#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Entries

By Eric Olanowski

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 7) -- United World Wrestling has confirmed the 289 final entries and the top-four seeds for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games. Wrestlers from 60 different nations, along with Aker AL OBAIDI (EOR), who will compete on the IOC's Refugee Olympic Team, will compete for Olympic gold at the Makuhari Messe August 1-7.

The final entry list includes the names of the athletes who qualified their respective nations for the Olympic Games and who have been confirmed by their NOCs. The changes between the athlete who qualified their NOC's spot and the athlete registered by his/her NOC are listed in bold. Please note: The Late Athlete Replacement (LAR) process is in place, which means the current registered athletes could still be replaced.

As the entries sit, there are 11 Rio Olympic champions who'll be looking to defend their titles in Tokyo. Freestyle and women's wrestling each have a quartet of '16 champions, while Greco-Roman returns three champions -- including Cuba's Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ who is on a quest to become the first male wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals.

Freestyle returning champs:
86kg - Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) 
97kg - Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) 
97kg - Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA)
125kg - Taha AKGUL (TUR)

Greco-Roman returning champs:
67kg - Ismael BORRERO MOLINA
97kg - Artur ALEKSANYAN
130kg - Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ

Women's Wrestling returning champs:
57kg - Risako KAWAI (JPN)
57kg - Helen Louise MAROULIS (USA)
68kg - Sara DOSHO (JPN)
76kg - Erica WIEBE (CAN)

Freestyle
57kg

No. 1 Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB)
No. 2 Zavur UGUEV (RUS)
No. 3 Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
No. 4 Kumar RAVI (IND)
Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ)
Reza Ahmadali ATRINAGHARCHI (IRI)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA)
Oscar Eduardo TIGREROS URBANO (COL)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL)

65kg
No. 1 Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS)
No. 2 Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
No. 3 Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ)
No. 4 Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Takuto OTOGURO (JPN)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Adama DIATTA (SEN)
Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN)
Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER (CUB)
Agustin Alejandro DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Morteza Hassanali GHIASI CHEKA (IRI)
Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL)
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE)

74kg
No. 1 Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
No. 2 Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ)
No. 3 Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS)
No. 4 Mostafa Mohabbali HOSSEINKHANI (IRI)
Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA)
Keisuke OTOGURO (JPN)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Augusto MIDANA (GBS)
Jeandry GARZON CABALLERO (CUB)
Franklin GOMEZ MATOS (PUR)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)

86kg
No. 1 Hassan AliazamYAZDANICHARATI (IRI)
No. 2 Deepak PUNIA (IND)
No. 3 Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR)
No. 4 Artur NAIFONOV (RUS)
Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI)
Carlos Arturo IZQUIERDO MENDEZ (COL)
Ekerekeme AGIOMOR (NGR)
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
David Morris TAYLOR III (USA)
Pool Edinson AMBROCIO GREIFO (PER)
Ali SHABANAU (BLR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)

97kg
No. 1 Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS)
No. 2 Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA)
No. 3 Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
No. 4 Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)
Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO)
Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN)
Mohammed FARDJ (ALG)
Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB)
Jordan STEEN (CAN)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Mohammadhossein Askari MOHAMMADIAN (IRI)
Magomed Idrisovitch IBRAGIMOV (UZB)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Albert SARITOV (ROU)

125kg
No. 1 Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
No. 2 Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
No. 3 Taha AKGUL (TUR)
No. 4 Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR)
Zhiwei DENG (CHN)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Egzon SHALA (KOS)
Diaaeldin Kamal Gouda ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY)
Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG)
Gable Dan STEVESON (USA)
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
Sergei KOZYREV (RUS)
AiaalLAZAREV(KGZ)

Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) heads into Tokyo looking to become the first male to win four Olympic gold medals. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Greco-Roman

60kg
No. 1 Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)
No. 2 Sergey EMELIN (RUS)
No. 3 Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
No. 4 Ali Reza Ayat Ollah NEJATI (IRI)
Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ)
Lenur TEMIROV (UKR)
Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB)
Haithem Mahmoud Ahmed Fahmy MAHMOUD (EGY)
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Luis Alberto ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)

67kg 
No. 1 Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB)
No. 2 Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY)
No. 3 Artem SURKOV (RUS)
No. 4 Mate NEMES (SRB)
Frank STAEBLER(GER)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Souleymen NASR (TUN)
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Julian Stiven HORTA ACEVEDO (COL)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Balint KORPASI (HUN)
Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI)
Hansu RYU (KOR)
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Aker AL OBAIDI (EOR)

77kg 
No. 1 Tamas LORINCZ(HUN)
No. 2 Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
No. 3 Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
No. 4 Mohammadali Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Lamjed MAAFI (TUN)
ZiedAIT OUAGRAM (MAR)
Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB)
Alfonso Antonio LEYVA YEPEZ (MEX)
Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS)
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Shohei YABIKU (JPN)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)

87kg 
No. 1Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
No. 2 Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)
No. 3 Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)
No. 4 Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB)
Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)
Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ)
Mohamed Moustafa Ahmed Abdall METWALLY (EGY)
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Fei PENG (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)

97kg
No. 1 Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
No. 2 Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
No. 3 Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI)
No. 4 Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Cenk ILDEM (TUR)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG)
Haikel ACHOURI (TUN)
Gabriel Alejandro ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)

130kg
No. 1 Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
No. 2 Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
No. 3 Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
No. 4 Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB)
Artur VITITIN (EST)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Eduard POPP (GER)
Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA)
Sergey SEMENOV (RUS)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)

Defending Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) headlines the women's wrestling entries at the Olympic Games. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Women's Wrestling
50kg
No. 1 Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
No. 2 Emilia Alina VUC (ROU)
No. 3 Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
No. 4 Valentina Ivanovna ISLAMOVA BRIK (KAZ)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS)
Yanan SUN (CHN)
Sarra HAMDI (TUN)
Adijat Avorshai IDRIS (NGR)
Yusneylis GUZMAN LOPEZ (CUB)
Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA)
Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL)
Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)
Seema SEEMA (IND)
Lucia Yamileth YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)

53kg
No. 1 Vinesh VINESH (IND)
No. 2 Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN)
No. 3 Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU)
No. 4 Qianyu PANG (CHN)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Joseph Emilienne ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR)
Rckaela Maree Ramos AQUINO (GUM)
Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL)
Laura HERIN AVILA (CUB)
Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA)
Sofia Magdalena MATTSSON (SWE)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)
Tatyana AKHMETOVA AMANZHOL (KAZ)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS)
Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU)

57kg 
No. 1 Risako KAWAI (JPN)
No. 2 Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
No. 3 Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR)
No. 4 Ningning RONG (CHN)
Jowita Maria WRZESIEN (POL)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Siwar BOUSETA (TUN)
Fatoumata Yarie CAMARA (GUI)
Alma Jane VALENCIA ESCOTO (MEX)
Helen Louise MAROULIS (USA)
Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Tatyana KIT (UKR)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Anshu ANSHU (IND)
Valeria KOBLOVA (RUS)
Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA)

62kg 
No. 1 Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
No. 2 Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL)
No. 3 Yukako KAWAI (JPN)
No. 4 Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA)
Henna Katarina JOHANSSON (SWE)
Marianna SASTIN (HUN)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Marwa AMRI (TUN)
Aminat Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI (NGR)
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Sonam SONAM (IND)
Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)

68kg
No. 1 Tamyra Mariama STOCK MENSAH (USA)
No. 2 Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
No. 3 Koumba Selene Fanta LARROQUE (FRA)
No. 4 Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER)
Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK KORDUS (POL)
Battsetseg SORONZONBOLD (MGL)
Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR)
Sara DOSHO (JPN)
Enas Mostafa Youssef Khourshed AHMED (EGY)
Danielle Suzanne LAPPAGE (CAN)
Yudari SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)
Khanum VELIEVA (RUS)
Feng ZHOU (CHN)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)

76kg
No. 1 Adeline Maria GRAY (USA)
No. 2 Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER)
No. 3 Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN)
No. 4 Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Epp MAEE (EST)
Qian ZHOU (CHN)
Samar Amer Ibrahim HAMZA (EGY)
Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN)
Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)
Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA)
Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS)
Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Burmaa OCHIRBAT (MGL)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)

#WrestleBudapest

Orta, Kusaka win Ranking Series gold; Esmaeili books Paris 2024 spot

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 9) -- The 67kg weight class in Budapest was supposed to offer some interesting match-ups. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) could have avenged his World Championships loss to Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI). Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) could have qualified for the Paris Olympics if he had defeated Geraei in Budapest. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) could have become a contender in Georgia for the weight class.

But none of that happened as Orta dominated, outsmarted and controlled his way to the gold medal at 67kg in the Ranking Series, making him one of the favorites for the gold medal in Paris. The Paris Games will also present Orta a rare opportunity to win two Olympic gold medals in two different weight classes as he won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 60kg.

Orta began his day with an 8-0 win over David MANYIK (HUN) before using a four-pointer to beat Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) 7-1 to set up a semifinal against Esmaeili. No one would have expected the Asian champion Esmaeili to challenge the world champion but the Iranian had different ideas.

Esmaeili raced to a 7-0 lead in the first period and was one point away from winning the bout. However, Orta managed to keep himself in the bout and began the second period with a front headlock for four and got one more for a lost challenge from Iran. Still, Esmaeili did well to defend the lead until the last three seconds.

As the bout entered the final 10 seconds left, Orta almost gave up and Esmaeili, thinking that Orta had accepted defeat, turned his back and began walking towards the Iranian corner to celebrate. Just the whole stadium gasped as Orta, realizing there was still time left, ran towards Esmaeili and threw him for four.

Midway through the throw, an air-borne Esmaeili knew he messed up. He pleaded that the time was over. Referees initially did not award points to Orta but Cuba challenged and it was clear that the move was completed with 0.1 seconds left. Orta was awarded four points, helping him win 9-7.

An inconsolable Esmaeili had to be helped to the warm-up area. For he thought his Paris 2024 dream was over. 

Orta, fueled by that unthinkable win and his Cuban teammates including Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) in the stands, went on to beat Abuladze in the final to claim the gold medal. He, however, will remain second in the seeding for the Olympics as Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) has already locked up the top seed.

Jafarov was wrestling in Budapest but was up at 72kg. He may have changed his weight class but had no trouble winning the gold medal at the higher weight as well.

Back to Esmaeili who had his task cut out in the evening session. He needed to beat Geraei in two bouts to earn the Paris 2024 spot on the Iran team. He gathered himself from that loss to Orta and scored a final second takedown against Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) to clinch a 6-5 win while Geraei defeated Andres MONTANO (ECU) 3-3 to claim the other bronze.

The two stepped on the mat for the wrestle-off for the Olympic spot with Geraei holding an advantage that if he won the first match, he would book his spot for Paris but Esmaeili had to do it in a best-of-three format. But Esmaeili did not let it go to that third as he defeated Geraei in two straight bouts in a tennis-like scoreline, 6-0 and 6-4, to earn a spot on the Iran team for the Paris Olympics and maybe a rematch with Orta in the French capital which on Sunday witness Carlos ALCARAZ win his first French Open.

David LOSONCZI (HUN)David LOSONCZI (HUN) celebrates after securing a fall over Ali CENGIZ (TUR). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

There was more drama in Budapest as David LOSONCZI (HUN) made sure he pinned Ali CENGIZ (TUR) when the two met in the 87kg semifinal. The two were awarded a shared World Championships title in September after Cengiz defeated Losonczi but the Hungarian wrestler won an appeal for judges' errors and was also awarded the gold medal.

Losonczi admitted that he was waiting for the rematch and though relieved to get the gold medal in Belgrade, he did not really celebrate it. So when he faced Cengiz this time, Losonczi stepped over when the Turkish wrestler was trying to finish a headlock throw. The local fans in Budapest were ecstatic and so was Losonczi who missed his final against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) due to an injury, a deep cut on his chin.

Nao KUSAKA (JPN)Nao KUSAKA (JPN) defeated Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) in the 77kg semifinal in Budapest. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Nao KUSAKA (JPN) has now beaten World Championships gold and silver medalists at 77kg in the past two months. After his win over world champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) at the Asian Championships in April, Kusaka handed World Championships silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) a 2-1 defeat in the semifinal. Suleymanov was leading 1-1 on criteria but Kusaka managed to score a stepout just in time to claim the win.

In the final, Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) defaulted due to injury and Kusaka won the gold medal that will take him past Suleymanov as the top-ranked wrestler in the world. Suleymanov would have remained the top-ranked wrestler if he had won a bronze medal but pulled out due to injury. Kusaka will now have 67200 points while Suleymanov will have 67100 points.

At 97kg, World Championships bronze medalist Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) had no issues beating whoever tried to challenge him. In the final Alex SZOKE (HUN) led 1-1 on criteria but Saravi scored a takedown.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
SILVER: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
BRONZE: Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)

67kg
GOLD: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 4-0

BRONZE: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN), 6-5
BRONZE: Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) df. Andres MONTANO (ECU), 3-3

72kg
GOLD: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), 5-2

BRONZE: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), 7-3
BRONZE: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df. Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA), 2-1

77kg
GOLD: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Yosvanys PENA FLORESS (CUB) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mohammad Reza MOKHTARI (IRI) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), via inj. def.

82kg
GOLD: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO), 3-1

BRONZE: Karlo KODRIC (CRO) df. Spencer WOODS (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Mihail BRADU (MDA) df. Peter DOEMOEK (HUN), 3-0

87kg
GOLD: Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Mohammadhossein MAHMOODI (IRI) df. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 10-4
BRONZE: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Istvan TAKACS (HUN), via forfeit

97kg
GOLD: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Alex SZOKE (HUN), 3-1

BRONZE: Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Josef RAU (USA), 11-4
BRONZE: Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI) df. Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON), via inj. def.