2026 U17 World Championships

U17 World Championships 2026 Entries: Wrestling's Young Stars in Baku

By United World Wrestling Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (July 11) -- The U17 Wrestling World Championships will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from July 27 to August 2 at the National Gymnastics Arena.

The competition will kick off with Greco-Roman, then move to Women's Wrestling and finish with Freestyle. In Greco-Roman, 231 wrestlers are entered, 196 in Women's Wrestling and 242 wrestlers are entered in Freestyle.

Note: The entries are subject to change

UWW+

Women's Wrestling

40kg
Gulkhanim SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Rohini DEVBA (IND)
Natsumi SASAKI (JPN)
Aiaru ILIYAS (KAZ)
Aruuke NURBEKOVA (KGZ)
Azzaya BATTULGA (MGL)
Zlata KORESHOVA (RUS)
Tasmin ATHIMNI (TUN)
Sirin ASKARA (TUR)
Mariia DREBOT (UKR)
Sophia VALDEZ (USA)
Zaytuna SAPAROVA (UZB)

43kg
Maryam AMRALI (AZE)
Anastasiya LAZARCHYK (BLR)
Kristin ILIYNA (BUL)
Maya NAICKER (CAN)
Finja STRAUCH (GER)
DIKSHA (IND)
Sera FURUICHI (JPN)
Danara DAIRBEKOVA (KAZ)
Asema ASANGARYEVA (KGZ)
Rusalina PORTARU (MDA)
Tola RUDNIK (POL)
Valia HARSAN (ROU)
Daria MASLENNIKOVA (RUS)
Aysemin KACAN (TUR)
Valeriia YATSKIV (UKR)
Suzannah LUNDY (USA)
Mukhlisa MASHARIPOVA (UZB)

46kg
Nuray JAFARLI (AZE)
Anastasiya NIAKLIAYEVA (BLR)
Frederika GROSSE (GER)
Vivien SZENTPAL (HUN)
Sandhya VISHNOI (IND)
Kokona MAKINO (JPN)
Inzhu BAKKOZHA (KAZ)
Aiana NIIAZBEKOVA (KGZ)
Irina TERZI (MDA)
Mungunchimeg GAVAA (MGL)
Julia PALKA (POL)
Alina BARANOVA (RUS)
Elif Su AKSOY (TUR)
Kateryna HOZHELOVA (UKR)
Madison HEALEY (USA)
Gulnoza ZAKIRDJANOVA (UZB)

49kg
Khadija GURBANZADA (AZE)
Milana TSIKHANOVICH (BLR)
Isabelle CHEN (CAN)
Hilary SOTO SUAZA (COL)
Lara BLAZEKOVIC (CRO)
Malak NAWWAR (EGY)
Madina BAYRAMOVA (GER)
Kamna BABAL (IND)
Saika UCHIDA (JPN)
Ayanat MEINAMBAY (KAZ)
Zhanylai MEERBEKOVA (KGZ)
Mihaela BACOS (MDA)
Enerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Irina TSYDEEVA (RUS)
Pei Chin KO (TPE)
Evin DEMIR (TUR)
Olena KOLUBAI (UKR)
Isla Belle SILVA (USA)
Madina GAFUROVA (UZB)

53kg
Fatima BAYRAMOVA (AZE)
Anastasiya KEZHUN (BLR)
Valeria STANCHEVA (BUL)
Alejandra SERRANO (COL)
Lea LINGSCHEIDT (GER)
Mariia ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
AKSHARA (IND)
Sela ROZOV (ISR)
Rion OGAWA (JPN)
Arailym KOPZHASSAR (KAZ)
Aidemi ASANGAZIEVA (KGZ)
Ruslana CARAPETIANT (MDA)
Nomin SHINEBAYAR (MGL)
Zuzanna SOKOLOWSKA (POL)
Madalina PAVEL (ROU)
Malita BOLATOVA (RUS)
Miriam MISAKOVA (SVK)
Chi Yun YU (TPE)
Rahma REZGUI (TUN)
Ecrin SALIK (TUR)
Ivanna MAIDANSKA (UKR)
Marlee SOLOMON (USA)
Guzal ABDULLAEVA (UZB)

