#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Greco-Roman Seeds and Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 19) -- The World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see 306 Greco-Roman wrestlers compete for the world titles.

The Greco-Roman competition will be towards in the end of the World Championships. For full schedule, click here.

FREESTYLE ENTRIES | WOMEN'S WRESTLING

Note: The entry are subject to change. Please refer to uww.org for latest updates

Zagreb

55kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
No. 2 -- Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)
No. 3 -- Denis MIHAI (ROU)
No. 4 -- Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
No. 5 -- Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
No. 6 -- Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
No. 7 -- Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)
No. 8 -- Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)

Unseeded
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Anil MOR (IND)
Payam AHMADI (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ)
Junsik YU (KOR)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Emin CAKIR (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Jayden RANEY (USA)

60kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Se ung RI (PRK)
No. 2 -- Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
No. 3 -- Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
No. 4 -- Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)
No. 5 -- Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
No. 6 -- Enes BASAR (TUR)
No. 7 -- Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
No. 8 -- Victor CIOBANU (MDA)

Unseeded
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Huangsheng WU (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
SURAJ (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Angel SEGURA (MEX)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW)

63kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
No. 2 -- Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
No. 3 -- Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
No. 4 -- Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
No. 5 -- Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
No. 6 -- Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
No. 7 -- Ellis COLEMAN (USA)
No. 8 -- Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)

Unseeded
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Baosheng HUANG (CHN)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Andres MONTANO (ECU)
Moamen MOHAMED (EGY)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Manato NAKAMURA (JPN)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Hector SANCHEZ (MEX)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Chan KIM (PRK)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)

67kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
No. 2 -- Valentin PETIC (MDA)
No. 3 -- Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
No. 4 -- Luis ORTA (CUB)
No. 5 -- Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
No. 6 -- Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
No. 7 -- Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
No. 8 -- Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)

Unseeded
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADAA (AUS)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Libin DING (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
ANIL (IND)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Osvaldo YANEZ SILVA (MEX)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)
Neiser MARIMON HIDALGO (VEN)

72kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE)
No. 2 -- Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
No. 3 -- Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
No. 4 -- Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
No. 5 -- Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
No. 6 -- Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
No. 7 -- Mihai PETIC (MDA)
No. 8 -- Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)

Unseeded
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Xin CHEN (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Luis BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Dmitrii ADAMOV (UWW)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)

77kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)
No. 2 -- Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
No. 3 -- Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
No. 4 -- Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
No. 5 -- Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
No. 6 -- Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
No. 7 -- Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
No. 8 -- Sergei KUTUZOV (UWW)

Unseeded
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Calebe CORREA FERREIRA (BRA)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Chunyang PAN (CHN)
Harryson NSIAMAZA (COD)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ SILVA (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Hyeonjin KANG (KOR)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Saoud ALMEFQAEY (QAT)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Lai Hsing YAO (TPE)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Arman KARAPETYAN (UWW)

82kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
No. 2 -- Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
No. 3 -- Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
No. 4 -- Mihail BRADU (MDA)
No. 5 -- Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
No. 6 -- Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
No. 7 -- Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
No. 8 -- Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)

Unseeded
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Qingzhe LI (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
RAHUL (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Almir TOLEBAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Wonjong SUN (KOR)
Diego MACIAS (MEX)
Gabriel DINETTE (PHI)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)

87kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- David LOSONCZI (HUN)
No. 2 -- Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
No. 3 -- Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
No. 4 -- Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
No. 5 -- Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
No. 6 -- Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
No. 7 -- Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)
No. 8 -- Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)

Unseeded
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Erion RAMLJAK (AUS)
Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Jianwen LUO (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Hasan KILINC (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (UWW)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)
Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
No. 2 -- Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
No. 3 -- Alex SZOKE (HUN)
No. 4 -- Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB)
No. 5 -- Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
No. 6 -- Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
No. 7 -- Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
No. 8 -- Giorgi MELIA (GEO)

Unseeded
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Zegang WANG (CHN)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
NITESH (IND)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Rakhat BERZHANOV (KAZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Abdul CEBI (TUR)
Vladen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)

130kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
No. 2 -- Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
No. 3 -- Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
No. 4 -- Heiki NABI (EST)
No. 5 -- Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
No. 6 -- Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
No. 7 -- Darius VITEK (HUN)
No. 8 -- Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)

Unseeded
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Oscar PINO (CUB)
Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
SONU (IND)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)

#WrestleBudapest

Sharshenbekov Cuts Down, Rises to Win Gold in Budapest Ranking Series

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 19) -- Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) appears to be rounding into form just in time for the World Championships.

After almost two years away from the mat, the Paris 2024 bronze medalist won the 63kg title at the Ulaanbaatar Open. On Sunday in Budapest he returned to his original Olympic weight of 60kg and rolled to another gold medal with a dominant run.

"It has been two years since I was at 60kg," Sharshenbekov said. "There was a break after the Olympics. I feel like I am just beginning to feel it again."

Sharshenbekov did not wrestle in the final after his opponent, Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ), forfeited because of an injury. Before that, however, Sharshenbekov was in dominant form.

He opened the day against Dalton ROBERTS (USA) and secured a fall in one minute, throwing Roberts on the mat using underhook. It set the tone for the rest of the day.

In his second bout, Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) offered little resistance in a 10-0 loss. Sharshenbekov earned the first par terre opportunity, turned Aliyev for two points and followed with a four-point throw. In the second period, he added a takedown that Azerbaijan challenged. The call stood, and the unsuccessful challenge gave Sharshenbekov another point.

Against Mahmoud SAAD (EGY) in the quarterfinals, Sharshenbekov built a 2-0 lead with a chasing takedown before extending it to 5-0 with a par terre turn. Just before the break, he circled behind Saad for another takedown to make it 7-0.

He needed only 25 seconds of the second period to complete another technical superiority victory and book a semifinal against world silver medalist Alisher GANIEV (UZB).

Asian champion Alisher GANIEV (UZB), wrestling with a heavily taped left knee, came out aggressively from the opening whistle but could not break through Sharshenbekov's defense. Sharshenbekov countered with ease and scored the opening takedown just 15 seconds into the bout.

Ganiev then limited the damage in par terre, defending Sharshenbekov's turn attempts to keep the deficit at 3-0 heading into the break.

The second period opened with both wrestlers battling for position as Ganiev searched for a takedown. But the relentless pace began to take its toll and after a minute of high-intensity wrestling, a tiring Ganiev surrendered a go-behind to fall further behind.

Ganiev threw everything at Sharshenbekov, working from body locks and underhooks to headlocks and two-on-one ties, but he could not move the Kyrgyzstan wrestler. Sharshenbekov eventually pull his arm out of Ganiev's hold and control Ganiev for another takedown to lead 5-0.

During a late scramble, Ganiev managed two exposure points, but Sharshenbekov immediately spun and came on top, brought Ganiev the mat and secured the fall.

As he prepares for the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, in September, Sharshenbekov's dominant return to 60kg sent a message to the rest of the field.

"This isn't my peak," he said. "It is merely the beginning. I have plans and goals to prepare even better for the Asian Games, the World Championships and the Olympics. I need to reach an even higher level of fitness for those events."

Szoke Wins 97kg

Alex SZOKE (HUN) gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about, defeating Ilia ERMOLENKO (RUS), 5-1, in the 97kg final. In one of the standout performances of the tournament, Szoke combined patience, strength and tactical awareness, scoring from par terre before sealing the victory with a counter takedown.

The final began at a high pace, with both wrestlers battling to secure the first par terre advantage. It was the Hungarian who received the activity point in the opening period to take a 1-0 lead. Szoke then capitalized from par terre with a turn to extend the lead to 3-0.

The second period saw Ermolenko on top but Szoke was at his best defense and did not allow the Russian to score any points. But there was a heart stopping moment for Szoke late in the match when Ermolenko locked Szoke and dragged him towards the zone. But Szoke showed exceptional skills and broke the lock.

Ermolenko earned the par terre advantage in the second period, but Szoke's defense held firm, denying the Russian any scoring opportunity. The home crowd was briefly on edge late in the match when Ermolenko locked up Szoke and drove him toward the edge of the mat. Szoke, however, showed exceptional composure, breaking the lock to escape the danger.

Moments later, Szoke circled behind Ermolenko for a takedown to stretch the lead to 5-1, effectively putting the match out of reach. Ermolenko slammed the mat in frustration as the Hungarian closed out the victory.

Russia Wins 3 Golds

It was not all disappointment for Russia, as its experienced wrestlers claimed three of the six Greco-Roman gold medals on offer Sunday.

European champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS) once again showcased the qualities that have made him one of the world's best at 63kg. Whether winning on criteria, scoring when an opening appears or protecting a lead, Emelin has an answer for almost every situation. He displayed all three in a 5-2 victory over Kerem KAMAL (TUR).

Emelin and Kamal were locked in a thrilling contest, with the Russian taking a 2-2 criteria lead. Kamal maintained the pressure and looked set to force a stepout, but Emelin circled behind for a takedown to move ahead 4-2. A stepout in the final minute extended the lead to 5-2, allowing Emelin to close out another Ranking Series title.

The 82kg final was a tactical affair as Gamzat GADZHIEV (RUS) edged Asian champion Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT), 1-1 on criteria, to secure Russia's second gold medal.

Russia's third title came at 130kg, where Marat KAMPAROV (RUS) held on for a 1-1 criteria victory over U20 world champion Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), quieting the vocal home crowd.

Asian champion Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) added a Ranking Series title to his growing résumé with a comfortable 5-1 win over Brady KOONTZ (USA) in the 55kg final. Botirov set the tone from the opening whistle, earning the first par terre opportunity and scoring two gut-wrench turns for a 5-0 lead.

Koontz received the par terre opportunity in the second period, but Botirov defended it comfortably to seal the victory.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) df. Brady KOONTZ (USA), 5-1

BRONZE: Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ) df. LALIT (IND), 18-10
BRONZE: Artiom DELEANU (MDA) df. Max NOWRY (USA), 3-0

60kg
GOLD: Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) df. Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Mahmoud SAAD (EGY), 14-2
BRONZE: Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS) df. Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ), 5-3

63kg
GOLD: Sergey EMELIN (RUS) df. Kerem KAMAL (TUR), 5-2

BRONZE: Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT) df. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE), 7-0
BRONZE: Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) df. Sunny KUMAR (IND), 3-1

82kg
GOLD: Gamzat GADZHIEV (RUS) df Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT), 1-1

BRONZE: Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO) df. Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB), 3-1
BRONZE: Mihail BRADU (MDA) df. Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB), 3-1

97kg
GOLD: Alex SZOKE (HUN) df. Ilia ERMOLENKO (RUS), 5-1

BRONZE: Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE), 1-1
BRONZE: Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM) df. Musa EVLOEV (RUS), via inj. def.

130kg
GOLD: Marat KAMPAROV (RUS) df. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 1-1

BRONZE: Wenhao JIANG (CHN) df. Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ), 2-2
BRONZE: Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN) df. Aden ATTAO (USA), 3-1