#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Six)

Saturday, April 24, 2021 - 09:23 By Eric Olanowski

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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. 

#WrestleAthens

U17 Worlds: Kostiuk ends Ukraine's wait for gold; Okonogi, Ismayilov upgrade

Saturday, August 2, 2025 - 18:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (August 2) -- Artur KOSTIUK (UKR) ended a nine-year wait for a gold medal at World U17 Championships for Ukraine as he won the 80kg title in Athens, Greece on Saturday.

Ukraine has not had a world U17 champion since 2016 and a world champion in Freestyle since 2021. Kostiuk's gold was a double delight as he had won gold at European U17 Championships in June as well.

In the final facing Mohammadparsa KARAMI (IRI), Kostiuk was called passive and put on activity clock. He did not score in those 30 seconds but managed to get a takedown just before the break and led 2-1.

Karami was put on the activity clock in the second period and as he failed to score, Kostiuk's lead swelled to 3-1. Karami had 25 seconds to score two points but Kpstiuk kept his defense and captured the gold with a 3-1 score.

Ariah MILLS (USA)Ariah MILLS (USA) won the 48kg gold medal for the United States. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

That was the second loss in the final for Iran as it had suffered a loss at the 48kg weight class. That was the first final of the night on Saturday and Ariah MILLS (USA) gave no chance to Sina BOUSTANI (IRI) in the gold-medal bout.

While he was the one put on activity clock in the first period, Mills wasn't the one to defend. He had some fast re-attacks to stun Boustani. Mills gave up that activity clock point and as Boustani was setting up leg attack, Mills hit a counter and scored the takedown to lead 2-1 at the break.

Boustani had his chance to score reclaim the lead but Mills, who kept his distance, perhaps to have space to counter, got another takedown after a scramble. The U.S. wrestler managed to score a go-behind and two turns to win 12-1 and get the first gold medal in Freestyle for the U.S. 

Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN), a returning bronze medalist, upgraded his medal to gold and in style. Down 4-0 against Abdumalik JALOLDINOV (UZB) in the final, he scored one of the perfect five-pointers using the headpinch and over the head throw to lead 5-4 in the final minute.

This was not the only time Okonogi had to make a big comeback in Athens. In his quarterfinals, he defeated Zhakshylyk BOROBAEV (KGZ), 9-8, after scoring a takedown and turn in last 10 seconds.

Okonogi had a 4-1 win over Mohammadreza BARARI (IRI) in his opening match and an 8-2 domination of Greyton BURNETT (USA) in the semifinals.

Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE)Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE) celebrates after winning the 65kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Silver medalist from 2024 Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE) got a anti-climatic 1-1 victory over Arseni KIKINIOU (USA) in the 65kg final and won his first gold medal after finishing with three silvers in three different championships.

Kikiniou was the first to get a point on board as Ismayilov was called passive. He failed to score in the 30 seconds and the U.S. wrestler got a point.

In the second period, Kikiniou was called passive and Ismayilov got a point and the 1-1 criteria lead. He had a minute left in the bout to defend his lead and Kikiniou threw every thing at him. However, Ismayilov defended with determination and won the gold medal.

Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW)Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW) held on to his 6-4 lead to win the 110kg final against LACKY (IND). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

The 110kg gold medal went to Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW) who defeated LACKY (IND), 6-4, in the final. Omarov was down 2-2 on criteria at the break but he hit a stepout and Lacky was cautioned for fleeing, giving one more point to Omarov who now led 4-2.

Lacky tried to finish his leg-attacks but Omarov was quick to either defend or escape. During one of those attacks, Omarov managed to score a go-behind and got two points which made his lead 6-2. Lacky, with 17 seconds left in the bout, went for one final attack and scored a takedown. However, he was not able to turn Omarov which could have given him the criteria win.

Omarov defended the gut-wrench attempt and despite being in the air, did not turn more than 90 degrees. The win made Omarov an European and world champion in the same year.

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD: Ariah MILLS (USA) df. Sina BOUSTANI (IRI), 12-1

BRONZE: Islam RABADANOV (UWW) df. Ravan HASANZADE (AZE), 11-9
BRONZE: Dovudbek BAKHADIROV (KGZ) df. Masamune USHIMADO (JPN), 12-0

55kg
GOLD: Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN) df. Abdumalik JALOLDINOV (UZB), 5-4

BRONZE: Greyton BURNETT (USA) df. Mohammadreza BARARI (IRI), 4-0
BRONZE: Chingis SARYGLAR (UWW) df. Jovanni TOVAR (COL), 8-2

65kg
GOLD: Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE) df. Arseni KIKINIOU (USA), 1-1

BRONZE: Morteza HAJ (IRI) df. Gourav PUNIA (IND), 8-8
BRONZE: Adisbek ALTYNBEKOV (KGZ) df. Yeraly ASKERBEK (KAZ), 7-1

80kg
GOLD: Artur KOSTIUK (UKR) df. Mohammadparsa KARAMI (IRI), 3-1

BRONZE: Dinmukhammed KASSYMBEK (KAZ) df. Ivan PASLARI (MDA), 5-4
BRONZE: Issa ZANGIEV (UWW) df. Berat ERTURK (TUR), 5-2

110kg
GOLD: Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW) df. LACKY (IND), 6-4

BRONZE: Hakim TAGHIYEV (AZE) df. Stefan STEFANOV (BUL), 1-1
BRONZE: Amirhossein NAGHDALIPOUR (IRI) df. Murtaz BAGDAVADZE (GEO), 11-0