Breaking down freestyle battles at World Championships for Non-Olympic weights

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 09:44 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 15) -- Six months ago, no one had the Sadulaev-Taylor-Ghasempour three-way battle for world title on their bingo card. But it is about to go down in Tirana.

The World Championships in non-Olympic weight classes is returning after eight years. Despite the fact that none of the Paris Olympic participants were allowed in the tournament, it still has a host of stars hoping to become world champions.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN), a two-time Olympic and five-time world champion, did not participate in the Paris Olympics and is going down a weight class to 92kg in a bid to earn his sixth world title. Three-time world champion David TAYLOR (USA) jumped from 86kg to 92kg in a bid to compete at the World Championships. He now gets a shot at Sadulaev. Two-time world champion at 92kg Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), who has been moving up and down in weight classes, has somehow been made the challenger.

Ghasempour participated in the 97kg weight class in the Zagreb Open but lost to Kyle SNYDER (USA). He was in line for Iran's 86kg spot for Paris but later opted out of a trial against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI).

Sadulaev lost a bout for the second time in his career and first in six years when he lost to Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) at the 2023 World Championships. Taylor lost to Aaron BROOKS (USA) in the U.S. Olympic trials and Ghasempour barely scraped through in the trials for the world team in Iran.

Yet, the three will be the favorite for the gold medal and it will only be a surprise if any of them miss out on the podium in Tirana.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is eyeing his seventh world title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is also chasing history. If he wins, he will win his seventh world title, making him the most successful American wrestler at the World Championships. He missed out on competing at the 2023 World Championships but stormed back in 2024, winning the trial in the United States.

But his path to gold won't be an easy one. Two-time U23 world champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), former world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), three-time world medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) and Asian champion Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) are also in the fray.

Nokhodi and Burroughs have wrestled in two back-to-back World Championships finals with the latter winning both. But Burroughs suffered his first loss to an Iranian in 2022 when Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) defeated him at the World Cup and Nokhodi will draw confidence from there.

All the big names will be looking to hand Burroughs his first World Championships loss since 2019.

Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is the defending world champion at 61kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Olympic champion eyeing a world title will be Zavur UGUEV (AIN) as he last won the second of two titles in 2019. Uguev won gold at the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg but finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships. He will be at 61kg in Tirana hoping to deny defending world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) a second world title.

Arujau won his first world gold medal in 2023 by beating Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) in a tense final. He won the team trials in the U.S. to confirm his name for the World Championships in Tirana.

An interesting name entered is Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB). The former European champion will turn out for Serbia at 61kg but it is unlikely that he will be challenging for gold.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN), however, can be a big threat for the gold medal given his style and pace of wrestling. He rocked the competition at the U20 World Championships last month and won gold at 61kg. It will be interesting to see how he fares at his first senior World Championships.

Asian Championships silver medalist UDIT (IND) and Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) have some good wins under their belts over the past two years and they would like to make a mark in Tirana.

Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wrestled in the U23 World Championships final last year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U23 world and European champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) will be making his senior international debut at 70kg in Tirana and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. However, the field has other top contenders like Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and James GREEN (USA) among others.

Yazdani lost the final at 70kg last year to Zain RETHERFORD (USA) but will look to make amends this year. He won the Asian Championships over Aoyagi in a high-scoring final. Yazdani's 13-9 win over Aoyagi was not convincing and the Japanese will look to change the result if the two meet in Tirana. Aoyagi was in the final against Sheriev but dropped the final 9-3. He finished eighth at the World Championships in 2023.

Former U20 world champion for Iran, Peiman BIABANI (CAN) will be turning out for Canada. He finished second at the Pan-Am Championships and the World Championships will be a big test for him. 2023 bronze medalist Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) will look to change the color of his medal this year.

#WrestleNoviSad

Eriomenco, Farokhi run through U23 Worlds field to reach finals

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 00:57 By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 20) -- Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) has already won the gold medal at the U23 World Championships. The Moldovan won gold in the 63kg weight class in Tirana, Albania last year.

In a bid to repeat, Eriomenco entered the 2025 edition as well, making it his fifth appearance the season-ending World Championships. Now, Eriomenco is one win away from defending his world title.

The recent bronze medalist in Zagreb, Eriomenco made it to the 63kg final at the U23 Worlds in Novi Sad, Serbia on Monday and will face a familiar opponent in the final in Ziya BABASHOV (AZE).

