#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Freestyle Entries, Seeds

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 14) -- The Freestyle entries for the World Championships are set. In total, close to 900 wrestlers are participating in the September 13-21 tournament in Zagreb.

In Freestyle, 326 wrestlers are entered to compete at the World Championships that will begin with Freestyle action on September 13. The competition will also see 12 Paris Olympic medalist compete including two gold medalists.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change 72 hours before the Freestyle draw at the World Championships. For latest entries, refer to uww.org

WOMEN'S WRESTLING ENTRIES | GRECO-ROMAN ENTRIES

Zagreb

57kg

Seeded
No. 1 – Spencer LEE (USA)
No. 2 – Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
No. 3 – AMAN (IND)
No. 4 – Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
No. 5 – Darian CRUZ (PUR)
No. 6 – Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
No. 7 – Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
No. 8 – Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)

Unseeded
Salah KATEB (ALG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Garette SAUNDERS (CAN)
Mingzhuo LI (CHN)
Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Peter HAMMER CUDE (CRC)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Ali Hossein MOMENI (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Chongsong HAN (PRK)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Yusuf DEMIR (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)

61kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Zavur UGUEV (UWW)
No. 2 -- Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
No. 3 -- Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
No. 4 -- Takara SUDA (JPN)
No. 5 -- UDIT (IND)
No. 6 -- Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
No. 7 -- Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
No. 8 -- Nils LEUTERT (SUI)

Unseeded
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Georgii OKOROKOVV (AUS)
Zezhong SUN (CHN)
Ndjidda BOUBA (CMR)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Ahmad  JAVAN (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Sangboum HAN (KOR)
Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Kum Hyok KIM (PRK)
Dylan SHAWVER (PUR)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Jaxen FORREST (USA)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

65kg

Seeded
No. 1 – Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
No. 2 – Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)
No. 3 – Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
No. 4 – Ali RAHIMZADA (AZE)
No. 5 – Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
No. 6 – Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)
No. 7 – Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)
No. 8 – SUJEET (IND)

Unseeded
Chouaib SAHRAOUI (ALG)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Gantulga BATBAATAR (MGL)
Stephen IZOLO (NGR)
Abdullah ASSAF (PLE)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Kwang Jin KIM (PRK)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Cavit ACAR (TUR)
Andrii BILIICHUK (UKR)
Real WOODS (USA)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Wilfredo RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

70kg

Seeded
No. 1 – Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
No. 2 – Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
No. 3 – Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
No. 4 – Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
No. 5 – Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
No. 6 – Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
No. 7 – Vasile DIACON (MDA)
No. 8 – Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)

Unseeded
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Michael ZALE (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
Gabriel MUANDA (COD)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
ROHIT (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Khairiddine BEN TLILI (TUN)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
PJ DUKE (USA)
Saiyn KAZYRYK (UWW)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg

Seeded
No.1 -- Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
No. 2 -- Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
No. 3 -- Yones EMAMI (IRI)
No. 4 -- Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
No. 5 -- Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
No. 6 -- Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
No. 7 -- Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
No. 8 -- David CARR (USA)

Unseeded
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Renato DA SILVA (BRA)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
BATUQINGGELE (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Vedran LUKETIN (CRO)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Vikash KUMAR (IND)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Cristian SANTIAGO (MEX)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Ok Chol HAN (PRK)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
Vitali IHNATOVICH (UWW)
Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW)
Mirzo KHAYITOV (UZB)
Anthony MONTERO (VEN)

79kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
No. 2 -- Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
No. 3 -- Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
No. 4 -- Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
No. 5 -- Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
No. 6 -- Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
No. 7 -- Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
No. 8 -- Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)

