Dogu tournament and will likely finish on podium in Budapest. Nette and Sidelnikova are strong contenders for a place in the final.

Three-time world silver medalist Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) should have an easy path to 72kg gold unless Alexandria GLAUDE (USA) or HARSHITA (IND) spring a surprise to deny her.