#WrestleNoviSad

Georgia Grabs Greco-Roman U23 European Team Title

Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - 21:05 By Eric Olanowski

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (March 6) – Georgia (178 points) wrapped up the Greco-Roman team title at the U23 European Championships, 11 points ahead of second-place Russia (167 points). They closed out the final day of Greco-Roman wrestling with a solo gold medalist and brought their tournament championship total to five. 

Ramaz ZOIDZE was Georgia’s fifth overall gold medalist. He won the 72kg title with a controlling 7-1 victory over Russia’s Magomed YARBILOV (RUS). 

Georgia’s second Day 3 finalist was Giorgi MELIA (GEO). Melia fell to Finland’s Arvi SAVOLAINEN, 4-1, in the 97kg gold-medal match. The Georgian led 1-1 on criteria but gave up a late takedown and a lost challenge dropping the match, 4-1. Although he didn’t leave as a titleholder, Melia’s silver medal still helped Georgia win the team title by claiming his 20-second place points. 

Meanwhile, second-place Russia had a trio of Day 3 finalists but only walked away with a single champion. 

Alen MIRZOIAN claimed Russia’s second overall gold of the tournament, blowing out the host nation’s Sebastian NAD, 10-0, in the opening period of the 67kg gold-medal bout. 

Mirzoian grabbed the 1-0 lead with a passivity point, then quickly went to work in the par terre position. The Russian picked up two points from a leg foul and added a point from a failed Serbian challenge, which brought the score to 4-0. The returning U23 European champion closed out the match 10-0 with a four-point throw and a gut wrench for good measures. 

In the 82kg finals, Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) trailed 1-1 on criteria before picking up the match's first takedown to steal the gold medal from Russia’s third finalist Vaag MARGARIAN, 3-1. 

Levai's Wednesday night win gave him his second U23 European title. He also won the 2017 U23 European title. 

The final gold medal of the day went to Kerem KAMAL, who defeated Romania’s Razvan ARNAUT in the 60kg gold-medal bout and helped Turkey finished in third place in the team race. 

In the finals, Kamal scored the first passivity points, but a Romanian reversal evened the match at 1-1. The Turkish wrestler scored a late period step out and regained the lead, 2-1, heading into the closing period.

Kamal started the second period with a pair of step outs, extending his lead to 4-1. Kamal stopped an arm throw attempt and wrapped up his second consecutive U23 European Championships with a gold medal, bringing his overall age-group European gold medal bout to five. 

Georgia won the Greco-Roman team title with 178 points. Russia had 167 points and finished in second place. Turkey, Romania, and Ukraine rounded out the top-five respectively.

Greco-Roman 
Team Scores 
GOLD – Georgia (178 points)
SILVER – Russia (167 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (141 points)
Fourth – Romania (78 points)
Fifth –  Ukraine (70 points)

60kg
GOLD - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 5-1 
BRONZE - Ivo Krasimirov ILIEV (BUL) df. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR), 4-2 
BRONZE - Sadyk LALAEV (RUS) df. Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI (GEO), 7-0 

67kg
GOLD - Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS) df. Sebastian NAD (SRB), 10-0 
BRONZE - Artur POLITAIEV (UKR) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 8-0
BRONZE - Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR) df. Alexandru SOLOMON (ROU), 7-4

72kg
GOLD - Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) df. Magomed YARBILOV (RUS), 7-1 
BRONZE - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Juan Sebastian AAK (NOR), 9-5
BRONZE - Stoyan Stoychev KUBATOV (BUL) df. Islambek DADOV (AZE), 4-2

82kg 
GOLD - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) vs. Vaag MARGARIAN (RUS), 3-1 
BRONZE - Hasan Basri YILDIRIM (TUR) df. ltun VAZIRZADE (AZE), 2-0 
BRONZE - Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR) df. Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL), via fall 

97kg 
GOLD - Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Giorgi MELIA (GEO), 4-1 
BRONZE - Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR) df. Ruslan BEKUZAROV (RUS), 5-0
BRONZE - Vladen KOZLIUK (UKR) df. Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE), via fall 

2026 Muhamet Malo

Muhamet Malo Flashback: Relive 2025 Ranking Series Stop in Tirana

Friday, February 13, 2026 - 09:04 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 13) -- There is a good chance that the gold medalist at the Muhamet Malo 2026 Ranking Series event will have a good season. It happened in 2025. Most of the gold medalists from 2025 managed to win respective continental or world medals.With the second Ranking Series of 2026 once again in Tirana, here's a flashback to the one in 2025. Follow the 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series on uww.org, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube.

MUHAMET MALO 2026 RANKING SERIES ENTRIES

WATCH ALL FINALS FROM 2025 MUHAMET MALO RANKING SERIES HERE

Freestyle

Iran brought a solid team to Tirana last year with Olympic silver medalists Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) and Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI). It won four gold medals with both Amouzad and Zare winning at 65kg and 125kg, respectively. Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won at 92kg with rather ease and at 57kg, Ali MOMENI (IRI) got a fall in the final.

Kaeisi TANABE (JPN) was also in the field at 65kg. However, he went on to lose his semifinal against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and then the bronze medal bout to Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ).

But the most memorable win was that of Arash YOSHIDA (JPN), who announced himself as a big contender at 97kg, first time in Tirana. Wrestling world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the semifinals, Yoshida stunned the crowd in Tirana with a thrilling 5-5 victory over the American wrestler.

Snyder led 4-1 at the break and then added another point in the second period. But Yoshida hit a cut back and then a turn to take a 5-5 criteria lead which he held on to until time expired in the match. The winning firmly put Yoshida as one of the top 97kg wrestlers in the world.

Two other Japanese stars also won gold medals last year. Takara SUDA (JPN) was the best at 61kg displaying some tricky wrestling as he won gold while Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) kept it simple to win the gold medal at 70kg.

It was also the return of Chermen VALIEV (ALB) since he won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024. He did not disappoint the home fans, capturing the 74kg gold medal in an actionless 2-0 win over Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK).

Greco-Roman

An Olympic final rematch occurred inn Tirana in Greco-Roman. At 87kg, Olympic champion Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and Alireza MOHMEDI (IRI) clashed in the quarterfinals. Mohmedi had lost to Novikov in the Paris 2024 final but he turned it around in Tirana, blanking Novikov 5-0. The heated match included some words exchanged between the two at the end of the bout.

Mohmedi won't stop there. He defeated Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), 5-1, in the semifinal and later went on to win the gold medal once David LOSONCZI (HUN) injury defaulted in the final.

Both Komarov and Mohmedi would later meet in the final of the World Championships in Zagreb. This time, Komarov avenged that loss from Tirana and won the gold medal while Mohmedi was heartbroken with the loss.

Tirana was also the start of a resurgence of Kerem KAMAL (TUR). After some frustrating years at 60kg, Kamal began the new season at 63kg and won gold. It set the tone for 2025 as he went on to win two more Ranking Series gold medals and became the European champion at 63kg.

Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) made his senior debut at 55kg in Tirana. He won his first two bouts before falling in the final against Emre MUTLU (TUR). Lolua had won silver medal at the U17 World Championships before 2025 but he would later win silver at the U20 Worlds and then become world champion at 55kg in one of the exciting matches in 2025 against U20 world champion Payam AHMADI (IRI).

At 130kg, world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) remained a rock and won gold without giving up any action points in his four bouts.

Women's Wrestling

As is the theme in Women's Wrestling, Japan won the most gold medals in Tirana as well. Out of the 10 golds, Japan won six medals.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) was making her international debut at 53kg after winning gold at World Championships at 55kg. She began well but had a scare in the semifinals against Lillia MALANCHUK (UKR). She even trailed in the semifinals before winning 15-8. She later defeated Andreea ANA (ROU) in the final, 6-0, to capture the gold medal.

At 55kg, Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) was solid throughout, winning the gold medal with ease. Umi ITO (JPN) had a similar outing as she swept the field to claim the 50kg gold medal.

Sakura ONISHI (JPN) gave a glimpse of her 2025 in Tirana. The teenager won gold medal in Tirana at 59kg and she continued her form winning U20 world gold and then the senior world title in September.

Another Tirana gold medalist who became world champion in Zagreb was Ami ISHII (JPN) at 68kg. A world champion at 72kg in 2024, Ishii moved down to 68kg and was instantly successful. She defeated Zelu LI (CHN), 8-2, in the final. She won the world title in Zagreb, winning five bouts and giving up only three points.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) was another gold medalist for Japan. She defeated Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) in the semifinals and faced Irina RINGACI (MDA) for the gold medal. Ringaci had earlier defeated her, 7-5, in the round robin bout. Morikawa fell behind 6-3 in the final as well but Ringaci pulled out injured midway through the final, giving Morikawa the gold medal.

The two also met at the World Championships but Morikawa would stamp her authority in Zagreb with a 10-0 win over Ringaci. She won the gold medal by beating Alina KASABEIVA (UWW), 8-0.

At 72kg, Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) won the Nelson bracket that also included a 3-1 win over Alla BELINSKA (UKR) who later went on to win the gold medal at the World Championships.

Veteran Samantha STEWART (CAN) made the tournament memorable for herself winning the gold medal with three wins, including two via falls.