#wrestlenursultan

Dilmukhamedov Thrills Home Crowd, Takes Down Titans to Make Greco 77kg Semis

By Ken Marantz

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Sept. 16)--- Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) got the crowd roaring by knocking off a two-time Olympic champion. For an encore, he topped a former world champion to earn a place in the semifinals and earn his country a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Dilmukhamedov defeated Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Viktor NEMES (SRB) in succession to make the semifinals of 77kg and highlight the qualifying rounds of the three remaining weight classes in Greco-Roman at the World Championships.

The Barys Arena crowd went crazy as Dilmukhamedov defeated double Olympic gold medalist Vlasov 3-0, then managed to get even louder when he held on for a 4-3 win over Nemes. That puts him into the semifinals against Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), the silver medalist a year ago in Budapest.  

Amir GHASEMI (IRI) knocked off reigning world champion on his way to the 130kg semifinals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

For Iran, after coming away empty-handed from the first two days of action, the tournament finally started going its way when two of its wrestlers advanced to the semifinals and all three knocked off top seeds.

Alireza NEJATI (IRI) and Amir GHASEMI (IRI) made it to the semifinals at 60kg and 130kg, respectively, to also clinch spots for their country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The top six finishers in each weight class earn tickets for their nation. 

The young Nejati, a world junior bronze medalist last year, topped second seed KIM Seunghak (KOR) 7-0 in the third round, then earned a spot in the final four against 2017 world champion Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) by edging Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) 3-1.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) took down returning world silver medalist Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 12-5 en route to the semifinals. (Photo: Tony Rotundo) 

Fumita advanced with a hard-fought 12-5 win over 2018 silver medalist Victor CIOBANU (MDA). Earlier, Fumita won a third-round showdown with Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB), the 2018 world silver medalist at 63kg, winning by 9-1 technical fall.

The other semifinal will be a clash between defending champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS), who stormed his way through with three technical-fall victories without surrendering a point, and local star Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ). 

At 77kg, Mohammedali GERAEI (IRI) whipped top seed and 2018 silver medalist KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) by 8-0 technical fall en route to the quarterfinals, but his run to gold was ended by Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), who won by technical fall and will face Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) in the semifinals.

Asian 130kg champion Ghasemi made his mark by beating defending champion and top seed Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) 6-4 in the second round, then advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 win over Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) in a rematch of the final from the Asian Championships. 

Riza KAYAALP (TUR) has outscored his three opponents 13-1 on his way to making the world semifinals. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

He will next face Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), while the other semifinal pits European champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) against Eduard POPP (GER).  

The day session also included the repechage for places in the bronze-medal matches in the three weight classes that went through the qualifying phase on Sunday. Six more wrestlers secured berths for their country at Tokyo 2020 by advancing to the third-place playoffs.

The feature repechage match came at 67kg, where three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) forged out a 2-1 victory over two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR), with the decisive point coming on a stepout.

Both Staebler and Ryu had lost to Olympic champion Ismael BORREO (CUB) in one of the most stacked brackets of the tournament. Staebler will face Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) for the bronze.

In the night session, the semifinals will be followed by the medal matches at 67kg, 87kg and 97kg.   

Day 3 results

Greco-Roman Pairings

60kg (39 entries)
Semifinal – Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ)
Semifinal – Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) vs Alireza NEJATI (IRI)

67kg (41 entries)
Gold – Artem SURKOV (RUS) vs Ismael BORREO (CUB) 
Bronze –Mate NEMES (SRB) vs Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Bronze – Frank STAEBLER (GER) vs Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)

77kg (38 entries)
Semifinal – Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) vs Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Semifinal – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) vs Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)

87kg (39 entries)
Gold – Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) vs Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) 
Bronze – Mikalai STADUB (BLR) vs Denis KUDLA (GER)
Bronze – Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) vs Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

97kg (37 entries)
Gold – Musa EVLOEV (RUS) vs Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 
Bronze – Tadeuz MICHALIK (POL) vs Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Bronze – Cenk ILDEM (TUR) vs Giorgi MELIA (GEO)

130kg (31 entries)
Semifinal – Amir GHASEMI (IRI) vs Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Semifinal – Eduard POPP (GER) vs Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

2026 U23 European Championships

Three Golds Power Belarus to First U23 Euro Women's Team Title

By Vinay Siwach

ZRENJANIN, Serbia (March 13) -- Three golds medals on Friday propelled Belarus to win its first-ever Women's Wrestling team title at the U23 European Championships. Belarus finished with 171 points to claim the top spot while Russia was second with 141 points. Ukraine finished third with 140 points.

