#WrestleSkopje

Sargsian Stars as Russia Win Three Gold, GR Team Title at #WrestleSkopje

By Vinay Siwach

If there was a World Wrestling Day highlight reel to be made, Artur SARGSIAN (RUS) slamming Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO) for four points on Sunday would undoubtedly be part of it.

If Musa EVLOEV (RUS) is the best 97kg wrestler around the world, Sargsian is not far behind. The below video is a sneak peak of his show.

The Russian let out a loud roar as he prepared to lift the Georgian for the second time in their 97kg final. It could be heard around the Sansadski Jane Arena. The roar was not meant to disrespect his opponent but a metaphor of the strength and power he expresses when executing those soul-crushing throws. He was doing this with ease over the last two days at the U23 European Championships in Skopje, North Macedonia.

A quick glance at his wins on Saturday and Sunday show the gulf in class between him and his opponents. His first bout ended 9-0. The quarterfinal was won 8-0. The all-important semifinal was again a 9-0 win.

Katsanashvili was avoiding it in the 97kg final until he was warned for passivity. The par terre position for Sagsian meant his show was about to begin.

Katsanashvili used his skills to remain grounded, assembling all his core strength to convince the referee that Sargsian won't be able to throw him.

12 seconds is what took the Russian to score the first four – a beautiful throw inside the danger zone. He did not loosen his grip, worked some strength and boom. Another four.

After his celebrations, Sargsian embraced his opponent, like he did throughout the competition.

Shamil OZHAEV U23 European Championships

His gold at 97kg was the final of the three Russia won on Sunday. Shamil OZHAEV (RUS) at 82kg and Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS) at 60kg also captured the top medal to propel their country to the team title. Russia had won three gold medals on Saturday as well.

Ozhaev's final against Tamas LEVAI (HUN) went the full six minutes. He got the first point for Levai's inactivity from which Ozhaev scored two points to lead 3-0.

He was also warned for inactivity in the second period but his strong defence meant Levai had to be contend with just the one point. Ozhaev was also happy to stroll to a 3-1 win.

At 60kg, Allakhiarov also had a dominant win against Igor KUROCHKIN (UKR). The opening score was the passivity warning to Kurochkin and Allakhiarov almost got the exposure but a successful challenge from Ukraine reversed his lead to 1-0. He then went for a arm throw and managed to land the Ukrainian in danger to secure four points. He led 5-0 at the break.

Around 25 seconds in the seconds period, Allakhiarov went for a duck under and performed a bodylock throw against Kurochkin who seemed to be on his heels. The four points secured his 9-0 win.

He was the second Ukrainian to finish with a silver medal. Andrii KULIK (UKR) had a fantastic tournament before he ran into Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) in the 72kg final.

Amoyan is quickly becoming Armenia's top wrestler having risen through the age-group level with junior World and European titles. A silver at the Individual World Cup and senior Euros confirmed his ascend. So at his first U23 event, Amoyan made sure he goes home with gold medal.

Awarded the par terre position after Kulik was passive, Amoyan scored via a gut wrench and led 3-0 at the break. While Greco-Roman generally sees alternative inactivity being called, Amoyan made sure he continues to be the attacking wrestler. As a result, Kulik was again warned for inactivity.

A out-of-bounds throw was enough to give him a 6-0 lead which he maintained as he captured the second gold medal for Armenia in Skopje.

Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) U23 European Championships

The fifth weight category was 67kg in which Hungary captured the gold medal, thanks to Krisztian VANCZA (HUN). In the final against Kadir KAMAL (TUR), he pulled off a close 2-2 win.

All four points scored in the bout were inactivity and stepout points with Vancza scoring in the second period which gave him the win.

