#WrestleRome

#WrestleRome U17 World Championships entries

By Vinay Siwach

ROME, Italy (June 8) -- The battle for the top team at the U17 age level is back with the World Championships in Rome, Italy. The historic city will stage the grand event from July 25 to 31.

India will try to defend its freestyle title which it won last year in Budapest, Hungary. Leading the team will be three U17 Asian gold medalists who will now face the young stars from around the world. USA, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia will be the main contenders eyeing to dethrone India.

Greco-Roman will see Georgia aiming for a second straight team title but with Turkey, Armenia, Iran and Ukraine in the fray, it may become a herculean task for the team.

In women's, the world will witness the depth in Japan as the nation returns to competition after two years. The USA won the team title last year but with Japan returning, the nation from far-east will be the favorite to win. India, with five U17 Asian gold medalists including defending world champion Priya MALIK (IND), will fancy its chances for the title as it beat Japan for the continental title.

The action begins on July 25 with Greco-Roman before women's wrestling beginning July 27 before freestyle closes out the action at the Pala Pellicone on July 29.

All the bouts and highlights will be live on uww.org

Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)Luke LILLEDAHL (USA), blue, will look to upgrade his '21 silver to gold in Rome. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Freestyle

45kg
Arman HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Bashir VERDIYEV (AZE)
Nikoloz BOTCHORISHVILI (GEO)
Ningappa GENANNAVAR (IND)
Amirmohammad NAVAZI (IRI)
Riccardo BONANNO (ITA)
Taiga OGITA (JPN)
Nurassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ)
Zhanysh MOIDUNOV (KGZ)
Constantin RUSU (MDA)
Temuulen OYUNCHIMEG (MGL)
Azymberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Mustafa KOYUN (TUR)
Vladyslav CHORNOVIL (UKR)
Domenic MUNARETTO (USA)

48kg
Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM)
Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE)
Vladimir MANDALOV (BUL)
Rassoul GALBOURAEV (FRA)
Giorgi ROMELASHVILI (GEO)
Lalit KUMAR (IND)
Arshia HADDADI (IRI)
Carmine CAIAZZA (ITA)
Ariya YOSHIDA (JPN)
Ramil RASSIM (KAZ)
Azim ABDYKALYKOV (KGZ)
Ozgur CAGLAYAN (TUR)
Danyil TIAHLO (UKR)
Christian CASTILLO (USA)

51kg
Narek HAKOBYAN (ARM)
Elman AGHAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar BISERKOV (BUL)
Arshak LULUKYAN (GEO)
Arvind KUMAR (IND)
Mohammad Reza ASADI (IRI)
Omar EL FAZAZI (ITA)
Taiga KATAOKA (JPN)
Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Ben TARIK (MAR)
Daniil CURTEV (MDA)
Roehan DU PLESSIS (RSA)
Mustafa KARABUGA (TUR)
Volodymyr KORNILOV (UKR)
Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)
Abbosbek KOBILOV (UZB)

55kg
Aren SEROBYAN (ARM)
Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
Ergyun SHUKRI (BUL)
Hussein HASSANEIN (EGY)
Saba GAMBASHIDZE (GEO)
Jannis REBHOLZ (GER)
Vaibhav PATIL (IND)
Amir NEJATI ZADEH (IRI)
Pasquale LIUZZI (ITA)
Takuto OSEDO (JPN)
Daryn ASKERBEK (KAZ)
Zalkarbek TABALDIEV (KGZ)
Ganbayar JARGALSAIKHAN (MGL)
Adrian SIKORA (POL)
Sandro HUNGERBUEHLER (SUI)
Chih LU (TPE)
Sahin ACAR (TUR)
Illia SHKETYK (UKR)
Jaxen FORREST (USA)
Husanboy USMONOV (UZB)

60kg
Vladimir AZARYAN (ARM)
Agha GASIMOV (AZE)
Denis NAIM (BUL)
Omar MOURAD (EGY)
Janar LIPS (EST)
Davit KOBULASHVILI (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Filippos PSOMAS (GRE)
Marton VARGA (HUN)
Nikhil YADAV (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Alessandro NINI (ITA)
Taiga OGINO (JPN)
Aidyn BEKBAYEV (KAZ)
Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ) 
Adriatik BERISHA (KOS)
Ionut TRIBOI (MDA)
Battugs MENDMAA (MGL)
Kaige BROWN (NZL) 
Dominik JAGUSZ (POL)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Aaron ZBERG (SUI)
Ysmayyl MUHAMMEDOV (TKM)
En LIU (TPE)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Vladyslav YATSKOVSKYI (UKR)
Kyler LARKIN (USA) 
Javokhir CHULIBOYEV (UZB)