Unseeded
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Tu Erxun AHEIYOU (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Marko NIKOLIC (CRO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
AMIT (IND)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Bumgue SEO (KOR)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Michael LABRIOLA (PUR)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Alfred DANIEL (SLE)
Azymberdi SAPAROV (TKM)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Levi HAINES (USA)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Osman GOCEN (TUR)
No. 2 -- Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
No. 3 -- Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)
No. 4 -- Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
No. 5 -- Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
No. 6 -- Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
No. 7 -- Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
No. 8 -- Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)

Unseeded
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Matteo MONTEIRO FURTADO (CPV)
Kreso SKUGOR (CRO)
Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOK (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Ethan RAMOS (PUR)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)

92kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
No. 2 -- Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
No. 3 -- Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
No. 4 -- Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
No. 5 -- Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
No. 6 -- Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
No. 7 -- Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
No. 8 -- Trent HIDLAY (USA)

Unseeded
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Hua ZE (CHN)
Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Andrian GROSUL (MDA)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Alperen TOKGOZ (TUR)
Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
No. 2 -- Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
No. 3 -- Kyle SNYDER (USA)
No. 4 -- Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
No. 5 -- Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
No. 6 -- Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
No. 7 -- Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
No. 8 -- Richard VEGH (HUN)

Unseeded
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Filip HUKLEK (CRO)
Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
VICKY (IND)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)
Magomed KURBANOV (UWW)
Cristian SARCO (VEN)

125kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
No. 2 -- Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
No. 3 -- Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
No. 4 -- Robert BARAN (POL)
No. 5 -- Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
No. 6 -- Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
No. 7 -- Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
No. 8 -- Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)

Unseeded
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Filip KOSCIC (CRO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Gyeongmin KIM (KOR)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)
Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 Worlds: Japan, China end gold droughts; Iran completes Greco sweep

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 23) -- Japan had been searching for a Greco-Roman gold medalist at the U23 World Championships for six years. Shota OGAWA (JPN) won the country's last gold at this tournament in 2019, while Komei SAWADA (JPN) reached the final last year.

The wait ended on Thursday in Novi Sad after Koto GOMI (JPN) clinched the gold medal at 60kg with a technical superiority win over Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI) in the final.

Gomi, a product of the Ikuei University, became only the fifth Greco U23 world champion for Japan but none of the earlier four champions dominated the field as he did. He opened his tournament with a 10-2 win over former U20 world champion Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM), defeated Melkamu FETENE (ISR), 13-4, before winning his semifinals 9-0 against Maxwell BLACK (USA).

Facing Abbaspour in the final, Gomi made sure he won his fourth bout with technical superiority as well. He got the first point when Abbaspour was put in par terre. Soon after, Gomi turned Abbaspour for two more points before adding a throw which got him one point and a 4-0 lead.

When the second period began, Abbaspour tried to get Gomi in par terre with some aggressive wrestling. He managed to body lock Gomi, but as he tried to force the Japanese towards the mat, Gomi tossed him using the momentum for four points to clinch the victory. Iran challenged the call only to lose it and add one more point to Gomi's score.

Despite the loss of Abbaspour, Iran won the Greco team title, completing a sweep of all world team titles in Greco this year. It won the U17 in Athens, U20 in Samokov, senior in Zagreb and the U23 in Novi Sad.

Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) won the 82kg final in Novi Sad. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 82kg, Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) won a gold medal for a third straight year. While his first two gold medals came at 77kg, he moved up to 82kg this year but still managed to win the world title.

Gutu, known for his big throws, had to be satisfied with a 1-1 victory against Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR) in the final. He got the first par terre point to lead 1-0. In the second period, Gutu was put in par terre twice but defended both times to win the gold medal.

Mixed show for U.S.

In women's wrestling, the United States had three wrestlers in the finals of three weight classes but it managed to win only one gold. China and Kyrgyzstan denied the U.S. in the other two finals.

One of the best matches of the night came at 72kg between former U20 world champion Jasmine ROBINSON (USA) and senior world bronze medalist Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ).

