Valencia Cruises to World Finals on Day One in Zagreb

Zahid Valencia is going to the world finals! The 86 kg star stole the show for the United States on the first day of the 2025 Senior World Championships. Valencia outscored his four opponents on Saturday 37-0 on the way to the gold medal match. 

While Valencia’s first three opponents did not have a long track record of success at the world level, his semifinal foe was highly credentialed. To the tune of a pair of world titles. Iran’s Kamran Ghasempour was seeking his third gold medal - his first at 86 kg, after winning two at 92 kg, but was stopped in his tracks by Valencia. 

The American opened the scoring with a point from a shot clock violation. The match quickly got out of hand late in the first period as Valencia used lightning quick low leg attack to lock up a pair of takedowns and a 5-0 lead. 

Valencia got a pair of step out points in the second period to bring the score to 7-0. He also showed some incredible defense and refused to surrender a takedown when it looked imminent. 

The match finished with the Iranian refusing to initiate contact during the last :13 seconds. He stood defeated with his hands on his knees as Valencia sensed his victory and implored the crowd to cheer as the final seconds ticked off the clock. 

In tomorrow’s gold medal matchup, Valencia will face Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro. Ishiguro had a wild semifinal win that saw him score 16 unanswered points in the final three and a half minutes to win 17-7. 

The first American to take the mat in the semifinal round was high school senior Jax Forrest at 61 kg. Forrest and three-time world/Olympic champion Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) had an entertaining back-and-forth first period that ended 2-2 - with Uguev in the lead on criteria. There were more fireworks and scrambles in the second stanza; however, Uguev’s strength and experience eventually rose to the top and he pulled away for a 10-3 victory. 

With the loss, Forrest drops down to a bronze medal match. He’ll face the winner between Manvel Khndzrtsyan (Armenia) and Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan). 

The semifinal round also saw Penn State freshman PJ Duke’s 70 kg medal chances erode with a loss by 2024 world champion Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan). Kaipanov’s loss also meant that Wisconsin and Michigan All-American Austin Gomez was eliminated from metal contention. 

Along with Valencia and Forrest’s medal round matches tomorrow, Spencer Lee (57 kg), David Carr (74 kg), Levi Haines (79 kg), and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) will start competition in their respective weight classes. 

Saturday’s American Results

61 kg

Round of 32: Jax Forrest over Sangboum Kim (South Korea)  10-0

Round of 16: Jax Forrest over Takara Suda (Japan)  7-2

Quarterfinals: Jax Forrest over Tairyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)  13-8

Semifinals: Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) over Jax Forrest  10-3

Bronze Medal Match: Jax Forrest vs. Manvel Khndzrtsyan (Armenia)/Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan). 
 

70 kg 

Round of 32: PJ Duke over Shuang Chen (China)  11-0

Round of 16: Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan) over PJ Duke  11-7
 

86 kg

Round of 32: Zahid Valencia over Mukul Dahiya (India)  10-0

Round of 16: Zahid Valencia over Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria)  10-0

Quarterfinals: Zahid Valencia over Ivars Samusonok (Latvia)  10-0

Semifinals: Zahid Valencia over Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)  7-0

Gold Medal Match: Zahid Valencia vs. Hayato Ishiguro (Japan)
 

125 kg

Round of 32: Abdulla Kurbanov (UWW - Russia) over Wyatt Hendrickson  14-4
 

Sunday’s Gold Medal Matches:

61 kg: Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) vs. Ahmad Mohammadnezhad (Iran)

70 kg: Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) vs. Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia)

86 kg: Zahid Valencia (USA) vs. Hayato Ishiguro (Japan)

125 kg: Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Georgia) vs. Amir Zare (Iran)