Results of Day 1 at the Freestyle Wrestling Zagreb Open 2026

On February 4, the first ranking tournament of 2026 — Zagreb Open — kicked off in Croatia. Medals were awarded on the opening day in six freestyle weight classes: 57, 61, 65, 70, 74, and 86 kg.

Wrestlers from the United States won four gold medals, while India and Iran claimed one gold each.

The biggest upset came at 86 kg. Reigning world champion Zahid Valencia (USA) was defeated in the quarterfinals, as Georgia’s Vladimeri Gamkrelidze dominated with an 11–0 victory. Gamkrelidze advanced to the final but narrowly lost to another American, Parker Keckeisen. Valencia rebounded to win bronze, defeating Iran’s Abolfazl Shamsipour.

Shamsipour also impressed earlier in the tournament by beating reigning 79 kg world champion Georgios Kougioumtzidis of Greece.

Another notable final came at 74 kg, where world champion Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) lost 1–4 to American David Carr.

57 kg:

Spencer Lee (USA)
Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico)
Milad Valizadeh (Iran) and Fuga Sakai (Japan)
FINAL: Spencer Lee (USA) — Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) 4:0

61 kg:

Austin DeSanto (USA)
Aman Aman (India)
Reza Hossein Momeni (Iran)
The 61 kg tournament is held in a round-robin format.

65 kg:

Sujit Sujit (India)
Peyman Ali Nemati (Iran)
Nika Zakashvili (Georgia) and Joseph McKenna (USA)
FINAL: Sujit Sujit (India) — Peyman Ali Nemati (Iran) 3:0

70 kg:

Sina Mehdi Khalili (Iran)
Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia)
Caleb Henson (USA) and Abhimanyu (India)
FINAL: Sina Mehdi Khalili (Iran) — Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia) 10:0

74 kg:

David Carr (USA)
Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan)
Aliakbar Fazlikhalili (Iran) and Seifulla Itaev (France)
FINAL: David Carr (USA) — Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) 4:1

86 kg:

Parker Keckeisen (USA)
Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia)
Zahid Valencia (USA) and Ali Bakhtiar Savadkouhi (Iran)

On February 5, medals will be contested in the remaining weight classes, and women’s wrestling will begin.