65kg
Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM)
Raschid ABAKAROV (AUT)
Ilyas ISAYEV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Nathan RAINVILLE (CAN)
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
Denis KODAKOV (ESP)
Khizir DASIYEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE)
Robert BIBLIA (HUN)
ANKIT (IND)
Mohammad MAMIVAND (IRI)
Daniele GUBBIOTTI (ITA)
Kodai KANNO (JPN)
Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ)
Maksat TABYLDYEV (KGZ)
Serghei CILCIC (MDA)
Tolui MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Nixon SUDDENS (NZL)
Eduard LENARD (ROU)
Terence ESTERHUIZEN (RSA)
Alp BEGENJOV (TKM)
Cheng GAO (TPE)
Fatih ACAR (TUR)
Bohdan OLIINYK (UKR)
Tyler KASAK (USA)
Akobir RAHIMOV (UZB)

71kg
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Mukhammad INSHAPIEV (AUT)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Kaloyan ATANASOV (BUL)
Tejvir DHINSA (CAN)
Nikoloz MAISURADZE (GEO)
Marat KARDANOV (GER)
Theocharis KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
NARENDER (IND)
Younes SHAFIEI (IRI)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Kazuto FURUICHI (JPN)
Alisher ZHOLDASBAY (KAZ)
Avtandil TOLOGONOV (KGZ)
Bleonit BYTYCI (KOS)
Titas PIJORAITIS (LTU)
Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Gan BAATARKHUU (MGL)
Bartlomiej NOWAKOWSKI (POL)
Corne TELLEMAN (RSA)
Nick SCHERRER (SUI)
Aslan OZTURK (TUR)
Tymur YUSOV (UKR)
Joseph SEALEY (USA)
Jorullo ABDUFATTOKHOV (UZB)

80kg
Papin HUNANYAN (ARM)
Shamistan AKHUNDOV (AZE)
Slavi STAMENOV (BUL)
Arjun NAGRA (CAN)
Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO)
Angelos APOSTOLIDIS (GRE)
Peter ZSIVNOVSZKY (HUN)
Sachin MOR (IND)
Reza SOLEIMANIAN (IRI)
Daniel KAGALOVSKI (ISR)
Matteo MINI (ITA)
Shin ASANO (JPN)
Askhab KHAJIYEV (KAZ)
Denizbek ULAN UULU (KGZ)
Nojus DIJOKAS (LTU)
Alexandru BORS (MDA)
Otgonbayar LUVSANDORJ (MGL)
Shakjir BISLIMI (MKD)
Noah SCHWALLER (SUI)
Muhammadamin ABDULOEV (TJK)
Parahat ATAYEV (TKM)
Kai WU (TPE)
Hamza KUCUK (TUR)
Yehor HOROKH (UKR)
Zackary RYDER (USA)
Abbosjon YULDOSHEV (UZB)

92kg
Varuzhan HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Ravan MUSAYEV (AZE)
Andriyan VALKANOV (BUL)
Nika PANTSULAIA (GEO)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
Sahil JAGLAN (IND)
Erfan ALIZADEH (IRI)
Jacopo GIUSTI (ITA)
Sorato KANAZAWA (JPN)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Armanis BARSAMYAN (LTU)
Batzorig NYAM (MGL)
Pieter OOSTHUIZEN (RSA)
Ibrahim BENEKLI (TUR)
Yaroslav LISNIAK (UKR)
Maxwell MCENELLY (USA)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

110kg
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Dian MANEV (BUL)
Marwan MOHAMED (EGY)
Levan LAGVILAVA (FRA)
Ramini GULITASHVILI (GEO)
Mikael GOLLING (GER)
Jaspooran SINGHJ (IND)
Mohammadreza LOTFI (IRI)
Martino PILIERO (ITA)
Kaito UTSUNOMIYA (JPN)
Alikhan KUSSAINOV (KAZ)
Ralfs LUKINS (LAT)
Mateusz PUDLOWSKI (POL)
Taha TEMEL (TUR)
Yurii KOZHUKHAR (UKR)
Koy HOPKE (USA)
Khikmatullo KURBONOV (UZB)

Priya MALIK (IND)Priya MALIK (IND) is the defending champion at 73kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Women's wrestling

