#WrestleBucharest

European Championships 2024 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (January 22) -- United World Wrestling has released the preliminary entries for the European Championships, which take place in Bucharest, Romania.

The competition will kick off on February 12 with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle. The tournament will finish on February 19.

Note: The entries are subject to change three days before the official draws of the respective styles.

Freestyle

57kg
Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN)
Zavur UGUEV (AIN)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Ivaylo Milenov TISOV (BUL)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Nikolaos VLANDOS (GRE)
Igor CHICHIOI (MDA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)

61kg
Andrei BEKRENEU (AIN)
Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Mezhlum MEZHLUMYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
Levan METREVELI (ESP)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Daniel POPOV (ISR)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Nebi UZUN (TUR)
Valentyn BLIASETSKYI (UKR)

65kg
Islam GUSEINOV (AIN)
Shamil MAMEDOV (AIN)
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Carlos ALVAREZ (ESP)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Andre CLARKE (GER)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR)

70kg
Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)
Uladzislau KOIKA (AIN)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Alexander SEMISOROW (GER)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
George BUCUR (ROU)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)

74kg
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (AIN)
Timur BIZHOEV (AIN)
Cherman VALIEV (ALB)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Stas WOLF (GER)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Malik AMINE (SMR)
Tobias PORTMANN (SUI)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Vadym TSURKAN (UKR)

79kg
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN)
Akhmed USMANOV (AIN)
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Miroslav KIROV (BUL)
Erik REINBOK (EST)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Pouria TAHERKHANI (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Ramazan SARI (TUR)
Oleksii DOMANYTSKYI (UKR)
Iman MAHDAVI (UWW)

86kg
Arkadzi PAHASIAN (AIN)
Artur NAIFONOV (AIN)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP)
Aimar ANDRUSE (EST)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Aron CANEVA (ITA)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Vasile MINZALA (ROU)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)

92kg
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (AIN)
Magomed KURBANOV (AIN)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Balazs JUHASZ (HUN)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Andrian GROSUL (MDA)
Adam MODOSJAN (MKD)
Michal BIELAWSKI (POL)
Zoltan SZEP (ROU)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)

97kg
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (AIN)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN)
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Erik THIELE (GER)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Lukas KRASAUSKAS (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Georgian TRIPON (ROU)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)

125kg
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN)
Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN)
Martin SIMONYAN (ARM)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Michael MANEA (ROU)
Magomedgadzhi NURASULOV (SRB)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)

Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) is the reigning European champion at 77kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Vitalii KABALOEV (AIN)
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Adem UZUN (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)

60kg
Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Sadyk LALAEV (AIN)
Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Nedyalko PETROV (BUL)
Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW)

63kg
Yaraslau KARDASH (AIN)
Zhambolat LOKYAEV (AIN)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Brian SANTIAGO (DEN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Christopher KRAEMER (GER)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Pavel ALEXE (ROU)
Virgil BICA (SWE)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)

67kg
Maksim NEHODA (AIN)
Ruslan BICHURIN (AIN)
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
David MANYIK (HUN)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)

72kg
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (AIN)
Narek OGANIAN (AIN)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Michael WIDMAYER (GER)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Iulian LUNGU (ROU)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)

77kg
Shuai MAMEDAU (AIN)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (AIN)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)

82kg
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (AIN)
Islam ALIEV (AIN)
Kelsi NELAJ (ALB)
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Mats AHLGREN (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

87kg
Kiryl MASKEVICH (AIN)
Alan OSTAEV (AIN)
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Lukas STAUDACHER (AUT)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Raido LIITMAEE (EST)
Tourpal MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Artur SARGSIAN (AIN)
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Michail IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Roman BALCHIVSCHII (MDA)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)

130kg
Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (AIN)
Sergei SEMENOV (AIN)
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Franz RICHTER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Artsiom SHUMSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Boris PETRUSIC (SRB)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)

Grace BULLEN (NOR)62kg finalists from last year Grace BULLEN (NOR) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) are entered for the European Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
Viyaleta REBIKAVA CHYRYK (AIN)
Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Miglena SELISHKA (BUL)
Aintzane GORRIA GONI (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)

53kg
Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (AIN)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Sztalvira ORSUS (HUN)
Maria FERONE (ITA)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Veronika RYABOVOLOVA (MKD)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)

55kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN)
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Maria BAEZ DILONE (ESP)
Tetiana PROFATILOVA (FRA)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)

57kg
Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN)
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Ana PUIU (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)

59kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Amel REBIHA (FRA)
Kelsey BARNES (GBR)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Ramina MAMEDOVA (LAT)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Eda TEKIN (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT)
Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Yuliia TKACH (UKR)

65kg
Tatsiana PAULAVA (AIN)
Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Nikoleta BARMPA (GRE)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)

68kg
Hanna SADCHANKA (AIN)
Vusala PARFIANOVICH (AIN)
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Nerea PAMPIN BLANCO (ESP)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Eyleen SEWINA (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
Paula ROTARU (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR)

72kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Kseniia BURAKOVA (AIN)
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Eleni CHRYSIKAKI (GRE)
Ilana KRATYSH (ISR)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)

76kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (AIN)
Rita TALISMANOVA (AIN)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Epp MAE (EST)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Aikaterini PITSIAVA (GRE)
Bernadett NAGY (HUN)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Yasemin ADAR YIGIT (TUR)
Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR)

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.