2026 U23 European Championships

Eriomenco, Amirov Return to U23 European Finals

Friday, March 13, 2026 - 18:47 By Vinay Siwach

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ZRENJANIN, Serbia (March 13) -- World bronze medalist and returning champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) will try to defend his 63kg Greco-Roman title at U23 European Championships on Saturday.

Eriomenco reached the final in Zrenjanin, Serbia after a dominated performance on Friday, winning three bouts with little trouble. In the semifinals, Eriomenco blanked Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 4-0.

But standing between him and a second straight gold medal is Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (RUS), bronze medalist at the 2025 U23 World Championships, in which Eriomenco won silver.

Shungurtsikov did not have a smooth passage to the final but managed to hold off Jan GAMELIUS (SWE), 4-3, in the semifinal. Both wrestlers scored one turn each when put in par terre but Shungurtsikov did it in the second period to hold 3-3 criteria lead. Sweden challenged the correct throw but lost which made the score 4-3.

Russia was the most successful country on Friday with four finalists. Apart from Shungurtsikov, Alibek AMIROV (RUS), Imam ALIEV (RUS) and Danil GRIGOREV (RUS) will also wrestle for gold.

Defending champion Alibek AMIROV (RUS) will look to repeat after he sailed through to the 55kg final and will take on Farid SADIKHLI (AZE). Amirov used a gut-wrench to beat Sercan KESGIN (TUR), 9-0, in the semifinal.

Sadikhli managed to turn Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO) and take a 3-3 criteria lead for scoring the last point and won with the same score.

Returning silver medalist at 87kg Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) will look to win gold this time when he takes on Imam ALIEV (RUS) in the final. Karchaidze dominated the semifinal, winning 11-1 against Yassine BEN LABED (POL), who earlier defeated Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO).

Aliev faced tough challenge from Martin LJOSAAK (NOR) in the other semifinal and needed more than a few stepouts to win 13-7.

For Grigorev, the semifinal against U17 world champion Kiryl VALEUSKI (BLR) was a low scoring one as he won 3-0. Interestingly, there was no par terre in the second period of the bout.

He will face Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) in the final after the Armenian held off former U17 world champion Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA), 1-1, winning the match on criteria of scoring first point.

At 130kg, U20 world and European champion Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) entered his first U23 European Championships final after a 6-0 shutout victory over Sebastian WARCHOL (POL) in the semifinal.

For the gold medal, Darabos will face Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), a surprise finalist. He defeated Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR), 6-0, after two counter attacking takedowns. Yankovskyi was hit with a leg foul when defending during the second takedown.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Farid SADIKHLI (AZE) vs. Alibek AMIROV (RUS)

SF 1: Alibek AMIROV (RUS) df. Sercan KESGIN (TUR), 9-0
SF 2: Farid SADIKHLI (AZE) df. Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO), 3-3

63kg
GOLD: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) vs. Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (RUS)

SF 1: Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (RUS) df. Jan GAMELIUS (SWE), 4-3
SF 2: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 4-0

77kg
GOLD: Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) vs. Danil GRIGOREV (RUS)

SF 1: Danil GRIGOREV (RUS) df. Kiryl VALEUSKI (BLR), 3-0
SF 2: Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) df. Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA), 1-1

87kg
GOLD: Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) vs. Imam ALIEV (RUS)

SF 1: Imam ALIEV (RUS) df. Martin LJOSAAK (NOR), 13-7
SF 2: Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 11-1

130kg
GOLD: Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)

SF 1: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Sebastian WARCHOL (POL), 6-0
SF 2: Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR), 6-0

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UWW Top Ranked Wrestlers of 2025: Verbina, Komarov, Aoyagi

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 - 19:03 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 17) -- United World Wrestling has announced the three Best Ranked Wrestlers in 2025. The three wrestlers earned the most ranking points in the year 2025.

The most ranking points in the year 2025 were earned by world champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in Greco-Roman as he scored 83,500 points. In Women's Wrestling, world silver medalist Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) was the highest ranked wrestler as she earned 64,200 points.

In Freestyle, world champion Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) earned 76,900 points, the best among all wrestlers.

Verbina: Women's 55kg

Verbina may not have won the gold medal at the World Championships but she had a busy year, wrestling more often than others. That earned her more ranking points than many as she finished at the top of the rankings in Women's Wrestling.

Her first competition was the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in which she finished fifth for just 4,000 points. In the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana, Albania where she finished with a bronze medal that earned her 5,2000 points. She added 10,000 points for her gold medal at the European Championships. Another gold, at the Budapest Ranking Series, added 8,000 points.

Verbina entered the World Championships with 27,200 points. She jumped ahead of many with 37,000 points for her silver medal at 55kg. Her total went up to 64,200 points, taking her past the likes of world champions Sakura ONISHI (JPN) and Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN). Both finished 1,200 points less than Verbina.

Komarov: Greco 87kg

Komarov began his season with the Zagreb Open Ranking Series and finished fifth, giving him 9,000 points. A similar result at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series gave him 9,000 points.

A big boost came at the European Championships in which Komarov won a bronze medal at 87kg to earn 11,500 points. In June, another fifth place finish at the Budapest Ranking Series added 9,000 points to his name to take the total to 38,500 points before the World Championships.

In Zagreb at the Worlds, Komarov won the gold medal and earned a stunning 45,000 points to 83,500 points, the most among all wrestlers and 13,780 points more than second most -- Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB).

Aoyagi: Freestyle 70kg

World champion was the top ranked freestyle wrestler with 76,900 points, 9,600 points more than the second place wrestler.

His first competition was the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in which he bagged the gold medal to earn 11,000 points. He then added a bronze medal at the Asian Championships and earned 9,500 points for the same.

The Budapest Ranking Series gold gave him another 11,000 points, taking his total to 31,500 points before the World Championships. He became a world champion in Zagreb and that gold medal was worth 45,000 points, sending his total to 76,500 points.

Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), with 66,900 points, is the second-best wrestler, 9,600 points less than Aoyagi.