#WrestleBucharest

Pair of World Final Rematches Highlight Day Seven Gold-Medal Bouts

By Eric Olanowski

BUCHAREST, Romania (April 13) – The final five Greco-Roman gold-medal bouts are settled, and it was the Russian Federation, who again placed three wrestlers into the finals. Russia leads second-place Azerbaijan by 34 points heading into the final session of wrestling at Bucharest’s Polyvalent Hall. 

The three Russian Day 7 finalists are Sergey EMELIN, Abuiazid MANTSIGOV, and Musa EVLOEV, who’ll wrestle for gold at 60kg, 72kg, and 97kg respectively.

Emelin and Evloev will both wrestle the men they defeated in Budapest to capture their world titles last October. Tonight, Emelin will wrestle Moldova’s Victor CIOBANU in the 60kg finals, and Evloev will wrestle Bulgaria's Kiril MILOV in the finals at 97kg. 

The third Russian gold-medal hopeful is Abduiazid Mantsigov. He’ll wrestle Turkey’s reigning U23 world champion Cengiz ARSLAN for the 72kg European title.

The two weights not featuring a wrestler from the Russian Federation are 67kg and 82kg. 

Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) inserted himself into the 67kg finals with a 5-3 semifinals win over Mate NEMES (SRB). Sahakyan trailed 3-0, but closed out the first period with a takedown and trailed 3-2. In the final period, the Polish wrestled scored an inactivity point and an exposure to seal up his spot in the  67kg finals.

Sahakyan will meet Turkey’s Atakan YUKSEL (TUR), who scored the 3-1 semifinals win over Georgia’s Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO). 

At 82kg, Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) put away Finland's Vili Tapio ROPPONEN with a pair of highlight reel five-point moves and will take on Denmark's Rajbek BISULTANOV, who shocked reigning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 5-5, in the semifinals. Bisultanov led 5-0, but gave up five straight points (an inactivity point, and two exposures), and held on to win on criteria. 

If Bisultanov reaches the top of the podium tonight in Bucharest, he'll become Denmark’s first European champion since Johannes JACOBSEN won the Riga European title in 1926. 

The Day 7 finals begin at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

RESULTS
60kg 
GOLD - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
SEMIFNIAL - Victor CIOBANU (MDA) df. Lenur TEMIROV (UKR), 6-4
SEMIFNIAL -  Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Kerem KAMAL (TUR), 7-0 

67kg 
GOLD - Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) vs. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) 
SEMIFINAL - Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) df. Mate NEMES (SRB), 5-3 
SEMIFINAL - Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) df. Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO), 3-1

72kg
GOLD - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) vs. Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), 2-1 
SEMIFINAL - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) df. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO), 9-0 

82kg
GOLD - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) vs. Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN)
SEMIFINAL -. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Vili Tapio ROPPONEN (FIN) df 11-0 
SEMIFINAL - Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 5-5 

97kg 
GOLD - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) vs. Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
SEMIFINAL - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Daigoro TIMONCINI (ITA), 3-1
SEMIFINAL - Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL) df. Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN), 4-1 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 2 Highlights: Yazdani in 97kg final

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 5) -- The Ranking Series event, Zagreb Open, enters day two and it will be Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) making his 97kg debut for Iran. The Olympic champion at 74kg in 2016, and two-time Olympic silver medalist at 86kg, is chasing that second gold, this time at 97kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RESULTS

13:45: 55kg WW semifinals - World silver medalist Verbina EKATERINA (UWW) with a 1-1 victory over Nagisa HARADA (JPN) in the semifinals. She got an activity point in the second period to keep the criteria lead. Ekaterina will face Karla GODINEZ (CAN) in the final after the Canadian defeated Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA), 2-1, in another low scoring semifinal.

13:30: 50kg WW semifinals - Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN) with a controlled 8-2 win over Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW) at 50kg. She will wrestle NEELAM (IND) for the gold medal. Neelam defeated MUSKAN (IND), 7-4, in an all-Indian semifinal

13:20: 125kg semifinals - A fall for Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) over Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) in just over two minutes as he reaches the final at 125kg. He will face Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) in the final after the U.S. wrestler scored an 11-1 win over Robert BARAN (POL).

13:10: 97kg semifinals - Stephen BUCHANAN (USA) with a quick fall over Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) in the first semifinal. Now he earns himself a chance to wrestle against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) after Iranian managed another technical superiority win. While it's rare on Yazdani, Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) scored two takedowns on Yazdani but failed to keep the pressure before losing 14-4

12:55: 92kg semifinals - Mobin AZIMI (IRI) gets a dominant 11-0 win over Dustin PLOTT (USA) as he used a double-leg for four to finish. He earns a chance to avenge his 5-5 loss to Trent HIDLAY (USA) in the final after the American scored another come-from-behind victory. He defeated Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA), 3-3, to setup the gold medal bout against Azimi

12:40: 79kg semifinals - Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) is back in the Ranking Series final with a 10-1 victory over Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO). He looked in complete control of the bout. Khadjiev will face Dean HAMITI (USA) for the gold medal after he defeated Evan WICK (USA), 6-5, in a thrilling semifinal

12:15: Trent HIDLAY (USA) once again shows how to come back and win a bout. Down 6-0 against Abofazl RAHMANI (IRI), he scores a four-pointer and keeps the pressure on the Iranian to win 11-9 and make his spot in the semifinal at 92kg.

11:45: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) gives up a takedown against Richard VEGH (HUN) but that is the only slip in an otherwise dominant bout at 97kg. Two four point throws for Yazdani as he advances to the semifinals.

11:35: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) with a big four-pointer in her 5-0 win against Beatrice FERENT (ROU) at 55kg. The world silver medalist is the favorite to win gold here.

11:25: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) bounces back from his loss to Trent HIDLAY (USA) and beats Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) in his second bout at 92kg round robin. Azimi managed to score a takedown with less than 30 second left to beat Rahmani 4-3.

11:10: Two quick results at women's 50kg. Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN) beats Kendra RYAN (USA) 12-1 at 50kg before NEELAM (IND) also wins via technical superiority, 10-0, against Agata GOLUCHOWSKA (POL). 

11:00: 92kg world champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) makes a comeback from 5-0 down to beat Mobin AZIMI (IRI) 5-5 in the group stage bout. Hidlay scored a takedown in the second period before adding two stepouts. Iran challenged the second one but lost which gave the criteria lead to Hidlay

10:50: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) doesn't the trademark jump before entering the mat but his bout against Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) is a typical Yazdani bout. He uses the underhook to start scoring and then rallies to score takedowns at will before turning Suleimanishvili and winning his bout 11-0

10:45: Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) wrestled well but it is Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI (UWW) who manages to win 6-4 at 97kg and win the opening bout.

10:30: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) will be on Mat B but before that, a few big results in Zagreb. Richard VEGH (HUN) manages to hang on for a 3-0 victory over Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ) at 97kg.