#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2024 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 1) -- The new season kicks off in Zagreb, Croatia with the Zagreb Open. The Ranking Series event from January 10 to 15 will begin with Freestyle, followed by Women's Wrestling and end with Greco-Roman.

The biggest names in wrestling will look to begin the Olympic year in their respective Olympic weight class along with a two-kilogram weight allowance.

Former world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) will be returning to action after nursing an injury. He will be at 97kg.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is entered at 74kg for Zagreb Open. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
Darthe CAPELLAN (CAN)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Darian CRUZ (PUR)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Andrii YATSENKO (UKR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)
Brandon COURTNEY (USA)
AMAN (UWW)

61kg
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Daniel POPOV (ISR)
Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Joseph SILVA (PUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Michael MCGEE (USA)

65kg
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Baowen WEI (CHN)
Omar MOURAD (EGY)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEHSAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA)
Nahshon GARRETT (USA)
Joseph MCKENNA (USA)

70kg
Nikolay DIMITROV (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Douglas ZAPF (USA)

74kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Feng LU (CHN)
Nuerlanbieke WURENIBAI (CHN)
Amr REDA (EGY)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Hossein ABOUZARIPASHKOLAEI (IRI)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Tobias PORTMANN (SUI)
Yakup GOR (TUR)
Vadym KURYLENKO (UKR)
Quincy MONDAY (USA)
Jason NOLF (USA)
YASH (UWW)
Anthony MONTERO (VEN)

79kg
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Abdollah SHEIKHAZAMI (IRI)
Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
Denys PAVLOV (UKR)
Evan WICK (USA)
Joseph LAVALLEE (USA)

86kg
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Suhe GANG (CHN)
Peilong LI (CHN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN)
Hadi VAFAEIPOUR (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Ethan RAMOS (PUR)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Valentyn BABII (UKR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Chandler MARSTELLER (USA)
Maxwell DEAN (USA)
Deepak PUNIA (UWW)
Pedro CEBALLOS (VEN)

92kg
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Balazs JUHASZ (HUN)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Eric SCHULTZ (USA)
Taylor LUJAN (USA)
Nathan JACKSON (USA)

97kg
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN)
Maxwell LACEY (CRC)
Mostafa ELDERS (EGY)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO)
Erik THIELE (GER)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)
Isaac TRUMBLE (USA)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)
VICKY (UWW)
Cristian SARCO (VEN)

125kg
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Vakhit GALAYEV (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Zhiwei DENG (CHN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY)
Youssif HEMIDA (EGY)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR)
Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)
Christian LANCE (USA)
Mason PARRIS (USA)
SUMIT (UWW)
Jose DIAZ (VEN)

Luis ORTA (CUB)World Championships finalists Luis ORTA (CUB) and Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) are entered at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Maksim STUPAKEVICH (AIN)
Adem Burak UZUN (TUR)

60kg
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (AIN)
Sadyk LALAEV (AIN)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Liguo CAO (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Ihor KUROCHKIN (UKR)
Bohdan HRYSHYN (UKR)
Hayden TUMA (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
GYANENDER (UWW)
Raiber RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

63kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Matej REBIC (CRO)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Rayan HAWSAWI (KSA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Virgil BICA (SWE)
Mehmet CEKER (TUR)

67kg
Aslan VISAITOV (AIN)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Lei LI (CHN)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
David MANYIK (HUN)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Faisal E ALDOSSARY (KSA)
Saud ALSUBAIE (KSA)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Oleksii MASYK (UKR)
Maksym LIU (UKR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Peyton OMANIA (USA)
Robert PEREZ (USA)
NEERAJ (UWW)

72kg
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (AIN)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Calebe CORREA FERREIRA (BRA)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Zsolt TAKACS (HUN)
Ahmed BARAHMAH (KSA)
Iulian LUNGU (ROU)
Maurus ZOGG (SUI)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Muhammed GOCMEN (TUR)
Murat DAG (TUR)

77kg
Pavel LIAKH (AIN)
Tsimur BERDYIEU (AIN)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Joilson DE BRITO (BRA)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Amir Ali ABDI (IRI)
Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Hassan A BARNAWI (KSA)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV (UKR)
Elmar NURALIIEV (UKR)
Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Ravaughn PERKINS (USA)
VIKAS (UWW)

