#WrestleBudapest

#WrestleBudapest: Senior European Championships Entries

By Eric Olanowski

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 17) -- The senior continental championships season kicks off with the European Championships from March 28 to April 3 in Budapest, Hungary.

A few rivalries will once again be revived as several World and Olympic medalists are named in the list of over 400 wrestlers that will be competing at the end of this month.

The biggest names will be Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO). The Turkey wrestler defeated the Georgian in the first-round match in the last edition. The two have not met since then despite wrestling at the Olympics and World Championships.

Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE), Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) are some other big names in freestyle.

After a stellar last season, Ukraine is bringing a solid women's team to the competition led by Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR).

Anhelina LYSAK (POL), Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) are also entered for the competition.

Greco-Roman will see Riza KAYAALP (TUR) going for this 11th European title while other weight classes have a mix of some established stars and young studs.

ChamizoFrank CHAMIZO (ITA) will be making a return to mat since the Tokyo Olympics. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL)
Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Anatolii BURUIAN (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Gary GIORDMAINA (MLT)
Razvan Marian KOVACS (ROU)
Martin ZIDZIK (SVK)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Teimuraz VANISHVILI (GEO)
Viktor LYZEN (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Shamil OMAROV (ITA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Adam AL KANDOUSSI (NED)
Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)

65kg 
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Vladimir DUBOV (BUL)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Beka LOMTADZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Adam VELLA (MLT)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Stevan MICIC (SRB)
Munir AKTAS (TUR)

70kg
Orges LILA (ALB)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO)
Kevin HENKEL (GER)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Raul ZARBALIEV (ISR)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Alban SOPA (KOS)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Daniel CHOMANIC (SVK)
Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)

74kg 
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Aimar ANDRUSE (EST)
Charlie BOWLING (GBR)
Giorgi SULAVA (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)
Artem AUGA (LTU)
Mihail SAVA (MDA)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
Malik AMINE (SMR)
Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)

79kg
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE)
Miroslav KIROV (BUL)
Erik REINBOK (EST)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Dan TSESARSKY (ISR)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR)

86kg
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Syerus ESLAMI (GBR)
Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO)
Ahmed DUDAROV (GER)
Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Denis BALAUR (MDA)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)

92kg
Hovhannes MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Damian IGLESIAS VILELA (ESP)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Simone IANNATTONI (ITA)
Georgii RUBAEV (MDA)
Radoslaw MARCINKIEWICZ (POL)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)

97kg
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Alejandro CANADA PANCORBO (ESP)
Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO)
Erik THIELE (GER)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Lukas KRASAUSKAS (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Burak SAHIN (TUR)

125kg
Paris KAREPI (ALB)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Aydin AHMADOV (AZE)
Jere HEINO (FIN)
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Abraham CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Magomedgadzhi NURASULOV (SRB)
Gabriel TYSZ (SVK)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)


One of the world's most dominant pinners, Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), headlines the women's wrestling entries. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg

Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Miglena SELISHKA (BUL)
Julie SABATIE (FRA)
Lisa ERSEL (GER)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Emilia CIRICU BUDEANU (MDA)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)

53kg
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Tatiana SALAH DEBIEN (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Mercedesz DENES (HUN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Emma MALMGREN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)

55kg
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Nova BERGMAN (SWE)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)

57kg
Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR)

59kg
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Morena DE VITA (ITA)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Elif YANIK (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)

62kg
Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Nataliia SHAFIR MAZUR (ISR)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Anna FABIAN (SRB)
Olivia HENNINGSSON (SWE)
Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)

65kg
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Sofiya GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Asli TUGCU (TUR)
Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)

68kg
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Natalia STRZALKA (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Asli DEMIR (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

72kg
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Anna SCHELL (GER)
Tuende ELEKES (HUN)
Eleni PJOLLAJ (ITA)
Patrycja SPERKA (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Mariya ORYASHKOVA (BUL)
Epp MAEE (EST)
Georgina NELTHORPE (GBR)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Bernadett NAGY (HUN)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR)

Turkish legend Riza KAYAALP will look to win his eleventh European title. He'll wrestle at 130kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg

Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
Giovanni FRENI (ITA)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Sebastian KOLOMPAR (SRB)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)

60kg
Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Daniel BOBILLO VIGIL (ESP)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Abdolmohammad PAPI (GER)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Michal TRACZ (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Dimitar SANDOV (SUI)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

