#WrestleFaenza

Edmond Nazaryan, Son of Two-Time Olympic Champ Armen Nazaryan, Wins European Title

Wednesday, June 19, 2019 - 18:50 By Eric Olanowski

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FAENZA, Italy (June 19) -- Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL), the son of the three-time world and two-time Olympic champion Armen NAZARYAN (BUL), followed in his father’s footsteps and won a European title on Wednesday night. Armen, the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic champion, was not only on hand to see his son win his second consecutive continental title, but he was in his corner and was able to lift Edmond off the mat with a hug after his title-winning efforts. Now, Edmond just needs five more golds to catch up to his father who won seven European titles during his storied career.

Through his four matches in Faenza, Nazaryan was only tested once on his road to the 51kg title. That test came against returning cadet European bronze medalist Nihad GULUZADE (AZE), who he edged 7-7 in the quarterfinals. Outside of his quarterfinals match with Guluzade, the Bulgarian blanked William Morten REENBERG (DEN), Armen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), and his finals opponent Baris ERBEK (TUR) by a combined score of 23-0 en route to the gold. 

To repeat as European champion, Nazaryan picked up an early step-out, then tacked on an inactivity point leading Erbek, 2-0. With his Turkish opponent in the par terre position, Nazaryan circled out towards his opponent's head and locked up a front head pinch, and ended the match after scoring on three consecutive rolls. 

Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) only needed 34-seconds to pick up the fall in the 72kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) improved on his runner-up finish from last year with a 34-second fall in the 71kg finals. 

Gutu, the reigning world and Youth Olympic Games champion, was expected to take on reigning European champion Stepan STARODUBTSEV (RUS) in the finals, but that match took place earlier than expected. The pair of returning European finalists drew into the same side, and it was Gutu who exacted revenge on the man who handed him his only loss of 2018, scoring the 6-1 quarterfinal victory.

In the gold-medal match, Gutu only needed 34 seconds to pick up a fall against Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO). Early in the first period, Gutu hit a duck under, then transitioned to double under hooks and planted Chkhaidze on his back for the fall and earned his first European title since 2017 when he won the U15 European title in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Maksim SKURATOV (RUS) was one of three Russian gold medalist who helped his country win the Cadet European team title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

On the team side of the competition, the Russian Federation entered the third day of wrestling with a 23 point advantage over Azerbaijan and closed out the Cadet European Championships with 178 points and the team title. They medaled in eight weights and had three champions. 

Azerbaijan, who had a pair of Day 2 champs and another one on Day 3, held onto their second spot and finished with 135 points. In addition to their trio of champions, Azerbaijan also had a silver-medal winner and two bronze-medal finishers. 

Mate GOKADZE’S gold medal at 110kg helped push Georgia into the third spot with 117 points. Like Azerbaijan, Georgia also finished with a silver medalist and two bronzes. 

Women’s wrestling takes center stage on Thursday. The Day 4 competition starts at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

RESULTS 

Final  Greco-Roman Team Scores
GOLD – Russia (178 points)
SILVER – Azerbaijan (135 points)
BRONZE – Georgia (117 points)
Fourth – Turkey (108 points)
Fifth – Armenia (95 points)

48kg
GOLD - Farid SADIKHLI (AZE) df. Daniial AGAEV (RUS), 10-1 
BRONZE - Miroslav Mariov EMILOV (BUL) df. Kaspars BONDARENKO (LAT), 4-2 
BRONZE - Homeros ARAKELYAN (ARM) df. Rokas CEPAUSKAS (LTU), 9-0 

51kg
GOLD - Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) df. Baris ERBEK (TUR), 8-0 
BRONZE - Armen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Nihad GULUZADE (AZE), 6-3 
BRONZE - Volodymyr VOITOVYCH (UKR) df. Kirill CHETKAREV (RUS), 8-7

60kg
GOLD - Maksim SKURATOV (RUS) df. Mert ILBARS (TUR), 11-0         
BRONZE - Artsiom KLITSUNOU (BLR) df. Rafet Selim RASHID (BUL), 5-1 
BRONZE - Nika BROLADZE (GEO) df. Arturs SESKENS (LAT), via fall

71kg 
GOLD - Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) df. Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO), via fall 
BRONZE - Allahverdi ALIYEV (AZE) df. Stepan STARODUBTSEV (RUS), 3-1 
BRONZE - Simon Christer BORKENHAGEN (SWE) df. Aliaksei PIAKHOTA (BLR), 7-0 

92kg
GOLD - Mate GOKADZE (GEO) df. Said MUSAEV (RUS), 8-0 
BRONZE - Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) df. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM), 12-1 
BRONZE - Omer AYGUL (TUR) df. Adolf BAZSO (HUN), 6-1 

#WrestleBudapest

Orta, Kusaka win Ranking Series gold; Esmaeili books Paris 2024 spot

Monday, June 10, 2024 - 00:29 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 9) -- The 67kg weight class in Budapest was supposed to offer some interesting match-ups. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) could have avenged his World Championships loss to Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI). Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) could have qualified for the Paris Olympics if he had defeated Geraei in Budapest. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) could have become a contender in Georgia for the weight class.

