LIVE BLOG: European Championships, Day 6

Saturday, April 22, 2023 - 07:09 By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (April 22) -- The sixth day of the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see the second day of Greco-Roman action. We will start off with 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 87kg and 97kg.

Saturday night's semifinals:
60kg
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) vs. Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM)
Georgii TIBILOV (SRB) vs. Victor CIOBANU (MDA)

67kg
Murat FIRAT (TUR) vs. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) vs. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)

72kg
Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) vs. Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Ali Feizollah ARSALAN (SRB) vs. Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed Hassan GHANEM (FRA)

82kg
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) vs. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) vs. Mihail BRADU (MDA)

97kg
Artur OMAROV (CZE) vs. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL) vs. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)

15:17: That was the best Greco match I've ever seen. Ciobanu was up 17-8 before halting a Kamal throw attempt and picking up the fall.

15:11: Kamal and Ciobanu are in a war over on Mat A. They combined for 17 points in the opening three minutes. This is one you leave your seat and head mat side for.

15:01: We'll start setting our Saturday night semifinals. I'll list them as they come in.

14:41: Since winning his 2021 U23 world champion Tamas LEVAI (HUN), has moved up from 77kg to 97kg. That is not a typo. He's moved up 20kg in under two years.

Levai just beat Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE), 8-0, setting up a match with Olympic champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM).

14:32: Two reigning world champions are up right now.

At 97kg, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) is wrestling Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO), and at 72kg, Ali Feizollah ARSALAN (SRB) is wrestling Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM).

13:47: How about this quarterfinal match at 60kg? Kerem KAMAL (TUR) downed Bajram SINA (ALB), 8-0, setting up a matchup with 2021 world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA).

Kamal and Ciobanu have met three times. Ciobanu owns the 2-1 advantage, picking up an 8-0 win at the Olympic Games.

13:33: World and European runner-up Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) and fellow youngster Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE) are making their way to Mat C right now. This one should be fun if Mammadli can stay away from giving up the reverse lift in par terre.

12:28:Filip SACIC (CRO) brings the hometown crowd to their feet with a 9-1 win over Ranet KALJOLA (EST). He moves into the 82kg quarterfinals, where he'll meet Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) and Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE).

13:15: Defending champion Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) tech'd Marc WEBER (SUI), 8-0, and will meet the winner of Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM) and Exauce MUKUBU (NOR).

12:56: Turkish spark plug and fan favorite Kerem KAMAL (TUR) will be up in five matches on Mat A.

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12:52: Last year's European champion Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) is down 7-0 to Selcuk CAN (TUR). They are on Mat B.

12:43: As if one upset wasn't enough for the qualification round, Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) just knocked off European champion Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 10-3.

12:40: Joergensen knocks off Nad, 4-4. And In my opinion, that ends the debate for who Serbia should put in at 67kg for the World Championships, and that's Mate Nemes. It's a tough decision, but a great problem to have.

12:30: Joergensen and Nad are in a battle over on Mat C. There's a minute left and the Norwegian just took the lead on criteria on the reigning world champion.

12:00: Reigning 63kg world champion Sebastian NAD (SRB) is back up at 67kg, replacing world champion Mate NEMES (SRB) in the Serbian lineup. He'll wrestle Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR), who is replacing 2020 European champion Morten THORESEN (NOR) in Norway's lineup.

While talking to someone within the Norwegian Greco-Roman, Joergensen was described as "The most promising wrestler Norway has had in the last decade."

11:35: We'll run through two repechage matches per mat before rolling into Saturday's qualification rounds.