#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Six)

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (April 24) -- Freestyle and women's wrestling are behind us, and we move into the final two days of Greco-Roman action at the European Championships.

Saturday's Schedule:
11:30 - Qualification round
16: 45 - Semifinals
18:00 - Finals

WATCH: European Championships 

Wrestlers-to-watch on Saturday:
60kg: Sergey EMELIN (RUS) - world champion
60kg: Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) - European champion
72kg: Frank STAEBLER (GER) - three-time world champion 
82kg: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) - world silver medalist
82kg: Rajbek BISULTANOV - European champion
97kg: Musa EVLOEV (RUS) - two-time world champion
97kg: Balazs KISS(HUN) - world bronze medalist

17:53: That does it for our semifinal coverage. We'll take a short five-minute break and resume action with the Day Six medal matches. 

17:27: Three-time European champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) was expected to at least wrestle for 72kg gold, but after he was upset in the quarterfinals, it'll be Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) and Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) wrestling for gold.

17:11: Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) does it! He edged Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), 5-4, and will wrestle for European gold at 67kg in his home country. The Polish wrestler will take on Tokyo Olympian Mate NEMES (SRB) in Sunday's gold-medal match.

17:05: The two favorites to reach the finals at 60kg were Sergey EMELIN (RUS) and Kerem KAMAL (TUR). They both walked their way to the finals and wrestle on Sunday night for the European title. 

Finals Matches (As they come in):
63kg

GOLD - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 9-0
SEMIFINAL - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) vs. Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR), 7-2

67kg
GOLD - Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) vs. Mate NEMES (SRB)
SEMIFINAL - Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) df. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), 5-4 
SEMIFINAL - Mate NEMES (SRB) df. Murat FIRAT (TUR), 3-3

72kg
GOLD - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) 
SEMIFINAL - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL), 6-0

82kg
GOLD - Adlan AKIEV (RUS) vs. Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
SEMIFINAL - Adlan AKIEV (RUS) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO), 6-1
SEMIFINAL - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) df. Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN), 1-1

97kg
GOLD - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) vs. Balazs KISS (HUN)
SEMIFINAL -  Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Balazs KISS (HUN) df. Mikalai STADUB (BLR), 3-1

16:45: We're back! Please see the below tweet for the upcoming semifinal match order. 

15:16: We're on our last match of the morning. We'll take a break until 16:45 and return for the semifinals. The Day Six Greco-Roman finals will start at 18:00.

14:23: We're rolling right into the quarterfinal matches. I'll post the semifinal matchups below after the quarterfinal matches wrap up.

Semifinal Matches (As they come in):
63kg

SEMIFINAL - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) 
SEMIFINAL - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) vs. Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR)  

67kg
SEMIFINAL - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) vs. Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL) 
SEMIFINAL - Mate NEMES (SRB) vs. Murat FIRAT (TUR) 

72kg
SEMIFINAL - Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) 
SEMIFINAL - Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) vs. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) 

82kg
SEMIFINAL - Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO) vs. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) vs. Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) 

97kg
SEMIFINAL -  Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) vs. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL - Balazs KISS (HUN) vs. Mikalai STADUB (BLR)

13:42: Down goes Staebler! Can trailed 5-0, but outscored Staebler 6-1 and claimed a spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-6 criteria win. He'll take on the winner of Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) and Christoph BURGER (AUT) for a spot in Sunday night's 72kg finals.

13:30: Three-time world champ Frank Staebler is coming up next on Mat B. He'll kick off his question for a third European title against last year's continental bronze medalist Selcuk CAN (TUR).

13:04: Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN) just made his first appearance since qualifying Denmark for the Olympic Games at 67kg through his fifth-place finish at the '19 World Championships. He cruised to a 9-0 win over Hungary's Mate KRASZNAI. Bjerrehuus will wrestle the winner of Andreas VETSCH (SUI) and Maksim NEHODA (BLR) next.

12:38: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE), the 77kg world silver medalist from Nur-Sultan, is wrestling on Mat B. He's wrestling up at the non-Olympic weight of 82kg. Kessidis wrestled up at 82kg earlier this year at the Grand Prix of Zagreb. In that appearance, he went undefeated and claimed gold. 

12:27: European champions Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) and Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN) are coming up next on Mats A and C, respectively. 

12:07: World champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS) makes quick work of Grzegorz KUNKEL (POL) in their opening-round meeting. The Russian capitalized on four straight gut wrenches and won, 9-1. 

11:53: Three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) will be in action today. The "Mele Machine" is wrestling up at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg, where he's looking for a third career continental title. He'll wrestle on Mat B in eleven matches (Bout 426).

11:37: We'll start with three repechage matches on each mat before running into the Day Six matches. 

#WrestleAmman

U17 Worlds: Another Petriashvili rises; U.S. beats Iran for FS team title

By Vinay Siwach

AMMAN, Jordan (August 25) -- A new Petriashvili is on the block. The younger brother of the newly crowned Olympic champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Konstantine, became the U17 world champion on Sunday in Amman.

The younger Petriashvili showed exceptional wrestling, identical to Geno, over two days to win the 92kg weight class and win his first world title.

Last year, he finished with a bronze medal in the 80kg weight class but jumped to 92kg this year. He won the U17 European Championships in Novi Sad in July and now has both the continental and world titles. Petriashvili is set to compete at the U20 World Championships next week in Pontevedra, Spain.

In other finals, the United States won two gold medals, Iran captured one while Kyrgyzstan, which won two golds on Saturday, added another on Sunday.