But none of that happened as Orta dominated, outsmarted and controlled his way to the gold medal at 67kg in the Ranking Series, making him one of the favorites for the gold medal in Paris. The Paris Games will also present Orta a rare opportunity to win two Olympic gold medals in two different weight classes as he won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 60kg.

Orta began his day with an 8-0 win over David MANYIK (HUN) before using a four-pointer to beat Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) 7-1 to set up a semifinal against Esmaeili. No one would have expected the Asian champion Esmaeili to challenge the world champion but the Iranian had different ideas.

Esmaeili raced to a 7-0 lead in the first period and was one point away from winning the bout. However, Orta managed to keep himself in the bout and began the second period with a front headlock for four and got one more for a lost challenge from Iran. Still, Esmaeili did well to defend the lead until the last three seconds.

As the bout entered the final 10 seconds left, Orta almost gave up and Esmaeili, thinking that Orta had accepted defeat, turned his back and began walking towards the Iranian corner to celebrate. Just the whole stadium gasped as Orta, realizing there was still time left, ran towards Esmaeili and threw him for four.

Midway through the throw, an air-borne Esmaeili knew he messed up. He pleaded that the time was over. Referees initially did not award points to Orta but Cuba challenged and it was clear that the move was completed with 0.1 seconds left. Orta was awarded four points, helping him win 9-7.

An inconsolable Esmaeili had to be helped to the warm-up area. For he thought his Paris 2024 dream was over. 

Orta, fueled by that unthinkable win and his Cuban teammates including Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) in the stands, went on to beat Abuladze in the final to claim the gold medal. He, however, will remain second in the seeding for the Olympics as Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) has already locked up the top seed.

Jafarov was wrestling in Budapest but was up at 72kg. He may have changed his weight class but had no trouble winning the gold medal at the higher weight as well.

Back to Esmaeili who had his task cut out in the evening session. He needed to beat Geraei in two bouts to earn the Paris 2024 spot on the Iran team. He gathered himself from that loss to Orta and scored a final second takedown against Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) to clinch a 6-5 win while Geraei defeated Andres MONTANO (ECU) 3-3 to claim the other bronze.

The two stepped on the mat for the wrestle-off for the Olympic spot with Geraei holding an advantage that if he won the first match, he would book his spot for Paris but Esmaeili had to do it in a best-of-three format. But Esmaeili did not let it go to that third as he defeated Geraei in two straight bouts in a tennis-like scoreline, 6-0 and 6-4, to earn a spot on the Iran team for the Paris Olympics and maybe a rematch with Orta in the French capital which on Sunday witness Carlos ALCARAZ win his first French Open.

David LOSONCZI (HUN)David LOSONCZI (HUN) celebrates after securing a fall over Ali CENGIZ (TUR). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

There was more drama in Budapest as David LOSONCZI (HUN) made sure he pinned Ali CENGIZ (TUR) when the two met in the 87kg semifinal. The two were awarded a shared World Championships title in September after Cengiz defeated Losonczi but the Hungarian wrestler won an appeal for judges' errors and was also awarded the gold medal.

Losonczi admitted that he was waiting for the rematch and though relieved to get the gold medal in Belgrade, he did not really celebrate it. So when he faced Cengiz this time, Losonczi stepped over when the Turkish wrestler was trying to finish a headlock throw. The local fans in Budapest were ecstatic and so was Losonczi who missed his final against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) due to an injury, a deep cut on his chin.

Nao KUSAKA (JPN)Nao KUSAKA (JPN) defeated Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) in the 77kg semifinal in Budapest. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Nao KUSAKA (JPN) has now beaten World Championships gold and silver medalists at 77kg in the past two months. After his win over world champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) at the Asian Championships in April, Kusaka handed World Championships silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) a 2-1 defeat in the semifinal. Suleymanov was leading 1-1 on criteria but Kusaka managed to score a stepout just in time to claim the win.

In the final, Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) defaulted due to injury and Kusaka won the gold medal that will take him past Suleymanov as the top-ranked wrestler in the world. Suleymanov would have remained the top-ranked wrestler if he had won a bronze medal but pulled out due to injury. Kusaka will now have 67200 points while Suleymanov will have 67100 points.

At 97kg, World Championships bronze medalist Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) had no issues beating whoever tried to challenge him. In the final Alex SZOKE (HUN) led 1-1 on criteria but Saravi scored a takedown.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
SILVER: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
BRONZE: Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)

67kg
GOLD: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 4-0

BRONZE: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN), 6-5
BRONZE: Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) df. Andres MONTANO (ECU), 3-3

72kg
GOLD: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), 5-2

BRONZE: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), 7-3
BRONZE: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df. Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA), 2-1

77kg
GOLD: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Yosvanys PENA FLORESS (CUB) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mohammad Reza MOKHTARI (IRI) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), via inj. def.

82kg
GOLD: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO), 3-1

BRONZE: Karlo KODRIC (CRO) df. Spencer WOODS (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Mihail BRADU (MDA) df. Peter DOEMOEK (HUN), 3-0

87kg
GOLD: Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Mohammadhossein MAHMOODI (IRI) df. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 10-4
BRONZE: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Istvan TAKACS (HUN), via forfeit

97kg
GOLD: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Alex SZOKE (HUN), 3-1

BRONZE: Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Josef RAU (USA), 11-4
BRONZE: Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI) df. Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON), via inj. def.