#Zagreb2019

Zagreb Open Rosters Released

Monday, February 4, 2019 - 18:11 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) - The Zagreb Open, United World Wrestlings first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, starts this Saturday in Zagreb, Croatia. Nearly 40 age-group and senior-level world medalists, along with London Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) are set to compete for the all-important Ranking Series points.  

This will be the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event where the revamped point structure will be used. This tournament is especially important because the seeding process at the 2019 Astana World Championships takes into account the number of points competitors accumulate from last year's World Championships, along with the Continental Championships and the Ranking Series events.  

The number of points awarded at a competition will also be impacted by the number of wrestlers entered in each bracket. For weight categories with 10 or fewer entries, an additional six (6) points will be added. For categories with 11-20 wrestlers entered an additional eight (8) points will be added. Ten (10) points will be added to any weight category with more than 20 entries.

The three remaining Greco-Roman Ranking Series events are the Hungarian Grand Prix (February 23), the Sassari (May 24), and the Oleg Karavaev (July 26). 

2019 Ranking Series Point Structure
GOLD - 8 points  
SILVER - 6 points 
BRONZE - 4 points
Fifth - 2 points 

*Please note that these are unofficial entries and are subject to change. Entry will not be official until 24 hours before the competition starts. This goes for every pre-entry list released by United World Wrestling. 

55kg 
Jozsef ANDRASI (HUN)
Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI)
Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)
Cihat Ahmet LIMAN (TUR)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Dogus AYAZCI (TUR)

60kg 
Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL)
Sandro FRANKOL (CRO)
Tony BRALA (CRO)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Mikkel LASSEN (DEN)
Daniel BOBILLO VIGIL (ESP)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Milad Ali REZANEZHAD HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
LEE Jungbaik (KOR)
CHUNG Hanjae (KOR)
KIM Seunghak (KOR)
Ardit FAZLJIJA (SWE)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Dalton James ROBERTS (USA)
Xavier Tramain JOHNSON (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Javokhir MIRAKHMEDOV (UZB)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

63kg 
Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL)
Luka PRIHISTAL (CRO)
Mohsen Fathollah MADHANI (IRI)
Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL)
Dawid Andrzej ERSETIC (POL)
Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL)
Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU)
Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE)
Rahman BILICI (TUR)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Erhan KARAKUS (TUR)
Travis Michael RICE (USA)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)


Korea's two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR) will wrestle at 67kg. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)  

67kg 
Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ (CHI)
Danijel JANECIC (CRO)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Alejandro Ruslan CONCEPCION CASTILLO (ESP)
Otto LOSONCZI (HUN)
Mate KRASZNAI (HUN)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Mohammad Reza Hojatollah MOKHTARI (IRI)
RYU Hansu (KOR)
KIM Dohyeong (KOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Tamas NAD (SRB)
Danielo Giuseppe DI FEOLA (SWE)
Abdul Samet BASAR (TUR)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Volkan CAKIL (TUR)
Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)

72kg 
Stoyan Stoychev KUBATOV (BUL)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Fran SACIC (CRO)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)
Martin TOTH (HUN)
Yousef Hajiali HOSSEINVAND FATHI (IRI)
Vegard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Dawid KARECINSKI (POL)
Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksandr PAIVIN (RUS)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Oskar Simon ERLANDSSON (SWE)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Murat DAG (TUR)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)


Serbia's 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES is registered to compete at 77kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

77kg
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Laszlo SZABO (HUN)
Martin SZABO (HUN)
Zotlan LEVAI (HUN)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Igor PETRISHIN (ISR)
KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Rafael IUNUSOV (RUS)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Khalid KERCHIYEV (SWE)
Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA)
Peyton Burke WALSH (USA)
Kamal Ameer BEY (USA)
Bilan NALGIEV (UZB)

82kg 
Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN)
Daniel TOLLAR (HUN)
Hosein Jahanbakhsh FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI)
Timotej TRBULIN (SLO)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Emrah KUS (TUR)
John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg 
Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Ivan RATKOVIC (CRO)
Pedro Jacinto GARCIA PEREZ (ESP)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Bertalan PAPP (HUN)
Hasan Jahanbakhsh FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI)
PARK Heageun (KOR)
KIM Junehyoung (KOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Arkadiusz Marcin KULYNYCZ (POL)
Valentin CABI (SRB)
Vladimir STANKIC (SRB)
Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV (SRB)
Aleksandar Georgije STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Patrick Anthony MARTINEZ (USA)
Kevin Dewayne RADFORD JR (USA)
Muhammadali SHAMSIDDINOV (UZB)


Bulgaria's 2018 world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) is expected to compete at 97kg. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne) 

