#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

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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 

#WrestleCoralville

Pan-American Championships 2026 Day 1 Highlights

Thursday, May 7, 2026 - 14:28 By Eric Olanowski

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CORALVILLE, USA (May 7) -- The opening day of the Pan-American Championships is set to kick off this morning at 10:00 (local time) with Greco-Roman action. The eight weight classes that'll take the mat this morning are 55kg, 60kg, 63kg, 67kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 130kg. 

Start in Action: 
- Luis ORTA (CUB) – Tokyo 2020 gold, Paris 2024 bronze
- Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) - Paris 2024 silver
- Oscar PINO HINDS - Returning Pan-Am champion, World silver
- Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) - Returning Pan-Am champion
- Jeremy Renzo PERALTA (ECU) - Returning Pan-Am champion

BOUT ORDER | SCHEDULE 

1:11: We're going to take a short four-minute break before heading into the semifinal matches. We'll see you over on UWW+ for those at 1:15 (local time).

12:18: Terrible scene here in Iowa. Olympic runner-up Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) went for a throw in his semifinal match and suffered a tournament-end injury to his right knee. He was take off on a wheel chair, ending his day and tournament here at the Pan-American Championships.

12:01:  Eduardo BERNAL MOLINA (CHI) was just about to give up the tech fall when he caught Diego MARTINEZ DE LEIJA (MEX) on his back for the fall. He moved into the 77kg semifinals with that fall, and will meet the winner of Justin BOYCE (BAR) and Oscar Antonio BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON).

11:31: U23 world bronze medalist Otto BLACK (USA) earns the 8-0 win in his senior Pan-Am debut, punching his ticket to the 67kg semifinals later today.

11:10: Orta moves into the 67kg semifinals with a fall over Horta after leading 9-0. He awaits the winner of Alejandro VARELA (GUA) and Angelo CAFE DE OLIVEIRA (BRA). That match is underway on Mat B, with the Guatemalan  winning, 9-2

11:01: For a second time today, we have a meeting of Pan-Am champions. This time, it's four-time Pan-Am champ Orta Sanchez taking on Julian HORTA (COL). The Cuban has an early 2-0 lead coming from a pair of step outs.

10:51: As expected when you have two high level Greco guys like Melelashvili and Gregorich, it was a low scoring affair, but in the end it was a 1-1 criteria win for the American. He scored the first point, which gave him the criteria advantage at the end of the bout. I'll tell you what, though, it was weird seeing a Cuban Olympic champion in Borrero, cornering an American, who was beating a Cuban. Borrero certainly knew Gregorich's strengths and helped Melelashvili use them to his advantage.

10:31: We have a pair of Pan-Am champions coming up on Mat B next in Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) and Daniel GREGORICH (CUB). The American is the reigning champ, while the Cuban won the event in 2024. 

10:23: Not wrestling related, but Cuban world and Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO (CUB) is cornering USA WRESTLING athletes. He is now living in Colorado Springs, USA, where he is an Assistant Greco-Roman Coach.

10:08 - Whistles are ringing through the Xtream Arena here in Iowa, which means wrestling is underway. We're only running two mats here. The first star that'll be in action will be world and Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB). He's currently 16-0 at the Pan-American Championships and is looking for his fifth continental title.