SARAJEVAO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (July 25) – The second batch of freestyle gold-medal matches have been determined after a fierce semifinal round at the 2017 Cadet European Championships. 

Perennial power Russia has placed four of its five athletes in the finals set for 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Georgia and Azerbaijan each boast two finalists, while Ukraine and Turkey sport one apiece. 

Leading the way for Russia is 2016 Cadet world bronze medalist Magomed ABDURAKHMANOV (RUS), who will face fellow Cadet world bronze medalist Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO) in a highly anticipated 46kg final. Abdurakhmanov has been utterly dominant with two technical falls and one pin to his credit thus far. Gegelashvili downed returning Cadet European bronze medalist Arakel MOVSESYAN (ARM) in his semifinal, 5-1.

Cadet world champion Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) cruised to the 54kg finals with three 10-0 wins this morning. Standing opposite Dzhelep is Cadet World Championships veteran Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who won a wild 9-8 battle over 2016 Cadet European bronze medalist Hamza ALACA (TUR) in the semis. 

Up at 100kg, reigning Cadet European finalist Ismail-Bek NIROV (RUS) will look to reverse his finals loss from last year, this time against Anil Berkan KILICSALLAYAN (TUR). Nirov was commanding in the preliminary rounds, scoring three shutout technical falls and a 10-2 decision. Kilicsallayan was similarly successful. 

Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE) won a bronze medal at this event last year, and has guaranteed a medal upgrade for 2017. His finals foe at 63kg is Inar KETIIA (RUS).

Sticking with the Russia-Azerbaijan trend, Abdulmuslim MAMEDOV (AZE), who took fifth here one year ago, will take on Arsamag KHOSTIKOEV (RUS) for the 76kg championship.

The competition for these five weight categories will resume tomorrow with the repechage rounds at 11 a.m. The women’s wrestling tournament will also commence on Wednesday morning with the 38kg, 43kg, 49kg, 56kg and 65kg brackets. 

For complete brackets and match-by-match results from the Cadet European Championships, visit our results page at unitedworldwrestling.org.

Freestyle Results

46kg (16 entries)
Gold: Magomed ABDURAKHMANOV (RUS) vs. Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO)

Semifinal:  Magomed ABDURAKHMANOV (RUS) df. Ghennadi DIUVENJI (MDA) by VPO, 5-0  
Semifinal:  Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO) df. Arakel MOVSESYAN (ARM) by VPO1, 5-1

54kg (19 entries)
Gold: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) vs. Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)

Semifinal:  Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Hamza ALACA (TUR) by VPO1, 9-8  
Semifinal:  Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) df. Mehmed Hasan MEHMED (BUL) by VSU, 10-0 

63kg (21 entries)
Gold: Inar KETIIA (RUS) vs. Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)

Semifinal:  Inar KETIIA (RUS) df. Karol Jakub CZEGUS (POL) by VSU, 10-0  
Semifinal:  Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE) df. Ivan Stiliyanov BADAVROV (BUL) by VFA, 12-0  

76kg (20 entries)
Gold: Abdulmuslim MAMEDOV (AZE) vs. Arsamag KHOSTIKOEV (RUS)

Semifinal:  Abdulmuslim MAMEDOV (AZE) df. Alex HOERNER (GER) by VPO1, 5-3  
Semifinal:  Arsamag KHOSTIKOEV (RUS) df. Nikita TSEHHONIN (EST) by VSU, 10-0  

100kg (18 entries)
Gold: Anil Berkan KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) vs. Ismail-Bek NIROV (RUS)

Semifinal:  Anil Berkan KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) df. Yauheni PINCHUK (BLR) by VSU, 13-0  
Semifinal:  Ismail-Bek NIROV (RUS) df. Martin SIMONYAN (ARM) by VSU, 10-0