#WrestleFaenza

Alili Makes Macedonian History, Wins First-Ever Cadet European Title

Saturday, June 22, 2019 - 17:29 By Eric Olanowski

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FAENZA, Italy (June 22) -- Coming into Saturday's European finals, Macedonia had three wrestlers reach the gold-medal bout but never had a cadet wrestler win a continental title in any style. Besir ALILI (MKD) changed that after winning his nations first-ever cadet European title on the sixth day of wrestling in Faenza, Italy. 

For the second year in a row, Alili had an opportunity to do what his fellow countrymen, Boban DANOV (MKD) and Dejan Bogdanov (MKD), couldn’t do, and that was to come out on the winning end of a European gold-medal bout. That’s exactly what he did on Saturday night, rewriting a page in his nation’s history book with a 7-6 come-from-behind win against Harutyun HOVHANNISYAN (ARM) in the 48kg finals. 

The match couldn’t have started any worse for Alili, but he wasn’t going to be denied a gold medal. His Armenian opponent hit a slide by to start the match, and as Alili squared up, Hovhannisyan shot a fireman’s carry. With Alili’s arm trapped, Hovhannisyan came up to his feet and thunderously tossed the Macedonian to his back. The referrers awarded five points to Hovhannisyan for his spectacular throw, leaving Alili down 5-0 less than 30 seconds into the match. To end the exchange that left him behind 5-1, Alili was able to somehow worm his way on top for the reversal, cutting his deficit to four points. 

With under 30 seconds left in the first period, Alili pulled Hovhannisyan’s head down to the mat and locked up a front head pinch, rolling his Armenian opponent over his back three consecutive times. His six points from the front head pinches, coupled with the reversal, gave Alili the 7-5 lead heading into the break. 

From there, there was nothing flashy from Alili’s end, just sound defense and near perfect position that helped him cruise to the 7-6 victory after being down 5-0 to start the match. 

After the match, and before strolling around the mat with the Macedonian flag draped above his head, Alili celebrated sticking the perfect landing on his cartwheel to a backflip. 

Macedonia now has eight cadet European medals. They have Alili’s Day 6 gold, three silvers and four bronze medals. 

The final day of wrestling at the Cadet European Championships starts tomorrow at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live onwww.unitedworldwretling.org. 

RESULTS 

Team Scores 
GOLD – Russia (105 points)
SILVER – Azerbaijan (70 points)
BRONZE – Ukraine (56 points)
Fourth – Georiga (55 points)
Fifth – Turkey (38 points)

48kg 
GOLD - Besir ALILI (MKD) df. Harutyun HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 7-6 
BRONZE - Ramazan BAGAVUDINOV (RUS) df. Ramik HEYBATOV (AZE), 7-3 
BRONZE - Luka GUGESHASHVILI (GEO) df. Andrei VITAN (MDA), 10-0

55kg
GOLD - Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA) df. Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR), 5-0 
BRONZE - Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM), 8-6  
BRONZE - Magomed TAZHUDINOV (RUS) df. Burak DEMIR (GER), 12-1 

65kg
GOLD - Iman SHIKHSHABEKOV (RUS) df. Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE), 4-0 
BRONZE - Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO) df. Aliaksandr HULNIK (BLR), 11-0 
BRONZE - Narek POHOSIAN (UKR) df. Krystian Tomasz KRUPINSKI (POL), 13-2 

80kg
GOLD - Akhmedkhan TEMBOTOV (RUS) df. Denys SAHALIUK (UKR), 9-0 
BRONZE - Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO) df. Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE), via fall
BRONZE - Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) df. Nihat BEKTAS (TUR), 11-0

110kg
GOLD - Andrei BESTAEV (RUS) df. Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL), 10-0 
BRONZE - Hamlet NASIBLI (AZE) df. Hubert WISNIEWSKI (POL), 4-0 
BRONZE - David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) df. Marius UJA (MDA), 3-0 

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 World Championships 2025 Day 6 Freestyle Highlights

Saturday, October 25, 2025 - 08:17 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 25) -- The U23 World Championships 2025 in Novi Sad will see four Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 70kg, 79kg and 125kg -- in action on day six.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 5 RESULTS

14:00: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a world U20 silver medalist, reaches the semifinals at 125kg in Novi Sad after an 8-0  win over Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM).

13:40: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) got taken down by Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) for the opening score in their match but Lilledahl comes back and scores three takedowns to lead 6-2 at the break. He keeps the momentum going in the second period and beats Valizadeh 11-5 at 57kg.

13:25: Levi HAINES (USA) is on a mission here. He blanks Aykan SEID (BUL), 10-0, in the 79kg quarterfinals and powers his way into the semifinals.

13:10: PJ DUKE (USA) was challenged a little by Kaito MORITA (JPN) but he uses a big four-pointer to win 7-3 and advance to the semifinals at 70kg.

12:55: Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) had to wait for it but he beats Luka GVINJILIA (GEO), 12-2, at 57kg. Solid gut-wrench from Valizadeh to win his bout.

12:40: U20 world champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed four minutes and 25 seconds to see off Honghang LIAO (CHN) at 57kg. Lilledahl is the favorite to capture the gold here in Nvoi Sad. 

12:30: Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN) stars off with a 7-2 win against Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR) at 57kg. Very controlled win from the Japanese who has world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) in his corner.

12:15: In a match between world silver medalist Levi HAINES (USA) and U20 world champion Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI), Haines comes out on top 7-0. Yousefi completely shut down there in this 79kg bout.

11:45: Sina KHALILI (IRI) with a 12-2 technical superiority win over Naveen KUMAR (IND) at 70kg. That gu-wrench was very effective for Khalili.

11:40: PJ DUKE (USA) with a huge 10-0 win over Rostislav LEICHT (GER) at 70kg. He looks in top form and better than his run in Samokov where he won gold at the U20 World Championships. 

11:25: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) with an excellent strategy against recent U20 world silver medalist Sumit MALIK (IND). Gvinjilia scored a double leg attack and turned Malik twice to lead 6-0. Despite his strong efforts, Malik could only score 5 points and lost his 57kg bout 6-5

11:00: Sina KHALILI (IRI) hangs on to beat Omar OMAROV (UWW) 6-5 at 70kg. Both Omarov led 5-4 when Khalili forced a stepout with 24 seconds left. Omarov challenged the call for a par terre position but the challenge was lost, giving a 6-5 lead to Khalili. Omarov then tried two pushouts which were both called pushouts. Khalili survived there to win 6-5

10:50: Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO) with a brilliant fireman's carry for four points against CHANDERMOHAN (IND) before he adds a huge reverse slam for a five points. A pushout to end the match 10-0 in two minutes and 18 seconds at 79kg.

10:35: U20 world champion PJ DUKE (USA) up against Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB) at 70kg. He gets a point for Kuldashev's passivity before scoring a takedown for two points and lead 3-0 at the break. A point for Kuldashev in the second period but Duke hits two takedowns and then defends to win 7-1.