#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Five)

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (April 23) -- The fifth day of wrestling at the European Championships welcomes in Greco-Roman action to the mix.

Friday's Schedule:
11:30 - Qualification round
16: 45 - Semifinals
18:00 - Finals

WATCH: European Championships 

17:48: That'll do it for Greco-Roman action. We'll take a 10-minute break and start the women's wrestling medal matches. 

17:40: Riza does it. He'll wrestle for a TENTH European title on Saturday night.

17:33: Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) keeps his four-month hot-streak alive and inserts himself into the 87kg finals with a 9-1 win over Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN).

17:21: Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) defeated Michael WIDMAYER (GER), 5-0, and will wrestle for his fourth European title tomorrow night. He'll take on Yunus BASAR (TUR) in the 77kg gold-medal match.

17: 11: If Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT) win his semifinals match, he'd become the first Latvian wrestler to medal at the European Championships since '38.

HE'D END AN 83 YEAR DROUGHT!

17:03: Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) trailed late but used an acrobatic flying squirrel to upset '18 world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 5-4. He'll wrestle Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) on Saturday night for 55kg gold. 

16:55: We're back to action in Poland. It'll be the Greco-Roman semifinals, followed by the women's wrestling finals, which will start at 18:00. 

Final Matches (As they come in): 

55kg
GOLD - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) vs. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 5-4
SEMIFINAL - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) df. Artsiom KATSAR (BLR), 8-0

63kg
GOLD - Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) vs. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 9-5
SEMIFINAL - Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT), 7-1

77kg
GOLD - Yunus BASAR (TUR) vs. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
SEMIFINAL - Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR), 4-0
SEMIFINAL - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Michael WIDMAYER (GER), 5-0 

87kg
GOLD - Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) vs. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
SEMIFINAL - Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) df. Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN), 9-1
SEMIFINAL - Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) df. Denis KUDLA (GER), 2-1

130kg
GOLD - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Eduard POPP (GER), via fall 
SEMIFINAL - Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) df. Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU), 5-0

14:46: That'll do it for this morning's Greco-Roman coverage. We'll meet back here at 16:45 for the Greco-Roman semifinals. The Day Five women's wrestling finals will begin at 18:00. 

14:40:  Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) upsets two-time world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR), 1-1, and is headed to the 87kg semifinals.  

14:28: In the battle of world champions that just wrapped up on Mat B, Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) breezed to a 10-1 win over Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO). He'll square off with Individual World Cup champion and rising star Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) in tonight's 55kg semifinals.

14:15: Riza is not playing today! The nine-time European champion has wrestle twice today and has outscored his opponents 18-1 en route to the semifinals. Kayaalp will wrestle Tokyo Olympian Eduard POPP (GER) for a spot in the 130kg finals. 

14:08: World champions  Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) and Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) just took the mat on Mat B! The winner moves into the 55kg semifinals.

Semifinal Matches (As they come in): 

55kg
SEMIFINAL - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) vs. Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) vs. Artsiom KATSAR (BLR)

63kg
SEMIFINAL - Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) vs. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) 
SEMIFINAL - Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) vs. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT) 

77kg
SEMIFINAL - Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) vs. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Michael Felix WIDMAYER (GER)  vs. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)

87kg
SEMIFINAL - Turpan Ali Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) vs.
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) 
SEMIFINAL - Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) vs.  Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER) 

130kg
SEMIFINAL - Eduard POPP (GER) vs. Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)

13:37: I suggest posting up on Mat B and staying there for a while! 

13:25: ARE YOU KIDDING? Maskevich strikes again! He was down 6-0 against fellow Individual World Cup champion Milad Valerikovitch ALIRZAEV (RUS) but used a lateral drop to pick up the fall. He'll wrestle the winner of Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL) and Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO) next.

13:10: Coming up next on Mat B, it'll be a matchup of Individual World Cup champions between Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS) and Kiryl Maskevich.

12:59: Two-time world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) is wrestling next on Mat B. It'll be his second competition of the year. He competed and won gold at January's Grand Prix of Zagreb.

