BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 8) -- David BAEV (UWW) may not have been on the international scene for six years but there is nothing in his wrestling that will give that away.
The 28-year-old won the gold medal at the European Championships on his return to international competition, winning it comfortably at 70kg in Bratislava on Tuesday.
Baev denied Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) his second straight title at 70kg, beating the Armenian 4-1 in the final at his first international competition since winning the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships.
The first point of the bout was from Andreasyan's passivity and Baev scored a takedown in the second period for a 3-0 lead. A stepout made it 4-0 before he gave up a stepout for one point.
Baev celebrated spreading his arms and looking up to the skies with a sigh of relief. This was one of the four gold medal for an "UWW" athlete on Tuesday.
At 57kg, Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) earned his first-ever European gold medal after he defeated Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB), 7-4, a closely contested final.
Tuskaev, hoping to become Serbia's first-ever European champion in Freestyle, fell behind early with a point for his passivity and then a stepout. Mongush added a takedown to make it 4-0.
With time running out, Tuskaev made desperate attempts and got two for a takedown. A scramble was awarded two points each with Mongush still leading 6-4. In the final 10 seconds, Tuskaev was about to score a go-behind but Mongush blocked him and secured the win and his first-ever European gold.
France was looking for its first Freestyle European champion as it had two finalists on Tuesday but the drought is set to continue as both wrestlers failed to cross the hurdle to win gold.
At 65kg, Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) suffered a 3-0 defeat to Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) who had a dominant run to the gold medal. Ibragimov's win was similar to his 6-2 win over Arsamerzouev in the 2024 European U23 Championships final.
Arsamerzouev was hit with a passivity call in the first period and he failed to score, giving Ibragimov a 1-0 lead. While the French wrestler did make some inroads in the second period, Ibragimov managed to score a takedown for a 3-0 lead.
Two time European silver medalist Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) will have to wait for his gold medal as former world champion Akhmed USMANOV (UWW) posted a 9-1 win in the 79kg final which also included a massive front headlock throw for four.
Matcharashvili hat-trick
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) completed a hat-trick of European gold medals after he defeated Magomed KURBANOV (UWW) in the 97kg final.
RESULTS
Freestyle
57kg
GOLD: Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) df. Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB), 7-4
BRONZE: Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) df. Ivaylo TISOV (BUL), 12-2
BRONZE: Aryian TIUTRIN (UWW) df. Niklas STECHELE (GER), 4-1
65kg
GOLD: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) df. Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA), 3-0
BRONZE: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via forfeit
BRONZE: Ali RAHIMZADA (AZE) df. Andrii SVYRYD (UKR), 4-0
70kg
GOLD: David BAEV (UWW) df. Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM), 4-1
BRONZE: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) df. Oleksii BORUTA (UKR), 6-2
BRONZE: Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), 5-2
79kg
GOLD: Akhmed USMANOV (UWW) df. Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA), 9-1
BRONZE: Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) df. Ion MARCU (MDA), 3-0
BRONZE: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP), 4-1
97kg
GOLD: Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) df. Magomed KURBANOV (UWW), 3-2
BRONZE: Richard VEGH (HUN) df. Radoslaw BARAN (POL), 10-6
BRONZE: Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) df. Radu LEFTER (MDA), 11-0
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