Kazakh Greco-Roman wrestlers Aibek Aitbekov and Yusuf Ashrapov won gold medals at the U23 World Championships in Las Vegas, USA. After the first five medal events, Kazakhstan leads the team standings, and another Kazakh, Temirlan Turdakyn, has reached the final, infohub.kz reports.

In the 60 kg final, Aitbekov faced reigning U23 world champion Elmir Aliyev of Azerbaijan. The Kazakh won by technical superiority with a score of 13-4.

Ashrapov (72 kg) secured the second gold. In the decisive bout, he defeated Armenia's Gaspar Terteryan 4-3.

Nurasyl Amanaly (97 kg) reached the bronze medal match, where he lost to Iran's Mohammad Hadi Akbar Seidi Avendi 0-8. Tolegen Amirkhanov (67 kg) ended his run after a 2-5 loss to Azerbaijan's Mahammad Shukurzade in the consolation round.

Kazakhstan has guaranteed at least one more medal. Temirlan Turdakyn (87 kg) advanced to the final by defeating Russia's Aleksandr Krikukha 2-1 in the semifinals. In the gold medal bout, he will face Iran's Yasin Yazdi.

In the heavyweight division, Jokhar Uzarov (130 kg) first defeated Japan's Issa Kikuchi by technical superiority 8-0, then beat American Aden Attao by the same score. In the semifinals, the Kazakh lost by fall to Russia's Ali Iliasov and will now compete for bronze.

Arsen Zhuma (55 kg) also remains in medal contention. After a 10-1 win over Uzbekistan's Otabek Tursunov, he lost in the quarterfinals to Georgia's Kobe Karumidze. The Georgian's run to the final allowed Zhuma to continue in the consolation round, where he will face Albania's Andi Muca.

Rauan Turusbek (63 kg) defeated Poland's Dominik Partika 7-6, then lost in the quarterfinals to Russia's Igor Punchenko 0-6. Punchenko did not reach the final, so the Kazakh's tournament ended. Akzhan Ykylasov (77 kg) was eliminated after a loss to Kyrgyzstan's Alibek Berdiev in the qualification round.

The U23 World Championships are being held in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18. The tournament opened with Greco-Roman competition, followed by women's and freestyle wrestling. Kazakhstan is represented by a full team of 30 athletes.

At last year's U23 World Championships, Kazakhstan won five medals. Shugyla Omirbek became world champion, Rizabek Aitmukhan won bronze in freestyle, and the Greco-Roman wrestlers brought the team one silver (Yusuf Matsiev) and two bronzes (Merey Mauletkanov and Omar Sataev).