#WrestleAthens

Wrestling World U17 C'ships: Freestyle Live Results

Friday, August 1, 2025 - 07:56 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (August 1) -- The World U17 Championships will be moving to Freestyle action with 48kg, 55kg, 65kg, 80kg and 110kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 4 RESULTS

14:30: The big three at 110kg -- Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW), Amirhossein NAGHDALIPOUR (IRI) and LACKY (IND) -- win their respective quarterfinals and enter the semifinals.

14:15: Zhakshylyk BOROBAEV (KGZ) thought he had the win at 55kg. But Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN) still had something in him and then. He scores a takedown manages to turn Borobaev for two more points and lead 9-8. He is ecstatic! He will wrestle Burnett later.

14:00: Greyton BURNETT (USA) shuts down Jaiveer SINGH (IND) and gets a 3-0 win over Singh at 55kg. Burnett gave no opening to Singh to score.

13:45: Big match on Mat A at 65kg between Asian U17 champion Gaurav PUNIA (IND) and Pan-Am U17 champion Arseni KIKINIOU (USA). Punia tries a leg-attack but Kikinou with a counter and turn for two points. Punia with a reversal. Kikinou led 3-1 at the break. Punia gets the exposure for two points to take a 3-3 criteria lead but Kikinou manages to put Punia in danger in the same scramble which makes it 5-3 for him. Kikinou cautioned for fleeing but he wins 5-4.

13:35: Morteza HAJ (IRI) gets a takedown in the final seconds to beat Ivan ZALISKO (UKR) at 65kg. Zalisko led 4-4 on criteria but Haj makes a  big comeback.

13:10: LACKY (IND) gut-wrenches Hanto HAYASHI (JPN) and wins his 110kg bout 10-0. He is looking to add a world title to his Asian title he won in June

13:06: In a match that saw six stepouts, Amirhossein NAGHDALIPOUR (IR) manages keep his breath and beat Zekeriya DOGAN (TUR) 6-2 at 110kg.

12:56: Aaron STEWART (USA) cuts shorts Marshall EVERETT JONES (GBR) tournament with an 11-0 hammering at 80kg. Stewart just overpowered Everett Jones.

12:55: Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN) hands Mohammadreza BARARI (IRI) a 4-1 loss at 55kg. Solid positioning from Okonogi. Barari's tactics of keeping it slow did not work out.

12:45: Nihad SULEYMANLI (AZE) is shocked after Issa ZANGIEV (UWW) gets front roll for two points and wins the 80kg 1/8 final 6-5. Suleymanli did well to keep his lead but failed in the final second. Azerbaijan challenges but it loses it. Zangiev wins 7-5

12:35: Greyton BURNETT (USA) gets a takedown with 20 seconds remaining to lead 3-1 against Armen PAPIKYAN (ARM) who needed a two-point technique to win. He however gets one a stepout. Burnett wins 3-2 at 55kg.

12:27: Asian U17 champion Gourav PUNIA (IND) like a workhorse with five takedowns and he defeats Kodai IWASAKI (JPN) 10-0 at 65kg.

12:25: Adisbek ALTYNBEKOV (KGZ) went five on Kiryl PAULIUCHENKA (UWW), not once but twice to win his 65kg match 10-0. Those were some high level throws from the Kyrgyz, a bronze medalist from Asian U17 Championships

12:05: Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW), European champion at 110kg, begins with a 11-0 win over Yu Chiao CHUANG (TPE), who had his own troubles with bleeding. He needed several medical timeouts

11:45: Marshall EVERETT JONES (GBR), European U17 bronze medalist, comes out with a huge underhook throw for four and then rolls Levan CHERTKOEV (FRA) to win 10-0 at 80kg.

11:40: Mohammadparsa KARAMI (IRI) keeps his strong positions and beats Buyantogtokh BYAMBADORJ (MGL) 7-2 at 80kg to give Iran the third win of the day. Iran is hoping to reclaim the U17 team title.

11:19: European champion Ruslan ALIZADA (AZE) has no trouble seeing off Dan BULGARU (MDA) 10-0 at 55kg. Alizada is one of more exciting prospects in this Azerbaijan team.

11:15: Iran with back-to-back wins! Morteza HAJ (IRI) beats Yandro SOTO RIVERA (PUR) at 65kg and Mohammadreza BARARI (IRI) defends a late attack from Aleksandar DELCHEV (BUL) to win at 55kg.

11:05: Asian U17 champion Gourav PUNIA (IND) slams Changxin WU (CHN) for a big four and then exposes his two times to win 11-0 at 65kg.

10:50: Quick results at 65kg as Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UWW) beats Nikos SOURAILOV (CYP) 10-0, followed by European U17 silver medalist Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE) getting a 4-2 win over Liam GORTON (CAN). Pan-Am champion Arseni KIKINIOU (USA) also has a technical superiority win over Nikita KOZICH (ISR).

10:30: Freestyle action will take centerstage at the World U17 Championships in Athens. The United States will once again be favorite to win the team title but Iran will look to challenge them. 

#WrestleBudapest

Takahashi marks return from injury with Ranking Series gold

Friday, July 18, 2025 - 20:08 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 18) -- The last memories of Kota TAKHASHI (JPN) on the mat were painful. He had a heavily strapped right knee and was wrestling at the Non-Olympic World Championships in Tirana last year. He was torn.

A surgery and nine months later, Takahashi returned to international wrestling at the Budapest Ranking Series on Friday and captured the 74kg gold medal.

The world U23 champion was the third gold medalist from Japan in Budapest after Takara SUDA (JPN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) won at 61kg and 70kg, respectively.

In the other two weight classes that were in action on Friday, Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) and Trent HIDLAY (USA) captured the gold medal at 86kg and 92kg as Freestyle came to a close at the Ranking Series.

Takahashi, who won the Asian Championships gold in 2024, made himself a gold-medal threat for the World Championships in Zagreb with an impressive performance that saw him score wins over Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and David CARR (USA).

"This was my first international competition since my right knee surgery, and I wanted to show my true abilities," Takahashi said. "I'm very happy that I was able to win by thoroughly executing my tackles and aggressive wrestling style."

Takahashi was up against Salkazanov in his first match and began by blasting two double-leg attacks to race to a 4-0 lead. But the second period was not the same as he was put on the activity clock and Salkazanov cut the lead with a takedown during that.

Just when it seemed that Salkazanov can take the lead, Takahashi hit a low leg-attack and converted it into takedown to make the gap 6-3. Salkazanov did not let it go and scored a stepout with nine seconds left.

Takahashi was happy to not engage in those nine seconds, and happily gave a stepout and a caution. He won 6-6 and set up a quarterfinal against Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN). He did not need any of those attacks as he managed a 3-0 win.

The semifinal against Carr was a challenging one as Takahashi struggled to keep his conditioning for six minutes. He opened with a stepout and Carr was called for fleeing. As Carr used a chest wrap to stop Takahashi's double-leg attack, he fell on his back with hand opens. Only Takahashi was awarded two points which made his lead 4-0. Two stepouts later, it was 6-0.

Carr got going in the final two minutes as he scored two takedowns inside 20 seconds to make it 6-4. So far, Takahashi had remained low in his stance and cancelled Carr's long reach. However, his defense began to break up.

As Carr tried to turn Takahashi after the second takedown, Takahashi blocked the turn and got two points. Carr scored a reversal to make it 8-5. He then made it 8-7 with 10 seconds remaining but that was the final scoring action of the bout.

"Car is very aggressive, and I am also good at aggressive wrestling, but in the second half, my opponent's attacks were superior to mine. I ended up conceding points," he said. "I think that was my mistake. In the second period, I tried to attack, but the opponent kept attacking repeatedly. I ended up just defending, and that was the reason I lost points. I need to be more aggressive and attack more."

Takahashi's aggressive wrestling was once again on show in the final against another former world U23 champion Magomed KHANIEV (AZE). He scored two takedowns and defending so well that Khaniev was not able to score a point and Takahashi won gold medal, 4-0.

But the Japanese accepted the chinks in his armor and has decided to work on them before the World Championships where he knows that the competition will be even tougher.

"Similar story against Salkazanov. I want to review my stamina to maintain an aggressive attack throughout the six minutes without breaking my stance, and keep solid stance," he said. "In the second half, my desire to attack weakened, and I ended up being attacked by the opponent, leading to them scoring points. I need to improve on that."

Carr returned for the bronze medal bout and defeated Salkazanov 4-4, avenging his previous to the Slovak from Zagreb.

Trent HIDLAY (USA)Trent HIDLAY (USA) defeated Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 7-2 in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Trent HIDLAY (USA), a 86kg silver medalist last year in Budapest, upgraded to gold medal after beating world silver medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 7-4, in the 92kg final.

Hidlay was in red-hot form the whole day as he began with a win over Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)  and then posted a 10-0 win over Krizstian ANGYAL (HUN) in the quarterfinal. He began the semifinal against Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) with a powerful double-leg takedown.

As Kurugliev fell, he landed on his knee and suffered an injury so bad that he was unable to walk off the mat. Hidlay reached the final after the injury forced Kurugliev to stop.

It was Maisuradze who opened the scoring in the final with a snapdown to takedown for two points but Hidlay answered with two stepouts and the Georgian led 2-2 on criteria at the break.

Hidlay opened the second period with a takedown to take a 4-2 lead and then continued to put pressure on Maisuradze. It paid off as he scored another takedown on the edge to lead 6-2. Georgia challenged that both wrestlers were already out of the zone and it should be one point. But the challenge was lost, making it 7-2 for Hidlay with 1:47 left on the clock.

That was all in the bout as Hidlay captured the gold and put his name in contention for the gold medal at the upcoming World Championships.

At 86kg, Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) was the gold medalist after European silver medalist Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW) pulled out of the final injured.

Kadzimahamedau suffered a knee injury in the semifinal against Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) as the Iranian did not let go off his knee despite it turning more than 90 degrees.

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Magomed KHANIEV (AZE), 4-0

BRONZE: David CARR (USA) df. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 4-4
BRONZE: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) df. Yeldos KUANYSHBAY (KAZ), 8-2

86kg
GOLD:  Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) df. Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Osman GOCEN (TUR) df. Boris MAKOEV (SVK), 3-2
BRONZE: Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) df. Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ), 3-0 

92kg
GOLD: Trent HIDLAY (USA) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 7-4

BRONZE: Benjamin HONIS (ITA) df. Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN), via fall (5-5)
BRONZE: Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE), via inj. def.