#WrestleUfa

#WrestleUfa Junior World Championship Entries

By Eric Olanowski

UFA, Russia (August 12) --- After a 729-day layoff due to the worldwide pandemic, United World Wrestling will host the Junior World Championships for the first time since the '19 Tallinn Junior Worlds. 

Over 500 athletes from 52 different nations will compete in Ufa, Russia, August 16-22 for junior world gold. Freestyle kicks off the schedule of events next Monday, with women's wrestling and Greco-Roman action following.

Freestyle
57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Kiryl PRAKOPAU (BLR)
Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO)
Ioannis MARTIDIS (GRE)
Shubham SHUBHAM (IND)
Ali Abolfazl GHOLI ZADEGAN KOLOUKHI (IRI)
Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Demian LIUTCANOV (MDA)
Dashtseren PURVEE (MGL)
Ramazan BAGAVUDINOV (RUS)
Hasintha Madhushika De Silva DUNUHINGA (SRI)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Richard FIGUEROA II (USA)

61kg
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Abulfaz NASIROV (AZE)
Ivan HRAMYKA (BLR)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Omar GAZASHVILI (GEO)
Ravinder RAVINDER (IND)
Rahman Mousa AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI)
Salamat MALIKOV (KAZ)
Aktan DOORONBEKOV (KGZ)
Pavel ANDRUSCA (MDA)
Battulga RAASH (MGL)
Bartosz Krzysztof SOLTYS (POL)
Fedor BALTUEV (RUS)
Lahiru Sumindya Fernando WANNAKU WATHTHA WADUGE (SRI)
Khairullo KULULOV (TJK)
Hamza ZOPALI (TUR)
Jesse Wayne MENDEZ (USA)

65kg
Davit MARGARYAN (ARM)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Anatoli HRAMYKA (BLR)
Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL (CAN)
Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY)
Giorgi TCHOLADZE (GEO)
Marcell BUDAI KOVACS (HUN)
Rohit ROHIT (IND)
Seyedhassan Seyedhossein EBADIMERMETI (IRI)
Bekzat YERMEKBAY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Viljams LUTKEVICS (LAT)
Alin CIORICI (MDA)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Piotr Patryk SOBOLEWSKI (POL)
Shamil MAMEDOV (RUS)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Burak SININ (TUR)
Saif Mubarak Belal Saeed ALMESMARI (UAE)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
Beau Reynald BARTLETT (USA)

70kg
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (BLR)
Ivan Nikolaev STOYANOV (BUL)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Simon Jakob MONZ (GER)
Jonnathan Alejandro PEREZ CASTELLANOS (GUA)
Jaideep JAIDEEP (IND)
Erfan Mohammad ELAHI (IRI)
Asset BAUYRZHANOV (KAZ)
Alikhan ALISHER UULU (KGZ)
Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
Stanislav SVINOBOEV (RUS)
Viktor Stiven VOINOVIC (SRB)
Anthony Chamoth Nethmina PETER COOREGE DON (SRI)
Kevin Gerry MAKOTA STROEM (SWE)
Jafarbek QURBONOV (TJK)
Mevlut OZDEMIR (TUR)
Bryce Parker ANDONIAN (USA)

74kg
Armen MUSIKYAN (ARM)
Joseph James Granich FALLON (AUS)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
David KISIYEU (BLR)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Stas David WOLF (GER)
Balint BALAZS (HUN)
Yash YASH (IND)
Sobhan Hooshang YARI (IRI)
Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Stambul ZHANYBEK UULU (KGZ)
Daniels BENDIKS (LAT)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Patryk KOSTRZEWSKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Idar KHATANOV (RUS)
Ushan Nadishka MUTHUGAL PEDIGE (SRI)
Saidasan ASHRAFKHONOV (TJK)
Taner GARIP (TUR)
Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA)

79kg
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE)
Dzmitry DZENISENIA (BLR)
Carson Barry LEE (CAN)
Saifeldin Shokry Mohamed Mahmoud ELKOUMY (EGY)
Bagrati GAGNIDZE (GEO)
Richard SCHROEDER (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Baliyan GOURAV (IND)
Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI)
Makhambet NURZHAUBAYEV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Osmans DZASEZEVS (LAT)
Lilian BALAN (MDA)
Munkhdavaa BAYARMUNKH (MGL)
Damian Daniel KORBUS (POL)
Arno VAN ZIJL (RSA)
Alik BADTIEV (RUS)
Jinuka Lankaja ABEYAGUNASEKARA (SRI)
Abubakr SHUKUROV (TJK)
Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR)
Ruslan AKHMETKHANOV (UKR)
Donnell Russell WASHINGTON JR (USA)

86kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Sagadulla AGAEV (AZE)
Ilya KHAMTSOU (BLR)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua Philipp David MORODION (GER)
Cesar Andres UBICO ESTRADA (GUA)
Vetal Audumbar SHELKE (IND)
Amirhossein Biglar FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI)
Islyambek ILYASSOV (KAZ)
Samatbek STANBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Temuujin MENDBILEG (MGL)
Islam KARTOEV (RUS)
Avindu Srilak WANNIARACHCHI (SRI)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)
Colton Gregory HAWKS (USA)

92kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Uladzislau KAZLOU (BLR)
Juho Joel Eemeli RUUSILA (FIN)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Johannes MAYER (GER)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Krisztian Gabor ANGYAL (HUN)
Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (IND)
Mahdi Moharamali HAJILOUEIANMORAFAH (IRI)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Nurbolot ADYL UULU (KGZ)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Bayarbaatar NERGUIBAATAR (MGL)
Nicolaas Johannes Steyn DE LANGE (RSA)
Ivan KIRILLOV (RUS)
Sethusha Ruwel Vishmika Senanayake WADDUWA PALLIYA GURUNNANSELAGE DON (SRI)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR)
Rocky Joseph ELAM (USA)
Mukhammadrasul RAKHIMOV (UZB)

97kg
Khasay YUSIFOV (AZE)
Aliaksei PARKHOMENKA (BLR)
Luka KHUTCHUA (GEO)
Charalampos AFTOFORIDIS (GRE)
Milan Andras KORCSOG (HUN)
Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
Ali Reza Abbasali ABDOLLAHI (IRI)
Yunus GAFUROV (KAZ)
Baiaman MYKTYBEKOV (KGZ)
Olegs ROMANOVSKIS (LAT)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Myagmarsuren AMARSANAA (MGL)
Soslan DZHAGAEV (RUS)
Polat POLATCI (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Braxton James AMOS (USA)

125kg
Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Aydin AHMADOV (AZE)
Danila DANILOV (BLR)
Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL)
Ahmed Mahmoud Elsayed Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
Giorgi CHIKHRADZE (GEO)
Csaba UBORNYAK (HUN)
Kumar ANIRUDH (IND)
Ali Mohammadebrahim AKBARPOURKHORDOUNI (IRI)
Bekzat TAZHI (KAZ)
Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ)
Batmagnai ENKHTUVSHIN (MGL)
Jakub CZERCZAK (POL)
Andrei BESTAEV (RUS)
Efe Anil AL (TUR)
Wyatt Avery HENDRICKSON (USA)


Greco-Roman
55kg
Garnik HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Artsiom KATSAR (BLR)
Denis Krasimirov DEMIROV (BUL)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Kumar ANUP (IND)
Amirreza Mohammadreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyikat KULZHIGIT UULU (KGZ)
Kaspars BONDARENKO (LAT)
Snorre Harsem LUND (NOR)
Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU)
Pavel BELKIN (RUS)
Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK)
Adem Burak UZUN (TUR)
Vasyl MYSHANYCH (UKR)
William Dennis SULLIVAN IV (USA)

60kg
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE)
Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR)
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL)
Ahmed Fouad Fouad Hussein BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Tino Tapio OJALA (FIN)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Vikas VIKAS (IND)
Saeid Morad Gholi ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Baktiiar AKBERDIEV (KGZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Miguel Angelo LOUREIRO DOS SANTOS (POR)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (RUS)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Nicholas Pierce BOUZAKIS (USA)

63kg
Gevorg SUKIASYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Maksim STUPAKEVICH (BLR)
Ilia Dimitrov MUSTAKOV (BUL)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Kasperi Kristian KAUHANEN (FIN)
Yanis Driss NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Ioannis PETKOS (GRE)
Anil ANIL (IND)
Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Dias ASKERBAY (KAZ)
Omurzak TILEKABYLOV (KGZ)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Manuel STOICA (ROU)
Said Khusein BAKAEV (RUS)
Niklas Jan Olov Pontus OEHLEN (SWE)
Ismail ORUCOGLU (TUR)
Oleg KHALILOV (UKR)
Chayse William Roy LAJOIE (USA)

67kg
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Uladzimir KARPIYEVICH (BLR)
Kristijan BOSNJAK (CRO)
Ekke Kou LEITHAM (EST)
Nestori Kalle Mikael MANNILA (FIN)
Gagik Mishai SNJOYAN (FRA)
Luka OCHIGAVA (GEO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Nikolaos KALAIDOPOULOS (GRE)
Carlos Valerio FUENTES PERALTA (GUA)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
Seyed Danial Seyed Shamsollah SOHRABI (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Din Mukhamed KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Kamil Aleksander CZARNECKI (POL)
Muslim IMADAEV (RUS)
Georgios Michalis BARBANOS (SWE)
Nozimjon SOBIROV (TJK)
Serhat KIRIK (TUR)
Marian HOLUBOVSKYI (UKR)
Dominic John DAMON (USA)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Matthias HAUTHALER (AUT)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Andrei KAVALEUSKI (BLR)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Attila Tamas TOESMAGI (HUN)
Vikas VIKAS (IND)
Amir Ali ABDI (IRI)
Ariell SOSUNOV (ISR)
Abdiazim KARABAYEV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Diogo Alexandre FERREIRA CANILHAS (POR)
Evgenii BAIDUSOV (RUS)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK)
Omer Can DOGAN (TUR)
Vladyslav YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Justus Rian SCOTT (USA)

77kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Eljan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Aliaksei PIAKHOTA (BLR)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Emad Ashraf Mohamed ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Robyn PAULBERG (EST)
Jonni Kunnari SARKKINEN (FIN)
Giorgi SHPETISHVILI (GEO)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
Mohammadhossein Rezaali AZARMDOKHT (IRI)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Rassul ZHUNIS (KAZ)
Bakdaulet EGENBERDIEV (KGZ)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Konrad Lukasz KOZLOWSKI (POL)
Vasile Daniel COJOC (ROU)
Ravdan DZHUDZHINOV (RUS)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Matthew Arthur SINGLETON (USA)

82kg
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Mikhail KHACHATURAU (BLR)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Fares Mohamed Abdelsattar GHALY (EGY)
Robin USPENSKI (EST)
Saba MAMALADZE (GEO)
Kevin GREMM (GER)
Dominik Andras MEZEI (HUN)
Ravi MALIK (IND)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Azimkhon ABDALIYEV (KAZ)
Zhenish ZHUMABEKOV (KGZ)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Adam Mateusz GARDZIOLA (POL)
Amirkhan TSECHOEV (RUS)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)
Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR)
Jonathon Crag FAGEN (USA)

87kg
Fadi ROUABAH (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Dzmitry SALAUYANAU (BLR)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Kevin USPENSKI (EST)
Giorgi METREVELI (GEO)
Lucas Alexandros LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Patrik Janos MEZEI (HUN)
Sonu SONU (IND)
Ali Ramezanali ABEDIDARZI (IRI)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Nartu ABDURAKHMANOV (KGZ)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Algot Lennart Botvid KAELLMAN (SWE)
Tansel Can ORTUCU (TUR)
Oleksandr PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Kodiak Gary STEPHENS (USA)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (AZE)
Pavel HLINCHUK (BLR)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Antti Henrik Juhani HAANPAEAE (FIN) 
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Anton Erich VIEWEG (GER)
Apostolos Panagiotis TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Morteza Rasoul ALGHOSI (IRI)
Yerzat YERLANOV (KAZ)
Arkyt OROZBEKOV (KGZ)
Ignas BUKAUSKAS (LTU)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Igor SHEPETUN (POL)
Aleksei MILESHIN (RUS)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Braxton James AMOS (USA)

125kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Mikita KAVALSKI (BLR)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Mate GOKADZE (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Adolf BAZSO (HUN)
Parvesh PARVESH (IND)
Amirmohammad Mahdi BAYAT (IRI)
Assylbek ZHANIBEKULY (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Tomasz Jacek WAWRZYNCZYK (POL)
Armen CHOLOKIAN (RUS)
Muhammet Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Luke Andrew LUFFMAN (USA)

Women's Wrestling
50kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Natallia VARAKINA (BLR)
Shaimaa Atef Barakat MOHAMED (EGY)
Simran SIMRAN (IND)
Ayazhan MARKASHEVA (KAZ)
Nazik MIRLAN KYZY (KGZ)
Enkhzul BATBAATAR (MGL)
Natalia Edyta WALCZAK (POL)
Georgiana Lavinia ANTUCA (ROU)
Viktoriia ALEKSANDROVA (RUS)
Ellen Inger Kristina OESTMAN (SWE)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Emily King SHILSON (USA)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Aliaksandra BULAVA (BLR)
Pinki PINKI (IND)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Aizhan SABYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Agata Paulina KAZIMIERCZAK (POL)
Beatrice Ionela FERENT (ROU)
Choigana TUMAT (RUS)
Chamodya Keshani MADURAVALAGE DON (SRI)
Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Jaslynn Isabella GALLEGOS (USA)

55kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (BLR)
Antonia Alejandra VALDEZ ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Sito SITO (IND)
Sandugash DYUSSENGALIYEVA (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Anne SVARSTAD (NOR)
Julia Wiktoria NOWICKA (POL)
Anastasiia IANDUSHKINA (RUS)
Melda DERNEKCI (TUR)
Payton Jane STROUD (USA)

57kg
Maryia HULIDA (BLR)
Mansi MANSI (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Jannicke Marie STROEMNES (NOR)
Patrycja Ewa STRZELCZYK (POL)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (RUS)
Nethmi Ahinsa Fernando PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Nellie Anna Regina FLORENTIN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Claire Marie DICUGNO (USA)

59kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Aryna MARTYNAVA (BLR)
Jolie Donna Elizabeth BRISCO (CAN)
Anna Hella SZEL (HUN)
Kusum KUSUM (IND)
Madina AMAN (KAZ)
Bermet NURIDIN KYZY (KGZ)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Aleksandra Weronika WITOS (POL)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (RUS)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Mia Kaur MACALUSO (USA)

62kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Nadzeya BULANAYA (BLR)
Meiriele CHARAMBA SANTOS HORA (BRA)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Devi SANJU (IND)
Zhangul BOLD (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Viktoria Miriam OEVERBY (NOR)
Paulina Malgorzata DANISZ (POL)
Alina KASABIEVA (RUS)
Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR)
Korina Alexis BLADES (USA)

65kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Yana TRETSIAK (BLR)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Bhateri BHATERI (IND)
Ayazhan TOKTASH (KAZ)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Ingrid Bergh SKARD (NOR)
Zuzanna WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Amina Roxana CAPEZAN (ROU)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (RUS)
Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
Seda BASGOL (TUR)
Alara Lea BOYD (USA)

68kg
Alina MIKLASHEUSKAYA (BLR)
Arju ARJU (IND)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Karolina Gabriela KOZLOWSKA (POL)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (RUS)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Amit ELOR (USA)

72kg
Kseniya PATAPOVICH (BLR)
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Lili UJFALVI (HUN)
Saneh SANEH (IND)
Alexandra ZAITSEVA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Tsogzolmaa DORJSUREN (MGL)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Paula Aurelia Izabela ROTARU (ROU)
Mariam GUSEINOVA (RUS)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Kennedy Alexis BLADES (USA)

76kg
Kseniya DZIBUK (BLR)
Carla LERA CELDA (ESP)
Laura Celine KUEHN (GER)
Eleni PAPADOPOULOU (GRE)
Bipasha BIPASHA (IND)
Dilnaz MULKINOVA (KAZ)
Odbag ULZIIBAT (MGL)
Mariia SILINA (RUS)
Melisa SARITAC (TUR)
Kylie Renee WELKER (USA)

#WrestleBelgrade

Aitmukhan: From volunteer at Worlds to Kazakhstan's first world champ

By Vinay Siwach

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 19) -- Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) was hoping to become Kazakhstan's first-ever Freestyle world champion when he reached the 65kg final at the World Championships in 2019. He failed after losing to Gazdhimurad RASHIDOV.

In that final, Rashidov took a bleeding timeout. A volunteer, Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), ran out to clean the blood dropped on the mat. Little did Niyazbekov or Kazakhstan know that the tall volunteer would go on to achieve what Niyazbekov failed to.

Born in Kyzyltu, a village with only 600 people in the northern region of Kazakhstan, Aitmukhan became the central Asian country's first-ever world champion in Freestyle on Monday as he defeated Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the 92kg final in Belgrade, Serbia.

In a thrilling final, Aitmukhan made a comeback after being down 2-0. He scored a stepout and caution with 30 seconds left. His criteria lead was threatened by Nurmagomedov in the final second when he almost scored a pushout. But Aitmukhan pushed the Azerbaijan wrestler out of bounds and won 6-2.

"The final match was very intense and tough," Aitmukhan said. "I noticed that he was getting tired. I used that moment and snatched the victory. We work hard, but all the success comes from God."

This victory was after five other wrestlers from Kazakhstan had tried to win the elusive Freestyle gold in the country's wrestling history to check out another box. With a Freestyle world champion, Kazakhstan is now without a world champion only in Women's Wrestling.

Aitmukhan's gold medal was also the first for Kazakhstan at the World Championships since Mkhitar MANUKYAN's (KAZ) won the last one in 1999 in Greco-Roman.

"This victory is the biggest in my life," Aitmukhan said. "I’ve been working for it for so many years. I would like to dedicate this win to my country and to my grandmother, she would have been 81 years old today [Monday]. But she passed away 3 years ago. This victory means a lot to me."

Back in 2019, Aitmukhan was the fourth-placer at the World School Combat Games and later won bronze at the U15 Asian Championships. He competed at the U23 Asian Championships as a 17-year-old and won gold at 92kg. Four months later, he was at the U23 World Championships but lost to Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) in the first round and to Feyzulla AKTURK (TUR) in the bronze medal bout. Akturk also defeated him in the bronze medal bout at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series.

But as fate would have it, he would return to Astana in April this year, for the Asian Championships and enter the final. The 19-year-old finished with a silver medal against another teenager Arash YOSHIDA (JPN). He stepped on the top of the podium at the U23 Asian Championships before adding bronze at the Budapest Ranking Series. In an agonizing close U20 World Championships final in Amman in August, he finished with a silver medal.

The run in Belgrade saw him beat European champion Akturk 11-0 in the quarterfinals and returning bronze medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 8-1 in the semifinals.

For a wrestler who began only in 2014, the success meant that he was on the path to achieving something historic. Ironically, he had no liking for the sport as well.

"My dad made me wrestle by force nine years ago," he said. "I didn’t want to train at all, by the he made me do that. And then I liked it. And now, 9 years later I am a world champion, the first one in Kazakh history. I think it’s not a bad result for a 19-year-old."

The losses at the Asian and U20 World Championships fueled Aitmukhan's effort to win the gold in Belgrade.

"In the Asian championships final and in U20 Worlds, there was that moment when I had to push myself. But that wasn’t enough," he said. "This time I felt the same during the match. I realized that if I didn’t do it now, I might not ever get this chance again. So, I tried my hardest and I did it."

Now that one goal is achieved, Rizabek will move to the Olympic weight class of 97kg. 

"We’ve decided that it’s the last world championships in this weight class, next year I’ll move up to the Olympic weight 97kg," he said. "I’ll wrestle for an Olympic spot. I will try to become an Olympic champion."