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Friday's European Championships Greco-Roman semifinals set

Friday, April 21, 2023 - 09:45 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (April 20) -- The fifth day of the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia bring Greco-Roman action to the mat. We will start off with 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

FULL EUROPEAN C'SHIP SCHEDULE:
- 11:30 - Qualification rounds
- 16:45 - Semifinals
- 18:00 - Finals

Semifinal match (as they come in):
55kg
Adem Burak UZUN (TUR) vs. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) 
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) vs. Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU) 

63kg
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM) vs. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) 
Leri ABULADZE (GEO) vs. Abu Muslim Aptievitch AMAEV (BUL) 

77kg
LÉVAI Zoltán (HUN) vs. Viktor NEMES (SRB) 
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) vs. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) 

87kg
Istvan TAKACS (HUN) vs. Damian VON EUW (SUI) 
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) vs. Ali CENGIZ (TUR) 

130kg
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) vs. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) 
Sabah Saleh SHARIATI (AZE) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) 


14:38:  Istvan TAKACS (HUN) takes out Semen Novikov, knocking the reigning European champion Bisultanov from the competition.

14:31: Returning champion Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) has built a 4-0 first-period lead over Oliver Marco KRUEGER (DEN). Meanwhile, Kayaalp rolled through Marvik, 8-0, to punch his ticket to the semifinals at 130kg.

14:27: Von Euw gives Switerland a semifinals as he defeats Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM), 8-3.

14:25: Kayaalp is coming is coming up next on Mat B. He'll take on 2021 world bronze medalist Oskar MARVIK (NOR).

14:15: Damian VON EUW (SUI) is a guy to pay attention to. He's dropped from 97kg to 87kg and has been making waves at his new weight. He tech'd two-time world champion Zurabi Datunashvili a few weeks ago and is now in the wrestling in the quarterfinals in one of the deepest weights of the competition.

13:56: Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) just survived a near upset against Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER). The German had Basar up in par terre with :20 left but failed to capitalize on his opportunity, losing the match, 3-1.

13:50: We're going to be heading directly in quarterfinals across all three mats after these matches wrap up. The semifinals will be listed above (as they come in).

13:40: LÉVAI Zoltán (HUN) got his revenge on Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE). If you recall the Greco-Roman World Cup, Azerbaijan was pushed to the finals because Suleymanov pinned Levei. In Croatia, Levai picked up a one-sided 9-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals, where he'll meet  Iuri LOMADZE (GEO).

13:38: What a showing by Novikov. The Bulgarian took down reigning European champion Bisultanov, 12-3, and set up a meeting an 87kg quarterfinal match with Istvan TAKACS (HUN).  

13:32: I'm back to my seat after shooting the Question of the Day. 

12:55: I'm going to take a quick break from the live blog to shoot the Question of the Day video. The question for today is, "Who is the strongest person you ever wrestled?"

12:37: Two of the brightest young stars in the game Turpal Ali Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) and Semen Sergeevich NOVIKOV (BUL) will wrestle in six matches on Mat C. 

Bisultanov is the reigning European Championships, while Novikov, who transferred from Ukraine, was a U23 world champion a few years ago.

12:31: As expected for the European Championships, the Greco-Roman fans showed up in large numbers. The loudest fans in the Arena Zagreb are from Croatia, Sweden and Denmark thus far.

12:20: Something to note: Serbia's reigning two-time world champion Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) was a late scratch on the entries and was replaced by Zarko DICKOV (SRB). 

12:10: The biggest storyline that we'll be following is Riza KAYAALP (TUR) beginning his quest to tie Alexander KARELIN's (RUS) 12 European title mark. He'll be up in seven matches on Mat A, where he'll wrestle Boris PETRUSIC (SRB).

11:50: We're through with our women's wrestling repechage matches for the day and the opening-round Greco-Roman matches are being call to the mats. As always, the starts won't be up for a while if they are seeded in the top four.

#UWWAwards

UWW History Makers of 2025: Kougioumtsidis, Reasco, Sultangali

Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:29 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 22) -- United World Wrestling has announced the History Makers of the Year 2025. The performance of these three wrestlers transcended competition and produced a once-in-a-generation accomplishment.

Freestyle’s History Maker 2025: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)

If there’s one nation that’s draped in sports tradition, it’s Greece, but surprisingly enough, the nation had never produced a male wrestling world champion.

Prior to 2025, wrestlers from Greece were 0-3 in gold-medal matches and had not reached a world finals since 1991. Then came 23-year-old Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS who stunned the world by defeating Levi HAINES (USA) 3-2 in the 79kg final to become his nation’s first-ever world champion.

Up until Kougioumtsidis' victory, Georgios ATHANASSIADIS (GRE) lost both of his world finals matches and Iraklis DESKOULIDIS (GRE) lost the final in 1991. The lone Greek woman to ever step to the top of the medal podium at the World Championships was Sofia POUMPOURIDOU (GRE), who won the women's 51kg gold on home soil in 2002.

"I'm very lucky that I am Greek," Kougioumtsidis said. "So I feel like I made all Greeks proud. I am Greek and I love my country." He continued, saying, “I'm the first male [from Greece] who won a gold medal at the World Championships. It's my dream come true. I think this year is a good achievement. I achieved my goal."

Women’s Wrestling History Maker: Genesis REASCO (ECU)

Reasco made history by becoming Ecuador's first-ever world champion, which came two years following Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) silver-medal finish at the 2023 World Championships where she still become the Ecuador's first-ever world medalist.

Reasco reached the pinnacle of the sport with a 4-2 victory in the 76kg final over two-time world medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), which came one match removed from knocking off Paris bronze medalist Milaimy MARIN (CUB) in the semifinals.

"I went in, gave my all, and it worked," Reasco said. "That’s how the gold medal was achieved, because honestly, I have a lot of respect for all my opponents. They gave everything out there on the mat, and they were really good matches -- both yesterday’s and today’s. Everything was very tough, very close."

Greco-Roman’s History Maker: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)

Sultangali ended a 26-year Greco-Roman drought, giving Kazakhstan their first Greco world champion since 1999 with a very quick victory over Uzbek youngster Alisher GANIEV (UZB) in the 60kg finals at the World Championships.

Sultangali, who won two world bronze medals between 2018 and 2022, only needed 1:07 to cap off masterful first-period 9-0 win over Asian runner-up GANIEV (UZB).

"I didn’t plan to win the final match so easily and quickly," Sultangali said. "But it happened. Today is a historic day for our country because the last gold medal for Kazakhstan came in 1999, 26 years ago," said Sultangali, "I am happy that my country is happy."