63kg
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Ruben MARVICE (ITA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Virgil BICA (SWE)
Ahmet UYAR (TUR)

67kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Christoph BURGER (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Pedro DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA (POR)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)

72kg
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Marcos SANCHEZ SILVA MEJIAS (ESP)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Leos DRMOLA (SVK)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)

77kg
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Beka MAMUKASHVILI (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Ciro RUSSO (ITA)
Mantas SINKEVICIUS (LTU)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)

82kg
Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Rosian DERMANSKI (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Petr NOVAK (CZE)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)

87kg
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN)
Raido LIITMAEE (EST)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Kristoffer BERG (SWE)
Metehan BASAR (TUR)

97kg
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Loic SAMEN (FRA)
Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO)
Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Robert ERSEK (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Michal DYBKA (POL)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)

130kg
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Franz RICHTER (GER)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafal KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

#JapanWrestling

Fujinami to move up to 57kg in quest for consecutive Olympic golds

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (November 26) -- Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) won't be defending her Olympic gold at women's 53kg at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. That's bad news for anyone aiming to strike gold at 57kg.

Fujinami has announced that she will move up to the next Olympic weight class starting next year, the Japan federation website and Japan media widely recently reported.

Fujinami, who turned 21 on November 11, cited the difficulty of cutting weight for the decision, as well as the historic aspect that no woman wrestler has ever won a second straight Olympic gold after moving to a higher weight class.

"I have decided to move up to the 57kg weight class," Fujinami said after Sunday's East Japan Collegiate Women's League, a team tournament that marked her first competition since winning the gold at the Paris Olympics in August. "Considering my height and my normal weight, I think I can give my best performance at 57."

Fujinami competed at 59kg in the five-team league tournament (one school was a no-show), which was run in a round-robin, duel-meet format with only three weight classes -- 53kg, 59kg and 76kg.

She won both of her matches by fall, extending her current winning streak to 139 matches dating back to her junior high school days in September 2017.

The 1.64-meter Fujinami was actually wrestling near her natural weight, which she says is "about 61kg." But even against two opponents from higher weight classes -- Ikuei University's Ichika ARAI (JPN) was the 2023 world U20 silver medalist at 57kg -- her skills and speed were still overwhelming.

"It has been really hard to cut down to 53kg," Fujinami said. "I felt I lost muscle during the process. I feel I can give my best performance by going down three kilos from my natural weight."

Asked when she expects to make her full-fledged "debut" at the new weight, she replied in a text message, "It will be sometime next year. I haven't decided exactly when yet."

With a full schedule of post-Olympic TV appearances and local events curtailing her training, she has already ruled out appearing at next month's Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships.

It is likely she will compete at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in the spring, as that tournament, along with the Emperor's Cup, will serve as qualifiers for the 2025 World Championships.

The move up to 57kg will likely put her on a collision course with the reigning Olympic champion, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN). The two met last year at the East Japan Collegiate tournament, with Fujinami coming away with a 5-0 victory.

The challenge of possibly accomplishing a historic first appeals to Fujinami, who last year won her second career world title at 53kg in Belgrade.

"I heard that no [woman] has moved up a weight class and won another Olympic gold," Fujinami said. "It will difficult, but that's what makes it challenging. I hope I can become stronger at the next [Olympics] in Los Angeles."

Two Japanese women -- Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) and Kaori ICHO (JPN) -- have won an additional Olympic gold after going down a weight, but that was mainly because the number of weight classes was expanded from four to six, allowing them to compete more closely to their normal weight.

Among men, the legendary Aleksandr MEDVED (URS) won the freestyle 97kg gold in 1964, then triumphed again at 97+kg in 1968, while Levan TEDASHVILI (URS) won at freestyle 82kg in 1972 and 90kg in 1976. More recently, Abdulrashid SADULAEV claimed the freestyle 86kg gold in 2016, then won again at 97kg in 2021.

Fujinami said she doesn't expect to make any major alterations to her wrestling style at the heavier weight.

"I have no intention of making any big changes in my wrestling style," she said. "I will still try to keep the opponent from getting at my legs, and take the initiative to score points. Still, I can feel the extra weight of four kilos, so how I increase my weight could affect how I perform."

At this year's East Japan league tournament, Fujinami's Nippon Sport Science University was relegated to second by Ikuei University, which won 2-1 in their duel meet. Ikuei got victories from Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN), who both won gold medals at last month's Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships.