#WrestleBucharest

Two-Time Olympic Champ Vlasov Leads Three Russians Into Day Six Finals

By Eric Olanowski

BUCHAREST, Romania (April 11) – The Russian Federation’s Greco-Roman train is on track to defend their European team title from last year after opening up the Greco-Roman share of the competition by inserting three wrestlers into the Day 6 finals. 

The loaded five-man day-five squad featured reigning world champions Stepan MARYANYAN and Sergey SEMENOV, two-Olympic champions Davit CHAKVETADZE and Roman VLASOV, and U23 world runner-up Vitalii KABALOEV. 

Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) will wrestle for his first European title since 2015. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

Both reigning world champions Maryanyan and Semenov were undefeated on the day heading into the semifinals, but only Maryanyan came out on top of his semifinals match and will wrestle for gold on Saturday night.

Maryanyan, the reigning world champion at 67kg, picked up shutout wins over Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL) and Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU), then scored an 11-3 win over last year’s European eighth-place finisher, Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO) to lock up his spot in tomorrow’s finals. 

Maryanyan, who will be looking for his first continental top finishes since 2015, will wrestle Rio Olympic bronze medalist Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) in the 67kg finals match. 

Berge grabbed a 5-2 win in the semifinals over Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) and will wrestle in his second consecutive European title match. He fell short in last year’s finals to Mihai MIHUT (ROU). 

Russia’s second reigning world champion who was looking to make the finals was Sergey Semenov. Semenov fell to Georgia’s Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO), 3-2, in the semifinals, ending his run to a continental title. 

The Georgian big man will see eight-time European champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) in the finals. In Kayaalp’s semifinals match, he avenged his opening round world championship loss to Heiki NABI (EST), 4-0. If the Turkish superstar is able to win tomorrow night, he’ll surpass Kamza YERLIKAYA (TUR) Turkish record of eight European titles. 

Meanwhile, the story was the same for the Russian Olympic champions as one came out on top and one fell short of his goal of winning a European title. 

London and Rio Olympic gold-medal winner Roman Vlasov scored four wins on Friday and made it to the 77kg finals. But, Rio Olympic champion Davit Chakvetadze wasn’t so lucky and dropped a one-point match to Azerbaijan’s Islam ABBASOV in the quarterfinals. Abbasov ended up making it to the finals where he’ll square off against Ukraine’s Rio runner-up Zhan BELENIUK. 

Vlasov, the defending 77kg European champion, completed his run to the finals with wins over tenth-ranked Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO), Ukraine’s Mykola DARAGAN, 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES (SRB), and U23 world bronze medalist Fatih CENGIZ (TUR). 

Vlasov will wrestle Germany’s Roland SCHWARZ in tomorrow night’s gold-medal match. Schwarz barreled past Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV, 10-2, to make the finals. 

Vitalii KABALOEV was one of three Russian's who made the Day 6 finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

The final Russian who was in action on Day 5 was Vitalii Kabaloev. In his European debut, the U23 world runner-up scored perhaps one of the most shocking upsets of the tournament, knocking off defending world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 7-5. 

Kabaloev will go toe-to-toe with Romania’s Florin TITA (ROU), who used the home crowd to help push him to the 5-4 victory over Anders ROENNINGEN (NOR). 

The Day 6 finals behind at 18:00 local time, and can be followed on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 
55kg
GOLD - Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) vs. Florin TITA (ROU)
SEMIFINAL - Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 7-5 
SEMIFINAL - Florin TITA (ROU) df. Anders ROENNINGEN (NOR), 5-4 

63kg
GOLD - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) vs. Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR)
SEMIFINAL - Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) df. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE), 4-2 
SEMIFINAL - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO), 11-3 

77kg
GOLD - Roman VLASOV (RUS) vs Roland SCHWARZ (GER) 
SEMIFINAL - Roland SCHWARZ (GER) df. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 10-2 
SEMIFINAL - Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR), 3-1 

87kg
GOLD - Islam ABBASOV (AZE) vs. Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Mikalai STADUB (BLR), 4-0 
SEMIFINAL - Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) df. Eividas STANKEVICIUS (LTU), 5-1 

130kg 
GOLD - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Heiki NABI (EST), 4-0 
SEMIFINAL - Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) df. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) 3-2

#WrestleTirana

U23 European Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (February 25)  -- Soon after the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series, Tirana will shift its focus to the first continental championships of 2025.

The U23 European Championships will be held in Tirana from March 8 to 14 with 429 wrestlers entered for the competition.

Freestyle will kick off proceedings on March 8, followed by Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman will finish off things.

UWW+ (uww.org) will bring all the action live and highlights from Tirana.

