#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Women's Wrestling Entries, Seeds

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 16) -- The Women's Wrestling entry list for the World Championships sees 230 wrestlers participating in the September 13-21 event in Zagreb.

Women's Wrestling will be held on September 15, 16, 17 and 18. For full schedule of the World Championships, click here.

Out of the 24, 11 Paris Olympic medalists are competing in Zagreb with one gold medalist - Sakura MOTOKI (JPN).

FREESTYLE ENTRIES | GRECO-ROMAN ENTRIES

Zagreb

Note: The entries are subject to change. Please refer to UWW for latest entries

50kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
No. 2 -- Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
No. 3 -- Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
No. 4 -- Madison PARKS (CAN)
No. 5 -- Svetlana ANKICHEVA (KAZ)
No. 6 -- Munkhnar BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
No. 7 -- Audrey JIMENEZ (USA)
No. 8 -- Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN)

Unseeded
Cheima CHEBILA (ALG)
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Yu ZHANG (CHN)
Jacqueline MOLLOCANA (ECU)
Aintzane GORRIA GONI (ESP)
ANKUSH (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Jinhee KIM (KOR)
Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
Myonggyong WON (PRK)
Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Nohalis LOYO JIMENEZ (VEN)

53kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
No. 2 -- Hyogyong CHOE (PRK)
No. 3 -- Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
No. 4 -- ANTIM (IND)
No. 5 -- Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
No. 6 -- Annika WENDLE (GER)
No. 7 -- Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
No. 8 -- Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)

Unseeded
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB)
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Felicity TAYLOR (USA)
Kseniya STANKEVICH (UWW)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)

55kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
No. 2 -- Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
No. 3 -- Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
No. 4 -- Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)
No. 5 -- Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
No. 6 -- Kyong Ryong OH (PRK)
No. 7 -- Amory ANDRICH (GER)
No. 8 -- Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)

Unseeded
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Xuejing LIANG (CHN)
Yaynelis SANZ VERDECIA (CUB)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
NISHU (IND)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Zulfiya YAKHYAROVA (KAZ)
Hyerim LEE (KOR)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)

57kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Helen MAROULIS (USA)
No. 2 -- Kexin HONG (CHN)
No. 3 -- Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
No. 4 -- Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW)
No. 5 -- Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
No. 6 -- Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
No. 7 -- Youngjin KWON (KOR)
No. 8 -- Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)

Unseeded
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
TAPSYA (IND)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Il Sim SON (PRK)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Chahd JELJELI (TUN)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW)

59kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Elena BRUGGER (GER)
No. 2 -- Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
No. 3 -- Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
No. 4 -- Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW)
No. 5 -- Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
No. 6 -- Bediha GUN (TUR)
No. 7 -- Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR)
No. 8 -- Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL)

Unseeded
Victoria CHHEN (AUS)
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Hong LIANG (CHN)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
SARIKA (IND)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Arian CARPIO (PHI)
Pyol HONG (PRK)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
Nadzeya BULANAYA (UWW)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

62kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
No. 2 -- Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
No. 3 -- Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
No. 4 -- Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)
No. 5 -- Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
No. 6 -- MANISHA (IND)
No. 7 -- Amina TANDELOVA (UWW)
No. 8 -- Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)

Unseeded
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
LILI (CHN)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Neevis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Ok Ju KIM (PRK)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
No. 2 -- Macey KILTY (USA)
No. 3 -- Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
No. 4 -- Kadriye KOCAK AKSOY (TUR)
No. 5 -- Irina RINGACI (MDA)
No. 6 -- Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
No. 7 -- Grace BULLEN (NOR)
No. 8 -- Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)

Unseeded
Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Vaishnavi PATIL (IND)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Alexis GOMEZ (MEX)
Aylah MAYALI (PLE)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

68kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Buse TOSUN (TUR)
No. 2 -- Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
No. 3 -- Sol Gum PAK (PRK)
No. 4 -- Kennedy BLADES (USA)
No. 5 -- Noemi SZABADOS (HUN)
No. 6 -- Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
No. 7 -- Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
No. 8 -- Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)