82kg
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Mahmoud HAWSAWI (KSA)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Mats AHLGREN (SWE)
Timmy SKOELD (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)

87kg
Kiryl MASKEVICH (AIN)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (AIN)
Alan OSTAEV (AIN)
Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN)
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Ioannis NARLIDIS (CAN)
Jose MORENO BUSTOS (CHI)
Haitao QIAN (CHN)
Chengwu WANG (CHN)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB)
Mohamed METWALLY (EGY)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Dogan KAYA (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Spencer WOODS (USA)
Mahmoud Fawzy SEBIE (USA)
Sunil KUMAR (UWW)
Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Peter OEHLER (GER)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Kevin CASTILLO (HON)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Ibrahim FALLATAH (KSA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Serhii OMELIN (UKR)
Yevhenii SAVETA (UKR)
Josef RAU (USA)
Alan VERA GARCIA (USA)
Narinder CHEEMA (UWW)
Luillys PEREZ MORA (VEN)

130kg
Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA (AIN)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Franz RICHTER (GER)
Dariusz Attila VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Boris PETRUSIC (SRB)
Delian Hossein ALISHAHI (SUI)
Oleksandr CHERNETSKYY (UKR)
Vladyslav VORONYI (UKR)
Adam COON (USA)
NAVEEN (UWW)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) is returning to the Zagreb Open to defend her 50kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Kseniya STANKEVICH (AIN)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (AIN)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
Miglena SELISHKA (BUL)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Chun LEI (CHN)
Jacqueline MOLLOCANA ELENO (ECU)
Nada MOHAMED (EGY)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Julie SABATIE (FRA)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Mariana DIAZ MUNOZ (MEX)
Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
Agata Marta WALERZAK (POL)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Mariana ROJAS DIAZ (VEN)

53kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Antonia VALDES ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Qianyu PANG (CHN)
Min ZHANG (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Sztalvira ORSUS (HUN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Nethmi AHINSA (SRI)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
Haley AUGELLO (USA)
Dominique PARRISH (USA)
Betzabeth ARGUELLO VILLEGAS (VEN)

55kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Albina RILLIA (UKR)

57kg
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Hannah TAYLOR (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Kexin HONG (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA)
Amel REBIHA (FRA)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Betzabeth SARCO (VEN)

59kg
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Lais NUNES (BRA)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Yaru WU (CHN)
Lili LILI (CHN)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)
SONAM (UWW)
Astrid MONTERO CHIRINOS (VEN)

65kg
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

68kg
Hanna SADCHANKA (AIN)
Vusala PARFIANOVICH (AIN)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
Sofiya GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Feng ZHOU (CHN)
Qian JIANG (CHN)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Eyleen SEWINA (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)
Forrest MOLINARI (USA)
RADHIKA (UWW)
Soleymi CARABALLO (VEN)

72kg
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)

76kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (AIN)
Rita TALISMANOVA (AIN)
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Juan WANG (CHN)
Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN)
Samar HAMZA (EGY)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Ambre CHEVREAU (FRA)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Bernadett NAGY (HUN)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR)
Adeline GRAY (USA)
Kennedy BLADES (USA)
Kylie WELKER (USA)
Maria ACOSTA (VEN)

#WrestleZagreb

European Championships freestyle preview

By Mark Pickering

ZAGREB, Croatia (April 4) -- Europe’s elite wrestlers will descend to Croatia to compete in the continental showpiece from April 17 to 23 in Zagreb.

Out of 10 gold medalists from 2022, nine are returning to defend their titles, illustrating the importance of the must-see seven-day event. A star-laden field of champions and emerging European hopefuls will assemble in Zagreb, which successfully hosted the season-launching Ranking Series event in February, as wrestling embarks on its road to the Paris 2024 Olympics in April.

In men's freestyle, the highlight will be Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) returning to the mat since the World Cup in December. He is entered at 61kg, a weight class which will also see defending champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) and 57kg European champion Vladimir EGOROV (MKD).

Abakarov, 30, made history by dethroning reigning world champion Thomas GILMAN (USA) to win his country’s first-ever World Championships gold last year.  

Harutyunyan shone on all fronts in 2022 by winning his second European Championships, a second world bronze medal and the U23 world to finish the year. Tokyo 2020 Olympian Harutyunyan, 24, earned bronze at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series Tournament in February.

Egorov produced a career-best display in Budapest to become his country’s first gold medalist at the showpiece event in 23 years. Egorov, 28, is part of the 61kg line-up this year having won his gold medal and 2019 bronze in the 57kg category.

The second world champion wrestling in Zagreb will be Taha AKGUL (TUR), the defending champion bidding for a 10th European title.

Rio 2016 Olympic champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Akgul, 33, opened his 2023 calendar by taking gold at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series Tournament.

The gargantuan Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will be aiming to avenge his European Championships final loss he suffered in Budapest last year to arch-rival Akgul if the two meet.

The 29-year-old three-time world champion, who also saw Olympic gold slip away at the last hurdle at Tokyo 2020, topped the European Championships podium in 2016 and 2020.

At 65kg, defending champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) will look to collect a second straight gold medal but in his path will be Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Haji ALIYEV (AZE). The two met in the final last year and Muszukajev dominated Aliyev, winning a one-sided final in front of his home crowd.

But Aliyev will be well rested for the tournament as he last performed at the world championships last year, finishing fifth after losing to Muszukajev in the bronze medal bout.

The two should be wary of Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) as he continues his rise at 65kg. He won the U23 World Championships last year after finishing seventh at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Young star Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR) and Andre CLARKE (GER) could prove to be the dark horses.

Two-time reigning European champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), who also took world silver last year, will be installed by many as the favorite in the 74kg category.

The 27-year-old world number three, however, will be hoping to banish memories of his first visit to the Croatian capital this year having lost two contests at the Ranking Series event in February. His biggest challenger will be Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) who lost to Salkazanov by one point in the final in Budapest.

Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) will be another top name on the list. Still 21 years old, he has the caliber to win against any of the top wrestlers and claims the gold medal.

Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU) won the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event and is the dark horse of the weight classes with his speed and skill combination.

Veterans Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) and Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) will look to finish on the podium.

History-maker Myles AMINE (SMR) will look to defend his gold medal in Zagreb despite the likes of Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE), Boris MAKOEV (SVK) and Fatih ERDIN (TUR) entered.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Amine, 27, his country’s third Olympic medallist and first in wrestling, finished fifth at the 2023 Zagreb Open.

At 57kg, it will be a test for Suleyman ATLI (TUR) as he continues his stay at 57kg after winning the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series gold medal in February.

But the competition in Zagreb will be on the higher side as his weight class has former U23 world champion Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE), Horst LEHR (GER) and former U17 world champion Andrii YATSENKO (UKR) who lost to Atli in the Alexandria finals.

In-form Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) started his season by capturing the top prize at Ibrahim Moustafa at 86kg but reverts to 79kg duty in Zagreb. The 28-year-old world number five converted his 2020 European bronze into world bronze last year.

But he will face a familiar for in defending champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) who will be keen on winning his second European title after winning back-to-back gold medals at the U23 level.

In the final of the U23 Euros, he defeated Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) by one point and would like to repeat the result with a bigger margin.

Iman MAHDAVI (UWW) will be part of the UWW Refugee team and compete in the 74kg weight class in Zagreb.

European powerhouses Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) and Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), who stood side-by-side on the World Championships podium in September as bronze medallists, will renew acquaintances at 92kg.

World number four Nurmagomedov, 25, is aiming for his third successive piece of continental championships hardware (bronze in 2021 and 2022) and has form on his side after picking up bronze at the 2023 Zagreb Open.

World number two Maisuradze, 24, made a senior continental breakthrough last year as he won bronze in Budapest. The highly-active Georgian opened his 2023 season by earning silver at the Zagreb Open and followed up three weeks later with bronze at the Ibrahim Moustafa.

Continental kingpin Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) starred in Budapest last year with a career-making first gold on the senior stage as he surged to European Championships glory in the 92kg category.

Akturk, 25, who has now won continental gold at the U20, U23 and senior level, comes into the event on the back of a bronze medal at the Ibrahim Moustafa.

Three current world medalists from the 97kg category will grace the division on the European stage.

World silver medallist Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) is joined by bronze medalists Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) and Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO).

Slovak Tsakulov secured Ibrahim Moustafa gold in February to underline his European title ambitions. Reigning European champion Magomedov clinched bronze at the Zagreb Open while Matcharashvili made an early exit in the round of 32 at the Ibrahim Moustafa.

Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) can go deeper in the tournament with improved conditioning but that remains to be seen.

The action from the European Championships can be seen live at uww.org and on the UWW App.