RIGA (March 8) – Winning the gold medal final should be a chance to celebrate victory and wave the flag in front of the home crowd. But, her 3-3 victory in the women’s 63kg final only left Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT) disappointed.

Grigorjeva defeated 2014 world champion Yulia TKACH (UKR), 3-3 on criteria, for the women’s 63kg crown at the European championships on Tuesday evening, but it was the protest and behavior of Tkach and her coaches that left her “a bit angry” at the end of the match.

“Their actions took all of the happiness out of the win,” Grigorjeva told reporters after the bout. “No one gave me a flag to carry around the mat and we (the Latvian fans) didn’t have a chance to celebrate.”

[[{"fid":"9615","view_mode":"wysiwyg","type":"media","attributes":{"height":800,"width":1200,"style":"width: 300px; height: 200px; float: left; margin: 5px;","class":"media-element file-wysiwyg"},"link_text":null}]]Grigorjeva scored a go-behind takedown in the first period of her final with Tkach at Arena Riga, and nursed her 2-0 lead through most of the second period.

Tkach received a pair of step out points in the final 30 seconds of the bout but a failed challenge from the Ukraine corner made the score 3-2 in Grigorjeva’s favor.

One more exchange that ended out of bounds as time expired was finally determined to only a step-out and not a takedown, giving Grigorjeva a 3-3 victory with the technique of higher value and touching off Ukraine’s expressions of disagreement.

“Emotionally it was disappointing,” said Grigorjeva, adding “In the end, however, it is not important since I will return to training immediately because I want to win a medal at the (Rio 2016) Olympic Games.”

In contrast to the drama at 63kg, the 49kg final was fairly straight-forward as Maria STADNYK (AZE) won her sixth continental crown with a 10-0 technical fall over Alina VUC (ROU), a runner-up in last year’s European under-23 championships.

Stadnyk, newly elevated to No.1 in the United World Wrestling rankings at 48kg, spun behind for an early takedown, then wrapped up the technical fall with an cross-ankle lock and turn.

“I’m so happy to win this title today on International Women’s Day,” said Stadnyk. “This is a gift to myself.”

Meanwhile, in the first bronze medal final at 48kg Valentina ISLAMOVA-BRIK (RUS) built a 6-0 lead midway through the first period. Following a hair-pulling penalty, however, Islamova-Brik began to unravel and Elitsa YANKOVA (BUL) rallied to secure a 7-6 victory and the bronze medal.

In the men’s finals, Gadshimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) and Shamil KUDIYAMAGOMEDOV (RUS) both rolled to decisive victories to claim the gold medals for Russia.

Rashidov, who defeated four opponents in the morning session with a combined score of 36-0, surrendered his first points of the day to Andrey YATSENKO (UKR) in a late scramble in the 57kg final, but bagged his first major title with a 10-2 victory over the 2014 cadet world champion.

At 86kg, Yagygin Grand Prix winner Kudiyamamagodov scored off a low single-leg attack in the second period to seal a 6-2 win over Golden Grand Prix Final winner Aleksander GOSTIEV (AZE) in the day’s finale,

Results

Men’s freestyle

57kg (21 entries)
Gold – Gadshimurad RASHIDOV (RUS)df. Andrey YATSENKO (UKR), 10-2
Bronze – Andrei DUKOV (ROU) df. Mahir AMIRASLANOV (AZE) by TF, 12-2, 3:52
Bronze – Georgi VANGELOV (BUL) df. Asadulla LACHINOV (BLR), 7-3

86kg (19 entries)
Gold – Shamil KUDIYAMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Aleksander GOSTIEV (AZE), 6-2
Bronze – Ibragim ALDATOV (UKR) df. Shamir ATYAN (ARM), 10-2
Bronze – Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) df. Aleksandr HUSHTYN (BLR), 5-1

Women’s Wrestling

48kg (15 entries)
Gold – Maria STADNYK (AZE) df. Alina VUC (ROU) by TF, 10-0, 1:11
Bronze – Maryna MARKEVICH (BLR) df. Eugenia BUSTABAD GARCIA (ESP), 4-2
Bronze – Elitsa YANKOVA (BUL) df. Valentina ISALMOVA-BRIK (RUS), 7-6

63kg (13 entries)
Gold – Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT) df. Yulia TKACH (UKR), 3-3
Bronze – Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Indre BUBELYTE (LTU) by TF, 10-0, 1:43
Bronze – Marianna SASTIN (HUN) df. Nadine WEINAUGE (GER) by TF,  10-0, 2:37