Unseeded
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Aniseta ACOSTA (ASA)
Grabriela PEDRO (BRA)
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
RADHIKA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Hannah RUEBEN (NGR)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Khanum VELIEVA (UWW)
Nabira ESENBAEVA (UZB)

72kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
No. 2 -- Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
No. 3 -- Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
No. 4 -- Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
No. 5 -- Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
No. 6 -- Nesrin BAS (TUR)
No. 7 -- Kseniia BURAKOVA (UWW)
No. 8 -- Masako FURUICHI (JPN)

Unseeded
Zelu LI (CHN)
Rosie TABORA (COD)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Jyoti BERWAL (IND)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Jiseon LEE (KOR)
Auguste GENDVILAITE (LTU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg

Seeded
No. 1 -- Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
No. 2 -- Milaimy MARIN (CUB)
No. 3 -- Genesis REASCO (ECU)
No. 4 -- Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
No. 5 -- Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
No. 6 -- Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
No. 7 -- Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN)
No. 8 -- Kylie WELKER (USA)

Unseeded
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Brianna FRASER (CAN)
QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN)
PRIYA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Seoyeon JEONG (KOR)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Damola OJO (NGR)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Kristina SHUMOVA (UWW)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

#WrestleAthens

Olympic legend Icho returns to Athens to lead Japan’s next generation

By Vinay Siwach

ATHENS, Greece (August 2) -- In Athens, home of the Olympics, Kaori ICHO (JPN) is already one of the pantheon of greats.

Having once made history as an athlete here -- winning the first of four Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Olympics -- Icho now sets out to carve a new legacy, this time as coach to the next generation of Japanese talent.

In Athens, she is making her international debut as coach of the Japanese women's team at the World U17 Championships as she returns to the Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall, the same venue she won the Olympic gold.

"I have returned to this arena for the first time in 21 years," Icho told United World Wrestling. "I won an [Olympic] gold medal in this arena for the first time."

Icho, who ended her wrestling career in 2019, started coaching after the Tokyo Olympics. She has coached Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) domestically as both Morikawa and Icho are recruited with ALSOK.

Japan managed to win only one gold medal in Women's Wrestling at the World Championships and finished third in the team race. While Japan is not used to finishing at that position in Women's Wrestling, the third-place highlighted that even Japan's second-tier team poses a significant challenge to the world.

The presence of Icho definitely helped the wrestlers, who were not only helped by her experience but the presence of the four-time Olympic champion motivated them.

Japan's world champion in Athens, Hanano OYA (JPN), said that watching Icho win her record fourth gold medal in Rio 2016 inspired her to take up wrestling.

"The reason I started wrestling was because of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics," Oya said. "It was when Kaori achieved her fourth consecutive victory, and I saw it on TV. I started wrestling myself, so I was very happy when she accompanied me and acted as my second coach, and I felt that I had to live up to her expectations."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) coaches one of the members of the Japanese team. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

For Icho, not being on the mat and coaching from the corner was a different experience.

"I feel really strange being able to come back here as a coach," she said. "This tournament is the World Championships for those under 17 years old. I also became an Olympic gold medalist at this venue when I was 20 and I hope that the young athletes will work hard towards their Olympic dreams."

Back in 2004, the first Olympics when Women's Wrestling became part of it, Icho remembered the nervous and the excitement. The enjoyment, however, came only after she had won the gold.

"It was my first Olympics," she said. "I was very nervous and excited. I was here for about two weeks, from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony. After winning, I went swimming in the Aegean Sea. It was a very enjoyable Olympics."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) during a warm-up session of the Japanese team in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

When she landed at the airport in Athens on Monday, memories from the past came rushing back.

"I don't particularly feel it at the airport, but I wondered if it was this hot," she said. "I wondered what the venue will be like. I was reminiscing about 21 years ago."

Once at the venue, Icho was requested for photos from wrestlers and coaches which she obliged. With her first tournament as coach behind her, Icho is determined to work even harder as she prepares the senior Japan team for the World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, this September.

"Coaches and players asked me to take pictures with them," she said. "I felt stronger coming here. I want to work harder as a coach."