40kg
MUSKAN (IND)
Mona EZAKA (JPN)
Zhuldyz BAIMAKHANOVA (KAZ)
DianaIANA VOICULESCU (ROU)
Yagmur KARABACAK (TUR)
Yevheniia DRUZENKO (UKR)
Megan VALDEZ (USA)
Gulasal ABDUNAZAROVA (UZB)

43kg
Elvina KARIMZADA (AZE)
Azra MUSTAFOVA (BUL)
Malak MOUSTAFA (EGY)
Josephine WRENSCH (GER)
RITIKA (IND)
Melissa DOROFTEI (ITA)
Olessya PILIPENKO (KAZ)
Dominika KONKEL (POL)
Maya JOHANSSON (SWE)
Hava KONCA (TUR)
Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR)
Erica PASTORIZA (USA)
Gulnura RUSLANOVA (UZB)

46kg
Aysel MAMMADZADA (AZE)
Juliette LESCURE (FRA)
Kornelia LASZLO (HUN)
SHRUTI (IND)
Angela CASAROLA (ITA)
Koko MATSUDA (JPN)
Aizhan MURATBAY (KAZ)
Nomin CHINZORIG (MGL)
Daniella BEKY (NOR)
Alexandra VOICULESCU (ROU)
Busranur OZMEZ (TUR)
Yelyzaveta KULAKIVSKA (UKR)
Gabriella GOMEZ (USA)
Diyora MIRZAEVA (UZB)

49kg
Gular HABIBOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Sama MAHMOUD (EGY)
Laura FATH (HUN)
NEERAJ (IND)
Fabiana RINELLA (ITA)
Mihoko TAKEUCHI (JPN)
Aiymgul ABYLOVA (KAZ)
Soyolmaa GEREL (MGL)
Aida LACHINOVA (NOR)
Ana ROTARU (ROU)
Chloe BREWIS (RSA)
Anja EPP (SUI)
Reka HEGEDUS (SVK)
Ciao LI (TPE)
Sevval CAYIR (TUR)
Anastasiia ZADVORNA (UKR)
Audrey JIMENEZ (USA)
Sandugash DJENBAEVA (UZB)

53kg
Sarah LINS (AUT)
Gular HABIBOVA (AZE)
Manar ELMASRY (EGY)
Lilya COHEN (FRA)
Elpida KOUTELI (GRE)
Hedi MIKLE (HUN)
REENA (IND)
Concetta SIMONELLI (ITA)
Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
Anna STRATAN (KAZ)
Lina NITA (MDA)
Khaliun BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Maria SZKUDLAREK (POL)
Florentina ROTARU (ROU)
Milica SEKULOVIC (SRB)
Ya CHEN (TPE)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Elena IVALDI (USA)

57kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Ella FINDING (CAN)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Tereza MRACKOVA (CZE)
Rosa RODRIGUEZ (ESP)
Romaissa EL KHARROUBI (FRA)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Agapi AMPELIDOU (GRE)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Liza TOMAR (IND)
Denise PIRODDU (ITA)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Sofya ZMAZNEVA (KAZ)
Aitolkun MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Madalina PRISACARI (MDA)
Enkhdangina DEJINBEE (MGL)
Anabela DANILOVA (MKD)
Mirijam HANSEN (NOR)
Michalina IGNASZAK (POL)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Annatina LIPPUNER (SUI)
Tindra DALMYR (SWE)
Kai LI (TPE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Shelby MOORE (USA)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

61kg
Lyubov ANTOVA (BUL)
Akoua Yao (CIV)
Petra MRACKOVA (CZE)
Maram ALY (EGY)
Leonie STEIGERT (GER)
Evangelia TRANOU (GRE)
SAVITA (IND)
Elena NICOLODI (ITA)
Suzu SASAKI (JPN)
Zhangyl BEKEN (KAZ)
Ana CRETU (MDA)
Neevis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Leah SAMSONSEN (NOR)
Wiktoria KAMELA (POL)
Sabina PETRACHE (ROU)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Wilma HOFFMAN (SWE)
Yen LI (TPE)
Ilayda CIN (TUR)
Mariia MIZIURKO (UKR)
Valerie HAMILTON (USA)
Sevinch SULTONOVA (UZB)

65kg
Karen GREGORY (AUS)
Fatima ISAYEVA (AZE)
Viktoria RADEVA (BUL)
Mouda HAMDOUN (EGY)
Nella HONKANIEMI (FIN)
Drosoula TZIANAKOPOULOU (GRE)
Szonja SZABO (HUN)
ANJALI (IND)
Rosalia MUTOLO (ITA)
Anju SATO (JPN)
Aruzhan KARL (KAZ)
Zharkynai NURLAN KYZY (KGZ)
Odgerel ERDENE-OCHIR (MGL)
Reka VAN OS (NED)
Nicola WASILEWSKA (POL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Minette KRUGER (RSA)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Tsai YUAN (TPE)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR)
Elizabeth SHUNN (USA)
Gleymaris DIAZ (VEN)

69kg
Gergana STOYANOVA (BUL)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Nikoleta BARMPA (GRE)
HARSHITA (IND)
Emma CARRI (ITA)
Chisato YOSHIDA (JPN)
Akerke AMIRSHEYEVA (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Odzaya ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Paulina KUCHARCZYK (POL)
Anya HATCH (TGA)
Chih LI (TPE)
Ayse ERKAN (TUR)
Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR)
Jasmine ROBINSON (USA)

73kg
Gabriela MAEVA (BUL)
Rupinder JOHAL (CAN)
Lou IRIE (CIV)
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Heba IBRAHIM (EGY)
Ambre CHEVREAU (FRA)
Lotta ENGLICH (GER)
Priya MALIK (IND)
Anna IODICE (ITA)
Makoto KOMADA (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Tuvshinjargal TARAV (MGL)
Dominika POCHOWSKA (POL)
Gemma RUSSELL (RSA)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ZENKINA (UKR)
Amarisa MANUEL (USA)

Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) is a silver medalist from '21 U17 Worlds. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Greco-Roman

45kg
Samvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Huseyn SAVADOV (AZE)
Giorgi KOCHALIDZE (GEO)
Mozes LASZLO (HUN)
Neeraj PATEL (IND)
Payam BALOOTAKI (IRI)
Hiro SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Beknur MUKAN (KAZ)
Omur YNTYMAK UULU (KGZ)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Omer ALTAS (TUR)
Yevhen POKOVBA (UKR)
Davis MOTYKA (USA)
Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB)

48kg
Tigran GALSTYAN (ARM)
Said KHALILOV (AZE)
Amr ELSHAER (EGY)
Richard PAJUVIIDIK (EST)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Levente FIGE (HUN)
Ronit SHARMA (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Gabriele PUCHER (ITA)
Yu TAKEMOTO (JPN)
Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ)
Kurmanbek ALIMZHANOV (KGZ)
Umit ALTAS (TUR)
Nikita DEMENTIEV (UKR)
Christian CASTILLO (USA)

51kg
Armen GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Vadat GASIMLI (AZE)
Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL)
Filip BARTOSIK (CZE)
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Lukas BENZING (GER)
Vasileios PAPAGEORGIOU (GRE)
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
MANISH (IND)
Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI)
Amare FETENE (ISR)
Manato NAKAMURA (JPN)
Rauan BEKIMOV (KAZ)
Said TURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Kajetan JAKUBOWSKI (POL)
Dragos DRAGA (ROU)
Ali SUMBUL (TUR)
Dmytro DEMIANOVSKYI (UKR)
Elyle FRANCISCO (USA)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

55kg
Hayk LYUDVIGYAN (ARM)
Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Kristiyan MILENKOV (BUL)
Hussein HASSANEIN (EGY)
Ilian AINAOUI (FRA)
Saba SURMANIDZE (GEO)
SURAJ (IND)
Mohammad KAMALI (IRI)
Francesco STOPPONI (ITA)
Kohaku KANAZAWA (JPN)
Nariman BEKIMOV (KAZ)
Bekzhan ESENBEK (KGZ)
Alexandru VARZARI (ROU)
William EKEROT (SWE)
Shu CHUNG (TPE)
Halil CINAR (TUR)
Maksym CHUBENKO (UKR)
Nicholas TREASTER (USA)
Khurshidbek NORMUKHAMMADOV (UZB)

60kg
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Isa BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Mahammad GASIMZADE (AZE)
Grisha NAZARYAN (BUL)
Martin CICHY (CZE)
Omar MOURAD (EGY)
Lucas LO GRASSO (FRA)
Avtandil MAMALADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Mukul CHAUHAN (IND)
Abolfazl MIRSHEKAR (IRI)
Federico CANIGLIA (ITA)
Sota SAKAKI (JPN)
Yussuf ASHRAPOV (KAZ)
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ)
Konstantins GEIKINS (LAT)
Vladimir PASCARI (MDA)
Hubert WYSOCZANSKI (POL)
Cristian MURGUI (ROU)
Jesse VAN BAALEN (RSA)
Adam SILVERIN (SWE)
Shatlyk YUNUSOV (TKM)
Han YU (TPE)
Yusuf KILCAN (TUR)
Denys KOVSHUN (UKR)
Zan FUGITT (USA)

