#WrestleRome

Superstars Staebler and Aleksanyan Soar to Top of European Podium

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 - 20:44 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (February 12) --- Deafening cheers of “Frankie” and “Artur” rebounded off the wooden topped Pala Pellicone Arena as superstars Frank STAEBLER (GER) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) closed out the Greco-Roman portion of the European Championships with gold medals. 

Staebler cruised past Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) in the 72kg finals and grabbed his second European title. His 6-1 win over Lomadze on Wednesday night came eight years after he won his first continental gold at the 2012 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

After the match, Staebler announced that this was his last time he'd compete at the continental championships. "This was the last European Championships of my career. I am very happy to end the European cycle with a gold medal. The next stop is the Tokoyo Olympic Games for an Olympic medal." 

Staebler will make his descent back down to the Olympic weight of 67kg for a run at the one thing his resume is missing -- an Olympic medal. He's wrestled twice at the Olympic Games, but he’s come up short of a podium finish in both of those appearances. He finished fifth in London and seventh in Rio.

Staebler went further on his retirement, saying, "My focus is 100% on the Olympic Games. After the Olympics, I will retire from wrestling and work as a keynote speaker."

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) became a six-time European champion with a 7-1 win over Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Aleksanyan forged a rock-solid 7-1 finals victory over tenth-ranked Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) and claimed his fifth career European championship title. "I am very happy that I won the gold medal for our country. It’s the second gold for us today and I think we showed some good wrestling today." 

Aleksanyan tied top-ranked Musa EVLOEV (RUS) for the world's top spot at 97kg with his win on Wednesday night. He carried 40 Ranking Series points to Rome, and with the addition of his 20-point European gold medal, the Armenian sits level with his Russian rival with 60 points.

But Aleksanyan said he isn't worried too much about his rankings. "I am not interested in what number I am in the rankings. The most important is that I got the license for the Olympics. There will be 16 athletes and I will be one of them wrestling for the Olympic gold."

The Rio Olympic champion had two goals coming into the year, and he checked one of those off tonight with his gold-medal performance. "My first goal was to become a five-time European champion. The Olympics are ahead and I want to become a two-time Olympic champion in Tokyo." 

Aleksanyan is headed back to Armenia for training camp and isn't sure when he'll compete next. When asked if he'll wrestle in the Poland Open and try to steal the No. 1 spot from Evloev, he said, "I don’t know. That’s not me who makes decisions. It's our coaches. Wherever they tell me to wrestle, I will do that. 

Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) handed Armenia their second gold medal of the night with a 5-5 win over Kerem KAMAL (TUR). 

He surrendered an inactivity point in the first period and trailed 1-0. Gharibyan tossed Kamal with a massive four-point arm throw and gained the 4-1 lead after falling behind early in the first period. He extended his lead to 5-1 with an inactivity point but conceded a takedown and a caution-and-two and led 5-5 on criteria. 

Gharibyan stayed defensively sound in the final 60 seconds and stopped a flurry of Turkish attacks and won his first European title. Before his gold medal in Rome, Gharibyan never finished inside the top-ten in his two European appearances. 

Thoresen Becomes Second Norwegian European Champion in last 25 Years 
Morten THORESEN (NOR) joined Felix BALDAUF (NOR) as the only Norwegian Greco-Roman wrestlers to win a European gold medal in the previous 25 years. Furthermore, he became just the fifth Greco-Roman wrestler from Norway to ever claim a European title. 

“I think it’s pretty funny because me and Felix lived together. He’s (since) moved out and I’m the new European champion in the house,” Thoresen jokingly said.

The 23-year-old won four hard-fought matches and capped off his title run with a 2-2 win over Nazir ABDULLAEV‘S (RUS). “I had the flow through the whole competition. I had four really hard matches, but at the end of the day, I ended on top.” He trailed 2-0 in the finals but finished on top thanks to a pair of one-point second-period exchanges.

Thoresen's focus now switches to qualifying Norway for the Olympic Games. “My goal is to qualify (Norway) for the Olympics. I’m going to go home and keep on training. Hopefully, you’ll see me at the Olympic Games.” 

Norway’s Greco-Roman European Champions 
2020 - Morten THORESEN (67kg)
2017 - Felix BALDAUF (98kg) 
1992 - Lars ROENNINGEN (48kg) 
1990 - Jon ROENNINGEN (52kg) 
1988 - Lars ROENNINGEN (48kg) 
1927 - Sven MARTINSEN (58kg) 

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) and Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) shake hands after their battle in the 82kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Azerbaijan’s Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) claimed the fifth and final gold medal of the day. He collected two inactivity points and beat Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 2-1, in the 82kg gold-medal match. 

The European Championships begin on Thursday at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS

60kg  
GOLD - Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) df. Kerem KAMAL (TUR), 5-5 
BRONZE - Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) df. Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS), 6-6
BRONZE - Murad BAZAROV (AZE) df. Helary MAEGISALU (EST), 9-0

67kg  
GOLD - Morten THORESEN (NOR) df. Nazir Rachidovitch ABDULLAEV (RUS), 2-2 
BRONZE - Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN), 7-5 
BRONZE - Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) df. Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR), 4-2 

72kg 
GOLD - Frank STAEBLER (GER) df. Iuri LOMADZE (GEO), 6-1
BRONZE - Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO), 7 - 5
BRONZE - Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) df. Adam KURAK (RUS), 3-1

82kg 
GOLD - Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 2-1 
BRONZE - Hannes WAGNER (GER) df. Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR), 8 - 3
BRONZE - Bogdan KOURINNOI (SWE) df. Ciro RUSSO (ITA), 6-4

97kg 
GOLD - Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 7-1 
BRONZE - Aleksandr GOLOVIN (RUS) df. Artur OMAROV (CZE), 8-0
BRONZE - Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN), 3-3

#BeachWrestling

Zenkina, Khoma power Ukraine to top at U20 Beach Wrestling Worlds

Monday, September 29, 2025 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

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KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece (September 28) -- Riding on inspiring performances by former world U17 champion Mariia ZENKINA (UKR) and European silver medalist Yelyzaveta KHOMA (UKR), Ukraine emerged as the best country at the U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Greece.