12:46: Denis KUDLA ?? may be one of my most underrated wrestlers in the world. His resume is stacked with medals, but you rarely hear about him. He's coming up soon on Mat A (Bout 306).

Olympic Games: ?
World Championships: ??
European Championships: ???

12;23: '19 world champion Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) starts his day off with a quick 9-0 thumping of Denis HORVATH (SVK). He'll wrestle two-time U23 world champion ('17 & '18) Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) in eight matches (Bout 330)  on Mat B. 

12:14:  Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) IS MUST-WATCH TV! ? He just ran through ???? Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), 9-0, in the opening period and barely broke a sweat.He'll wrestle again in nine matches (Bout 328) on Mat B. #WrestleWarsaw

11:55: Kayaalp led 1-1 after the opening three minutes of wrestling, but scored eight second-period point from five gut wrenches and defeated Cherneyskyy, 10-1.

11:40: Today, we'll be paying attention to Riza KAYAALP (TUR). The Turkish big man begins his quest for his TENTH European title. He'll wrestle Oleksandr CHERNETSKYY (UKR) in the fourth match on Mat C.

11:30: There will be one women's wrestling repechage match on each mat, then we'll roll right into the Greco-Roman matches.

#WrestleTirana

Pavlov closer to first U23 European title

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (March 8) -- Age-group world medalist Lev PAVLOV (UWW) led five UWW wrestlers into the finals of the U23 European Championships which got underway in Tirana, Albania on Saturday.

Pavlov is chasing his first U23 European title and seemed destined for, outscoring his opponents 23-0 in the 57kg weight class. He will face Nika ZANGALADZE (GEO) for the gold medal after the Georgian defeated Bekir KESER (TUR), 12-2, in the semifinals.

Other stars were Magomed ELTEMIROV (UWW), a U23 world silver medalist, who looked is good touch on the mat. Eltermirov used a stunning underhook throw for four in his 12-2 victory over Umut ERDOGAN (TUR) in the 70kg semifinals.

For the gold medal, Eltermirov will take on former U20 world champion Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) who recently won the Zagreb Open gold medal at 70kg. Heybatov scored a 10-0 technical superiority win over Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL) in the other semifinal.

Arsen BALAIAN (UWW) set up the 79kg final against Farid JABBAROV (AZE) as both won their low-scoring semifinals. Balaian held on to a 2-1 win over Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) while Jabbarov scored a 3-1 victory over Umar MAVLAEV (SUI).

Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) was clinical throughout the day and beat Fiodor CEAVDARI (MDA) 10-0 in the semifinals at 65kg. But he will have his toughest opponent yet in the final, two-time returning medalist Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) who scrapped though with a 7-4 win against Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA).

At 97kg, debutant Bady SAMDAN (UWW) secured a fall over Resul GUNE (TUR) with the score 6-6 in the semifinal. He will face U23 world bronze medalist Uladzislau KAZLOU (UWW) who secured a close 2-0 win over David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Lev PAVLOV (UWW) vs. Nika ZANGALADZE (GEO)

SF 1: Lev PAVLOV (UWW) df. Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR), 10-0
SF 2: Nika ZANGALADZE (GEO) df. Bekir KESER (TUR), 12-2

65kg
GOLD: Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) vs. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)

SF 1: Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) df. Fiodor CEAVDARI (MDA), 10-0
SF 2: Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) df. Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA), 7-4

70kg
GOLD: Magomed ELTEMIROV (UWW) vs. Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)

SF 1: Magomed ELTEMIROV (UWW) df. Umut ERDOGAN (TUR), 12-2
SF 2: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL), 10-0

79kg
GOLD: Arsen BALAIAN (UWW) vs. Farid JABBAROV (AZE)

SF 1: Arsen BALAIAN (UWW) df. Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR), 2-1
SF 2: Farid JABBAROV (AZE) df. Umar MAVLAEV (SUI), 3-1

97kg
GOLD: Bady SAMDAN (UWW) vs. Uladzislau KAZLOU (UWW)

SF 1: Bady SAMDAN (UWW) df. Resul GUNE (TUR), via fall (6-6) 
SF 2: Uladzislau KAZLOU (UWW) df. David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR), 2-0