#kaspeuro2018

Olympic Champions Collide to Close Out #KaspEuro2018

Sunday, May 6, 2018 - 07:47 By Eric Olanowski

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KASPIISK, Russia (May 6) – Olympic champions Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) and Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) are set to collide on Sunday night at 6:00 PM (local time) in Dagestan, Russia for the 2018 European gold medal at 92kg. 

Russia claimed three gold medals, while Azerbaijan claimed the remaining two on the sixth day of competition at The Palace of Sport and Youth. The host nation has three wrestlers competing for gold, while Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey each have a pair of day seven finalists. France claims the remaining finalist spot to close out the 2018 European Championships. 

Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) will take on Georgia’s Beka LOMTADZE for the 61kg European gold medal.

61kg
Reigning European champion, Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) will take on Georgia’s Beka LOMTADZE in the 61kg gold medal bout on Saturday night.

Rashidov, the 2017 world finalist took down Recep TOPAL (TUR) in their semifinal bout, 4-0. The 2016 European champion will be making his second European finals appearance. 

Lomtadze, the 2015 European Games runner-up stopped Azerbaijan’s Mirjalal ZADA by a technical superiority in the second semifinal at 61kg.

GOLD - Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) vs. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) 

Semifinals - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) df. Recep TOPAL (TUR), 4-0
Semifinals - Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) df. Mirjalal ZADA (AZE), 12-0

Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) will look to win back-to-back 74kg European titles. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

74kg 
Reigning 74kg European champion Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) will wrestle France’s Zelimkhan KHADJIEV for the gold medal at 74kg. 

Demirtas locked up his finals birth by scoring a step out on 2017 world champion, Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) as time expired. This one-point action gave the Turkish wrestler the 3-3 lead on criteria after outscoring the Italian 3-0 in the final minute of the bout. 

GOLD - Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) v. Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)

Semifinals - Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) df. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) 
Semifinals - Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) df. Andrei KARPACH (BLR)

86kg 
Russia’s Artur NAIFONOV will compete against Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE) in the 86kg gold-medal bout. 

This will be the Russian’s first time in the finals of a European Championship, while the Azerbaijani is making his third consecutive trip. 

Though he’s made three consecutive trips, Gostiyev is still looking for his first continental gold medal. 

GOLD - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE) vs. Artur NAIFONOV (RUS)

Semifinals - Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) df. Fatih ERDIN (TUR), 4-2
Semifinals - Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE) vs. Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO), 6-0 

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) will be looking for his fourth European title. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

92kg 
At 92kg, 2016 Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) and 2012 Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) will collide for the top spot. These two met in the semifinals of the 2016 Olympic Games where Sadualev was the victor, 8-1. 

A victory for Sadulaev, the two-time world champion, would give the hometown favorite his fourth European Championship, while a victory for Sharifov would give him his first. 

GOLD - Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) vs. Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)

Semifinals - Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) df. Irakli MTSITURI (GEO), 12-2 
Semifinals - Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) vs. Serdar BOKE (TUR), 10-0 

Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will wrestle in a rematch of the 2017 world championships where the Georgian claimed his world first gold medal. 

125kg 
The 125kg superstar duo of Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will again close out the European Championships. 

The pair has accounted for every European gold medal dating back to 2012, and every world or Olympic gold medal dating back to 2014.

They last met in the 2017 world finals where the Georgian defeated the Turkish wrestler in what is considered one of the greatest freestyle heavyweight wrestling matches in history.

GOLD - Taha AKGUL (TUR) vs. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

Semifinals - Taha AKGUL (TUR) df. Muradin KUSHKHOV (RUS), 3-0. 
Semifinals - Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Robert BARAN (POL), 10-0 

#WrestlingHistory

Wrestling History: Who was Ivan Yarygin?

Monday, March 24, 2025 - 11:49 By United World Wrestling Press

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For most, a trip to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia on the last weekend of January each year would sound chilling. Afterall, it is one of the coldest regions on the planet.

But for the past 35 years, wrestlers from around the world attend the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in January, the tournament which kicks off the season for most countries.

The prestigious tournament sees close to 1000 wrestlers vying for the gold medals in Freestyle and Women's Wrestling. But who was Ivan Yarygin after whom the tournament is named?

Born in Kemerovo, Soviet Union on November 7, 1948, Yarygin was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a world champion who went on to became the coach of the Soviet Union team and later the Russian national team.

In 1966, aged 18, Yarygin was stationed in Krasnoyarsk with the army and began training with legendary coach Dmitry MINDIASHVILI to polish his technique.

Famous for winning his Olympic bouts via fall, Yarygin won seven bouts at the 1972 Games in just over seven minutes. Those were days when a bout could extend till nine minutes. He pinned all seven wrestlers before time and no one has come close to matching that record.

How did Yarygin begin training in wrestling?

Yarygin played football in his village. His big built made him a perfect goalkeeper, a position he continued to play during his driving school training in Abakan. Vladimir CHARKOV, a wrestling club trainer, saw Yarygin and asked him to try wrestling. And just by chance, Yarygin began his wrestling career.

The Freestyle wrestler primarily competed at 100kg and was known for his dynamic training and ditching traditional methods in wrestling. He quickly rose through the ranks in Soviet wrestling circles. He debuted internationally in 1970 at the European Championships and finished with a silver medal. Ahmet AYIK (TUR) defeated him in the 100kg final. But Yarygin won the European gold in 1972, the first of his three continental titles.

Later that year, Yarygin participated in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and won gold medal in 100kg without giving up a single point in seven bouts. He defeated Khorloo BAYANMUNKH (MGL) and Jozsef CSATARI (HUN) in the finals round.

His results dipped after the Munich Olympics, with 1974 being a humbling year, Yarygin moved back to village. "I trained in the village every day like a peasant," Yarygin had famously said. "I chopped enough firewood for three winters ahead."

Yarygin returned and made sure he was still the winner. The gold medal in Montreal was not as simple as Munich but there was still no match for Yarygin. He went on to win the gold medal in 1976, his second in Olympic Games.

In the first bout of the 1976 Games, Yarygin faced Harald BUTTNER who had defeated him in the European Championships. However, Yarygin managed to keep Buttner at bay and won 13-5.

Yarygin's results soon declined and he failed to top the standings in USSR. He would finally make way for younger generation before the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

After his retirement, Yarygin tried his hand at coaching and administration. Yarygin was the coach of the Soviet Freestyle team from 1982 to 1992 and later became the president of the wrestling federation from 1993 to 1997. Russia hosted the 1997 World Championships in Krasnoyarsk which Yarygin led in organization.

Yarygin died on October 11, 1997 in a car accident. United World Wrestling inducted him into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2010.