65kg
Andranik SEDRAKYAN (ARM)
Ali ALIZADA (AZE)
Hristiyan IVANOV (BUL)
Sebastian CIBARIC (CRO)
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
Max HRISTJUK (EST)
Oskari TALALA (FIN)
Aleksandre RUSITASHVILI (GEO)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
MOHIT (IND)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI)
Alessandro GRESPI (ITA)
Takaku SUZUKI (JPN)
Sergazy ABDIKHADYR (KAZ)
Abdulla ANORBAEV (KGZ)
Kipras PUIKIS (LTU)
Artur BORS (MDA)
Mateusz DAWID (POL)
Pavel ALEXE (ROU)
Terence ESTERHUIZEN (RSA)
Jovan MIOLSKI (SRB)
Saya BRUNNER (SUI)
Sunat ABDULLOEV (TJK)
Kakabay KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Po CHEN (TPE)
Abdullah KESKIN (TUR)
Petro SHAFRANSKYI (UKR)
Joel ADAMS (USA)
Bekhruz BARNOEV (UZB)

71kg
Ararat VARDERESYAN (ARM)
Marco BEGLE (AUT)
Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)
Dimitar RACHEV (BUL)
Mihael LUKAC (CRO)
Rainer PLASER (EST)
Miro LEINONEN (FIN)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)
Dominik CZUCZOR (HUN)
Ankit PUNIA (IND)
Mohammad MORADI (IRI)
Michael RINDONE (ITA)
Naoki KADODE (JPN)
Tair AMANGELDI (KAZ)
Adilet ABYKEEV (KGZ)
Minijus LEONAVICIUS (LTU)
Florin COZMA (ROU)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Ding HUANG (TPE)
Ibrahim OZDEMIR (TUR)
Maksym RADYK (UKR)
Arvin KHOSRAVY (USA)
Amirshoh VAHOBOV (UZB)
Darfel CAMACARO (VEN)

80kg
Paul MAIER (AUT)
Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE)
Adrian MAYNARD (BAR)
Andrey ATANASOV (BUL)
Antonio LUKAC (CRO)
Stefan MOELDER (EST)
Veeti KAJANNE (FIN)
Luka GELASHVILI (GEO)
Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE)
Oliver KOVACS (HUN)
Mohit KHOKHAR (IND)
Seyed AZARSHAB (IRI)
Anry PAPIASHVILI (ISR)
Kevin KAZAZI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Beibit KORGANOV (KAZ)
Alisher KALYBEKOV (KGZ)
Renatas CAIKOVSKIS (LTU)
Mihai GUTU (MDA)
Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL)
Gabriel STAN (ROU)
Branko DUKIC (SRB)
Hung YEH (TPE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)
Cole HAN LINDEMYER (USA)
Brian MARIN (VEN)

92kg
Mikayil ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Josip BENKO (CRO)
Elias LYYSKI (FIN)
Gor AYVAZYAN (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
Nikolaos GIAGKOUNIDIS (GRE)
Marcell GYURICZA (HUN)
RAMANDEEP (IND)
Hamidreza KESHTKAR (IRI)
Riccardo BUFIS (ITA)
Isshin ONITSUKA (JPN)
Elchinbek ROZAKULOV (KAZ)
Arsen RUSLANOV (KGZ)
Tadas MIKALAUSKAS (LTU)
Sebastian WARCHOL (POL)
Florin MANOLACHE (ROU)
Lokman GUL (TUR)
Ivan SYNO (UKR)
Cody MERRILL (USA)

110kg
Leonhard JUNGER (AUT)
Mazaim MARDANOV (AZE)
Maksim PETROV (BUL)
Omar ELKELINY (EGY)
Davit MGELADZE (GEO)
Dimitrios THANOS (GRE)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Mohammad JAHANGIRI (IRI)
Cristian CATINI (ITA)
Sota OYABU (JPN)
Maxim UKRAINTSEV (KAZ)
Rustam SADYKOV (KGZ)
Justas KAMINSKAS (LTU)
Marko SUPIC (SRB)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Dmytro STRYZHEKOZIN (UKR)
Koy HOPKE (USA)

#WrestleAthens

Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history at U17 Worlds

By Vinay Siwach

ATHENS, Greece (July 30) --  Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) is on the verge of creating history for Uzbekistan in Athens.

