#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)

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki denies Onishi in 62kg semis, sets up clash with Motoki

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (December 20) -- Nonoka OZAKI gave Sakura ONISHI a less-than-cordial welcome to the women’s 62kg weight class.

Ozaki, a two-time former world champion who has hit a wall of late amid Japan’s incredible depth in women’s wrestling, defeated world 59kg champion Onishi 4-1 in the semifinals at 62kg at the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships on Saturday.

That earned Ozaki yet another shot at reigning world and Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI, who advanced with an 8-2 victory over Yuzuka INAGAKI.

The Olympic weight classes are being contested over two days, and organizers saved a bevy of world and Olympic champions and medalists for the third day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo’s Komazawa Gym.

In other semifinals, a clash of champions from this year’s World Championships in Zagreb was set up at freestyle 74kg, in which reigning champion Kota TAKAHASHI will square off with Yoshinosuke AOYAGI, the victor at 70kg who has moved up to the Olympic division.

Takahashi easily disposed of Toki OGAWA by 11-0 technical fall, while Aoyagi posted a 7-1 victory over Hikaru TAKATA.

Meanwhile, Paris Olympic champions Akari FUJINAMI, Kotaro KIYOOKA and Nao KUSAKA all advanced to their respective finals with varying degrees of ease or difficulty, along with Paris bronze medalist Yui SUSAKI.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)Nonoka OZAKI will wrestle Sakura MOTOKI in the 62kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Ozaki had been forced to watch the World Championships from the sidelines after losing out Motoki at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships, which, along with Emperor’s Cup, serves as a domestic qualifier for major international competitions.

The last thing Ozaki needed was another interloper in the weight class, and she determinedly fended off the challenge from the 19-year-old Onishi.

“It was my first time facing her,” Ozaki said. “She’s a young, upcoming wrestler who hasn’t yet experienced the Olympics, just like I had been. But this is not a weight class that can be taken lightly.”

After giving up an activity point, Ozaki scored a late takedown in the first period, then added another in the second to earn a spot in Sunday’s final.

“There are many videos of her out there that I have watched, so I had an image of how she wrestles in mind,” Ozaki said. “I had to think of what form my wrestling should take.”

Asked if she has come up with a strategy to handle Motoki, Ozaki said, “I’ve faced her twice now, and I watched her at the World Championships. There is a ‘Motoki way’ of wrestling, and that’s implanted in my mind.”

Takara SUDA (JPN)Takara SUDA, left, works for a takedown in the first period against Kaisei TANABE during their 65kg semifinal. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Suda spoils Tanabe’s bid for two-style double

The stacked freestyle 65kg division saw the match of the day, in which Takara SUDA spoiled Kaisei TANABE’s bid for a historic Greco-freestyle title double with dramatic last-second takedown in their semifinal.

Suda had taken the lead with a takedown with 1:10 left, only to see Tanabe come back with a takedown of his own with five seconds left. But Suda shot for all he’s
worth and managed to score in time for a 5-4 victory.

“There was still five seconds left and I just kept calm,” Suda said. “I thought if I kept cool, I could score.”

Tanabe had won the Greco 63kg gold on Thursday, and was aiming to become the first to double in two styles at the same tournament since 1973.

“I had lost to him twice before, both by technical fall,” Suda said. “This time I just wanted to avoid losing by technical fall. But those matches were two years ago, and I think I’ve gotten better over these two years.”

Suda’s victory earns him a shot at Paris gold medalist Kiyooka, who managed to hold on for a 3-2 victory over Kaiji OGINO that ended with a wild scramble in
the final 15 seconds.

“He’s an opponent on another level,” Suda said of Kiyooka. “I’ll have to keep moving and give everything I got."

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI throws Mako ONO en route to a technical fall in their 50kg semifinal. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Susaki stormed into the women’s 50kg final with three straight technical falls without surrendering a point, the last one a 10-0 rout of Mako ONO. In the final, she will face world U23 53kg champion Haruna MORIKAWA.

Susaki’s path to a fourth national title and first since 2022 was made slightly easier by the absence of rival Remina YOSHIMOTO and the late withdrawal of
Umi ITO.

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)Akari FUJINAMI, left, squares off with Sara NATAMI in the 57kg semifinals. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Fujinami, the Paris champion at 53kg, continued her transition to 57kg with solid victories, although with all of her points being scored from her feet, save
for an activity point.

In the semifinal, she built up a 7-0 lead over defending champion Sara NATAMI before her opponent twice countered single-leg attempts to score exposures, leaving Fujinami with a 7-4 victory. She will face Himeka TOKUHARA in the final.

Kusaka was clearly the most dominant of the Olympians on the day, winning his two matches by 11-0 scores -- both topped off with 4-point throws. He will face
Isami HORIKITA in the final.