#WrestleBudapest

Live Blog: #WrestleBudapest European Championships Day 1

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 28) -- The European Championships return to the historic city of Budapest, Hungary and we kick off the tournament with freestyle wrestling.

The five weight classes that will be in action Monday are 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, and 97kg and some of the big names in wrestling are competing including some Tokyo Olympics and Oslo World Championships medalists.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

2:00: Azerbaijan with a successful morning session. They get all five wrestlers into the semifinals. Huge evening session coming up

1:42: Zurabi IAKOBASHVILI (GEO) moves into the 70kg semifinal. A win by technical superiority for him over Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) in the quarterfinal 

1:37: Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) scores six points in the second period to Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)'s two and wins the 97kg quarterfinal 6-4.

1:32: Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) and Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) are wrestling in the other 97kg quarterfinal. Nurov leads Baitsaev 2-0 at the break 

1:30 Odikadze made the lead 8-6 but cannot finish the bout. He goes down 14-7 against Magomedov in the 97kg quarterfinals. Big result for the former junior world silver medalist.

1:24: Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) wrestling Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the 97kg quarterfinal. The Azerbaijan wrestler has scored three takedowns to take a 6-0 lead. Odikadze struggling to get going here

1:14: Sacultan and Lomtadze were in a close match over on Mat C but the Moldovan just snatched 11 consecutive points to move into the semifinals, 13-5. He'll wrestle two-time Olympic medalist Haji Aliyev for a spot in the 65kg finals.

1:11: Aliyev picked up a 12-6 quarterfinals win over Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR) and will wrestle the winner of Maxim SACULTAN (MDA) and  Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) for a spot in tonight's finals.

12:52: The quarterfinals on day one of the European Championships are beginning now. Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) and other stars will wrestle now

12:45: Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) was thrown for four points by Daniel ANTAL (HUN) and trailed by 6-4 at the break but the U23 European champion comes back to win 10-6 

12:20: Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) with a takedown and one stepout point to beat Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) 3-1 at 97kg. He will wrestle Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) in the quarterfinals

12:17: U23 world champion Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) has three takedowns in a 7-0 win over Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP) in the opening round of 57kg

12:10: Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) scores a takedown with five seconds remaining to win 5-4 against Stevan MICIC (SRB). The Serbian team challenged the call as Micic had locked Tadevosyan's knee from inside but the jury thinks the Armenian had full control. He wins 6-4 

12:03: Former 61kg world champion Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) begins his tournament with a 10-0 win Stefan COMAN (ROU) at 65kg. 

12:00: Tokyo Olympian Stevan MICIC (SRB) is up at 65kg for the European Championships. He is a two-time European bronze medalist. He leads 2-1 at the break. But both Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) and Micic trade takedown and the Serbian leads 4-3 with a minute remaining.

11:48:  Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) will make his debut up at 97kg against  Alejandro CANADA PANCORBO (ESP) (Mat A / Bout 6). The Polish wrestler was a European runner-up at 92kg in 2019.

11:45: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) gets the first win of the day. He beats local wrestler Csaba VIDA (HUN) in a thrilling 9-8 bout. 

11:30: The three mats have wrestlers ready for their bouts. The officials are ready and so are the fans. Wrestling begins now

11:00: Welcome to the European Championships. The first-ever edition of the tournament was held 111 years ago in the same city. Wrestling begins in 30 minutes.

#WrestleSamokov

U20 Worlds: Japan gets 2 more finalists, Kajal stuns Robinson

By Vinay Siwach

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 21) -- Two-time World U20 silver medalist Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) earned herself a chance to finally win the gold medal as she reached the final for the third time at 50kg in Samokov on Thursday.

The U.S. wrestler scored three technical superiority wins in three bouts to reach the final in which she will take on 2023 world U17 champion Rinka OGAWA (JPN) also looks in good form.

In the semifinals, Jimenez used her leg-lace to good effect and humbled Diana RYSOVA (UKR), 14-3. Ogawa also used the leg-lace to beat SHRUTI  (IND), 10-0.

Jimenez had reached the final in 2022 but lost to Umi ITO (JPN) and then in 2023, she lost to Yanrong LI (CHN) to finish with a silver medal. She also has a silver medal from World U23 Championships after dropping the final against Ito again.

Japan got its second finalist on Thursday when Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) pinned Abigale COOPER (USA) after building a 9-0 lead. She will now wrestle for gold against European U20 champion Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) who leg-laced SAARIKA (IND) for a 10-0 win.

At 72kg, Asian U20 champion and world U17 silver medalist this year KAJAL (IND) stunned defending champion Jasmine ROBINSON (USA) in a wild semifinal. Robinson got the first takedown and exposure for a 4-0 lead. But Kajal scored a takedown and turned Robinson in the same sequence. The U.S. challenged the second turn but it was given two points as Kajal took a 5-4 lead.

There was no turning back for the Indian from that as she scored two four-point throws and two takedowns in her 13-6 win over Robinson.

Kajal now chance the challenge of returning silver medalist Yuqi LIU (CHN) who dominated her semifinal against Haticenur SARI (TUR) and won 13-2. Liu will look to her upgrade silver from last year to gold.

Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) reached the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman action also began at the World U20 Championships Samokov on Thursday with two weight classes -- 60kg and 82kg.

Two 18-year-olds reached the 60kg final in Greco-Roman as European U20 champion Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE) and Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) won their respective semifinals in dominant fashion.

Javadov was wrestling senior European bronze medalist Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) and scored a headlock for four and kept Lolua on the mat for a fall. This was Javadov's third win over Lolua in four encounters.

The 2024 world U17 champion will now face Mkhitaryan who gut-wrenched SURAJ (IND) after a headlock throw for four and win 8-0. India challenged the decision but lost it to add one more point to his score.

At 82kg, a potential rematch from 2023 World U17 Championships final was denied after Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) lost his semifinal at 82kg to Asian U20 champion Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ).

Yoshida, a returning bronze medalist, was put in par terre in the first period and Seitkaliyev hit suplex for four before turning Yoshida twice to win 9-0.

In the other semifinal, European U20 champion Mikhail SHKARIN (UWW) blanked Martik PETROSYAN (ARM), 9-0. Shkarin had lost to Yoshida in Istanbul and finished with a silver medal.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) vs. Rinka OGAWA (JPN)

SF 1: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) df. Diana RYSOVA (UKR), 14-3
SF 2: Rinka OGAWA (JPN) df. SHRUTI (IND), 10-0

53kg
GOLD: Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) vs. Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR)

SF 1: Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) df. SAARIKA (IND), 10-0
SF 2: Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) df. Abigale COOPER (USA), via fall

72kg
GOLD: Yuqi LIU (CHN) vs. KAJAL (IND)

SF 1: Yuqi LIU (CHN) df. Haticenur SARI (TUR), 13-2
SF 2: KAJAL (IND) df. Jasmine ROBINSON (USA), 13-6

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD: Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE) vs. Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE) df. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), via fall
SF 2: Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) df. SURAJ (IND), 9-0

82kg
GOLD: Mikhail SHKARIN (UWW) vs. Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ)

SF 1: Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ) df. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN), 9-0
SF 2: Mikhail SHKARIN (UWW) df. Martik PETROSYAN (ARM), 9-0