#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)

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Emami denies Yazdani spot on Iran team for World Championships

By Vinay Siwach

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 31) -- Clashing in an all-Iranian final at 74kg at the Ulaanbaatar Open with the spot on the Iranian team for World Championships on the line, Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) and Yones EMAMI (IRI) made it to the final after some tough bouts.

Head coach Pejman DOROSTKAR did not sit in any corner and the second coaches did not shout instruction, the case in most bouts which involves qualification for a national team.

While Emami was the favorite, Yazdani was the challenger. Emami has been here before. Yazdani wanted to prove he belongs at 74kg.

And he had planned it perfectly -- don't let the score get out of hands and then go all-out in the final minute against Emami. It all worked well until the final minute.

Emami brought his top-notch defense to the mat to deny Yazdani an opening and then tactically did not engage with Yazdani in last 30 seconds to win the final, the spot on Iran team and deny Yazdani a bid to make the World Championships in Zagreb.

The final was not spectacular as it did not have big moves or crafty scrambles. It began with both wrestlers being called passive by the referee in the first minute.

But Yazdani was given the second warning before Emami in the first period and the latter took a 1-0 lead at the break. As the bout resumed, Yazdani scored a stepout early in the second period to take a 1-1 criteria lead. Emami answered with a stepout and took a clear 2-1 lead.

Yazdani was unfazed despite falling behind as it was still under control as he has planned. Then came the burst of attacks to score a takedown. He got a single-leg attack and almost put Emami down. But as he back peddled, Yazdani went out of bounds and then fell on his knees before he could get Emami out. Emami was awarded a point which made it 3-1 but Yazdani challenged the call.

The initial call of one point for Emami was upheld and Yazdani lost the challenge, adding another point to Emami's score which was now 4-1.

With 36 seconds remaining, Yazdani still went for the kill and as Emami was evading, Yazdani was giving two points on different occasions but that was all Yazdani got as he dropped the final and a chance to be in the Iran team for Zagreb.

While Emami did not celebrate the win, Yazdani failed to hold his tears back on the podium as he was awarded the silver medal.

"Amirmohammad is my friend and brother," Emami said. "We train together a lot, so we’re pretty familiar with each other’s wrestling style. That’s why this match was a bit tough."

One of the biggest differences in the bout Emami's defense which made Yazdani, who had recently switched from 70kg to 74kg, work harder for any points.

"I had thought about it [defense] during practice and even throughout the day trying to fix my weaknesses," he said. "I used to give away points too easily, but I had improved a bit here, and I hope I can keep getting better from this point on."

Emami now has a bigger challenge -- to win a medal for Iran at the World Championships at 74kg.

"The World Championships are definitely at a higher and tougher level," he said. "We take part in training camps and practice under the supervision of the coaching staff."

There was a third Iranian -- Noorali ABOUZARI (IRI) -- in the fray to make the team but he lost to JAIDEEP (IND), who won bronze medal at 74kg.

The other bronze medal at 74kg went to Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), who almost defeated Yazdani in the semifinal. Toktomambetov led 6-4 with 10 seconds remaining when Yazdani got behind and scored a turn to finish the bout 6-6 and win on criteria.

Two other Freestyle weight classes were also in action on Saturday and Askhab SAADULAEV (UWW) at 92kg and Osman GOCEN (TUR) at 86kg won gold medals.

At 86kg, Osman GOCEN (TUR) won gold medal after he defeated Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL) 7-0 while Saadulaev won gold medal Asian silver medalist Deepak PUNIA (IND) injury defaulted in Round 5 back at 92kg.

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Yones EMAMI (IRI) df. Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), 4-3

BRONZE: Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) df. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: JAIDEEP (IND) df. Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL), via fall

86kg
GOLD: Osman GOCEN (TUR) df. Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL), 7-0

BRONZE: Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL) df. Dayanbileg GAN OCHIR (MGL), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Askhab SAADULAEV (UWW)
SILVER: Deepak PUNIA (IND) 
BRONZE: Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN