#WrestleBucharest

European Championships Day Six FS 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, 125kg semis set

By United World Wrestling Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 17) -- The European Championships is now on day six, the last full day of the competition. The competition will run with the repechage, qualification and semifinals in the morning session before moving to the medal bouts in the evening. 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg weight classes will be in action.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 5 REPORT

Semifinals for the evening session

61kg
Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) vs. Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
Niklas STECHELE (GER) vs. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)

74kg
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) vs. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) vs. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)

86kg
Myles AMINE (SMR) vs. Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) vs. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)

92kg
Magomed KURBANOV (AIN) vs. Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) vs. Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)

125kg
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) vs. Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) vs. Taha AKGUL (TUR)

15:00: Down goes Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)! He drops his quarterfinal against Osman GOCEN (TUR). The 86kg bout was high on action for six minutes with Gocen leading 4-1 at the break. Ramazanov could never come close as Gocen used two gut wrenches to lead 10-3, the final score of the bout.

14:45: Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) doesn't let his opponents catch his legs so easily. Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP) found it out in the 74kg quarterfinal when Salkazaov held on to his 3-1 lead till the match ended.

14:20: Abasgazdhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) looks unstoppable on the mat. Another 10-0 win for the world silver medalist at 61kg. He is likely to face Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) who came back from 5-1 down against Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO). The Georgian had a big throw when both wrestlers body locked each other. However, Abakarov scored a takedown and turn to make it 5-5 with Phartenadze leading on criteria. But a slick takedown in the end gave Abakarov a 7-5 win.

14:00: Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) falls to Magomed KURBANOV (AIN) 5-1. No openings for Nurmagomedov there and he drops his 92kg bout. In the same weight class, Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) and Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) move into the quarterfinals. 

13:30: Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) beats Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) 11-1 at 74kg followed by defending champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) holding off Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM) 2-1 in typical Salkazanov style.

12:55: Myles AMINE (SMR) was in all sorts of trouble there but he hung on for a 6-5 win over Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP) in his 86kg bout.

12:30: Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) absolutely breaks Mezhlum MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) in the second period and races to a 9-0 win at 61kg. A little earlier, Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) won 10-0 against Nils LEUTERT (SUI)

12:15: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) takes all six minutes to beat Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT) 9-0. Taha AKGUL (TUR) is much quicker to see off Kamil  KOSCIOLEK (POL) at 125kg.

12:05: The 125kg stalwarts come on the mat for their qualification round. Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (AIN), a 97kg wrestler, is wrestling at 125kg. Zhabrailov starts with a good 10-0 win over Michael MANEA (ROU)

11:30: Defending champion Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) starts with a 10-0 win over Alan BAGAEV (AIN). That is a big win for Kurugliev as Bagaev was expected to challenge him in the first match.

11:15: The 86kg weight class is the one to look out for today. In the first big bout of the day, Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) was up against Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL). He led 2-0 but Ramazanov scored a takedown to make it 2-2. In the second period, Ramazanov hit a strong counter and held Gamkrelidze to his back for a fall!

10:45: Big upset from the repechage as Andre CLARKE (GER) beats Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) at 65kg. The defending champion will be returning home without a medal this year.

10:30: Welcome to day six of the European Championships from Bucharest, Romania. We are in the last leg of this tournament with five weight classes in Freestyle left.

#WrestleAthens

Iran survives Uzbekistan scare to win Greco title at U17 Worlds

By Vinay Siwach

ATHENS, Greece (July 30) -- Four gold medals were not enough for Uzbekistan as they fell short in what could have been a generational team title in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships.

Iran, which won one gold medal out of 10, was crowned team champions as it performed well in placing their wrestlers in the weight classes. It finished with 125 points while Uzbekistan finished seven short at 118 points. Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points.

Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were not far behind and finished fourth and fifth respectively, tied on 100 points. Both countries had one gold medal each but Kyrgyzstan had two silver medals to Azerbaijan's one to finish ahead of them.

Read More: Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history in Athens

Iran had eight wrestlers in the medal-bouts and six of them returned with one. Iran finished with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Uzbekistan, on the other side, had only those four golds to show. Four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team race.

In one head-to-head bout on Wednesday, Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) secured a 7-5 win over Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB) in 60kg bronze-medal bout which proved crucial. A win for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title.

Then it was the gold medal of Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 92kg which helped Iran jump from fourth place to first. He wrestled Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) for the gold medal and began with three stepouts. Kasyan was called passive and put in par terre. Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Uzbekistan's two gold medals came at 51kg and 71kg.

Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) won the gold medal at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Asian U17 bronze medalist Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) added a third Greco gold of the World U17 Championships for Uzbekistan after he defeated Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1, in the 51kg.

Hagverdiyev was about to be called passive and put in par terre but he scored a stepout to avoid that call and lead 1-0. Tursunov answered with a stepout of his own and made 1-1. However, the criteria remained with Hagverdiyev as United World Wrestling is testing a new rule, where in Greco-Roman, if the score is 1-1, the criteria will be with the wrestler who got the first point.

Tursunov, however, got the par terre position in the second period and a 2-1 lead over Hagverdiyev. He defended his lead for the final minute and as the Azerbaijan wrestler tried a throw, he blocked him and landed on top, earning two more points.

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) upgraded his bronze from 2024 to gold in 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) denied the hosts a gold after he defeated Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1, in the final.

Valiev seemed to have taken the burnt from a few tough bouts from Tuesday as he struggled with his attacks against Soulis, who was egged on by vocal home fans.

However, he found enough inside him to turn from par terre and defend from that position in the second period to win the fourth gold medal of the tournament for Uzbekistan.

Ali NAZAROV (AZE)Ali NAZAROV (AZE) scored a 6-1 victory over Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) in the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ali NAZAROV (AZE) showed why gut-wrench is still one of the best techniques to score points in wrestling as he rolled Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) two times from par terre using gut wrench and win the world title at 60kg.

He later defended his par terre position, winning the final 6-1 and handing Azerbaijan the first gold medal for the World U17 Championships in Athens.

An action-packed match kicked off the medal bouts with Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) and Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) did not hold back their attacks as soon as the final began.

Zhangazhol did not waste much time to get going in the final against Kumarbekov as he used an arm throw to score the first four points but it was removed after he was warned for using his leg.

But he scored a takedown for a 2-0 and then hit a front headlock throw to make it 6-0. Kumarbekov answered with a four-pointer as well and both wrestlers used arm-rolls in the same sequence to score points. When they broke off at the break, Zhangazhol led 8-6.

After the blazing first half, both wrestlers had a subdued second and no more points were scored despite desperate attempts from Kumarbekov. Zhangazhol celebrated his win a split-second early but there was no harm done.

Kyrgyzstan challenged for fleeing in the final five seconds and on review, Zhangazhol was it with a caution for defensive foul, it only got Kumarbekov a point, making Zhangazhol's winning score 8-7.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ), 9-6

BRONZE: Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) df. Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA) vs. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-3

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 11-0
BRONZE: Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) df. Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB), 7-5
BRONZE: Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 5-2

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1

BRONZE: Hossein KAZEMI (IRI) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE: Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ) df. Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN), 7-1

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), 8-0

BRONZE: Ahmet UZUN (TUR) df. Said PASHAYEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: David CALKINS (USA) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 4-0