GR Medal Results

60kg
GOLD: Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS) df Igor KUROCHKIN (UKR), 9-0

BRONZE: Tigran MINASYAN (ARM) df Andy JUAN SUCH (ESP), 10-0
BRONZE: Uladzislau PRYBYLSKI (BLR) df Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN), 3-3

67kg
GOLD: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df Kadir KAMAL (TUR), 2-2

BRONZE: Oleksii MASYK (UKR) df Ivo Krasimirov ILIEV (BUL), 8-0
BRONZE: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)

Team Russia

72kg
GOLD: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df Andrii KULIK (UKR), 6-0

BRONZE: Idris IBAEV (GER) df Martun BADALIAN (BLR), 4-0
BRONZE: Sergei KUTUZOV (RUS) df Otar ABULADZE (GEO), 9-0

82kg
GOLD: Shamil OZHAEV (RUS) df Tamas LEVAI (HUN), 3-1

BRONZE: Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO) df Dimitrios TSOMPANOUDIS (GRE), 11-2
BRONZE: Yauheni YUROU (BLR) df Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU), 1-1

97kg
GOLD: Artur SARGSIAN (RUS) df Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO), 9-0

BRONZE: Michail IOSIFIDIS (GRE) df Valentyn SHKLIARENKO (UKR), 3-1
BRONZE: Markus RAGGINGER (AUT) df Ondrej DADAK (CZE), 1-1

#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Entries: Freestyle

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 25) -- The final Ranking Series stop of the year -- Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial -- is here. Like its previous editions, the tournament will be held in Budapest, Hungary from July 17 to 20.

Close to 500 wrestlers are expected for the tournament which will begin with Freestyle on July 17. All medal bouts will be held on the same day.

WOMEN'S WRESTLING ENTRIES | GRECO-ROMAN ENTRIES

The competition will be held on four mats and two-kilogram allowance will be given to all wrestlers, according to Ranking Series rules. This is the final event in which wrestlers can earn Ranking Series points and earn a seed for the World Championships in September.

Wrestling will begin at 1030 hours local time and the medal bouts will begin at 1700 hours local time every day. For full schedule of the tournament, click here.

Note: The entries are preliminary and can change until 72 hours before the draw of respective style. For final entries, refer to arena.uww.org.

World Championships Tickets

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Peter HAMMER (CRC)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
RAHUL (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Abzal OKENOV (KAZ)
Abylaikhan ALMUKHAMEDOV  (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Bekir KESER (TUR)
Luke LILLEDAHL (USA)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)

61kg
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO)
Balazs RACZ (HUN)
UDIT (IND)
Reza MOMENI (IRI)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ)
Adil OSPANOV (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Joseph SILVA (PUR)
Dylan SHAWVER (PUR)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Seth GROSS (USA)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
SUJEET (IND)
Yasin REZAEI (IRI)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Sherkhan ABIL (KAZ)
Nursultan SADYK (KAZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Meirzhan ASHIROV (KAZ)
Yegor ANCHUGIN (KAZ)
Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Zelimkhan MUTSUKHAEV (POL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Brandon CANNON (USA)

74kg
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Magomed KHANIEV (AZE)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Reza SHAKERI (IRI)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Yeldos KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Sangho HAN (KOR)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Szymon WOJTKOWSKI (POL)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
David CARR (USA)

79kg
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
CHANDERMOHAN (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
Fariborz BABAEI (IRI)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ)
Michael LABRIOLA (PUR)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR)
Levi HAINES (USA)

86kg
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Taran GORING (CAN)
Aiden STEVENSON (CAN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO)
Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN)
Zeteny GANGL (HUN)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Igor SZUCKI (POL)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Mobin AZIMI (IRI)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Arystan KARABEK (KAZ)
Filip SZUCKI (POL)
Trent HIDLAY (USA)
Alperen TOKGOZ (TUR)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
VICKY (IND)
Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
Jonathan AIELLO (USA)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
Milan GELLEN (HUN)
Nursultan AZOV (KAZ)
Gyeongmin KIM (KOR)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Efe Anil AL (TUR)
Trent David HILLGER (USA)
Demetrius THOMAS (USA)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)