#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Six)

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (April 24) -- Freestyle and women's wrestling are behind us, and we move into the final two days of Greco-Roman action at the European Championships.

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

WATCH: European Championships 

Wrestlers-to-watch on Saturday:
60kg: Sergey EMELIN (RUS) - world champion
60kg: Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) - European champion
72kg: Frank STAEBLER (GER) - three-time world champion 
82kg: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) - world silver medalist
82kg: Rajbek BISULTANOV - European champion
97kg: Musa EVLOEV (RUS) - two-time world champion
97kg: Balazs KISS(HUN) - world bronze medalist

17:53: That does it for our semifinal coverage. We'll take a short five-minute break and resume action with the Day Six medal matches. 

17:27: Three-time European champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) was expected to at least wrestle for 72kg gold, but after he was upset in the quarterfinals, it'll be Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) and Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) wrestling for gold.

17:11: Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) does it! He edged Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), 5-4, and will wrestle for European gold at 67kg in his home country. The Polish wrestler will take on Tokyo Olympian Mate NEMES (SRB) in Sunday's gold-medal match.

17:05: The two favorites to reach the finals at 60kg were Sergey EMELIN (RUS) and Kerem KAMAL (TUR). They both walked their way to the finals and wrestle on Sunday night for the European title. 

Finals Matches (As they come in):
63kg

GOLD - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 9-0
SEMIFINAL - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) vs. Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR), 7-2

67kg
GOLD - Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) vs. Mate NEMES (SRB)
SEMIFINAL - Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) df. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), 5-4 
SEMIFINAL - Mate NEMES (SRB) df. Murat FIRAT (TUR), 3-3

72kg
GOLD - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) 
SEMIFINAL - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL), 6-0

82kg
GOLD - Adlan AKIEV (RUS) vs. Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
SEMIFINAL - Adlan AKIEV (RUS) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO), 6-1
SEMIFINAL - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) df. Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN), 1-1

97kg
GOLD - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) vs. Balazs KISS (HUN)
SEMIFINAL -  Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Balazs KISS (HUN) df. Mikalai STADUB (BLR), 3-1

16:45: We're back! Please see the below tweet for the upcoming semifinal match order. 

15:16: We're on our last match of the morning. We'll take a break until 16:45 and return for the semifinals. The Day Six Greco-Roman finals will start at 18:00.

14:23: We're rolling right into the quarterfinal matches. I'll post the semifinal matchups below after the quarterfinal matches wrap up.

Semifinal Matches (As they come in):
63kg

SEMIFINAL - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) 
SEMIFINAL - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) vs. Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR)  

67kg
SEMIFINAL - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) vs. Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL) 
SEMIFINAL - Mate NEMES (SRB) vs. Murat FIRAT (TUR) 

72kg
SEMIFINAL - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) 
SEMIFINAL - Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) vs. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) 

82kg
SEMIFINAL - Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO) vs. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) vs. Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) 

97kg
SEMIFINAL -  Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) vs. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL - Balazs KISS (HUN) vs. Mikalai STADUB (BLR)

13:42: Down goes Staebler! Can trailed 5-0, but outscored Staebler 6-1 and claimed a spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-6 criteria win. He'll take on the winner of Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) and Christoph BURGER (AUT) for a spot in Sunday night's 72kg finals.

13:30: Three-time world champ Frank Staebler is coming up next on Mat B. He'll kick off his question for a third European title against last year's continental bronze medalist Selcuk CAN (TUR).

13:04: Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN) just made his first appearance since qualifying Denmark for the Olympic Games at 67kg through his fifth-place finish at the '19 World Championships. He cruised to a 9-0 win over Hungary's Mate KRASZNAI. Bjerrehuus will wrestle the winner of Andreas VETSCH (SUI) and Maksim NEHODA (BLR) next.

12:38: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), the 77kg world silver medalist from Nur-Sultan, is wrestling on Mat B. He's wrestling up at the non-Olympic weight of 82kg. Kessidis wrestled up at 82kg earlier this year at the Grand Prix of Zagreb. In that appearance, he went undefeated and claimed gold. 

12:27: European champions Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) and Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN) are coming up next on Mats A and C, respectively. 

12:07: World champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS) makes quick work of Grzegorz KUNKEL (POL) in their opening-round meeting. The Russian capitalized on four straight gut wrenches and won, 9-1. 

11:53: Three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) will be in action today. The "Mele Machine" is wrestling up at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg, where he's looking for a third career continental title. He'll wrestle on Mat B in eleven matches (Bout 426).

11:37: We'll start with three repechage matches on each mat before running into the Day Six matches. 

#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.