57kg
Ulviyya MUSAYEVA (AZE)
Divine NKUNZIMANA (BDI)
Marharyta DANILEVICH (BLR)
Gurleen DHILLON (CAN)
Mia KOVAC (CRO)
Nadiia ZHOLTIKOVA (ESP)
Ana LABADZE (GEO)
Eleni GAVRINIOTI (GRE)
Janka SILLEI (HUN)
Nikita SEHRAWAT (IND)
Rion SUZUKI (JPN)
Arina KUANYSHOVA (KAZ)
Muslima BOLOTBEKOVA (KGZ)
Ana RACHITEANU (MDA)
Valentina PADRON TALAVERA (MEX)
Uranbayar BALJINNYAM (MGL)
Emilia REICH (POL)
Valeria FLOCEA (ROU)
Sofiia BELOVA (RUS)
Delia GISLER (SUI)
I Jou WANG (TPE)
Emna HAMMAMI (TUN)
Su SOYALP (TUR)
Mariia POLTORAK (UKR)
Epenesa ELISON (USA)
Dilnura AVEZOVA (UZB)

61kg
Fidan BABAYEVA (AZE)
Maryia KHRUSHCHOVA (BLR)
Andrea NISEVA (BUL)
Kai PARE (CAN)
Graciela ENINGO (ESP)
Karol TAMSON (EST)
Surae ABBASSOY (FIN)
Ana TSERETELI (GEO)
Eleni NTOUNIA (GRE)
Mariama KABA (GUI)
Zea BALAZS (HUN)
AVANSHIKA (IND)
Marharyta OVCHARENKO (ISR)
Waka AWANO (JPN)
Aruzhan BAKYTNUR (KAZ)
Aibiike AMANGELDYEVA (KGZ)
Lidia UNGUREANU (MDA)
Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL)
Inga KUC (POL)
Marisa ITURRINO (PUR)
Oana DUMITRU (ROU)
Oksana AIDAROVA (RUS)
Zaineb NASRI (TUN)
Ozdenur OZMEZ (TUR)
Yuliia HOLHOVSKA (UKR)
Landri VON GONTEN (USA)
Siysagul SARSENBAEVA (UZB)

65kg
Rana NURIYEVA (AZE)
Palina BRAHINETS (BLR)
Annie NIEMANN (CAN)
Lana PEZIC (CRO)
Yolayni ROSADO (DOM)
Rokaia IBRAHIM (EGY)
Vasiliki KARAVANOU (GRE)
Szonja VERES (HUN)
ANTRA (IND)
Haruka KANEMOTO (JPN)
Aisha ABDIMALIK (KAZ)
Alina DZHARKINBAEVA (KGZ)
Margarita LISITA (MDA)
Sylvia ESPINOSA (MEX)
Ariunzul BOLDBAATAR (MGL)
Mariia GRISHCHUK (RUS)
Melisa SARICICEK (TUR)
Iryna BUKHTINA (UKR)
Eve SKROCKI (USA)
Shahzoda AZIMOVA (UZB)

69kg
Simura ABDULLAYEVA (AZE)
Kamila RUDZIANKOVA (BLR)
Natalia TASEVA (BUL)
Khushleen JHALLI (CAN)
Nino SAMKHARADZE (GEO)
TANIYA (IND)
Hibiki IIDA (JPN)
Khadisha FLYUK (KAZ)
Aiana SAMAEVA (KGZ)
Maria PAZ (MEX)
Khuslen MUNKHBAYASGALAN (MGL)
Maja WEJCHAN (POL)
Sophia ANASTASE (ROU)
Polina EFIMOVA (RUS)
Kiymet TEZCAN (TUR)
Marusia HAIDAMANCHUK (UKR)
Taina FERNANDEZ (USA)
Shakhsanem TORENIYAZOVA (UZB)

73kg
Yeseniya SALADUN (BLR)
Kaillany MELO (BRA)
Asees BAINS (CAN)
Paula BENAIXA (ESP)
Lyra LEDERER (GER)
Bianka BARANY (HUN)
GARIMA (IND)
Tsukasa KOMADA (JPN)
Bagzhan KURMANBAY (KAZ)
Diana TURGUNBEKOVA (KGZ)
Namuuntsetseg BATBOLD (MGL)
Aisha WILLIAMS (PAN)
Karina MUZALEVSKAIA (RUS)
Xin Ping WEI (TPE)
Sude CAMOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia PETRIV (UKR)
Kaili MANUEL (USA)
Chamangul MUKHAMMATSALIEVA (UZB)

Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)Arseni KIKINIOU (USA), a medalist in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle in 2025, will make the run again in 2026. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Freestyle

45kg
Tunar HASANOV (AZE)
Aliaksandr HAMAU (BLR)
Radoslav VELIKOV (BUL)
Jude GARRUCHO (CAN)
Ahmed SALEH (EGY)
Luka DOTIASHVILI (GEO)
Hanumant JADHAV (IND)
Mahdi DAMERCHELI (IRI)
Aryn ZHANAT (KAZ)
Abdunazar BAATYRKANOV (KGZ)
Catalin COJOCARU (MDA)
Ariun Erdene ERDENETUGS (MGL)
Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR)
Aldar BADMAEV (RUS)
Baraa LAMOUCHI (TUN)
Utku SOGUTLU (TUR)
Marko KVASNIUK (UKR)
Rylen WAX (USA)
Mukhammad RAKHIMJONOV (UZB)

48kg
Huseyn RZAZADE (AZE)
Sayaan SKRABIN (BLR)
Emir DZHEVATOV (BUL)
Esneider AYALA (COL)
Zurab DOTIASHVILI (GEO)
Bogdan SAPOJNIC (GER)
AARYAN (IND)
Amirali RAGHEB (IRI)
Netanel RAHMISTOV (ISR)
Kanta NAGAO (JPN)
Bakdaulet AGABEK (KAZ)
Abdulla RYSBEKOV (KGZ)
Leonidas ZABRIAN (MDA)
Israel AMARO (MEX)
Temuulen USUKHBAYAR (MGL)
Kirill KONDRASHOV (RUS)
Muslikhiddin KHODZHIEV (TJK)
Batin NANIS (TUR)
Volodymyr BOIKO (UKR)
Kooper DEPUTY (USA)
Farrukh MAKHMUDOV (UZB)

51kg
Youcef BOUKHALFA (ALG)
Ibrahim HASANOV (AZE)
Hristiyan LAZAROV (BUL)
Guarav BAHI (CAN)
Giorgi NARIMANIDZE (GEO)
Dariusz DRZYZGA (GER)
GOVIND (IND)
Benyamin ASHOFTEH (IRI)
Tamir SHIRMAMEDOV (ISR)
Masamune USHIMADO (JPN)
Sabyrzhan RAKHATOV (KAZ)
Nurdan BODONOEV (KGZ)
Dionisie NEGRU (MDA)
Munkhtuvshin BOLOR ERDENE (MGL)
William SOTO (PUR)
Zaiden BOTHA (RSA)
Islam KURAKHMAEV (RUS)
Attila HEGEDUS (SVK)
Said NABIEV (TJK)
Yigit EGEMEN (TUR)
Volodymyr YATEL (UKR)
Evan RESTIVO (USA)
Dostonbek YULDASHOV (UZB)

55kg
Aymene ZAGHDANE (ALG)
Abbas SHAFIYEV (AZE)
Nabi ISMAYIL (BLR)
Mert MUSTAFOV (BUL)
Jovanni TOVAR (COL)
Saba MINDIASHVILI (GEO)
Adrian AIRICH (GER)
Kyryl SHUMEIKO (HUN)
Prathmesh PATIL (IND)
Arman ELAHI (IRI)
Kyosuke IKEDA (JPN)
Temirlan MURAT (KAZ)
Mukhammadiasin IZZATILLAEV (KGZ)
Valentin DELEANU (MDA)
Edgar  BOCANEGRA (MEX)
Khusel Erdene PUREVBAATAR (MGL)
Przemyslaw MROZEK (POL)
Mustafa BERSANUKAEV (RUS)
Patrik VETRAK (SVK)
Yusuf KOCAK (TUR)
Kiril NAHIRNYI (UKR)
Chase KARENBAUER (USA)
Jakhongir TULKUNOV (UZB)

60kg
Santiago CHRISJOHN (ARG)
Eljan HASANOV (AZE)
Andrei KHARUZHY (BLR)
Mustafa FAHEL (CAN)
Adrian CANALES (ESA)
Davit MDZEVASHVILI (GEO)
Balazs HIDEG (HUN)
SITENDER (IND)
Mohammadtaha GANJEH (IRI)
Shai Beni SABAG (ISR)
Stefano GARCIA (ITA)
Shota FUJIWARA (JPN)
Mardan ORYNBASSAR (KAZ)
Mirlan NURMAMATOV (KGZ)
Victor VDOVII (MDA)
Arvinkhuslen ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Sufjan SINANI (MKD)
Witold PAWLIK (POL)
Andrew GOMEZ (PUR)
Stefan PUSCAS (ROU)
Sergei KARMRIAN (RUS)
Sami ODABASI (TUR)
Mykyta KUZMENKO (UKR)
Joseph BURKE (USA)
Bekzodbek IBROHIMOV (UZB)

65kg
Ihab BERGHOUCHE (ALG)
Rashid NAZAROV (AZE)
Artsiom KAROTKI (BLR)
Alisson GONCALVES (BRA)
Petko SARAKOSTOV (BUL)
Ignacio FIGUEROA (CHI)
Dylan FERNANDEZ (ESA)
Sacha AUBERT (FRA)
Bidzina JINTCHARADZE (GEO)
Theodoros TSIRIPOV (GRE)
Vince LANG (HUN)
KRISHAN (IND)
Sam ARSHADGH (IRI)
Nikita KOZICH (ISR)
Minato WATATANI (JPN)
Zamir DANIYAR (KAZ)
Azamat AZYRANKULOV (KGZ)
Victor VEVERITA (MDA)
Enkhmunkh SAINKHUU (MGL)
Mario ANANIEV (MKD)
Jovani SOLIS (PUR)
Istvan NAGY (ROU)
Janco BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA)
Magomed IBRAGIMOV (RUS)
Dario STADELMANN (SUI)
Kevin PETOCZ (SVK)
Abdumuqit NABIEV (TJK)
Noker GUVANJOV (TKM)
Beytullah BILGEN (TUR)
Tymur ABUMISLIMOV (UKR)
Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)
Shokhiddin ALIEV (UZB)

71kg
Benjamin CASAS (ARG)
Yusuf BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Tunar GULIYEV (AZE)
Vitali HARDZEI (BLR)
Nikolay ILIEV (BUL)
Mohamed HAFEZ (EGY)
Ibrahim BULGUCHEV (GBR)
Bohdan KVANTALIANI (GEO)
Ka Sing CHAN (HKG)
Matyas DERCSAR (HUN)
ANUJ (IND)
Reza SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Orel BENOGUEV (ISR)
Koichiro NAGAI (JPN)
Adilet RYSBAY (KAZ)
Abdumalik BAIZHIGITOV (KGZ)
Pavel MAVRODI (MDA)
Narantulga ENKHBAATAR (MGL)
Igor KACZMAREK (POL)
Joab CARRILLO (PUR)
Nutsalmirza SAITOV (RUS)
Gergo BOTH (SVK)
Idris BAKHROMOV (TJK)
Mekan HUDAYBERENOV (TKM)
Cemal PURCU (TUR)
Dmytro KURSENKO (UKR)
Camryn HOWARD (USA)
Jaloliddin DJALALOV (UZB)

80kg
Nihad SULEYMANLI (AZE)
Mikhail CHAPAK (BLR)
Cassiano ZUSE PICOLOTTO (BRA)
Koen HURLBERT (CAN)
Yassin EZZAT (EGY)
Arshavir DARAKHSHANIFARA (FIN)
Rati REVAZASHVILI (GEO)
Zeteny TUGYI (HUN)
Deepanshu KHOKHAR (IND)
Amirali FERASATI (IRI)
Takahiro HAGINO (JPN)
Adilbek YERBOLATOV (KAZ)
Alii ZAKIRZHANOV (KGZ)
David PANFILI (MDA)
Layden ACEVEDO (PUR)
Kantemir ELMESOV (RUS)
Martin MOKRAS (SVK)
Ayubjon BOZORZODA (TJK)
Shaapbas ESGEROV (TKM)
Hsing Yu WANG (TPE)
Volkan BILGIN (TUR)
Salakhuddin ABDULAIEV (UKR)
Jayden OFARRILL (USA)
Abdukodir SARSENBAEV (UZB)

92kg
Johnson TSAKIRAKIS (AUS)
Elgun KARIMLI (AZE)
Anatoli TAMAROVICH (BLR)
Tyler LANGFORD (CAN)
Ali DADAEV (FRA)
Marshall EVERETT (GBR)
Nuradin MUSTAFAEV (GEO)
Sahibdeep SINGH (HKG)
Zsombor SIMON (HUN)
SAKSHAM (IND)
Reza ISAZADEH (IRI)
Shu YOSHIDA (JPN)
Nurislam AITUGAN (KAZ)
Kamil ONDURUSHOV (KGZ)
Arnas JOKIMCIUS (LTU)
Eugen DOHOTER (MDA)
Jose ESPARZA (MEX)
Khuslen TSERMAA (MGL)
Maciej SLOWIANSKI (POL)
Alan GARCIA (PUR)
Abdurazak SHABANOV (RUS)
Emomali SAFARALIZODA (TJK)
Yasin ERTURK (TUR)
Artem ZALVOVSKYI (UKR)
Salah TSARNI (USA)
Amirbek FAZLITDINOV (UZB)

110kg
Hakim TAGHIYEV (AZE)
Daniil ZHYVULA (BLR)
Stefan STEFANOV (BUL)
Udaypartap BILLEN (CAN)
Murtaz BAGDAVADZE (GEO)
Sergko CHOUTSISVILI (GRE)
Arush RANA (IND)
Amirhossein ESMALI (IRI)
Hanto HAYASHI (JPN)
Sagyndyk TEMIRGALY (KAZ)
Ilias TAKIROV (KGZ)
Ernests STABINS (LAT)
Skomantas RIMKUS (LTU)
Alexei USANOV (MDA)
Serjbudee PUREVJAV (MGL)
Magomed OMAROV (RUS)
Adam KOSC (SVK)
Yigit AKTAS (TUR)
Valerii PICHUHIN (UKR)
Peter MOCCO (USA)
Behruz ASHIROV (UZB)

Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)2025 world champion at 48kg Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) will be at 51kg in Baku. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

45kg
Ali JAVADLI (AZE)
Ognyan BURGAZOV (BUL)
Luka BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Sachin SHIROLE (IND)
Armin ESMAEILI (IRI)
Ryunosuke TANAKA (JPN)
Nurislam PAKHITZHAN (KAZ)
Baizhigit BAKIEV (KGZ)
Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR)
Arsan ALIEV (RUS)
Kerem DERMAN (TUR)
Rodion SVIRIDENKO (UKR)
Rylen WAX (USA)
Afruzbek IBRAGIMOV (UZB)

48kg
Houssem BOUHA (ALG)
Omar SALMANOV (AZE)
Tzvetan NIKOLOV (BUL)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Benedek TOMBOR (HUN)
Avinash CHETAKE (IND)
Ali ESMAEILI (IRI)
Ichia INAOKA (JPN)
Ali ALMAS (KAZ)
Abdyshukur DURUSALYEV (KGZ)
Hector AGUILAR (MEX)
Soltan IUSUPOV (RUS)
Samil SAHAN (TUR)
Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR)
Arav PANDEY (USA)
Javokhir SHARIFBOEV (UZB)

51kg
Lyes BOUMAZA (ALG)
Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE)
Boris KRUMOV (BUL)
Jan BERAN (CZE)
Saba ABASHIDZE (GEO)
Georgios CHONDRONASIOS (GRE)
Sandor KURDI (HUN)
Dhiraj DAPHALE (IND)
Ahmad BADRADDINI (IRI)
Eito SATO (JPN)
Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ)
Azhybek MANAPOV (KGZ)
Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA)
Artem TKACHENKO (RUS)
Ali IPEK (TUR)
Denys KIRYK (UKR)
Wyatt DANNEGGER (USA)
Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)

55kg
Gurban MAJNUNOV (AZE)
Tsimafei SEMIANENKA (BLR)
Lavozier WADIK (BRA)
Danimir YORDANOV (BUL)
Timo MARCENKOV (CZE)
Abdullah AHMED (EGY)
Giorgi KEDELIDZE (GEO)
Samuel PUSCAS (GER)
Nikolaos ZINISA (GRE)
Keve KOVACS (HUN)
HARIOM (IND)
Vahid ASHIRI (IRI)
Hiroki TAZAWA (JPN)
Diyar AMANALI (KAZ)
Alikhan MIINAZAROV (KGZ)
Domantas MERKELIS (LTU)
Andrei SOCHIRCA (MDA)
Daniel JACOBO (MEX)
Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR)
Vlad TRIP (ROU)
Edem PAIZIEV (RUS)
Umarjon MUKHTOROV (TJK)
Muhammet KARATEKIN (TUR)
Illia VANZHUL (UKR)
Corey BROWN (USA)
Asilbek KARIMOV (UZB)

60kg
Elmir CHARKAZOV (AZE)
Raman SHARKOU (BLR)
Vladislav IVANOV (BUL)
Roko CURIC (CRO)
Simon SEBECEK (CZE)
Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Sultan KUSHT (FIN)
Giorgi CHACHUA (GEO)
Christiano LIEBZEIT (GER)
Pavlos TSENTIDIS (GRE)
Milan BUDAI (HUN)
Darpan CHAUDHARI (IND)
Amirreza TAHMASBPOUR (IRI)
Andrea DE MARZIO (ITA)
Hinata HANAMORI (JPN)
Nurali ASKAR (KAZ)
Ulan DZHANALIEV (KGZ)
Ronaldas POGOZELSKIS (LTU)
Vlad DANILA (MDA)
Alexandru LUNGU (ROU)
Mikhail STEPANOV (RUS)
Makhdi BAROTOV (TJK)
Osman OZDEMIR (TUR)
Rakhman GAMIDOV (UKR)
Cooper MATHEWS (USA)
Sadriddin TULKINBOEV (UZB)

65kg
Orkhan HABIBLI (AZE)
Andrei MAYEUSKI (BLR)
Georgi MARKOV (BUL)
Lovro VIDOVIC (CRO)
Gaspar SANCHEZ (CZE)
Abdalla ABDELMAGEED (EGY)
Ramin Ram YOUSEFI (FIN)
Vasili LOMJARIA (GEO)
Dionysios BOULOUTIDIS (GRE)
Imre JUHASZ (HUN)
Kunal DAGAR (IND)
Armin GHOLI (IRI)
Tamirlan KHALIMOV (ISR)
Yuki UEDA (JPN)
Miras MAKHAMBET (KAZ)
Ramil BERDIKULOV (KGZ)
Mangirdas BRAZDZIUNAS (LTU)
Nicolae CERNOUS (MDA)
Raul CASTILLO MOLINA (MEX)
Raffaele HIGHT (NED)
Gabriel LUNGU (ROU)
Shamil LABAZANOV (RUS)
Bakhtovar PRIMQULOV (TJK)
Emirhan DOGAN (TUR)
Ibrahim NASIBOV (UKR)
Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)
Sardor MAKHMUDOV (UZB)

71kg
Houdaifa BOUTARFAYA (ALG)
Ali MAMMADOV (AZE)
Siarhei DOUHI (BLR)
Kristiyan KRASTEV (BUL)
Cristobal ALIAGA (CHI)
Luka SEVEREC (CRO)
Adam BOUBEL (CZE)
Tanel LAISARV (EST)
Eeli OJALA (FIN)
Nikoloz KUTUBIDZE (GEO)
Dimitrios SARAPIS (GRE)
Ervin CZUCZOR (HUN)
Parnam SINGH (IND)
Esmaeil ZAHERDOUST (IRI)
Yehonatan NEMSADZE (ISR)
Nicolas DE GRECIS (ITA)
Soya AKASHI (JPN)
Alinur TOLEUGALI (KAZ)
Baiel NURALIEV (KGZ)
Dmitrijus PETROVICEVAS (LTU)
Bogdan TALMACI (MDA)
Martin LETVIK (NOR)
Julian IWASZKO (POL)
David MALDONADO (PUR)
Albert DEACU (ROU)
Ivan SHULKO (RUS)
Luka ZELIC (SRB)
Mahdi AZIZBOEV (TJK)
Resit YURUK (TUR)
Roman IVANYK (UKR)
Aiden ARNETT (USA)
Kodirjon FOZILOV (UZB)

80kg
Isfahan HASANOV (AZE)
Yaraslau BLOTSKI (BLR)
Stoyan ZEBEKOV (BUL)
Toma JELENC (CRO)
Jalo KETONEN (FIN)
Luka BUIGLISHVILI (GEO)
Suraj SHARMA (IND)
Alireza REZAEI (IRI)
Yonatan LEONTYEV (ISR)
Koan VALENTINI (ITA)
Ryohei MARUYAMA (JPN)
Alikhan KUSHEV (KAZ)
Nurluutan KUBATOV (KGZ)
Benediktas BUBELEVICIUS (LTU)
Vitalii MADJAR (MDA)
Szymon TREDER (POL)
Layden ACEVEDO (PUR)
Ilias GADABORSHEV (RUS)
Arijan ALIJA (SRB)
Sheroz GHANIJONI (TJK)
Abdulhalik BAL (TUR)
Danyil MELNYCHUK (UKR)
Ivan IVANOV (USA)
Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB)

92kg
Zohrab SAFAROV (AZE)
Mark KOT (BLR)
Filip DUREV (BUL)
Niko VIDOVIC (CRO)
Zyad MOHAMED (EGY)
Shota TABATADZE (GEO)
Sascha SCHWAB (GER)
Polykarpos SERVETAS (GRE)
Sandor ANTALY (HUN)
Rajvardhan PATIL (IND)
Amirreza MEHRITALARPOSHTI (IRI)
Sagi MIREL (ISR)
Sarito KAMENAGA (JPN)
Ali BEKENGAZY (KAZ)
Sanjar STALBEKOV (KGZ)
Vladislav VASYLEVSKYI (MDA)
Tomasz MITAL (POL)
Ionut PATRU (ROU)
Aslan KARDANOV (RUS)
Todor AKSENTIJEVIC (SRB)
Matti EICHMANN (SUI)
Cheng En WU (TPE)
Yusuf AKSU (TUR)
Hlib YEVSIEIEV (UKR)
William ETU (USA)
Mirjalol SHOVKATOV (UZB)

110kg
Mahammad MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Yahor SAVICH (BLR)
Luiz PINHEIRO (BRA)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Petr GRUBER (CZE)
Mohamed ELSAFY (EGY)
Osma TURUNEN (FIN)
Saba TAKIDZE (GEO)
Harsh DALAL (IND)
Aliakbar AKOO (IRI)
Mitsuyoshi URUSHIMA (JPN)
Arystan TEMERGALI (KAZ)
Elbek TURGUNOV (KGZ)
Viesturs KILKENS (LAT)
Mateusz TOMELKA (POL)
Eugen Florin POPA (ROU)
Fedor SUKHAREV (RUS)
Andrej SIMIC (SRB)
Kaan DONERTAS (TUR)
Tymofii PRYKHODKO (UKR)
Bruno PALLONE (USA)
Shokhjakhon ILKHOMOV (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

Olympic Champs Fumita, Higuchi Emerge Unscathed on Return Since Paris 2024

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (May 21) -- They both were returning to the mat for the first time since winning gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and both moved up a weight class, for now, with the next Olympic qualifiers still far off.

And each was watched and cheered on for the first time by their most precious fan.

Kenichiro FUMITA and Rei HIGUCHI shook off the rust and emerged unscathed on Thursday to advance to their respective finals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Fumita, the Paris gold medalist at Greco 60kg, handily won two matches to secure a spot in the 63kg final on Friday, where he will face 2025 world team member Manato NAKAMURA in a bid for his first Meiji Cup title since 2022 and fifth overall.

Higuchi, who struck gold in Paris at freestyle 57kg, needed three wins to set up a showdown in the 61kg final with defending champion and former world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA.

Arash YOSHIDA, coming off winning a second straight freestyle 97kg gold at the Asian Championships, also advanced to the finals on the opening day of the four-day Meiji Cup, which is serving as the second of two domestic qualifiers for both this year's World Championships and, in the Olympic weight classes, the Asian Games that will be hosted by Japan.

Winners from the first qualifier, the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships held in December, can clinch a spot with a victory at the Meiji Cup; if the two champions are different, a playoff will be held at the end of the day.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) hits a four-point throw in his round one bout. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

Fumita, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, had planned to return to competition at the Emperor's Cup, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

As for the move up to 63kg, he said, "Looking at the competitions and my own personal objectives, and my current physical ability, I decided to enter at 63kg. I've really on been on edge up to this point leading up to the competition. It's quite a few years since I've had a match at Komazawa. But I feel great, and was able to enjoy myself."

The return from a long layoff can be as testing mentally as it is physically, and Fumita used the experiences of others to guide him through it.

"I thought I would feel more pressure," said Fumita, who advanced to the final with a 7-1 victory over Kensho NATAMI in the semifinals. "After Paris, I watched [fellow gold medalists] Kotaro [KIYOOKA] and Nao [KUSAKA] up close before their [comeback] matches, and both said they were very nervous.

"Having seen that, it gave me an image of what to expect. I stayed calm and, staying aware of what was going on around me, I felt I was able to control the matches."

Helping calm his nerves was the lilty voice of a child clearly heard amid the sparse crowd on the opening day as she yelled, "Papa, ganbatte (fight hard)!" For the first time, the oldest of his two
daughters, now 3, was old enough to see him compete and understand what he was doing.

Fumita related the emotions he went through seeing fellow Nippon Sport Science University alumnus Shota TANOKURA being inspired by his son loudly yelling that set phrase as he ended his career at the Meiji Cup two years ago.

"I was very moved seeing how he responded," Fumita said. "To continue my career and win with my children with me is really a special feeling. Here, I am wholeheartedly determined to perform for them."

Fumita said there are still aspects of his job about which his daughter is blissfully oblivious.

"Sometimes I take [my daughter] to practice. For her, it is really a fun place. So she thinks I go to a fun place every day and I'm just someone who plays all the time," he said with a laugh.

Fumita already has a memento from his first competition in over two years -- a gash over his left eye that was treated with tape wrapped around his head.

"It happens a lot in practice and in matches," Fumita said. "I have many photos of me in the past with my head taped. It gave me a feeling of going back to my roots, which I thought was great."

Higuchi, who like Fumita is 30, an alumnus of NSSU and is sponsored by children's clothing giant Miki House, was wrestling for the first time in front of his 2-year-old daughter (and like Fumita, he has a second infant daughter).

"She kind of knows what's going on," said Higuchi, who defeated world U23 bronze medalist Akito MUKAIDA 12-1 in the semifinals.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) reached the 61kg final at the Meiji Cup. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

For Higuchi, a battle with weight loss proved more daunting than any opponent he faced on the mat on Friday. He normally should have had no trouble making weight at 61kg, but said he didn't manage it correctly.

"It was my first competition in awhile, and my preparation did not go so well," he said. "There are parts that I have to work on. All went well in practice, but I need to do better at conditioning and cutting weight or I won't be able to win out in December [at the Emperor's Cup]."

A notoriously slow starter, Higuchi said he gradually began to find his groove, culminating in his one-sided win over Mukaida.

"My first match, my movement was not very good," he said. "The water loss as a I cut weight didn't go so well either, so the first and second matches were touch and go.

"During the second match, I was able to get in gear. In the third match in the semifinals, my opponent was third at the world U23, which normally should have been a close match. But I was able to put on a fairly good performance, which I give a grade of 80 [out of 100]."

Higuchi is looking forward to mixing it up with another high-level opponent, one he knows quite well. Hasegawa is yet another NSSU alumnus who still trains at the facility.

"From an emotional viewpoint, I was really excited about facing tough opponents," Higuchi said. "Tomorrow, Hasegawa is world-class wrestler. I don't know if I will win or lose, but I'm really happy to be able to have such a showdown on this big stage."

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)Asian champion Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) returned to the final of Meiji Cup at 97kg. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi) 

At 97kg, defending champion Yoshida stormed to a pair of 10-0 victories, defeating Satoshi MIURA, a 2025 world U23 bronze medalist at 86kg, in the semifinals to advance to the final against teenager Noah LEIBOWITZ.

The final will be a repeat of the gold-medal match at the Emperor's Cup, which Yoshida won 11-0.

Leibowitz is now a freshman at Nihon University, from which Yoshida just graduated in March. Since then, he began living on his own for the first time.

"I have to prepare my own meals," Yoshida said on how his life has changed. "Instead of always being with a group, I am living a life on my own. My father brings over dinner every Friday, but other than that, I prepare it myself. My specialty is pork kimchi; actually that's all I can make."

Meanwhile, Taishi NARIKUNI, who attempted a rare freestyle-Greco double at the Asian Championships in Bishkek, advanced to the freestyle 70kg final, where he will face collegiate champion Yuma TOMIYAMA.

In women's action, world U20 bronze medalist Shirin TAKEMOTO pulled an upset of sorts at 72kg, knocking off Asian silver medalist Mahiro YOSHITAKE 11-6 in the semifinals. She will face Chisato YOSHIDA in the final.

At 65kg, Asian silver medalist Nana IKEHATA scored a takedown and stepout in the final 1:10 to edge Misuzu ENAMOTO 4-3 and set up a gold-medal clash with Hiyori MOTOKI, the younger sister of Paris Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI.