#WrestleBucharest

European Championships 2024 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (January 22) -- United World Wrestling has released the preliminary entries for the European Championships, which take place in Bucharest, Romania.

The competition will kick off on February 12 with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle. The tournament will finish on February 19.

Note: The entries are subject to change three days before the official draws of the respective styles.

Freestyle

57kg
Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN)
Zavur UGUEV (AIN)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Ivaylo Milenov TISOV (BUL)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Nikolaos VLANDOS (GRE)
Igor CHICHIOI (MDA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)

61kg
Andrei BEKRENEU (AIN)
Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Mezhlum MEZHLUMYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
Levan METREVELI (ESP)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Daniel POPOV (ISR)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Nebi UZUN (TUR)
Valentyn BLIASETSKYI (UKR)

65kg
Islam GUSEINOV (AIN)
Shamil MAMEDOV (AIN)
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Carlos ALVAREZ (ESP)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Andre CLARKE (GER)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR)

70kg
Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)
Uladzislau KOIKA (AIN)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Alexander SEMISOROW (GER)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
George BUCUR (ROU)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)

74kg
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (AIN)
Timur BIZHOEV (AIN)
Cherman VALIEV (ALB)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO)
Stas WOLF (GER)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Raul CASO (ITA)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Malik AMINE (SMR)
Tobias PORTMANN (SUI)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Vadym TSURKAN (UKR)

79kg
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN)
Akhmed USMANOV (AIN)
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Miroslav KIROV (BUL)
Erik REINBOK (EST)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Pouria TAHERKHANI (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Ramazan SARI (TUR)
Oleksii DOMANYTSKYI (UKR)
Iman MAHDAVI (UWW)

86kg
Arkadzi PAHASIAN (AIN)
Artur NAIFONOV (AIN)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP)
Aimar ANDRUSE (EST)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Aron CANEVA (ITA)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Vasile MINZALA (ROU)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)

92kg
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (AIN)
Magomed KURBANOV (AIN)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Balazs JUHASZ (HUN)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Andrian GROSUL (MDA)
Adam MODOSJAN (MKD)
Michal BIELAWSKI (POL)
Zoltan SZEP (ROU)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)

97kg
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (AIN)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN)
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Erik THIELE (GER)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Lukas KRASAUSKAS (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Georgian TRIPON (ROU)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)

125kg
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN)
Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN)
Martin SIMONYAN (ARM)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Michael MANEA (ROU)
Magomedgadzhi NURASULOV (SRB)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)

Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) is the reigning European champion at 77kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Vitalii KABALOEV (AIN)
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Adem UZUN (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)

60kg
Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Sadyk LALAEV (AIN)
Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Nedyalko PETROV (BUL)
Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW)

63kg
Yaraslau KARDASH (AIN)
Zhambolat LOKYAEV (AIN)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Brian SANTIAGO (DEN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Christopher KRAEMER (GER)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Pavel ALEXE (ROU)
Virgil BICA (SWE)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)

67kg
Maksim NEHODA (AIN)
Ruslan BICHURIN (AIN)
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Nestori MANNILA (FIN)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
David MANYIK (HUN)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)

72kg
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (AIN)
Narek OGANIAN (AIN)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Michael WIDMAYER (GER)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Iulian LUNGU (ROU)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)

77kg
Shuai MAMEDAU (AIN)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (AIN)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)

82kg
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (AIN)
Islam ALIEV (AIN)
Kelsi NELAJ (ALB)
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Mats AHLGREN (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

87kg
Kiryl MASKEVICH (AIN)
Alan OSTAEV (AIN)
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Lukas STAUDACHER (AUT)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Raido LIITMAEE (EST)
Tourpal MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Artur SARGSIAN (AIN)
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Michail IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Luca SVAICARI (ITA)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Roman BALCHIVSCHII (MDA)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)

130kg
Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (AIN)
Sergei SEMENOV (AIN)
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Franz RICHTER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Artsiom SHUMSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Boris PETRUSIC (SRB)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)

Grace BULLEN (NOR)62kg finalists from last year Grace BULLEN (NOR) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) are entered for the European Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
Viyaleta REBIKAVA CHYRYK (AIN)
Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Miglena SELISHKA (BUL)
Aintzane GORRIA GONI (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)

53kg
Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (AIN)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Sztalvira ORSUS (HUN)
Maria FERONE (ITA)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Veronika RYABOVOLOVA (MKD)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)

55kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN)
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Maria BAEZ DILONE (ESP)
Tetiana PROFATILOVA (FRA)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)

57kg
Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN)
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Ana PUIU (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)

59kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Amel REBIHA (FRA)
Kelsey BARNES (GBR)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Ramina MAMEDOVA (LAT)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Eda TEKIN (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT)
Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Yuliia TKACH (UKR)

65kg
Tatsiana PAULAVA (AIN)
Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Nikoleta BARMPA (GRE)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)

68kg
Hanna SADCHANKA (AIN)
Vusala PARFIANOVICH (AIN)
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Nerea PAMPIN BLANCO (ESP)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Eyleen SEWINA (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
Paula ROTARU (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR)

72kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Kseniia BURAKOVA (AIN)
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Eleni CHRYSIKAKI (GRE)
Ilana KRATYSH (ISR)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)

76kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (AIN)
Rita TALISMANOVA (AIN)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Epp MAE (EST)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Francy RAEDELT (GER)
Aikaterini PITSIAVA (GRE)
Bernadett NAGY (HUN)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Yasemin ADAR YIGIT (TUR)
Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR)

#WrestleTirana

Three nations aim to get first Greco U23 world champs

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 21) -- Kyrgyzstan, the United States and Uzbekistan will stand a chance to crown their first-ever U23 world champion in Greco-Roman.

It was after the countries had one finalist each on day one of the U23 World Championships that kicked off in Tirana, Albania on Monday.

The United States and Uzbekistan have already had a historical day, confirming their first-ever U23 World Championships medals in Greco-Roman. Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) reached the 82kg final while Alisher GANIEV (UZB) made it to the 55kg final. Both countries had fifth as their best finishes before Monday in the history of the U23 Worlds, which came into existence only in 2017.

Kyrgyzstan will be banking on Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) to win the first Greco-Roman gold medal at U23 Worlds after he reached the 67kg final. Zholoman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) is the only other Greco wrestler to reach the final in 2019 but lost.

Georgia and Armenia were the only countries with two finalists on day one of the tournament. Surprisingly, Iran managed only one finalists out of the five weight classes that were in action.

Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) tries to complete at throw. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) and Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) were the two finalists for Georgia at 67kg and 72kg respectively. Both had finished with silver medals at the U20 World Championships in 2021 but will look to win the gold together on Tuesday.

Chkhikvadze defeated Daniial AGAEV (AIN), 4-4, in the semifinal with a correct throw in the last minute to take two points and a criteria lead. He will now take on Beishekeev who defeated Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL) 10-0 to win the other semifinal.

Giorgi was in much more control of his 7-0 win over Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ) in the semifinal and will now take on Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM). The two had met in the semifinals of the U20 World Championships in 2021 and Giorgi won that meeting.

Khachatryan took no time to see off Georgios BARBANOS (SWE) 9-0 in the semifinal, his fourth technical superiority in the tournament, including a fall over Danial SOHRABI (IRI).

The second Armenian to reach the final was Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM) at 97kg after he held off senior European silver medalist Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN) 3-3 in the semifinal. Both exchanged par terre and one turn in gut-wrench but Khloyan performed it in the second period, keeping the criteria to him.

He will face Paris Olympian Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) in the final. Khaslakhanau won his semifinal Richard KARELSON (EST), 2-1.

Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) confirmed the U.S. first ever Greco medal at U23 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The U.S. has already achieved its best result ever in U23 Worlds in Greco but Melelashvili would look to make it golden on Tuesday. He will face Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI) in the final.

Melelashvili wrestled Elmin ALIYEV (AZE) in the semifinal and fell behind 3-0 at the break. But he returned the favor to Aliyev in the second period. Initially not scored, Melelashvili got the two points for a gut wrench after a challenge. Naghousi defeated former U20 world champion Deni NIKAEV (GER), 6-1, in the semifinal.

Ganiev has already won Uzbekistan's first-ever U23 World Championships medal but will look to win one more bout and get his name in history books in golden. He humbled Nihad GULUZADE (AZE) 9-0 in the semifinals and will now face Dinislam BAMMAPTOV (AIN).

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) vs. Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN)

SF 1: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Nihad GULUZADE (AZE), 9-0
SF 2: Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN) df. Pridon ABULADZE (GEO), 4-1

67kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) vs. Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)

SF 1: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL), 10-0
SF 2: Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) df. Daniial AGAEV (AIN), 4-4

72kg
GOLD: Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM) vs. Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)

SF 1: Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM) df. Georgios BARBANOS (SWE), 9-0
SF 2: Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) df. Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ), 7-0

82kg
GOLD: Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI) vs. Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)

SF 1: Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI) df. Deni NAKAEV (GER), 6-1
SF 2: Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) df. Elmin ALIYEV (AZE), 3-3

97kg
GOLD: Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM) vs. Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)

SF 1: Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM) df. Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN), 3-3
SF 2: Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) df. Richard KARELSON (EST), 2-1