U.S. receives men’s freestyle draws for UWW Ranking Event in Budapest, which begins Thursday
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
![Kyle Snyder (USA) at the 2022 World Championships](https://res.cloudinary.com/usopc-prod/image/upload/v1688764974/NGB%20Wrestling/Migration/Snyder_Kyle22WorldsPortrait800x500.jpg)
World and Olympic champion Kyle Snyder will be competing on Thursday in the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial, a UWW Ranking Event.
The 10 U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers competing at the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial, which is a UWW Ranking Event in Budapest, Hungar, have received their draws.
Competing on Thursday will be World Team members Zane Richards (57 kg), Nick Lee (65 kg), Zahid Valencia (92 kg) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg), plus National Team member Mason Parris (125), along with Julian Ramirez (74 kg) and Max Hale (86 kg).
Competing on Friday will be World Team members Vito Arujau (61 kg) and Chance Marsteller (79 kg), plus National Team member Joey McKenna (70 kg). There will also be five women’s freestyle weight classes contested on Friday.
Below are the first-round draws for the U.S. athletes.
Fans can see the full brackets for each weight class on UWW Arena.
The event will be broadcast live on FloWrestling.
UWW Senior Ranking Series: Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial
At Budapest, Hungary
U.S. Men’s freestyle first round draws
57 kg – Zane Richards (Champaign, Ill./Illinois RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Beka Bujiashvili (Georgia), 2022 European bronze medalist, 2013 U20 World bronze medalist
61 kg – Vitali Arujau (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania), 2022 World champion, 2023 European silver medalist, 3rd in 2022 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix (Russia)
65 kg – Nick Lee (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Joshua Finesilver (Israel), 10th in 2022 World Championships
70 kg – Joseph McKenna (Towaco, N.J./Pennsylvania RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Sanzhar Doszhanov (Kazakhstan), 2023 Asian champion,
74 kg – Julian Ramirez (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC)
Vs. winner of Cole Hawkins (New Zealand) and Byungmin Gong (Korea)
Hawkins – 5th in 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2nd in 2016 Oceania Championships
Gong – 2021 Asian champion, 3rd in 2018 Asian Games, 3x Senior World Team member
79 kg – Chance Marsteller (Hoboken, N.J./New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Ramazan Sari (Turkey), 2nd in 2021 U23 Worlds, 2021 European U23 champion, 3rd in 2019 U23 Worlds
86 kg – Max Hale (West Chester, Pa./Pennsylvania RTC)
Vs. Dauren Kurguliev (Greece), 2017 and 2023 European champion, 2017 and 2022 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix champion (Russia), 2019 European Games champion
92 kg – Zahid Valencia (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC)
Group A matches
Vs. Amarali Hamid Azarpira (Iran), 2021 and 2022 U23 World champion, 2022 Asian U20 champion
Vs. Denis Sahaijuk (Ukraine), 5th in 2022 U23 Worlds, 3rd in 2021 U23 Europeans, 3rd in 2019 U17 Worlds
Vs. Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia), 2023 European bronze medalist, 2022 Senior World bronze medalist, Third in 2022 U23 Worlds, 2016 U17 World champion,
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. winner of Nishan Randhawa (Canada) and Givi Matcharashivili (Georgia)
Randhawa – 3rd 2023 Pan Am Championships, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, 2019 Canada Cup champion
Matcharashvili – 2023 European champion, 2022 World bronze medalist, 2nd in 2019 European Games, 2018 U23 World champion
125 kg – Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Vs. Abraham Conyedo Ruano (Italy), 5th in 2022 and 2023 European Championships,
Ranking Tournament Men's Freestyle Event schedule
(Budapest is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone)
Thursday, July 13
10:30 a.m. – Men’s freestyle (57 kg, 65 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 92 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg) qualification rounds and repechage
5 p.m. – Men’s freestyle (57 kg, 65 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 92 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg) finals and award ceremonies
Friday, July 14
10:30 a.m. – Men’s freestyle (61 kg, 70 kg, 79 kg) qualification rounds and repechage
5 p.m. – Men’s freestyle (61 kg, 70 kg, 79 kg) finals and award ceremonies