#WrestleBucharest

U23 European Championships entry list

Friday, March 10, 2023 - 16:22 By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

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BUCHAREST, Romania (March 10) -- The 2023 U23 European Championships are set to take place in Bucharest, Romania from March 13 to 19 with eleven wrestlers trying to defend their titles.

The tournament will feature some of the top young wrestlers from across Europe, with a few who have tasted success at the senior level as well.

Leading the pack are Alex SZOKE (HUN), Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE), Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN), Irina RINGACI (MDA), Andreea ANA (ROU) and Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) among others.

A few of these wrestlers will also enter the European Championships a month later and the U23 tournament will be the perfect warm-up for the wrestlers trying to win a medal in Zagreb in April.

In freestyle, Azerbaijan is bringing a strong team with Georgia and Turkey. In Greco-Roman, Georgia will look to defend its team title as three returning champions and two more world medalists are part of the team.

In women's wrestling, Ukraine will once again be the team to beat but as Turkiye showed last year, it cannot be taken lightly.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)A rematch between Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) and Gerogios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) is expected at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Freestyle 

57kg
Edik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Ghennadi DIUVENJI (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Rafal SZEWC (POL)
Valentin BARBULESCU (ROU)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)

61kg
Mezhlum MEZHLUMYAN (ARM)
Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Andrei VITAN (MDA)
Arben SEJDI (MKD)
Daniel RITTER (ROU)
Emre KURAL (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)

65kg
Tigran GHAZARYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Bozhidar DZHOROV (BUL)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Veniamin BORZIN (MDA)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Aminjon SADULLOEV (POL)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Dominik LARITZ (SUI)
Hamza ZOPALI (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)

70kg
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Magomed KHANIEV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Moukhammad SANGARIEV (FRA)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Shamil USTAEV (GER)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Mateusz LUSZCZYNSKI (POL)
Eduard LENARD (ROU)
Shwe WIN (SWE)
Burak SININ (TUR)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR

74kg
Menua YARIBEKYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Nikolay DIMITROV (BUL)
Magamed DELIEV (FRA)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Balint BALAZS (HUN)
Raul ZARBALIEV (ISR)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Szymon WOJTKOWSKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Ismet CIFTCI (TUR)
Mykyta MORHUN (UKR)

79kg
Narek GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Sabuhi AMIRASLANOV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Max KASPEROVICH (ISR)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Gigi SUBTIRICA (ROU)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vladyslav BODORIAK (UKR)

86kg
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Farid JABBAROV (AZE)
Ilia HRISTOV (BUL)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Angelos KOUKLARIS (GRE)
Akhmedkhan TEMBOTOV (ITA)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Adam MODOSJAN (MKD)
Denis CHIRICA (ROU)
Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR)
Vladyslav PRUS (UKR)

92kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Alexandru BESLIU (ROU)
Farhad ANOSHEH (SWE)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR)
Roman RYCHKO (UKR)

97kg
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Islam ILYASOV (AZE)
Kolyo DIMITROV (BUL)
Merab SULEIMANASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Georgian TRIPON (ROU)
Oktay CIFTCI (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)

125kg
Martin SIMONYAN (ARM)
Vakhit GALAYEV (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Nika BERULAVA (GEO)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA)
Uvejs FEJZULAHU (MKD)
Jakub CZERCZAK (POL)
Florin DREVE (ROU)
Efe Anil AL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)

Exacue MUKUBU (NOR)Exacue MUKUBU (NOR) is the U23 world champion at 82kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM)
Rahim HASANOV (AZE)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Amare FETENE (ISR)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Sabolc LOSONC (SRB)
Muhammet CAKIR (TUR)
Eduard STRILCHUK (UKR)

60kg
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Aser EBRO RODRIGUEZ (ESP)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Adrian ANTON (ROU)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)

63kg
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Miroslav EMILOV (BUL)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO)
Ioannis PETKOS (GRE)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Petru ALEXE (ROU)
Ismail CULFA (TUR)
Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR)

67kg
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Hasan MAMMADLI (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Denis MERTL (CZE)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Alexandr GURALI (MDA)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Iosif IONESCU (ROU)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Mustafa YILDIRIM (TUR)
Maksym LIU (UKR)

72kg
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Hayk ASATRYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ilia MUSTAKOV (BUL)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Junior BENITEZ (ESP)
Joni KOMPPA (FIN)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Kamil CZARNECKI (POL)
Igor BOTEZ (ROU)
Maurus ZOGG (SUI)
Oliver OLAH (SVK)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)

77kg
Ashot KIRAKOSYAN (ARM)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Khvicha ANANIDZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Aistis LIAUGMINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Konrad KOZLOWSKI (POL)
Iulian LUNGU (ROU)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Simon BORKENHAGEN (SWE)
Sahan ACAR (TUR)
Mykyta POLITAIEV (UKR)

82kg
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Marcel HEIN (DEN)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Saba MAMALADZE (GEO)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Kadir KAMAL (TUR)
Madamin MIRZOIEV (UKR)

87kg
Hovhannes HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Mahammad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Ivan MANOV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Nikolaos IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Archontis XOURAS (GRE)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Roman BALCHIVSCHII (MDA)
Jakub ANTOSZEWSKI (POL)
Ionut GOSA (ROU)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Maans KLOSTERMANN (SWE)
Fatih ONVERMEZ (TUR)
Oleksandr YEVDOKIMOV (UKR)

130kg
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Dominik KRAWCZYK (POL)
Gean ALI (ROU)
Muhammet BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)

Irina RINGACI (MDA)Irina RINGACI (MDA) will look to defend her U23 European title in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Shahana NAZAROVA (AZE)
Emine OSMAN (BUL)
Taru VAINIONPAEAE (FIN)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Marija SPIRKOVSKA (MKD)
Amanda TOMCZYK (POL)
Ana PIRVU (ROU)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Snizhana ONUFRIIEVA (UKR)

53kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Mihaela MIHOVA (BUL)
Chadia AYACHI (FRA)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Maria FERONE (ITA)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)

55kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Laurie LESAFFRE (FRA)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Immacolata DANISE (ITA)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Angelika MYTKOWSKA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Melda DERNEKCI (TUR)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Nazife TAIR (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Celeste SION (FRA)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Wiktoria KARWOWSKA (POL)
Georgiana Carla LIRCA (ROU)
Nellie FLORENTIN (SWE)
Nazar KAYA (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)

59kg
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Amel REBIHA (FRA)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Asia CRAPAROTTA (ITA)
Gabriele DILYTE (LTU)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Ana PUIU (ROU)
JOVANA RADIVOJEVIC (SRB)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)

62kg
Viktoria IVANOVA (BUL)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Kelsey BARNES (GBR)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Alina ANTIPOVA (LAT)
Paulina DANISZ (POL)
Gabriela CUC (ROU)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)

65kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Gergana STOYANOVA (BUL)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Gerda BARTH (GER)
Drosoula TZIANAKOPOULOU (GRE)
Bianca CONTRAFATTO (ITA)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Olha MASLOVSKA (SVK)
Nora SVENSSON (SWE)
Busra EFE (TUR)
Oksana CHUDYK (UKR)

68kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL)
Marta OJEDA NAVARRO (ESP)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Karolina KOZLOWSKA (POL)
Adina IRIMIA (ROU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)

72kg
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Paula ROTARU (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Romana VOVCHAK (UKR)

76kg
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Marion BYE (NOR)
Elena MARGAS (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Mehtap GULTEKIN (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)

#WrestleTirana

Monday's U23 World Championship semifinals set

Monday, October 23, 2023 - 08:42 By Eric Olanowski

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TIRANA, Albania (October 23) --- Welcome, wrestling fans, to Albania's capital city for the 2023 U23 World Championships--the final stop on the world championship calendar.

Day One's action will feature freestyle wrestling at 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg.

Here are some of the biggest stars that'll be in action today:
- Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) - '22 U23 world champ
- Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) - '22 U23 world silver
- Aaron BROOKS (USA) - '22 U23 world bronze  
- Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA) - '22 U23 world bronze 
- Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) - '22 U20 world gold
- Vasile DIACON (MDA) - '22 U23 world bronze
- Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA) - '21 U20 world gold

Semifinal Matches (As they come in):
61kg
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ) vs. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ivan HRAMYKA (AIN) vs. Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN)

74kg
Imam GANISHOV (AIN) vs. Naveen NAVEEN (UWW)
Sonny SANTIAGO (PUR) vs. Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA)

86kg
Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) vs. Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Arslan BAGAEV (AIN) vs. Aaron Marquel BROOKS (USA)

92kg
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) vs. Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR) vs. Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (UWW)

125kg
Adil MISIRCI (TUR) vs. Kumar ANIRUDH (UWW)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE) vs. Wyatt Avery HENDRICKSON (USA)

15:02: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll take a break until 18:00 and see you back here for the semifinals. 

14:32: Patil just ruined Vishanov's hopes of winning France their first freestyle U23 world title with a nine-point second period. More importantly, those nine points were unanswered, so after trailing 6-0, he locked up a semifinal spot with a 9-6 victory.

14:26: A sneaky storyline I'm watching is Adlan VISKHANOV's (FRA) success at 92kg. He's looking to become the first French freestyle wrestler to win a U23 world title. He leads 6-0 on Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (UWW).

14:20: Aaron BROOKS (USA) picked up his third dominant win of the day. He's now outscored his opponents 24-1 on his way to the semifinals.

13:50: We're starting the quarters, so I'll update the semifinal matches as the quarter-finals wrap up.

13:39: When the United States desperately needed a freestyle heavyweight, Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) arrived in Albania to save the day. As if Gable STEVESON (USA) and Mason PARRIS (USA) weren't enough, the Stars and Stripes now have Hendrickson throwing the competition around he's in his own league.

So far today, Hendrickson pinned Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN) after scoring 17 offensive points, then just took out Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA), 14-1.

13:29: We'll only run through the quarterfinals before taking a lunch break. Then, for tonight's session, we'll only wrestle through the semifinals. The first set of medal matches won't be until Tuesday night at 18:00 (local time).

13:12: It's a shame that one of those guys had to lose because that was such a hard-fought battle for both guys. Jacob Thomas CARDENAS (USA) was relentless with attacks to both sides of the body and ultimately scored the match-deciding takedown with :30 seconds left to take out Alan BAGAEV (AIN), 4-1.

13:02: The reigning champ Shirai picked up a second win of the day, moving into the quarterfinals after scoring a 4-1 win over Morodion. Shirai picked up two inactivity points and a late takedown against the Canadian.

12:30: Down goes Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) at 74kg. He adopted the strategy of keeping it quiet against NAVEEN (UWW) in the first period. He led 3-1 till the final minute when Naveen got a takedown on the edge. Gadzhiev tries a headpinch to win the bout but Naveen defends to score two points. Naveen beats Gadzhiev 5-3  

12:15: The United States wrestlers remain undefeated so far in the morning! Keegan OTOOLE (USA) roars to life in the second period to get a 12-2 win over Krisztian BIRO (ROU) at 74kg. Then Aaron BROOKS (USA) comes out and completes a 10-0 win over Owen MARTIN (CAN) at 86kg. Unreal athleticism from Brooks in that win. 

11:55: After an opening round 8-0 win over Igor Stefan SZUCKI (POL), reigning U23 world champion Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) will take on Joshua Philipp David MORODION (GER) in five matches on Mat C.

11:47: Reigning U23 world silver medalist Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) was just assigned to Mat C. He'll take on Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) in Bout 73.

11:36: I'm working on getting the video, but the Ganishov five on Diacon is on the list of top-five throws of the year. It's one of those throws that sends any normal human straight to the hospital.

11:25: Aaron Marquel BROOKS (USA), the top threat in the United States to dethrone David TAYLOR (USA), is up now on Mat B. He's wrestling Turkiye's Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR).

11:18: It's early in the day, but Imam GANISHOV (AIN) beating U23 world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) is the leading candidate for Upset of the Day. The Neutral Athlete picked up an 8-0 win in the 74kg qualification round, pushing him to the 1/8 final against  Stas David WOLF (GER).

11:10: Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA) of the United States, the '2021 U20 world champion, didn't skip a beat in his return to international competition. The offensive machine picked up five takedowns en route to the 10-0 opening-round win over Vadym KURYLENKO (UKR).

10:53: It's time to close out the 2023 calendar in style! The U23 Worlds is one of my favorite competitions of the season. Today's champions will likely bloom into tomorrow's stars. It's crazy to look back at the photos from the past few years at the U23 World Championships to see how the wrestlers have transitioned into stars and global sensations.