The two met in the U23 European Championships final earlier this year which Eriomenco won 3-1. However, Babashov had defeated the Moldovan in the final of the same tournament in 2024.

With the head-to-head locked at 1-1, Eriomenco and Babashov will clash Tuesday, the second day of the U23 Worlds which kicked off in Serbia on Monday with four Greco-Roman weight classes.

Iran and Ukraine had two finalists each while Georgia and Armenia also managed to get one each on the first day. Iran was led by world 82kg champion Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) who has moved up to 87kg but unbothered by the weight change. Defending champion at 130kg Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) returned to the final as well.

Eriomenco was heads above the field at 63kg as he won his four bouts via technical superiority. In the semifinals, he faced Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ) but had no trouble beating the Kyrgyzstan wrestler 10-1, scoring four turns from par terre.

Babashov on the other hand had to work hard for his 2-1 victory over Servet ANGI (TUR) in the other semifinal. He got on the scoreboard first as he scored a stepout using a two-on-one to lead 1-0. He was given the par terre position soon after but he failed to score. He still had a 2-0 lead going into the break.

Angi got his chance in the par terre in the second period but he failed to score any points over Babashov who defended his 2-1 lead to enter the final. He would now hope to repeat the performance from 2024 U23 Euro final which he won against Eriomenco 3-2.

At 87kg, Farokhi was also in top form, winning all his four bouts via technical superiority. He faced Payton JACOBSON (USA) in the semifinals but took no time as he rolled him four times from par terre to win 9-0 and advance to the final.

He will face Ivan CHMYR (UKR) for the gold medal bout after the Ukrainian defeated a surprise semifinalist in Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 2-1. Chmyr, who finished fifth at the U23 European Championships this year, held his own to beat Ben Labed.

Chmyr began with a win over Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB) before beating Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), 1-1. He then handed U23 Euro silver medalist Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) a 3-1 defeat.

In the semifinals against Ben Labed, who had beaten Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM), Deni NAKAEV (GER) and Brian RUIZ (VEN) to reach last four, Chmyr threw Ben Labed out of bounds from par terre to lead 2-0.

But when Ben Labed got a chance in par terre, there were no points scored and Chmyr booked a place in the final against world champion Farokhi.

Hedayati, the multiple-time age-group world champion, is closer to another title at 130kg after he reached the final. He defeated Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-0, in the semifinals using a stepout and a takedown on either side of the par terre position.

He will face Ramzik KURDYAN (ARM) in the final after the Armenian defeated Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW), 5-1, in the final. Kurdyan, who has a silver from U17 Worlds in 2019, rolled Melekhanov twice from par terre after defending his par terre position to win 5-1.

At 77kg, Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) upset European 72kg champion Levente LEVAI (HUN), 2-2, to reach the final as he looks to better his silver medal from 2022. Levai had a clear 2-1 lead in the semifinals when he scored takedown on the edge.

Levai increased his lead to 4-1 but Ukraine challenged and a foul was confirmed by Levai and he docked a point for stepping out which made the score 2-2 with Mirzoiev lead on last-point scored criteria. He defended that lead to reach the final for the second time in his career.

Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) will try to stop him from winning the gold medal on Tuesday after he got the better of U23 Asian champion Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 6-2.

Nakibov got the first par terre position but was blocked by Orjonikidze who scored a reversal and turn to lead 3-1. Georgia challenged asking for four points and on review it was confirmed that Nakibov fell in danger for four points.

With a 5-1 lead, Orjonikidze went into the passive mode and was put down in par terre in the second period. Nakibov tried to score with a turn but Orjonikidze never came in danger.

Uzbekistan challenged asking for two points but it was lost, giving one more point to Orjonikidze who won 6-2 and reach the final.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) vs. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)

SF 1: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) df. Servet ANGI (TUR), 2-1
SF 2: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ), 10-1

77kg
GOLD: Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) vs. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)

SF 1: Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) df. Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 6-2
SF 2: Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 2-2

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) vs. Ivan CHMYR (UKR)

SF 1: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Payton JACOBSON (USA), 9-0
SF 2: Ivan CHMYR (UKR) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 2-1

130kg
GOLD: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) vs. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) df. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-0
SF 2: Razmik KURDYAN (ARM) df. Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW), 5-1

Breaking down freestyle battles at World Championships for Non-Olympic weights

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Eriomenco, Farokhi run through U23 Worlds field to reach finals