97kg
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
Adam VARGA (HUN)
Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN)
Robert ERSEK (HUN)
Abolfazl Naser SEYEDMAHDAVI (IRI)
LEE Seyeol (KOR) 
KIM Seungjun (KOR)
Ilia BORISOV (RUS)
Pontus Johan LUND (SWE)
Fatih BASKOY (TUR) 
Abdul Kadir CEBITUR)
Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR)
Nicholas Allen BOYKIN (USA)
Daniel Collett MILLER (USA)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)

130kg 
Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Ante MILKOVIC (CRO)
Balint LAM (HUN)
Armin Mozes MAJOROS (HUN)
Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI)
KIM Minseok (KOR)
LEE Seungchan (KOR)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

Another Ono rises: Konami follows brother's footsteps

Friday, August 29, 2025 - 02:52 By Ikuo Higuchi

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TOKYO (August 27) -- When you think of the name Ono from Shimane Prefecture, many will recall Masanosuke ONO (JPN), a world champion who is quickly becoming a global star, who now primarily competes in the United States.

Ono's younger sister Konami, who was undefeated in the national tournament during her elementary school years, is just like her brother. She went on to attend Nippon Sport Science University Ohka High School in Tokyo, where she grew up steadily, winning the Inter-High School Championships in 2023 and also winning silver at the U17 World Championships the same year.

A shoulder injury caused her to slow down, but through repeated practice at Nippon Sport Science University she regained her former strength and won the East Japan Student Championships and the All Japan Amateur Championships [women's competition is open to university students as well] last week.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN), left, won a silver medal at the 2023 U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Being coached by 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medalist Chikara TANABE and Kaori ICHO, she described herself as being in "the best environment."

Ono had been suffering from pain in the right shoulder and had to undergo a surgery in June last year. She had initially aimed for a comeback last year at the All Japan Championships [Emperor's Cup] in December, but was forced to withdraw. She returned to competition in April of this year at the Junior Queen's Cup U20, where she won one match, but lost the next match to a junior from high school by technical superiority.

"There were times when my shoulder would dislocate just by walking. It was a frustrating year," said Ono with her voice becoming teary, as if the pain had returned. "I'm happy because I was injured and couldn't wrestle for a while," she said but added, "I realized I need to practice more and get stronger."

Inspiration from brother Ono

While she was off the mat, Konami watched her brother Masanosuke win the gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 2024 and later become the world champion at 61kg at the Non-Olympic World Championships.

"It's not something I could ever imitate," she says, and although he is someone she should "admire" rather than "target," he is also someone close to her, having competed alongside since childhood. "I want to study hard and catch up," she says.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN) with world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA). (Photo courtesy: Masaharu Ono) 

Earlier in spring, Konami accompanied her older brother to the United States, where he trains at Pennsylvania State University. She was still recovering and was unable to train, but she watched her brother's win against 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA).

"I thought American wrestling was really amazing. It was inspiring," she said.

What made the biggest impression on Konami was how much fun her brother seemed to be having wrestling, even though he was in a foreign country.

"He really enjoys wrestling," she said. "I was amazed that there are people who love wrestling that much [laughs].

"My brother is my role model," she said. "I often watch his techniques and aspire to be like him."

What she finds particularly impressive is his speed, and the way he unconsciously develops his techniques. She herself sometimes has trouble deciding what to do next during a match, but her brother's body moves without a second thought. "I need to be able to come out with techniques one after the other," she said.

Training with Fujinami, Onishi

While Ono found his path in the United States, Konami is thinking of firmly establishing herself in Japan.

"I think that if I stay at Nippon Sport Science University, I will become really strong," she says, believing that his current environment is the place where she can develop the skills to compete on the world stage.

Not only is there an impressive coaching staff, but there are also world-class athletes such as 2024 Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) and Asian champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) in the 57kg and 59kg weight class, respectively. Fujinami won gold at the Olympics in 53kg.

"I practice with Akari every day. She's really strong..." she said, admiringly, and when she's not sparring, she's always following Fujinami's movements to study them.

Since they are both in the 57kg weight class, could she challenge Fujinami as early as the All Japan Championships in December? To that question, she gave no clear answer, saying, "I'm not at the level where I can fight yet..." and said that she might move up a weight class as her body grows, so it's still up in the air, but perhaps the day is approaching when the middleweight trio, including Onishi, will take to the world stage.

Rather than setting big goals, her current goal is to "compete in many matches and enjoy wrestling." She says that she is actually enjoying it, so perhaps she is getting closer to her brother's level. Her next concrete goal is the All Japan Women's Open Championships in October.

She vowed to make a leap forward, saying, "I want to train both my body and mind and become even stronger. I want to become a star from Shimane Prefecture!"