The United States won the team title with 152 points, 20 more than second-place Iran. Kyrgyzstan finished third with 104 points, its first-ever podium finish at the U17 World Championships.

In the final, Petriashvili was up against Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN) and constantly hit the double-leg attack. He scored no success using that attack and was put on the activity clock in the first period.

As Sanakoev built an attack, Petriashvili defended well and scored exposure for two points. He led 2-0 at the break and defended every attack from Sanakoev to keep the two-point lead. Petriashvili got a takedown in the final 30 seconds after Sanakoev failed to defend using chest wrap. He scored two turns to extend his lead to 8-0 as the clock expired.

Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO)Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) defeated Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN) 8-0 in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

"I am Konstantine. U17 world champion. Last year I won the bronze medal," a jubilant Petriashvili said after the final. "The final was very difficult. I was tired in the middle."

After winning the final, Konstantine broke out in a celebration similar to Geno's, punching his fist in the air with a roar.

"My brother is the best and king of wrestling," he said. "I have no pressure. I think its good when they tell me I am Geno's brother."

Samuel SANCHEZ (USA)Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) celebrates after winning the 45kg gold medal at the U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U.S. wins title

Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) had to come from behind and Domenic MUNARETTO (USA) won his second U17 world title to held the United States win the team title over Iran, its second in three years.

Sanchez was down 5-0 against Amirabbas RAMEZANI (IRI) after the first period in the final but came back strongly in the second period. He cut the lead to two points after Ramezani was penalized for a singlet pull and he gave up a takedown.

Ramezani defended most of the period but Sanchez hit a smart go-behind and exposure to make it 7-5. A turn using trap-arm gave him a 9-5 lead which he defended till the clock expired.

Domenic MUNARETTO (USA)Domenic MUNARETTO (USA) defeated Frederick BACHMANN (PUR) in the 51kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Munaretto, who won 45kg gold at the 2022 U17 Worlds, added another by beating Frederick BACHMANN (PUR), 3-1, in the 51kg final.

Bachmann, who was trying to become the first Puerto Rican to win gold at U17 Worlds in 49 years, fell short, a day after his brother Joseph met with the same fate in the 55kg final.

Both wrestlers were put on activity clocks but it was Munaretto who got the advantage as Bachmann was on the clock in the second period. This gave Munaretto a 1-1 criteria lead. Bachmann tried his best to score a point but failed and a desperate attempt in the final second saw him fall on his back, which gave Munaretto another two points.

With a clean record in the final, Munaretto completed an incredible run in the tournament in which he did not given up a takedown for any points.

"I have been wrestling a lot," Munaretto said. "I have control of my ties."

Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) won the gold medal at 71kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran crowned a champion at 71kg after U17 Asian champion Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) defeated returning bronze medalist Manuel WAGIN (GER), 1-1 in the final. Shamsipour denied Germany its first-ever U17 world champion in Freestyle.

The final was decided after Shamsipour was awarded a point for Wagin's passivity, in the second period, giving the Iranian a 1-1 criteria lead. There were no more points in the match and Shamsipour won 1-1.

Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ) gave Kyrgyzstan its third gold of the U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Kyrgyzstan added a gold and a bronze medal to its two golds from Saturday and finished third in the team race. After Kursantbek ISAKOV (KGZ) at 55kg and Rustamzhan KAKHAROV (KGZ) at 65kg won gold medals, Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ) won the gold medal at 60kg while Marlen ABDRAIMOV (KGZ) won bronze at 51kg.

Asan  Uluu was up against Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE) in the final and at no point he was in any sort of trouble in the match. He scored a takedown and stepout in the first period to lead 3-0. He went for a bear hug throw but Ismayilov slipped out of the grip and Asan Uulu fell out of bounds to give one point to the Azerbaijan wrestler.

A stepout made it 4-1 for Asan Uulu and a point at the end of the bout gave him the 5-1 lead and the gold medal.

df

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Samuel SANCHEZ (USA) df. Amirabbas RAMEZANI (IRI), 9-5

BRONZE: Dzhamal BAKAEV (AIN) df. Mher HAKOBYAN (ARM), 11-0
BRONZE: Ravan HASANZADE (AZE) df. Bekzat AMANGELDY (KAZ), via fall (4-6)

51kg
GOLD: Domenic MUNARETTO (USA) df. Frederick BACHMANN (PUR), 3-1

BRONZE: Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN) df. Akhmed ATANGERIEV (AIN), 7-4
BRONZE: Marlen ABDRAIMOV (KGZ) df. Ozodbek ALIJONOV (UZB), 17-6

60kg
GOLD: Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ) df. Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE), 5-1

BRONZE: Hayk AVANESYAN (ARM) df. Danoush JOWKAR (GBR), 5-2
BRONZE: Itsuki YONASHIRO (JPN) df. Jordyn RANEY (USA), via inj. def.

71kg
GOLD: Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) df. Manuel WAGIN (GER), 1-1

BRONZE: Fatih AYDIN (TUR) df. Mark LAPOSA (HUN), 6-5
BRONZE: Kairi ITO (JPN) df. Melvin MILLER (USA), 7-2

92kg
GOLD: Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Rodion SANAKOEV (AIN), 8-0

BRONZE: Elijah DIAKOMIHALIS (USA) df. Aliaksei KHADUNOU (AIN), 8-3
BRONZE: Amir Reza ALI POUR (IRI) df. Michealjeet Singh GREWAL (CAN), 10-5