Freestyle

57kg
Ersjan KASHIKU (ALB)
Norik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Rahman IMANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Nika ZANGALADZE (GEO)
Danny LUBRANO (ITA)
Ion BULGARU (MDA)
Stefan SHTERJOV (MKD)
Bekir KESER (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Iunus IAVBATIROV (UWW)

61kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Jeyhun ALLAHVERDIYEV (AZE)
Denis NAIM (BUL)
Omar GAZASHVILI (GEO)
Dario DITTRICH (GER)
Balazs RACZ (HUN)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Vasile MARCU (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Ivan OKSIUK (POL)
River PERLUNGHER (SUI)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR)
Ivan HRAMYKA (UWW)
Akhmed ZUBAIROV (UWW)

65kg
Klevisi PRECI (ALB)
Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM)
Murad HAGVERDIYEV (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Felipe FERRUSOLA MILLA (ESP)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Marcel WAGIN (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Mattia BIENTINESI (ITA)
Artiom CVETKOV (LTU)
Fiodor CEAVDARI (MDA)
Daniel KULCZYNSKI (POL)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Anatoli HRAMYKA (UWW)
Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW)

70kg
Fabian KOCILERI (ALB)
Vladimir AZARYAN (ARM)
Alexander SEIWALD (AUT)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Kaloyan ATANASOV (BUL)
Denis KODAKOV GIL (ESP)
Abdoul NAKAEV (FRA)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Burak SALVIZ (GER)
Marton VARGA (HUN)
Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Mateusz LUSZCZYNSKI (POL)
Umut ERDOGAN (TUR)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (UWW)
Magomed ELTEMIROV (UWW)

74kg
Devi BARDHI (ALB)
Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM)
Muhamed BEKTEMIROV (AUT)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Stiliyan DZHOROV (BUL)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Manuel WAGIN (GER)
Theocharis KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Daniel KORKIN (ISR)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Fabian NIEDZWIEDZKI (POL)
Gigi SUBTIRICA (ROU)
Ismet CIFTCI (TUR)
Bohdan OLIINYK (UKR)
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW)
Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)

79kg
Altin GANCI (ALB)
Farid JABBAROV (AZE)
Bogdan DJANDIGOV (BEL)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Gregor EIGENBRODT (GER)
Rolan ARNTASEV ARDASHEV (GRE)
Adam GAZDAG (HUN)
Raffaele RAFFAELE MATRULLO (ITA)
Marius RETCO (MDA)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Andrija IVANOVIC (SRB)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Bohdan OLEKSIIENKO (UKR)
Aliaksandr VIARBITSKI (UWW)
Arsen BALAIAN (UWW)

86kg
Ibrahim SULA (ALB)
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Lukas LINS (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV    (AZE)
Umar VELIEV (BEL)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO)
Georgios KOTANIDIS (GRE)
Zeteny GANGL (HUN)
Kyrylo OHAR (ISR)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Wiktor HASA (POL)
Alperen ATAR (TUR)
Oleksandr MAMROSH (UKR)
Arslan BAGAEV (UWW)

92kg
Albin PEPOSHI (ALB)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Sadig MUSTAFAZADE (AZE)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Daniel FISCHER (GER)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Davide COSSU (ITA)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Filip SZUCKI (POL)
David JAKSIK (SVK)
Alperen TOKGOZ (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Artsiom IHNATSIUK (UWW)
Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW)

97kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Andriyan VALKANOV (BUL)
Ashab DADAEV (FRA)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)
Nikita GOUBARETS (ISR)
Constantin BUZA (MDA)
Taron SHAHINYAN (POL)
Georgian TRIPON (ROU)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Uladzislau KAZLOU (UWW)
Bady SAMDAN (UWW)

125kg
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Giga SHAVADZE (GEO)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Michal DUBOWSKI (POL)
Efe AL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Pavel DZIATLAU (UWW)
Artem PUKHOVSKII (UWW)

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)Iryna BONDAR (UKR) is one of the stars entered for U23 European Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Maria CAZALLA TORRES (ESP)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Ana Maria PIRVU (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Songul KAVAK (TUR)
Viktoriia SLOBODENIUK (UKR)
Anastasiya YANOTAVA (UWW)
Natalia PUDOVA (UWW)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Maria FERONE (ITA)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Anastasiia LEBEDIEVA (POL)
Ana ROTARU (ROU)
Ellen OESTMAN (SWE)
Remziye KARADAG (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)
Viktoryia VOLK (UWW)
Ekaterina KARPUSHKINA (UWW)

55kg
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Kamila KASPROW (POL)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Albina RILLIA (UKR)
Aliaksandra BULAVA (UWW)
Anastasiia IANDUSHKINA (UWW)

57kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Inna ALIMOVA (LTU)
Patrycja STRZELCZYK (POL)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Milica SEKULOVIC (SRB)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Aryna MARTYNAVA (UWW)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (UWW)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Desislava IVANOVA (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Julia NOWICKA (POL)
Ana PUIU (ROU)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Yuliia PAKHNIUK (UKR)
Marta HETMANAVA (UWW)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW)

62kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Anna FOTIADOU (GRE)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
Immacolata DANISE (ITA)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
JOVANA RADIVOJEVIC (SRB)
Annatina LIPPUNER (SUI)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Alesia HETMANAVA (UWW)
Amina TANDELOVA (UWW)

65kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Bianca CONTRAFATTO (ITA)
Olha PADOSHYK (POL)
Viorica ADAM (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR)
Kseniya TSIARENIA (UWW)
Ekaterina KOSHKINA (UWW)

68kg
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Nikoleta BARMPA (GRE)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Karolina DOMASZUK (POL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)
Olesia BEZUGLOVA (UWW)

72kg
Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Noemi OSVATH NAGY (HUN)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Haticenur SARI (TUR)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Anna BRAUN (SWE)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR)
Hanna PIRSKAYA (UWW)
Olga KOZYREVA (UWW)

Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) is looking for his second U23 European title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Andi MUCA (ALB)
Arayik TOPALYAN (ARM)
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Filip BARTOSIK (CZE)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Vasileios PAPAGEORGIOU (GRE)
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
Maxim SARMANOV (MDA)
Mehmet SARP (TUR)
Danylo KORIEIEV (UKR)
Alibek AMIROV (UWW)

60kg
Mikel TROPLINI (ALB)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Huseyn GARIBOV (AZE)
Alyosha ILIEV (BUL)
Brian SANTIAGO (DEN)
Lucas LO GRASSO (FRA)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Georgios PAPAGEORGIOU (GRE)
Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Bohdan HRYSHYN (UKR)
Papik DZHAVADIAN (UWW)

63kg
Ergi UKU (ALB)
Davit JOTYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Miroslav EMILOV (BUL)
Diego ESTECHE GOMEZ (ESP)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Marios KAPANTAIS (GRE)
Daniel RAFAEL (HUN)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Adrian ANTON (ROU)
Alexander VAFAI (SWE)
Furkan ERKEN (TUR)
Vsevolod SAPUN (UKR)
Aleksandr ANDREEV (UWW)

67kg
Ardit ZENELI (ALB)
Ruben MIRANYAN (ARM)
Farid KHALILOV (AZE)
Antonio HRISTOV (BUL)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)
Janis HEINZELBECKER (GER)
Attila JOZSA (HUN)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Pavel DENISENCO (MDA)
Bredi SLINKERS (NED)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Noe POC (SRB)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Pavlo SOROKOLIET (UKR)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)

72kg
Xhorxh FRROKAJ (ALB)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Anri TAVARTKILADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Rokas CEPAUSKAS (LTU)
Vasile ZABICA (MDA)
Piotr STOLARCZYK (POL)
Eren ULKU (TUR)
Oleh KHALILOV (UKR)
Viachaslau ZHEHALAU (UWW)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)

77kg
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Martik PETROSYAN (ARM)
Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)
Albert DOEV (BUL)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Junior BENITEZ ORTIZ (ESP)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Benjamin HANSEN (NOR)
Karl BAFF (SWE)
Muslim BARGA (TUR)
Vladyslav IVANINA (UKR)
Illia VALEUSKI (UWW)
Evgenii BAIDUSOV (UWW)

82kg
Xhord GJONI (ALB)
Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM)
Elmin ALIYEV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Martin SHISHEKOV (BUL)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Frederik MATHIESEN (DEN)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
Dominik BOTOS (HUN)
Leon RIVALTA (ITA)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Ludvig GUNHEIM HATLAND (NOR)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Uros LECIC (SRB)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Ramazan PASHAIEV (UKR)
Dzmitry BONKA (UWW)
Gamzat GADZHIEV (UWW)

87kg
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Joju SAMADOV (AZE)
Andrey ATANASOV (BUL)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Jesper HAERKAENEN (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Cristian RUSU (MDA)
Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Milos PEROVIC (SRB)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ivan CHMYR (UKR)
Baskhan SAIDOV (UWW)

97kg
Julijan SHEHU (ALB)
Harutyun KIRAKOSYAN (ARM)
Agil MUSAEV (AZE)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Aapo VIITALA (FIN)
Luka GABISONIA (GEO)
Connor SAMMET (GER)
Roman BALCHIVSCHII (MDA)
Sebastian WARCHOL (POL)
Ionut GOSA (ROU)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Muhittin HELVACI (TUR)
Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (UWW)
Mukhammad EVLOEV (UWW)

130kg
Rigers KURTI (ALB)
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Aykhan MARDANOV (AZE)
Alan DZABIEV (BUL)
Artur SARKISJAN (CZE)
Eerik PANK (EST)
Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO)
Achilleas CHRYSIDIS (GRE)
Koppany LASZLO (HUN)
Cemal BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW)