The 2023 Senior World Championships are set to go down in Belgrade, Serbia, September 16-24. The men’s freestyle portion of the tournament will take place from September 16-19. Check out the below article for a complete breakdown with predictions for the 79 kg weight class at the 2023 World Championships.

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79 kg World Championship Rankings 

Check out the top 10 wrestlers ranked at 79 kg who will compete at the 2023 World Championships. These rankings are based on head-to-head results between these competitors.

View all of our 2023 World Championship Rankings here.

The Favorites

79 kg is unlike other weights at the 2023 World Championships in that there are no existing world champions in the field. However, there are two clear favorites heading into this year’s worlds - Akhmed Usmanov (AIN - RUS) and Mohammad Nokhodi (IRI). 

Akhmed Usmanov hasn’t taken a loss since August of 2022 and since then has wins over Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Olympic Silver), two over Radik Valiev (world bronze), Ali Savadkouhi (Asian champ/U23 world bronze), Bolat Sakayev (Asian champ), and a host of other ranked wrestlers. Most recently Usmanov won Russian Nationals in June and was largely unchallenged. Usmanov went 5-0 to take home gold with 2 techs and outscored his opponents by a combined 41-4. 

Akhmed Usmanov's win in the 2021 Yarygin Finals:

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Mohammad Nokhodi is the other favorite after making Iran’s world team for the third straight year at 79 kg. Nokhodi won world silver at both of the last 2 world championships losing only to Jordan Burroughs in the finals. Now, with Burroughs not in the 79 kg bracket, this could be Nokhodi’s year to upgrade to gold. 

Nokhodi has been ultra-impressive over the past few months and most recently won gold at the Budapest Ranking Series Tournament in July. There, Nokhodi notched wins over the likes of Avtandil Kentchadze (6-2), Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (3-0), and Chance Marsteller (10-0). That was the second time in the past year that Nokhodi teched Marsteller which is especially noteworthy considering Nokhodi is set to be the #1 seed and Marsteller is the #4 seed at worlds. That would potentially set them up for a 3rd meeting in the semi-finals where Nokhodi will be considered a big favorite. 

Nokhodi's win over Chance Marsteller:

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The Contenders

There is a solid group of contenders at 79 kg who should be considered a tier behind Usmanov and Nokhodi but will challenge for a medal in Belgrade. This group consists of Chance Marsteller (USA), Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR), and Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (GEO). 

Chance Marsteller has continued to improve on the senior level and that culminated in him taking out Jordan Burroughs at Final X in an epic three-match series. Outside of the wins over Burroughs, Marsteller has put together an impressive list of wins over wrestlers over the past two years. That list includes victories over Bolat Sakayev, Ramzan Sari, Avtandil Kentchadze, and Ali Savadkouhi. As mentioned above, Marsteller will be on the same side of the bracket at Mohammad Nokhodi making a run to the finals especially challenging but Marsteller is absolutely a threat to bring home a medal. Marsteller has also proven to be an expert game-planner and we should expect his third potential match against Nokhodi to be much closer than the previous two.

Chance Marsteller's win over world medalist Avtandil Kentchadze:

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Vasyl Mykhailov won a bronze medal at last year’s world championships where he lost only to Mohammad Nokhodi in a tight 5-4 match and recorded wins over Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, Georgios Kougioumtsidis, Ashraf Ashirov, and Bolat Sakayev. Along with his outstanding performance at worlds, Mykhailov has had a successful 2023. In February, Mykhailov competed up at 86 kg winning gold at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series Tournament in Egypt while defeating Boris Makoev and Zahid Valencia. Mykhailov then won a European championship at 79 kg with wins over Akhsarbek Gulaev, Khetik Tsabolov, and Georgios Kougioumtsidis. Mykhailov has the results that prove he can compete with anyone in the world at 79 kg and could be a surprise finalist at the world championships. 

Vasyl Mykhailov's win over Bekzod Abdurakhmonov in the 2022 world bronze medal match:

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Vladimeri Gamkrelidze is one of Georgia’s best young prospects. At just 22 years old, Gamkrelidze won a U23 world title last year and is the 79 kg rep at senior worlds for the second straight year. Gamkrelidze won U23 Worlds by defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Yergesh (who beat Carter Starocci) and Georgios Kougioumtsidis (2022 Euro champ). On top of those wins, Gamkrelidze is entering the world championships with some momentum after winning the Kyrgyzstan Ranking Series tournament in June and coming in second at the Hungary Ranking Series tournament in July. At the Hungary tournament, Gamkrelidze was dominant on his way to the finals and lost a close, 3-0 match to Mohammad Nokhodi in the finals. Gamkrelidze is making rapid progress and all signs point to him making some noise in Serbia. 

Gamkrelidze's win in the finals of the 2022 U23 World Championships:

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Sleepers & Dark Horses

For a non-Olympic weight, 79 kg has incredible depth and has a solid group of wrestlers who could pull off upsets and make an unexpected run in the 79 kg bracket. Three wrestlers stand out in this category - Bolat Sakayev (KAZ), Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK), and Ramazan Sari (TUR). Bolat Sakayev was this year’s Asian champion and has past wins over Chance Marsteller, Akhsarbek Gulaev, and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov. Despite those wins, Sakayev has yet to bring home any medals in his previous 3 senior world championships. 

Bolat Sakayev's win over Chance Marsteller in July of 2022:

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Akhsarbek Gulaev had an Incredible 2021 that showed his potential and put him into this category of “Sleepers and Dark Horses”. That year Gulaev won a European championship and the Ziolkowski highlighted by wins over Nika Kentchadze, Rashid Kurbanov, and Vasyl Mykhailov (all 3 are world medalists). However, since those tournaments, Gulaev hasn’t won a tournament and doesn’t have any wins over past world medalists. Gulaev likely isn’t a threat to Nokhodi or Usmanov but we shouldn’t be surprised if Gulaev takes out one of the wrestlers in the “contenders” category.

Gulaev's win at the 2021 Ziolkowski over Vasyl Mykhailov: 

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Ramazan Sari is a 2-time U23 world medalist (2019 and 2021) and has been ranked in the top 20 in our international rankings over the past few years. Sari doesn’t have any recent wins over top competitors but his age-level results prove he’s a wrestler to watch in this field.

79 kg 2023 World Championship Predictions

I’d be surprised to see someone other than Mohammad Nokhodi or Akhmed Usmanov come away with gold from worlds at 79 kg. Usmanov is a bit of an unknown because we haven’t seen him against many of the best wrestlers in this field. Nokhodi has proven himself consistently at worlds the last two years and has the valuable experience of wrestling in two world finals. Because of that experience, and for his incredible wrestling over the past few months, Nokhodi is my pick to come away with world gold. 

79 kg Medal Predictions:

Gold - Mohammad Nokhodi, IRI

Silver - Akhmed Usmanov, AIN (RUS)

Bronze - Chance Marsteller, USA

Bronze - Vasyl Mykhailov, UKR