Out of the four gold medals on offer in women's category, Ukraine won two while Romania and Serbia won one each. In the men’s division, Iran dominated its way to the top of the team rankings.

Ukraine finished at the top of the team race with 85 points while the United States was second with 50 points. Serbia managed to finish third with 39 points.

Zenkina, a U17 World Championships silver medalist in 2022, showed her skills on the beach as well and won all her bouts, including the final, without giving up a point.

Facing compatriot Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR) in the +70kg final, Zenkina got the first point when Konstantynova failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity period. Zenkina then scored via snapdown which forced Konstantynova to touch the sand with her knees.

Zenkina defended her 2-0 lead for the remaining 27 seconds to claim her second world title, the first coming at U17 level in 2021.

Khoma was equally dominant in her run to gold at 60kg but needed strong defense in the final against local favorite Evdoxia PAPADOPOULOU (GRE) to win the gold medal.

The final was off to an electric start with both wrestlers giving it a go and scoring points. It was Papadopoulou who scored the first point with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. However, Khoma fired back with a snapdown with Papadopoulou's elbow touching the sand and she took a 1-1 criteria lead.

Papdopoulou tried forcing a stepout when Khoma used double underhooks to throw the Greece wrestler who landed on her elbow, giving one more point to Khoma. In the next exchange, Khoma tried a whizzer but she touched her head on sand before Papadopoulou's which cost her one point and the lead exchanged hands. Now, the Greece wrestler led 2-2 on criteria with two minutes remaining in the match.

Khoma wasted no time in launching her next attack and pushed Papadopoulou towards the edge of the ring. As Papadopoulou tried to counter throw, Khoma kept her balance and forced her opponent to touch the sand. This gave Khoma the winning score of 3-2 as in Beach Wrestling, the first wrestler to three points wins.

Ukraine's third finalist Alevtyna LIASHENKO (UKR) was not so lucky as she lost the 50kg final to Ana ROTARU (ROU) via fall. Rotaru hit a blast double to open the scoring in the final and take a 1-0 lead. She used a similar technique to score her second point and lead 2-0 with 53 seconds left in the match.

She left nothing to chance and hit a perfect headlock throw for three points, ending the match 5-0, and victory via fall. [A three-point move in Beach Wrestling is considered fall].

Serbia won its first-ever gold medal at the U20 World Championships after European silver medalist Masa PEROVIC (SRB) scored a fall over world U17 champion Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) to claim the top medal at 70kg.

Moisei scored the first point of the final with hip toss and take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 by avoiding a trip attempt from Perovic who fell head first and lost another point. Moisei was going for the winning third point when Perovic attempted a lateral drop. While backstepping to avoid the drop, Moisei lost her balance and Perovic used that to her advantage and dropped Moisei on the back for three points and the win.

Iran's golden double

A day after winning the U17 World Championships team title in men's category, Iran continued to dominate Beach Wrestling by winning the U20 team title as well.

Like its U17 team, Iran won two golds in U20 competition to finish at the top of the team rankings with 77 points. Moldova finished second with 57 points while Ukraine was marginally behind at third with 55.

After missing out in the final in the first two weight classes, Ramtin RAVANBAKHSH (IRI) and Mersad SHAKERI (IRI) made sure Iran doesn't miss out on the finals by reaching the gold medal bouts at 90kg and +90kg respectively.

Ravanbakhsh showed impeccable defense in the final against Alexandru BORS (MDA), a former U17 World Championships silver medalist in Freestyle, at 90kg to win the gold medal. In fact, he had to beat Bors twice.

The two first met in a Group A match, which Ravanbakhsh won 1-0, before facing again in the final, where the Iranian repeated the result.

Shakeri was more active in his matches but was tested by Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR) in the final. He, however, managed to hold on to a 2-0 victory.

Shakeri hit a powerful snap which completely unbalanced Zadoianchuk who touched the sand with his knee and Shakeri got the first point. Shakeri got his second point with a stepout which Zadoianchuk had no chance to defend.

At 70kg, Eduard LENARD (ROU) dashed the hopes of local fans by beating Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) in the gold medal bout in just 44 seconds.

Karnavas was sure that he got the first point as he pushed Lenard towards the edge but Lenard managed to keep himself inside and not give up the point for stepout. As Karnavas kept pushing, Lenard hit a counter whizzer for a point to dramatically turn the advantage around and lead 1-0.

As Karnavas got on a single-leg attack in another sequence, Lenard dropped him on his back with a whizzer which was scored as three points, giving the win to the Romanian. Karnavas challenged the call but on review, the original call for three points was upheld and Lenard was announced as the winner.

Moldova earned itself a gold medal at 80kg as Gabriel OJOG (MDA) scored a victory via fall over Zurab MAMULADZE (GEO) in the final. Mamuladze tried to hit a big move on Ojog who blocked it and landed on top of Mamuladze to score three points and the victory.