#WrestleBudapest

Live Blog: #WrestleBudapest European Championships Day 6

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (April 2) -- Another Greco-Roman day at the European Championships in Budapest. The final five weight classes will be in action as the championships enter the business end.

After 10 action-packed sessions, it all comes down to Greco-Roman and the Budapest crowd loves the oldest form of wrestling.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

15:25: Felix BALDAUF (NOR) pulls out injured as Kiril MILOV (BUL) wins the 97kg quarters. That's the end of the morning session in Budapest. The semifinals will begin in an hour and 20 minutes. Do tune in later for the evening session

15:15: An 8-4 win and spot in the semifinal for Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR) at 97kg. Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR) will have to wait if he gets a chance for the bronze medal. On Mat B, Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) with a 9-0 win against Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE).

15:03: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) with a come back from 5-0 down. He defeats world silver medalist and Ranking Series winner Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) at 82kg. That also means that a rematch between Akbudak and Huseynov will have to wait 

15:00: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) stops Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) in the quarterfinals. The junior world champion wins 5-2 to advance to the semifinals

14:55: Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) is riding on a first-period takedown and leads Tamas LEVAI (HUN) 2-0. A blank second period as Huseynov will win 2-0 over Levai

14:45: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) enthralling the local crowd as he leads Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) 6-2 at the break. Incredible counter-attacking wrestling from Vancza. He extends that lead to 8-2 after exposure. He gets the win via technical superiority 10-2

14:25: Morten THORESEN (NOR) will have to wait for his second European gold. He goes down 9-0 against Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM).

14:15: Kristupas SLEIVA ((LTU) tried his best but a four-point throw from Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) made the difference as the Georgian won 5-2

13:55: Into tonight's semifinals! Kerem KAMAL (TUR) is looking dominant at 60kg. He beats Helary MAEGISALU (EST) 12-1 and will wrestle in the semifinals later tonight

13:33: Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) with a 7-1 victory over Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE) at 97kg. He had finished with a silver medal at the Ranking Series event in Istanbul

13:25: Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) keeps it tidy with a 5-1 victory over Petr NOVAK (CZE) at 82kg. An exposure from par terre and two points for leg four by Novak.

13:18: Junior and U23 world champion Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) warms up with a 9-1 victory over Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER) at 67kg. He had finished 5th at the World Championships in Oslo.

13:15: U23 European champion Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) scrapes to a 4-4 win over Johnny BUR (FRA). He scored a takedown with 44 seconds remaining to win the bout.

13:00: Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) is looking unstoppable today. He has two technical superiority wins now. Ivo ILIEV (BUL) his latest victim

12:45: Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) was down 7-0 against Jakub BIELESZ (CZE) but scores 15 unanswered points to win his opening bout at 72kg

12:40: Tokyo silver medalist Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) in trouble against Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL). He is down 7-2 after getting thrown for four and committing a leg-foul. But Sahakyan may be losing his bleeding time as he has a cut over his eye. But he manages to defend his lead and win 7-2

12:35: Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) begins his quest for the second European title with an 8-1 win against Erik TORBA (HUN)

12:20: Ali ARSALAN (SRB) with an incredible start to his first European Championships. A strong par terre game gets him a 9-0 win over Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) 

12:00: Kerem KAMAL (TUR), chasing his first senior European title, begins with a 9-0 win over Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) 

11:55: Two technical superiority wins to start. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) beats Christoph BURGER (AUT) at 67kg while Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) defeats Daniel BOBILLO VIGIL (ESP) at 60kg 

11:30: Welcome to day six of the European Championships. Another Greco-Roman day in Budapest as wrestlers from 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg are competing.

2026 U23 European Championships

Eriomenco, Amirov Return to U23 European Finals

By Vinay Siwach

ZRENJANIN, Serbia (March 13) -- World bronze medalist and returning champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) will try to defend his 63kg Greco-Roman title at U23 European Championships on Saturday.

Eriomenco reached the final in Zrenjanin, Serbia after a dominated performance on Friday, winning three bouts with little trouble. In the semifinals, Eriomenco blanked Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 4-0.

But standing between him and a second straight gold medal is Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (RUS), bronze medalist at the 2025 U23 World Championships, in which Eriomenco won silver.

Shungurtsikov did not have a smooth passage to the final but managed to hold off Jan GAMELIUS (SWE), 4-3, in the semifinal. Both wrestlers scored one turn each when put in par terre but Shungurtsikov did it in the second period to hold 3-3 criteria lead. Sweden challenged the correct throw but lost which made the score 4-3.

Russia was the most successful country on Friday with four finalists. Apart from Shungurtsikov, Alibek AMIROV (RUS), Imam ALIEV (RUS) and Danil GRIGOREV (RUS) will also wrestle for gold.

Defending champion Alibek AMIROV (RUS) will look to repeat after he sailed through to the 55kg final and will take on Farid SADIKHLI (AZE). Amirov used a gut-wrench to beat Sercan KESGIN (TUR), 9-0, in the semifinal.

Sadikhli managed to turn Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO) and take a 3-3 criteria lead for scoring the last point and won with the same score.

Returning silver medalist at 87kg Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) will look to win gold this time when he takes on Imam ALIEV (RUS) in the final. Karchaidze dominated the semifinal, winning 11-1 against Yassine BEN LABED (POL), who earlier defeated Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO).

Aliev faced tough challenge from Martin LJOSAAK (NOR) in the other semifinal and needed more than a few stepouts to win 13-7.

For Grigorev, the semifinal against U17 world champion Kiryl VALEUSKI (BLR) was a low scoring one as he won 3-0. Interestingly, there was no par terre in the second period of the bout.

He will face Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) in the final after the Armenian held off former U17 world champion Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA), 1-1, winning the match on criteria of scoring first point.

At 130kg, U20 world and European champion Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) entered his first U23 European Championships final after a 6-0 shutout victory over Sebastian WARCHOL (POL) in the semifinal.

For the gold medal, Darabos will face Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), a surprise finalist. He defeated Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR), 6-0, after two counter attacking takedowns. Yankovskyi was hit with a leg foul when defending during the second takedown.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Farid SADIKHLI (AZE) vs. Alibek AMIROV (RUS)

SF 1: Alibek AMIROV (RUS) df. Sercan KESGIN (TUR), 9-0
SF 2: Farid SADIKHLI (AZE) df. Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO), 3-3

63kg
GOLD: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) vs. Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (RUS)

SF 1: Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (RUS) df. Jan GAMELIUS (SWE), 4-3
SF 2: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO), 4-0

77kg
GOLD: Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) vs. Danil GRIGOREV (RUS)

SF 1: Danil GRIGOREV (RUS) df. Kiryl VALEUSKI (BLR), 3-0
SF 2: Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) df. Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA), 1-1

87kg
GOLD: Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) vs. Imam ALIEV (RUS)

SF 1: Imam ALIEV (RUS) df. Martin LJOSAAK (NOR), 13-7
SF 2: Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 11-1

130kg
GOLD: Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)

SF 1: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Sebastian WARCHOL (POL), 6-0
SF 2: Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR), 6-0