European Games

Russia Sweeps Greco-Roman Gold Medals on Day 5 of European Games

Saturday, June 29, 2019 - 18:18 By United World Wrestling Press

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MINSK, Belarus (June 29) - Russia swept the Greco-Roman gold medals on Day 5 of the wrestling competition at the European Games at the Minsk Sports Palace in Minsk, Belarus. 

The Russian trio of Stepan MARYANYAN (60kg), Zaur KABALOEV (67kg) and Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (77kg) earned finals victory on Saturday. 

Maryanyan, the returning world champion, claimed his second straight European Games gold medal. He capped off a dominating in Minsk with a 9-0 technical superiority over Erik TORBA (HUN) in the finals at 60kg. Maryanyan scored off a passivity and then showcased his strong par terre skills, using four consecutive gut wrenches to end the match in the first period. He outscored his opponents 32-3 at the European Games, which included three technical superiorities in four matches.

Kabaloev had to come from behind in his gold-medal match against Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), a U23 and junior world champion. Bolkvadze led 1-0 at the break after scoring off a passivity. But Kabaloev battled back in the second period, scoring off a passivity with two minutes remaining before lifting Bolkvadze and scoring with a two-point throw to grab a 3-1 lead, which would be enough to get him the victory. 

In the final match of the session, the returning world champion Chekhirkin hung on to edge Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) 7-6 in the gold-medal match at 77kg. Chekhirkin raced out to a 5-0 lead after a dominant first period. He picked up a takedown midway through the first period, added a point off a step out and then lifted Chalyan and scored two more points off a throw. But the Armenian battled back, scoring a takedown 20 seconds into the second period before adding another takedown a short time later to make the score 5-4 in favor of Chekhirkin. With just over a minute remaining, Chekhirkin extended his lead to 7-4 with a takedown. Chalyan would add a takedown with two seconds remaining, but Chekhirkin held on to win by a point. 

Victor CIOBANU (MDA) and Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO) captured the bronze medals at 60kg. Ciobanu, ranked No.2 in the world, topped Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR) 3-1. Chkhartishvili edged Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) 3-3 on criteria. 

Soslan DAUROV (BLR) used a high dive to score a takedown with just over a minute remaining, which helped him defeat Oleksii KALINICHENKO (UKR) 3-2 in a bronze-medal match at 67kg. Mate NEMES (SRB) earned a 2-1 victory over Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) in the other bronze-medal match at 67kg.

Olympic silver medalist Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) earned a bronze medal at 77kg by beating Igor BESHLEAGA (MDA) 5-1. The other bronze medal at 77kg was claimed by Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), who won by fall over Yunus BASAR (TUR).

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. Erik TORBA (HUN), 9-0
BRONZE - Victor CIOBANU (MDA) df. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR), 3-1
BRONZE - Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-3

67kg
GOLD - Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), 3-1
BRONZE - Soslan DAUROV (BLR) df. Oleksii KALINICHENKO (UKR), 3-2
BRONZE - Mate NEMES (SRB) df. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM), 2-1

77kg
GOLD - Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) df. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM), 7-6
BRONZE - Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), Fall (5:25)
BRONZE - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Igor BESHLEAGA (MDA), 5-1
 

#WrestleTirana

Breaking down freestyle battles at World Championships for Non-Olympic weights

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 09:44 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 15) -- Six months ago, no one had the Sadulaev-Taylor-Ghasempour three-way battle for world title on their bingo card. But it is about to go down in Tirana.

The World Championships in non-Olympic weight classes is returning after eight years. Despite the fact that none of the Paris Olympic participants were allowed in the tournament, it still has a host of stars hoping to become world champions.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN), a two-time Olympic and five-time world champion, did not participate in the Paris Olympics and is going down a weight class to 92kg in a bid to earn his sixth world title. Three-time world champion David TAYLOR (USA) jumped from 86kg to 92kg in a bid to compete at the World Championships. He now gets a shot at Sadulaev. Two-time world champion at 92kg Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), who has been moving up and down in weight classes, has somehow been made the challenger.

Ghasempour participated in the 97kg weight class in the Zagreb Open but lost to Kyle SNYDER (USA). He was in line for Iran's 86kg spot for Paris but later opted out of a trial against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI).

Sadulaev lost a bout for the second time in his career and first in six years when he lost to Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) at the 2023 World Championships. Taylor lost to Aaron BROOKS (USA) in the U.S. Olympic trials and Ghasempour barely scraped through in the trials for the world team in Iran.

Yet, the three will be the favorite for the gold medal and it will only be a surprise if any of them miss out on the podium in Tirana.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is eyeing his seventh world title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is also chasing history. If he wins, he will win his seventh world title, making him the most successful American wrestler at the World Championships. He missed out on competing at the 2023 World Championships but stormed back in 2024, winning the trial in the United States.

But his path to gold won't be an easy one. Two-time U23 world champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), former world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), three-time world medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) and Asian champion Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) are also in the fray.

Nokhodi and Burroughs have wrestled in two back-to-back World Championships finals with the latter winning both. But Burroughs suffered his first loss to an Iranian in 2022 when Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) defeated him at the World Cup and Nokhodi will draw confidence from there.

All the big names will be looking to hand Burroughs his first World Championships loss since 2019.

Vitali ARUJAU (USA)Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is the defending world champion at 61kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Olympic champion eyeing a world title will be Zavur UGUEV (AIN) as he last won the second of two titles in 2019. Uguev won gold at the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg but finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships. He will be at 61kg in Tirana hoping to deny defending world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) a second world title.

Arujau won his first world gold medal in 2023 by beating Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) in a tense final. He won the team trials in the U.S. to confirm his name for the World Championships in Tirana.

An interesting name entered is Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB). The former European champion will turn out for Serbia at 61kg but it is unlikely that he will be challenging for gold.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN), however, can be a big threat for the gold medal given his style and pace of wrestling. He rocked the competition at the U20 World Championships last month and won gold at 61kg. It will be interesting to see how he fares at his first senior World Championships.

Asian Championships silver medalist UDIT (IND) and Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) have some good wins under their belts over the past two years and they would like to make a mark in Tirana.

Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wrestled in the U23 World Championships final last year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U23 world and European champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) will be making his senior international debut at 70kg in Tirana and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. However, the field has other top contenders like Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and James GREEN (USA) among others.

Yazdani lost the final at 70kg last year to Zain RETHERFORD (USA) but will look to make amends this year. He won the Asian Championships over Aoyagi in a high-scoring final. Yazdani's 13-9 win over Aoyagi was not convincing and the Japanese will look to change the result if the two meet in Tirana. Aoyagi was in the final against Sheriev but dropped the final 9-3. He finished eighth at the World Championships in 2023.

Former U20 world champion for Iran, Peiman BIABANI (CAN) will be turning out for Canada. He finished second at the Pan-Am Championships and the World Championships will be a big test for him. 2023 bronze medalist Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) will look to change the color of his medal this year.