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Tuesday night's European finals set

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 - 09:47 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (April 18) --- The second day of freestyle action at the European Championships kicks off with action at 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg.

FULL EUROPEAN C'SHIP SCHEDULE:
- 11:30 - Qualification rounds
- 16:45 - Semifinals
- 18:00 - Finals

Tuesday's semifinal matchups:

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) vs. Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO) 
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Arman ELOYAN (FRA) 

74kg
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL) vs. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) 
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) vs. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) 

86kg
Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR) vs. Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL) 
Boris MAKOEV (SVK) vs. Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) 

92kg
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) vs. Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) 
Ermak KARDANOV (SVK) vs. Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) 

125kg
Taha AKGUL (TUR) vs. Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) 
Daniel LIGETI (HUN) vs. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) 

14:31: Akgul trailed 1-0 after the opening period but scored three points in the closing frame to win a close 3-1 battle. He'll likely have Olympic bronze medalist Conyedo Ruano, who is up 3-0 with :20 seconds left.

14:12: Two of the all-time greats in Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) are wrestling on Mat B and C, respectively.

14:10: In typical Chamizo fashion, he got going when he needed to and picked up the 7-4 win. He'll meet fellow Olympic bronze medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) in tonight's semifinals.

14:05: Things are getting heated between Chamizo and Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE). Chamizo has been punched, kicked and had his hair pulled in the opening three minutes.

14:01: We have a pair of world champions on the mat right now. Chamizo is wrestling on Mat B and Abakarov is on Mat C.

13:25: Amine picked up a third takedown on Rubaev and increased his lead to 7-0. It's been a weird match from the Moldovian. He hasn't taken a single shot and there's less than a minute left.

13:20: Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine is kicking off his quest for a second straight European title on Mat B. He's wrestling Georgii RUBAEV (MDA).

12:49: One of the most talked about storylines coming into the European Championships was the late transfer of Greek Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE). He just had his first match, where he dominated Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN), 10-0, in the first period.


12:43: One of the benefits of being seeded is having more time to recover after weigh-ins. The seeded athletes usually have around two hours of extra rest before competing. We're nearing that mark when the top athletes will be making their way to the mat, one after another.

Here are some of the stars that'll be making their way to Mat B soon:
- Bout 108 - Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR) 
- Bout 110 - Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) 
- Bout 111 - Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) 
- Bout 112 -  Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) 
- Bout 114 - Taha AKGUL (TUR)  

12:32: Daniel LIGETI (HUN) has a crowd behind him on Mat A. There's at least 20 people--one with a big drum--cheering for the Hungarian Big Man. He's in a tight 2-2 battle with Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT).

12:16: We'll stay on Mat B as U23 European champion Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL) is making his way to the mat. He'll wrestle against Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA).

If you're unfamiliar with Ivanov, he's a more compact heavyweight that loves to throw. His go-to move is an arm throw.


12:13:  Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA), who won Olympic gold in Tokyo at 97kg, moved up to 125kg a season ago. It's taken nearly two years, but he looks like a true 125kg guy. He picked up a 3-0 opening-round win over Paris KAREPI (ALB).

12:05: There's your upset of the day (keeping in mind we're only a half-hour into the session). Arman ELOYAN (FRA) just took out 2022 European champion Vladimir EGOROV (MKD), 2-2, to set up a matchup with Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU).

11:58: Reigning 57kg world champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) is up now on Mat B. He's wrestling up a weight class, competing at 61kg for the European Championships. He's wrestling Niklas STECHELE (GER).

11:45: We'll kick the morning session off with repechage matches for those who fell on Monday.

Saitiev, three-time Olympic champion, passes away aged 49

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 17:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- Wrestling legend, three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion Buvaisar SAITIEV passed away Sunday. He was 49 years old and nine days short of his 50th birthday.

Saitiev was buried in the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan on Tuesday, March 4.

Saitiev, widely considered the best Freestyle wrestler of all time, was born in Dagestan but moved to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia to train at the Mindiashvili wrestling academy under the legendary coach Dmitri Mindiashvili.

The 49-year-old announced his retirement soon after winning his third Olympic title in Beijing 2008. His other two titles came in 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, Brandon SLAY (USA) defeated him.

Apart from the world and Olympic titles, Saitiev was six-time European champion.

 

United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC expressed his shock on the untimely passing of Saitiev.

"The wrestling family is in shock with the passing of Saitiev," Lalovic said. "He was a legend of the sport and we lost him at a very young age of 49. Saitiev inspired wrestlers around the world and many took up the sport because of him. It's an unrepairable loss to the wrestling community and we are with the Saitiev family during this time of grief."

In 2007, Saitiev was awarded as the best Freestyle wrestler in history by UWW [then FILA].

Wrestling majorly in the 74kg weight class, Saitiev stood at 183 centimetres and made his World Championships debut in Atlanta, 1995. A year later, he won the gold medal at 74kg at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He became world champion in 1997 and 1998 but did not participate in 1999. He lost to Slay in early rounds of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and finished ninth.

But he captured the gold medals again at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and returned to the top at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He became the world champion in 2005 and 2006 and claimed his third Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.