Wrestling at the World U17 Championships on Wednesday, Rakhimjonova became the first wrestler from Uzbekistan to reach the final of U17 Worlds.

 On Thursday, she will try to become the first wrestler to win a gold medal at any World Championships for Uzbekistan in Women's Wrestling.

She reached the 65kg final after beating European silver medalist Feenja HERMANN (GER), 6-1. In her earlier bouts, she had defeated Zuzanna HORBIK (POL), 6-4, and Alexandra MOISEI (MDA), 12-1.

Standing between her and the historic gold medal is Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND), who was one of India's four finalists on Wednesday.

Vishnoi, who outscored her opponents 41-0 in four bouts, defeated European U17 champion Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW), 7-0, in the semifinal. After a slow start, Vishnoi got two takedowns in the second period, adding to her two stepouts and one passivity point in the match.

Former world U17 champion KAJAL (IND) will get a chance to avenge her loss from Asian Championships after she reached the final against Asian champion Wenjin QIU (CHN) at 73kg.

Qiu had humbled Kajal 10-0 in the final of the Asian U17 Championships a month ago in Vietnam. But if Kajal is in the form she showed on Wednesday, her chances to avenge that loss are high.

She defeated Pan-Am champion Ella Jo POALILLO (USA), 11-0, giving no chance to Poalillo. Kajal hit a couple of double-leg as counters to take down Poalillo.

Qiu pinned Deborah GARCIA (MEX) in the other semifinal when the Mexican tried to outside trip her. Qiu stood her ground and slammed Garcia before securing the fall.

Another Asian U17 Championships final will be replayed on Thursday, at 57kg, as champion MONI (IND) and silver medalist Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) won their respective semifinals and book their spots in the gold-medal bout.

Usmanov used a four-pointer against Sayuki TANADA (JPN) and secured the fall in two minutes and 36 seconds. With the loss of Tanada, Japan was left with only one finalist on Wednesday when five weight classes were in action.

Moni, like she had done all day, kept her defense and scored takedown whenever she could find an opening. After a passivity point, Moni scored three takedown to beat Alina BAROEVA (UWW), 7-0, in the semifinal.

At 43kg, RACHNA (IND) and Xin HUANG (CHN) made it to the final after contrasting wins. Rachna defended her 1-1 criteria lead over Madison HEALEY (USA) to win and make the final, Huang put on a takedown masterclass to beat European champion Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW) 8-0.

Turner closer to second world title

She is already a world U17 champion but there has been no lack of motivation for Morgan TURNER (USA) as she chases another at U17 level.

Morgan spent only two minutes and 24 seconds on the mat to win her three bouts on Wednesday and reach the final at 49kg in Athens.

A gold medalist from 2023 and bronze medalist from 2024, Morgan will face Yu KATAOKA (JPN) for the gold on Thursday. Like in typical Japanese style, Kataoka used five different takedowns to win 10-0 in her semifinal against Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW).

Morgan used a cradle to secure a fall over Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW), a returning bronze medalist and European champion.

RESULTS

43kg
GOLD: RACHANA (IND) vs. Xin HUANG (CHN)

SF 1: RACHANA (IND) df. Madison HEALEY (USA), 1-1
SF 2: Xin HUANG (CHN) df. Raniia RAKHMANOV (UWW), 8-0

49kg
GOLD: Morgan TURNER (USA) vs. Yu KATAOKA (JPN)

SF 1: Morgan TURNER (USA) df. Anhelina BURKINA (UWW), via fall (8-0)
SF 2: Yu KATAOKA (JPN) df. Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW), 10-0

57kg
GOLD: Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) vs. MONI (IND)

SF 1: Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) df. Sayuki TANADA (JPN), via fall (5-0)
SF 2: MONI (IND) df. Alina BAROEVA (UWW), 7-0

65kg
GOLD: Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) vs. Ashvini VISHNOI (IND)

SF 1: Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) df. Feenja HERMANN (GER), 6-1 
SF 2: Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) df. Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW), 7-0

73kg
GOLD: KAJAL (IND) vs. Wenjin QIU (CHN)

SF 1: KAJAL (IND) df. Ella Jo POALILLO (USA), 11-0 
SF 2: Wenjin QIU (CHN) df. Deborah GARCIA (MEX), via fall