#WrestleDortmund

Azerbaijan Brings #WrestleDortmund Gold Medal Haul to Three

Wednesday, June 30, 2021 - 19:48 By Eric Olanowski

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DORTMUND, Germany (June 29) --- Azerbaijan’s Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) and Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE), cornered by recent-retiree and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Jabrail HASANOV (AZE), claimed junior European gold on Wednesday night and brought their overall gold medal haul to three.

Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE), who won 70kg gold on Tuesday night, was Azerbaijan’s third junior freestyle gold medalist.

After two cadet European bronze medal finishes, Heybatov finally got over the hump and claimed his long-awaited gold medal. He trailed Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM), 3-0, but flipped his offensive switch on and picked up a pair of takedowns and exposures in the final two minutes and won the 61kg title, 8-5.

Gadzhiev, a  ’19 cadet world champion, blew through Taner GARIP (TUR) and won his second European title of the year. He also won gold at the U23 European Championships earlier this year.

In the first period, Gadzhiev trailed 1-0, but grasped a high-level single leg and quickly transitioned into a right-side gut wrench for the 4-1 lead. In the closing period, the 19-year-old planted Garip on his face with a snap down and extended his lead to 6-1. He pushed that lead to eight points after he threw his Turkish opponent for four points. Leading 10-2, the Azeri used an underhook throw-by to pick up the match-ending takedown and the 74kg title.

Arslan BAGAEV (RUS) scores the match-winning stepout against Joshua MORODION (GER) in the 86kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Russia (185 points) came into Wednesday with three champs and tacked on two additional golds, and walked away with the team title, 59 points ahead of second-place Turkey (126 points)

Azerbaijan (119 points), Ukraine (103 points) and Armenia (101 points) rounded out the top five in the freestyle team race.

Arslan BAGAEV (RUS) bagged 86kg gold with an impressive 10-0 throttling of Joshua MORODION (GER).  While leading 1-0 off a step out, the Russian hit an elbow pass to a trio of leg laces and headed into the second period with a commanding 9-0 lead. He wasted no time in the second period, shooting an open double leg which resulted in a stepout to win, 10-0.

Islam KILCHUKOV (RUS) picked up a four-point win over Johannes MAYER (GER) in the 92kg finals and handed Russia their fifth overall gold medal of the competition. He picked up an inactivity point and stopped a pair of German shots and scooped up four counteroffensive points to win, 5-1.

The final freestyle gold medal of the competition went to Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM). He crushed Aydin AHMADOV (AZE) in the gold medal match and won his second career European title and first since winning the ’18 cadet European gold. He only needed a little over two minutes to score his 11 points and reach the top of the European podium.

Wrestling at the Junior European Championships resumes on Thursday at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed on www.uww.org.

RESULTS

61kg
GOLD - Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM), 8-5
BRONZE - Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO) df. Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA), 3-3
BRONZE - Pavel ANDRUSCA (MDA) df. Hamza ZOPALI (TUR), 8-4

74kg
GOLD - Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) df. Taner GARIP (TUR), 12-2
BRONZE - Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS) df. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 3-3
BRONZE - Stas David WOLF (GER) df. Vadym KURYLENKO (UKR), 7-3l

86kg
GOLD - Arslan BAGAEV (RUS) df Joshua Philipp David MORODION (GER), 10-0
BRONZE - Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) Denys SAHALIUK (UKR), 6-1
BRONZE - Emre CIFTCI (TUR) df. Joel HENCZ (HUN), 7-5

92kg
GOLD - Islam KILCHUKOV (RUS) df. Johannes MAYER (GER), 5-1
BRONZE - Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)  df. Krisztian Gabor ANGYAL (HUN), 11-0
BRONZE - Daniil PIDLYPENETS (UKR) df. Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO), 3-2

125kg
GOLD - Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM) df. Aydin AHMADOV (AZE), 11-0"
BRONZE - Arsamag ZASSEEV (RUS) df. Daniel PIRTACHI (MDA), 11-0
BRONZE - Vasyl SOVA (UKR) df. Csaba UBORNYAK (HUN), 6-5

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 1: Gamkrelidze beats Valencia; Sujeet, Lee in finals

Wednesday, February 4, 2026 - 09:34 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- The Zagreb Open 2026 begins with six weight classes in Freestyle -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg. Stars like Zahid ZALENCIA (USA),  Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), AMAN (IND) are in action.

Please read the 2026 SEASON PREVIEW on uww.org

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | PREVIEW

Here's a recap of the morning session: 61kg medalists are already decided with Austin DESANTO (USA) winning gold and AMAN (IND) finishing with silver. 

Spencer LEE (USA) and Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) will face each other in the 57kg gold medal bout. SUJEET (IND) won two bouts via technical superiority and will now wrestle for gold at 65kg. At 74kg, a big final is set as David CARR (USA) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) will clash. And at 86kg, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) and 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), who is now up at 86kg dropped their opening bouts. However, with Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) making it to the final, Valencia is pulled back while Kougioumtsidis has been knocked out.