After winning one gold medal on Thursday, Belarus added three through Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (BLR), Kseniya TSIARENIA (BLR) and Viktoryia RADZKOVA (BLR). It also won one silver and one bronze while all 10 wrestlers contributed points to the team score.

European champion Alina SHAUCHUK (BLR) claimed the 68kg gold medal on Thursday and the gold rush on Friday began with Martynava scoring a tough win over Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) in the 57kg final, a repeat from last year's edition.

In what turned out to be one-move match, Martynava scored a double-leg head-outside takedown in the first 10 seconds of the bout. She then sat on her two-point lead for five minutes and 50 seconds. In the second period, Martynava was called passive and Filipovych was given a point.

But the Ukrainian failed to score two more points that were needed for a win that would have avenged her loss from last year's final which Martynava won 8-2.

The Belarus wrestler now has two U23 European gold medals to go with her silver at the U23 World Championships and gold medal at the U20 World Championships.

The second gold for Belarus was won by Kseniya TSIARENIA (BLR) after she defeated Ekaterina KOSHKINA (RUS), 4-2, in the 65kg final. Tsiarenia controlled the match giving little chance to Koshkina to score.

It was only in the dying seconds of the match that Koshkina managed to score a harmless takedown for two points.

The third gold medal for Belarus was won by Viktoryia RADZKOVA (BLR) who denied Veronika VILK (CRO) a chance of winning a historical gold medal at 72kg. Radzkova opened the scoring when Vilk was called passive. Vilk then tried an arm-throw but Radzkova blocked her and scored two points to lead 3-0 at the break.

Vilk tried a headlock in the second period but Radzkova was ready for it and again blocked Vilk's attempt to score two points. A turn for exposure added two more points for Radzkova that extended her lead to 7-0.

Perhaps ready for another throw from Vilk, Radzkova stood up and when Vilk tried the throw, she once again blocked and landed on top. The two points plus two more points for the turn gave Radzkova an 11-0 win with a minute nine seconds left.

Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP) was also trying to achieve a historic gold for Spain but was denied as Anastasiia POLSKA (POL) used a fireman's carry to secure a fall in just a minute and 17 seconds and win gold at 53kg.

Senior world bronze medalist Amina TANDELOVA (RUS) claimed the 62kg gold medal after beating Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE), 5-3, in the final.

Tandelova, who won silver at U23 Europeans in 2023, used a beautiful arm-throw to score the first four-pointer. The first point for Tandelova was from the activity period of Mammadova in which the Azerbaijan wrestler failed to score.

Mammadova scored a takedown and activity clock point to cut the lead but it was still not enough to overturn the result.

Photo

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) df. Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP), via fall (4-0)

BRONZE: Sevval CAYIR (TUR) vs. Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
BRONZE: Ekaterina KARPUSHKINA (RUS) df. Kseniya KOSTSENICH (BLR), via inj. def.

57kg
GOLD: Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (BLR) df. Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR), 2-1

BRONZE: Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN) df. Amory ANDRICH (GER), 7-5
BRONZE: Felicitas DOMAJEVA (NOR) df. Romaissa EL KHARROUBI (FRA), 5-0

62kg
GOLD: Amina TANDELOVA (RUS) df. Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE), 5-3

BRONZE: Iris THIEBAUX (FRA) df. Gulsum BINGOL (TUR), 4-0
BRONZE: Alicja WOJEWODZKA NOWOSAD (POL) df. Naemi LEISTNER (GER), 5-1

65kg
GOLD: Kseniya TSIARENIA (BLR) df. Ekaterina KOSHKINA (RUS), 4-2

BRONZE: Maria PANTIRU (ROU) df. Bianca CONTRAFATTO (ITA), via fall (8-0)
BRONZE: Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR) df. Saga SVENSSON (SWE), 11-1

72kg
GOLD: Viktoryia RADZKOVA (BLR) df. Veronika VILK (CRO), 11-0

BRONZE: Karolina JAWORSKA (POL) df. Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL), 5-0
BRONZE: Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (RUS) df. Greta TVERSKYTE (LTU), 3-3