2019 World Champion and multiple-time medalist Lasha Gobadze (GEO) bulldozed Islam Aliev (UWW) in the semifinal round at 87 kilograms to officially eliminate Payton Jacobson (NYAC/NTS) from the ’26 Muhamet Malo tournament in Tirana, Albania, United World Wrestling’s second “Ranking Series” event of the year.
Earlier on Friday, Jacobson had finished Adam Gardziola (POL) in grand style by coming away victorious via fall. In the next round, Aliev decisioned Jacobson 5-1 before falling to the aforementioned Gobadze. In two “Ranking Series” appearances thus far in ’26, Jacobson’s record stands at 4-3 following his placing 5th in Zagreb three weeks ago.
Day 2 in Tirana
Team USA will have three wrestlers competing on Saturday: two-time Olympian/five-time US World Team member Ildar Hafizov (63 kg, Army/WCAP), ’24 U20 World silver/’25 U23 World bronze Otto Black (67 kg, NYAC/NTS), and ’25 World Team representative/’19 U20 World bronze Alston Nutter (67 kg, Army/WCAP).
Hafizov will take on Sakit Guliyev (AZE) in the round-of-16; if successful against Guliyev, Hafizov will then face the winner between Bakytzhan Kabdyl (KAZ) and Chetan Chetan (IND), the latter of whom finished with silver in the Grand Prix Zagreb Open “Ranking Series” event. Should Hafizov advance to the semifinal, he will greet eitherL ’20 European Championships gold Morten Thoresen (NOR), Igor Punchenko (UWW), two-time U23 World bronze Pridon Abuladze (GEO), or Aref Mohammadi (QAT).
Black and Nutter are on the same side of the 67 kg bracket but would not be able to meet before the semifinals. Black starts off with Ankit Ankit (IND) in the qualification round and a win would put him against ’24 World silver Yerzhet Zharlykassyn (KAZ). If Black can defeat Zharlykassyn, next would be either Singh Karanjit (IND) or Kakabay Kakabayev (TKM). In other words, if Black were to get past Ankit and then Zharlykassyn, he would be favored to advance to the semifinal round.
Nutter should be in for a fun match. He will face the winner between ’23 World Champion Sebastian Nad (SRB) and Tsuchika Shimoyamada (AUS). Nad became a World champ at 63 kg but has stepped up to 67 kg following Mate Nemes’ seeming exit from the sport. Shimoyamada — who is from Japan but relocated to Australia several years ago — is a multi-time Asian Championships gold who has an expressive style. The match between Nad and Shimoyamada itself should provide entertainment, and Nutter might mix very well with both competitors. A win for Nutter over Nad or Shimoyamada would put him in the quarterfinal opposed by ’24 U23 World silver Diego Chkhikvadze (GEO) or Erzu Zakriev (UWW). Chkhikvadze wound up with silver in Zagreb in this weight category; Zakriev was a U20 World gold in ’24 and finished with silver in ’25.
Schedule & Streaming
Wrestling resumes on Saturday morning at 10:30am local time (4:30am ET) and can be viewed live in the US on FLOWrestling (subscription required). Below is the schedule along with results from Friday (Day 1) and the first-round pairings for Team USA on Day 2.
Saturday, February 28 (63 & 67 kg)
10:30am — Qualification rounds
2:00pm — Semifinals
3:00pm — Repechage rounds
6:00pm — Finals/bronze-medal matches
2026 Muhamet Malo
February 27-March 1 — Tirana, ALB
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
77 kg: Britton Holmes (Army/WCAP)
LOSS Kaharman Kissymetov (KAZ) 8-0, TF
87 kg: Payton Jacobson (NYAC/NTS)
WON Adam Gardziola (POL) via fall
LOSS Islam Aliev (UWW) 5-1
TEAM USA DAY 2 DRAWS
63 kg: Ildar Hafizov (Army/WCAP)
vs. Sakit Guliyev (AZE) — Round-of-16
67 kg: Otto Black (NYAC/NTS)
vs. Ankit Ankit (IND) — Qualification round
67 kg: Alston Nutter (Army/WCAP)
vs. winner between Sebastian Nad (SRB) & Tsuchika Shimoyamada (AUS) — Round-of-16
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