13:38: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who defeated Zahid VALENCIA (USA) in the opening bout at 86kg, scores a late stepout to take a 2-2 criteria lead and beat Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) at 86kg semifinals. Gamkrelidze will wrestle Parker KEKEISEN (USA) for gold after he scored a 9-5 victory over Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the other semifinal.

13:20: 74kg semifinals - David CARR (USA) with another technical superiority win at 74kg. He advances to the final after beating Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) 12-1. Four different takedowns and two gut-wrenches in that win for the American. A huge final coming up as world champion at 70kg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) hangs on for a 4-3 win over Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA). The French wrestlers was up 2-1 but Aoyagi scored a stepout and takedown before giving up a stepout but managed to win the bout.

13:05: 70kg semifinals - Sina KHALILI (IRI), U23 world silver medalist, rolls to a 10-0 victory over ABHIMANYOU (IND) using gut-wrenches. He makes it to the final and will wrestle Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) for the gold medal. The Georgian defended his lead against Caleb HENSON (USA) to win 6-3. After leading 6-0, Kemertelidze gave up a takedown and then a stepout to Henson. But the American could not score the four points needed to win the semifinals.

12:55: 65kg semifinals - SUJEET (IND) continues his dominance at 65kg, beating Joseph MCKENNA (USA), 11-0 in the semifinal in semifinal. He will now wrestle for gold against Peyman NEMATI (IRI) who scored a comeback win over Gamzatgadzhi KHALIDOV (HUN). The Hungarian had a 2-0 lead before Nemati managed to turn it around and complete a 4-2 win

12:40: 57kg semifinals - Spencer LEE (USA) completes a dominant 10-2 victory over Fuga SASAKI (JPN). He managed an early 6-2 and then continued to dominate the match, eventually winning 12-2. He will face Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) for the gold medal after the Mexican defeated Milad VALIZADEH (IRI). Bravo Young kept his false attacks and change of direction was excellent throughout the bout

Semifinals begin at 12:30 local time

So far, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) has suffered a technical superiority loss at 86kg while Takara SUDA (JPN), moving up from 61kg to 65kg, dropped his match against Joseph MCKENNA (USA). At 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) has captured the gold medal after winning three bouts in a Nordic bracket

12:15: In what was a virtual final at 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) not only needed a victory over AMAN (IND), he also need to win via technical superiority or fall. He does exactly that by pinning Aman after taking an 8-0 lead and win the gold medal at 61kg. Aman finishes with a silver medal.

12:12: U23 world champion SUJEET (IND) finishes his quarterfinal at 65kg with a 10-0 victory over Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) and sets up a quarterfinal against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) who defeated Takara SUDA (JPN) 7-0 in the other quarterfinal.

12:08: Sina KHALILI (IRI) took a 9-1 lead over Ian PARKER (USA) but was gave a stepout with a minute remaining. However, he had little trouble holding on to his 9-3 lead and win his bout at 70kg.

12:00: Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) hangs on for an easy 4-0 victory over European silver medalist Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB) at 57kg. He moves into the semifinals in which he will wrestle Fuga SASAKI (JPN)

11:55: Fuga SASAKI (JPN) hangs on for a 7-1 victory over ANKUSH (IND) in 57kg quarterfinals. Sasaki goes for three takedown and one stepout in his win over Ankush who failed to get any attacks going.

11:50: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) shuts down Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) at 70kg for a 3-0 win. Not much action in the match but Kemertelidze is happy with the win here.

11:45: Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (MEX) continues his excellent form and wins his quarterfinal against Anthony KNOX (USA), 12-2. He will wrestle in the semifinal at 57kg.

11:35: World champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA), who did not concede a single point at the World Championships, drops his quarterfinal against Vladimir GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 11-0. Gut-wrench from par terre for Gamkrelidze

11:25: Former U20 world bronze medalist ANKUSH (IND) uses the Figure 4 turn to great effect to beat Ali YAHYAPOUR (IRI), 11-0, at 57kg. Ankush has long been seen as the biggest challenge to Olympic bronze medalist AMAN (IND) at the weight class

11:15: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) off to solid starts at 86kg as he takes out Sandeep MANN (IND) 11-0 in the opening bout at 86kg. Valencia is the world champion at 86kg, a title he won at the same Arena Zagreb in September last year

11:05: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world champion at 70kg, makes his 74kg debut with a controlled 6-1 victory over James GREEN (USA). Aoyagi scored a stepout to lead 2-1 before scoring two counter takedowns to finish the bout as the winner.

10:55: David CARR (USA) took his own time to get going but he manages a victory via fall over Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI) after building a 13-2 lead at 74kg.

10:45: World champion at 79kg Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) seemed in complete control of his first bout at 86kg against Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), leading 6-1 with a minute remaining. However, Shamsipour mounts a comeback, scoring six points in the final minute and beat the Greek world champion 7-6  

10:40: First period technical superiority, 10-0, win for AMAN (IND) against Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) who is in action for the first time since winning a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Open in June last year.

10:30: Welcome to the Zagreb Open Ranking Series. Day one of the competition and we have six Freestyle weight classes in action. Multiple Olympic and world medalists in action today.