Robinson was off to a blazing start in the final, leading 10-3, but she tried two risky throws that cost her the match. The first was a chestwrap which was blocked by Nurtaeva who managed to bring Robinson to danger. It was initially scored four points for Robinson and two for Nurtaeva but Kyrgyzstan challenged the call and it was awarded four points to the Kyrgyzstan wrestler.

With a 10-7 lead, Robinson once again attempted a double underhook throw which was easily defended by Nurtaeva who managed to land on top of the U.S. wrestler and get another four points. She defended her 11-10 lead to become the country's second U23 world champion in Women's Wrestling and first since 2021.

Jinyue LIANG (CHN)Jinyue LIANG (CHN) tries to pin Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) in the 50kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

The second loss for the U.S. came at 50kg, as Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) was once again defeated in a World Championships final, her fifth defeat.

She began her final well against Jinyue LIANG (CHN), taking a 2-0 lead. But the China wrestler bounced back and made it 2-2 when Jimenez missed a sweep single and Liang scored a go-behind to lead.

Liang then pulled off a crafty move to put Jimenez in danger. Both wrestlers were locked in double underhooks with knees on the mat. Liang then pulled one of Jimenez's arms and put her hand on the knee across to trip her and hold her on the mat, trying to get a fall.

Jimenez committed a defensive foul by putting her fingers on Liang's face which costed her two more points. She survived the pin attempt but trailed 6-2 at the break. There were no points scored in the second period as Liang went into defensive mode and did not give Jimenez any openings.

This was China's first gold medal in Women's Wrestling at U23 Worlds in six years as Liang became only the third wrestler to win gold at this level. Earlier, two wrestlers had won three golds for China with PAHILA (CHN) winning golds in 2017 and 2018.

The U.S. did crown a champion on Thursday as 72kg champion Kylie WELKER (USA) won gold at 76kg in dominant fashion. She controlled an evasive Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW) and finished the final 10-0 inside the first period.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD: Koto GOMI (JPN) df. Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI), 9-0

BRONZE: Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE), 5-4
BRONZE: Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM) df. Maxwell BLACK (USA), 8-0

82kg
GOLD: Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) df. Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR), 1-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl MOHMEDI (IRI) df. Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
BRONZE: Omar SATAYEV (KAZ) df. Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL), 8-6

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Jinyue LIANG (CHN) df. Audrey JIMENEZ (USA), 6-2

BRONZE: Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL) df. Natalia PUDOVA (UWW), 5-4
BRONZE: Aida KERYMOVA (UKR) df. Nohalis LOYO JIMENEZ (VEN), 9-7

72kg
GOLD: Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ) df. Jasmine ROBINSON (USA), 11-10

BRONZE: Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN) df. Laura KOEHLER (GER), 8-0 (via fall)
BRONZE: Veronika VILK (CRO) df. Haticenur SARI (TUR), 8-0

76kg
GOLD: Kylie WELKER (USA) df. Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW), 10-0

BRONZE: PRIYA (IND) df. Edna JIMENEZ VILLALBA (MEX), 8-1
BRONZE: Elmira YASIN (TUR) df. Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ), 6-3

Semifinals

55kg
GOLD: Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ) vs. Tuba DEMIR (TUR)

SF 1: Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ) df. Amory ANDRICH (GER), via fall
SF 2: Tuba DEMIR (TUR) df. NISHU (IND), 6-4

57kg
GOLD: Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) vs. Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (UWW)

SF 1: Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 10-0
SF 2: Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (UWW) df. Emine CAKMAK (TUR), via fall

65kg
GOLD: Yuqi RAO (CHN) vs. Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW)

SF 1: Yuqi RAO (CHN) df. Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR), 6-5
SF 2: Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW) df. PULKIT (IND), 9-6

68kg
GOLD: Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW) vs. Nesrin BAS (TUR)

SF 1: Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW) df. SRISHTI (IND), 10-6
SF 2: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ), 8-6