#Rome2018

Russia Wins Pair of Golds, While Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine Each Have Solo Euro Junior Champion

Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - 18:38 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

ROME, Italy (July 31) - Russia, along with Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine each had at least one wrestler claim a gold medal on the second day of competition at the 2018 European Junior Champions in Rome, Italy. Russia led the way with two champions, while each of the other three nations each had a solo gold medalist.

Of the five newly crowned champions, nearly all had European Championship experience, but none had previously won a continental championship, and for that matter, even had a finals appearance under their belt.

But, there were no signs of lack of experience in those five matchups, as four bouts wrapped up before the time expired, as three finished via technical superiority and one ended early with a fall. 

Ukraine’s Oleksandr HRUSHYN, Russia’s Egor KADIROV, and Armenia’s Tigran MINASYAN kicked off the championship finals with back-to-back-to-back technical superiority victories. 

At 55kg, Tigran Minasyan only needed 41 seconds to score the 8-0 technical superiority victory over Giovanni FRENI (ITA). 

Oleksandr Hrushyn followed that up by scoring 11 unanswered points to defeat Maksim NEHODA (BLR), 11-3 in the 63kg gold medal bout. Russia's Egor Kadirov was right behind him, as he made quick work of Zahari ZASHEV (BUL), scoring the 9-0 win to grab the 77kg gold medal. 

The only match that didn’t finish before the six minutes expired was the 87kg finals match-up, where Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE (GEO) overpowered Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN), 7-1 to win his first continental championship.

Oleg AGAKHANOV (RUS) closed out the second day of competition, giving Russia their second gold medal of the day after sticking Germany’s Franz RICHTER in the opening period of the 130kg gold medal match. 

Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling action resumes tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM (local time). The women’s wrestling semifinals start at 5:15 PM and will be followed by the Greco-Roman medal round which begins at 6:00 PM. 

RESULTS
55kg
GOLD -  Tigran MINASYAN (ARM) df. Giovanni FRENI (ITA), 8-0 

BRONZE - Cihat Ahmet LIMAN (TUR) df. Dimitar Ivaylov SANDOV (SUI), 7-6 
BRONZE -  Andrei IVANOV (RUS) df. Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR), 3-1 

63kg
GOLD -  Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR) df. Maksim NEHODA (BLR), 4-1 

BRONZE -  Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN) df. Mateusz Radoslaw SZEWCZUK (POL), 4-1 
BRONZE -  Leri ABULADZE (GEO) df. Emil ZIGANSHIN (RUS), 6-2 

77kg
GOLD -  Egor KADIROV (RUS) df. Zahari Rosenov ZASHEV (BUL), 9-0 

BRONZE - Beka GURULI (GEO) df. Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR), 5-0 
BRONZE - Vahe POGHOSYAN (ARM) df. Per Anders KURE (NOR), 7-5 

87kg
GOLD -  Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE (GEO) df. Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN), 7-1 

BRONZE -  Ihar YARASHEVICH (BLR) df. Michal Andrzej DYBKA (POL), 9-0 
BRONZE -  Sayd Magomed Romanovitch ABUBAKAROV (RUS) df. Ramon Rainer BETSCHART (SUI), 10-0 

130kg
GOLD - Oleg Kahaberovitch AGAKHANOV (RUS) df. Franz RICHTER (GER), via fall 

BRONZE - Lenard Istvan BEREI (ROU) df. Beka MAKARIDZE (GEO), 8-0 
BRONZE - David OVASAPYAN (ARM) df. Artsiom SHUMSKI (BLR), 6-0 

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov Shows No Rust on His Way to Gold

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 21:32 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) --  Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) gave an early preview to what to expect from him at the World Championships in September.

The Paris Olympic champion won the gold medal in the 97kg weight class at the Budapest Ranking Series, outscoring his opponents 44-2 in four bouts and never appearing in trouble on the mat.

"I feel very good," Tazhudinov said. "I'm very happy to be back on the mat. It’s been almost a year I haven’t been competing  and it’s such a pleasure for us when you come back and win a gold medal."

The final Ranking Series event of the season kicked off in Budapest on Thursday with several familiar names winning gold medals. Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN), world silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) and SUJEET (IND) were among the gold medalists on day one.

But none were as dominant as Tazhudinov.

The Bahrain star returned to competition for the first time since Paris Olympics competing last week in Madrid, where he won gold at the Grand Prix of Spain. In Budapest, he followed it up with another flawless run, claiming his second gold medal in as many weeks.

"Overall I’m satisfied with my performance. I would say I’m not yet in full form, so I’m pleased with how I did. I’ll reach 100% form by the World Championships," he said.

Wrestling in just his third career Ranking Series, Tazhudinov capped the day with an 11-0 technical superiority win over veteran Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) in the final.

He opened the tournament with a 14-2 win over Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA), who clearly looked smaller for the weight class and had trouble matching Tazhudinov in every aspect of the game.

Tazhudinov hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure. But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

In the quarterfinals, Tazhudinov needed just one minute to defeat Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW). In the semifinals, he dispatched Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) in 1:48, winning 10-0.

Despite the dominant performance in Budapest, Tazhudinov admitted the World Championships would present a tougher challenge. He’s expected to defend his 97kg world title in Zagreb.

"We’ll have two training camps leading up to the World Championships, and I think after those camps I’ll be fully ready," he said. "There will be very strong, tough opponents. So I’ll prepare thoroughly and focus on performing even better."