U23 World C'ships

Greco Giants Pataridze and Semenov to Clash in Finals

By Taylor Miller

BYDGOSZCZ, Poland – Wednesday night’s Greco-Roman finals of the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, promise to be exciting with several past Junior and Cadet World medalists in the mix.

Perhaps the most anticipated match is at 130 kg, where Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) looks for his sixth World title. Pataridze won his third-consecutive Junior World title this summer in Tampere, Finland. He also owns Cadet World gold from 2013 and 2014.

Standing in his way is 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time Junior World champion Sergey SEMENOV (RUS).

It’s a rematch of the 2015 Junior World finals, where Pataridze kept Semenov from three Junior golds, defeating him in a 3-1 battle.

Another exciting final will take place at 80 kg, where 2015 Senior World bronze medalist Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) will face Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), who took third at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.

Both wrestlers have collected World medals at the Junior level. Gobadze won bronze in 2014, while Akbudak earned silver in 2015.

The final at 59 kg will pit Junior World bronze medalists Masuto KAWANA (JPN) and Sergey EMELIN (RUS) against each other.

Recently, Kawana, a 2015 Junior World medalist, has been victorious at the 20th Annual Dave Schultz Memorial International and the Grand Prix Zagreb, claiming gold.

2014 Junior World bronze winner Emelin was the 2016 U23 European champion.

The 66 kg final features Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 2014 Junior World champion and 2013 Junior World silver medalist.

Bolkvadze will go head-to-head with 2017 Russian Championships bronze medalist Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS).

The gold and bronze-medal finals are set for 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. U.S. ET).

FINALS MATCHES
59 kg
Gold - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Masuto KAWANA (JPN)
Bronze - Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL) vs. Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Bronze - Przemyslaw PIATEK (POL) vs. Sakit GULIYEV (AZE)

66 kg
Gold - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS)
Bronze - Abylaikhan AMZEYEV (KAZ) vs. Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Bronze - Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN) vs. Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)

80 kg
Gold - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) vs. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Bronze - Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR) vs. Rosian Ognyanov DERMANSKI (BUL)
Bronze - Andrii ANTONIUK (UKR) vs. Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)

130 kg
Gold - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) vs. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO)
Bronze - Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) vs. Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Bronze - Arata SONODA (JPN) vs. Jello KRAHMER (GER)

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 4 Results and Highlights

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 7) -- The fourth day of the Ranking Series in Zagreb will see the remaining four Women's Wrestling weight classes in action along with two Greco-Roman weight classes 77kg and 87kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 3 RESULTS

14:55: GR 87kg semifinals - Tamas LEVAI (HUN) gets a 2-1 win over Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) in the semifinals at 87kg to take a step closer to be part of the Hungarian team for the European Championships. But to confirm that, he has to beat Istvan TAKACS (HUN), who won the other semifinals after a desperate arm-throw for four to beat Matej MANDIC (CRO), 6-2.

14:40: GR 77kg semifinals - Ali OSKOU (IRI) with a beautiful throw from par terre to get a 5-0 lead before another turn makes it 7-0. He eventually beats Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 10-1, and advances to the 77kg final. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) will challenge the Iranian for the gold medal after the Hungarian defeated Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 7-0, majorly using gut-wrenches.

14:25: 76kg semifinals - Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) with two stepouts and one point for activity clock to take a 3-0 lead against Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) before a lost challenge from Japan adds another point to her score and she wins 4-0. She will take on Tristan KELLY (USA) for the gold medal who scored a four-pointer with seven seconds remaining against PRIYA (IND) to claim a 4-4 criteria victory 

14:10: 72kg semifinals - Buse TOSUN (TUR) is into the final at 72kg after a close 2-2 criteria win over Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN). She was down 2-1 but dragged the Japanese out of bounds to take the criteria and the win. For the gold medal, she will take on Diksha MALIK (IND) who posted a 4-2 win over Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW).

13:55: 57kg semifinals - MANISHA (IND) makes it to the final at 57kg with rather ease, beating Amory ANDRICH (GER), 11-0. She will test herself against Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) in the gold medal bout after the Japanese defeated Elvira SULEYMAN (TUR) via fall

13:45: 53kg semifinals - U20 world champion Everest LEYDECKER (USA) takes out world bronze medalist ANTIM (IND) 2-2. She scored a takedown in the first period and then defended that score. However, Antim managed to score a stepout alongwith a point for fleeing from Leydecker. With the score 2-2, Leydecker kept the criteria for a bigger technique and won. She will take on Roksana ZASINA (POL) for the gold medal who defeated Annika WENDLE (GER), 8-4, in the other semifinals.

13:15: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) gets two rolls from par terre and then defends to beat Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) and move into the semifinals at 77kg.

12:50: Almost five years after they met in the 2021 U17 World Championships, Katie GOMEZ (USA) and ANTIM (IND) meet again on the mat in Zagreb. Antim gets the first takedown an also point for activity clock. Antim extends her lead to 5-0 with another takedown before the break. Constant pressure from Antim and gets two more takedowns to lead 9-0. Antim finishes with an exposure and wins 11-0, avenging that loss from Budapest against Gomez, who went on to win the gold there.

12:35: Everest LEYDECKER (USA), U20 world champion and competing at her first senior international tournament, begins with an 11-0 victory over Anjali KACHHAWA (IND) at 53kg.

12:20: Priya PRIYA (IND), who finished fifth at the World Championships, pins Enrica RINALDI (ITA) at 76kg and moves into the semifinals.

12:05: Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE) drops her 72kg bout against Buse TOSUN (TUR), 2-0. Both activity clock points and then Tosun is solid in defense to post the victory

11:50: In an all Hungarian battle perhaps for the European Championships selection, Robert FRITSCH (HUN) gets the better of Levente LEVAI (HUN), 4-1, at 77kg. A turn from par terre for Fritsch in that win.

11:45: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) gets the par terre and wastes no time in getting Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) two reverse bodylock throws and two and four points respectively. He then gets a takedown to win the bout via technical superiority at 77kg

11:40: After a longish battle and review, Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) gets a 15-11 victory over Sydney PETZINGER (USA) at 53kg. 

11:25: Giullia PENALBER (BRA) with a dominant win on U23 world champion Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) at 57kg. Aliyeva never got going and Penalber led 14-4 before getting the fall

11:15: Asian champion at 62kg MASNISHA (IND) has moved down to 57kg. She faces Tindra DALMYR (SWE) in her opening bout and begins well to score a takedown. Dalmyr gets a four-pointer but Manisha controls the rest of the bout and wins 9-4

11:10: Amory ANDRICH (GER) gets a fall over Samantha STEWART (CAN) at 57kg. Stewart has been adjusting to the 57kg weight class but Andrich made short work of Stewart

10:45: Couple of quick results from Greco-Roman. First up is Levente Levai (HUN), European champion at 72kg and now at 77kg, with a 3-0 victory against Mohamed Khalil (EGY). And Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB) holding on for a 3-2 victory against Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) at 77kg

10:30: Another day in the and we will see more wrestlers trying to adjust to the Olympic weight classes.