Four Men’s freestyle athletes receive draws for Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Event

2024 Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Brackets

The Men’s freestyle draws have been released for the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial, a UWW Senior Ranking Series event, set for BOK Sport Hall in Budapest, Hungary, June 6-9. An experienced and talented group of four are slared to compete on Thursday, June 6 and Friday, June 7.

The draws for Greco-Roman and Women’s freestyle will be released by United World Wrestling closer to competition for the styles.

At 125 kg, Mason Parris, the sole 2024 Men’s freestyle Olympic Team member for Team USA registered for the event, faces Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia in the opening round. Matcharashvili, a two-time World Bronze medalist at 97 kg, is one of two athletes from Georgia in the 125 kg bracket. The other is Geno Petriashvili, currently second in the UWW rankings while Parris is ranked third.

At 61 kg, Nahshon Garrett opens against Abdelhak Kherbache of Algeria. Kherbache is a two-time Senior World Team member, a 2021 Olympian and a 2024 African Championships gold medalist. On the same side of Garrett’s bracket are wrestlers from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, while Iran, Switzerland, Armenia, and additional athletes from Kyrgyzstan and Georgia are on the other side of the bracket at 61 kg.

The United States’ representative at 70 kg is Evan Henderson, an experienced athlete that most recently earned bronze at the 2023 Zagreb Open Ranking Series at 65 kg. Henderson opens against Arman Andreasyan of Armenia, a 2023 World Bronze medalist and 2024 European Championships gold medalist. The 70 kg bracket also features athletes from Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Hungary.

Trent Hidlay, a 2024 Senior National Team member and two-time age-group World medalist, is slated to compete at 86 kg in Hungary. Hidlay will face the winner of a preliminary match between Jayden Lawrence of Australia and Bobur Islomov of Uzbekistan. Lawrence has experience competing at six World Championships between the Senior and age-group levels. Islomov has competed at three age-group World Championships and won bronze at the 2024 Yasar Dogu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan.

Parris, Garrett and Henderson are set to compete on Thursday, June 6 while Hidlay will begin competition on Friday, June 7.

The competition will consist of four days of competition, with each weight class completed in one day. There will be men’s freestyle competition on Thursday and Friday, women’s freestyle on Friday and Saturday and Greco-Roman on Saturday and Sunday. The complete competition schedule is below.

There will be eight athletes seeded at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes. The Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial will be the final event used as part of the seeding criteria for the Olympic Games.

The competition will be broadcast live in the United States by FloWrestling. Session times for each day are 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. local time. Budapest is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.

61 kg: Nahshon Garrett (Titan Mercury WC/Lehigh Valley WC)

vs Abdelhak Kherbache (Algeria)

70 kg: Evan Henderson (Titan Mercury WC/Lehigh Valley WC)

vs. Arman Andreasyan (Armenia)

86 kg: Trent Hidlay (Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC)

vs. Jayden Lawrence (Australia) or Bobur Islomov (Uzbekistan)

125 kg: Mason Parris (Titan Mercury WC/Cliff Keen WC)

vs. Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia)

(Budapest is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone)

Thursday, June 6

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds and repechage (MFS 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg, 125kg)

5:00 p.m. – Finals (MFS 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg, 125kg)

Friday, June 7

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds and repechage (MFS 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, WFS 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 59kg, 72kg)

5:00 p.m. – Finals (MFS 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, WFS 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 59kg, 72kg)

Saturday, June 8

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds and repechage (WFS 55kg, 62kg, 65kg, 68kg, 76kg GR 60kg, 63kg, 130kg)

5:00 p.m. – Finals (WFS 55kg, 62kg, 65kg, 68kg, 76kg GR 60kg, 63kg, 130kg)

Sunday, June 9

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds and repechage (GR 55kg, 67kg, 72kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg, 97kg)

5:00 p.m. – Finals (GR 55kg, 67kg, 72kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg, 97kg)