#WrestleBucharest

Moldova’s Ciobanu and Denmark’s Bisultanov Make History at European C’Ships

Sunday, April 14, 2019 - 20:40 By Eric Olanowski

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BUCHAREST, Romania (April 14) – Moldova’s Victor CIOBANU and Denmark’s Rajbek BISULTANOV reached the top of the European championship podium and made history for their countries on the closing day of the wrestling in Bucharest. 

In the 60kg finals, Victor Ciobanu pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of these European Championships, defeating defending world and European champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS), 5-5, on criteria, and became the first-ever Moldovan Greco-Roman European champion.  

The Moldovan caught the Russian off balance in the opening period, capitalizing on a four-point offensive maneuver, and took the 4-0 lead into the second period. In the final period, the Russian fired back and gained the 5-4 lead, but a late stepout handed the Moldovan wrestler the 5-5 criteria advantage, and ultimately his nations first continental title.

And in the 82kg finals, Rajbek Bisultanov ended Denmark’s 93-year drought without a European gold medal, becoming the first wrestler from his nation to circle the mat with a Danish flag since Johannes JACOBSEN did so at the Riga European title in 1926. 

Bisultanov fell behind 1-0 to Georgia’s Lasha GOBADZE (GEO), but scored two exposure points and a takedown, ending the opening frame with a 4-1 lead. In the closing period, the Danish wrestler was dinged for a caution-and-two but held on to win 4-3. 

Meanwhile, Abuiazid MANTSIGOV and Musa EVLOEV capped off the 2019 European Championships with individual gold medals, bringing their overall total to five golds, and helping the Russian Federation repeat as Greco-Roman team champions, 60 points ahead of second-place Turkey. 

Russia, who entered Day 7 with a 34 point lead, extended their lead on the final day with their two champions, a second place finish from Sergey Emelin, and bronze medal wins from Artem SURKOV and Aleksandr KOMAROV.

In total, Russia closed out the European Championships with medals in nine of ten weight classes. They had five champions, a second-place finisher, and three bronze medal winners. 

Turkey, who finished in second place with 132 points, finished the day with a solo champion, a runner-up finish from Cengiz ARSLAN, and bronze medal finishes from Kerem KAMAL and Emrah KUS. 

Turkey’s Day 7 champion, Atakan YUKSEL, gave his country their second gold medal of the weekend. Yuksel trailed for four and a half minutes but picked up an inactivity point, followed by a pair of exposures to win, 5-1, against Poland’s Gevorg SAHAKYAN. 

Azerbaijan (76 points), Germany (72 points), and Georgia (71 points) rounded out the top-five team finishers at the 2019 European Championships. 

RESULTS
GOLD - Russia  (192 points)
SILVER - Turkey (132 points)
BRONZE - Azerbaijan (76 points)
Fourth - Germany (72 points)  
Fifth - Georgia (71 points) 

60kg 
GOLD - Victor CIOBANU (MDA) df. Sergey EMELIN (RUS), 5-5 
BRONZE - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU), 4-1  
BRONZE - Lenur TEMIROV (UKR) df. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO), 9-0 

67kg 
GOLD - Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) df. Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL), 5-1 
BRONZE - Artem SURKOV (RUS) df. Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO), 2-1
BRONZE - Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Mate NEMES (SRB), 4-2 

72kg
GOLD - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) vs. Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR), 9-6
BRONZE - Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) df. Hrant KALACHYAN (ARM), 4-3
BRONZE - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) df. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU), 2-1

82kg
GOLD - Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN) df. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO), 4-3 
BRONZE - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Hannes WAGNER (GER), 2-1 
BRONZE - Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS) df. Vili Tapio ROPPONEN (FIN), 8-0 

97kg 
GOLD - Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL), 8-0 
BRONZE - Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) df. Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) , 3-2
BRONZE - Daigoro TIMONCINI (ITA) df. Fatih BASKOY (TUR), 2-1

#WrestleAmman

U17 Worlds: Iran, Ukraine, Kazakhstan earn two spots in finals

Monday, August 19, 2024 - 20:29 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 19) -- Three different countries managed to send two wrestlers to the finals on the first day of the U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan. The four other finalists were from Uzbekistan, the United States, Hungary and an Individual Neutral Athlete.

Iran, Ukraine and Kazakhstan were the only countries with multiple finalists on day one of the tournament, the first World Championships of 2024.

Iran was led by Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) at 48kg as he rolled into finals without conceding a single point in three bouts. With two technical superiorities before the semifinals, Shamsipour added another when he defeated Yedige TOLEUTAYEV (KAZ) 10-0.

U17 Asian champion Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB) will look to stop the Iranian in the final as he also has three technical superiority wins. He beat Laszlo SZUROMI (HUN), 8-0, in the semifinal to set up a final between two of the best wrestlers on day one.

The second Iran wrestler to reach the final was Amir Mahdi SAEIDI (IRI) at 65kg. While his semifinal 1-1 win over Narek GRIGORIAN (ARM) was actionless, Saeidi defeated Fayozbek ESHMIRZAEV (UZB) 9-1 in the quarterfinals. He thus avenged his loss from the U17 Asian Championships final at the same venue.

Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR)Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR) defeated Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE) in the 65kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostandin Andonov)

He will take on U17 European champion Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR) for the gold medal. Pokotylo was at his best in the quarterfinals and semifinals, beating Dzhabrail UMKHADZHIEV (AIN) 3-1 and Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE), 4-1, respectively.

For Ukraine, Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR) will also look to win the gold medal after he reached the 110kg final. The U17 European champion posted three technical superiority wins with the third coming against Aliasghar DADBAKHSH (IRI) in the semifinals.

Zoltan CZAKO (HUN), a surprise finalist, will try to stop Yankovskyi from winning the gold medal on Tuesday. In the semifinals, Czako was up against last year's silver medalist RONAK (IND) who tried an arm-spin but Czako blocked it and held Ronak on the mat to secure a fall in 17 seconds.

Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ) reached the 55kg final in Amman. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kazakhstan managed two finalists in Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ) at 55kg and Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ) at 80kg. This is the first time since 2019 U17 World Championships that Kazakhstan has a finalist in Greco-Roman.

Bolatuly, who finished 12th last year, put on a show in the semifinal against Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM), winning the bout 13-8. His earlier wins included a 10-1 win over Amirali HEYDARI (IRI) in the quarterfinals and an 8-0 win over Yuki HIROHASHI (JPN) in the 1/8 finals.

For the gold, Bolatuly will face Jayden RANEY (USA) who pulled a classic in the semifinal. Down 6-0 against Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN), Raney stopped the attack from Zhytovoz and pinned him just before the break. That was Raney's fourth win of the day.

Raney will look to become the fourth Greco-Roman wrestler from the United States to win gold since the tournament restarted in 2011. Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) won in 2017, Joel ADAMS (USA) won the title in 2022 and Jordyn RANEY (USA) won gold last year. 

U17 Asian silver medalist Anapiya was tested in the semifinal by Orkhan HAJIYEV (AZE) but the Kazakh wrestler came out on top 8-6 to enter the final. He will now face returning silver medalist and U17 European champion Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN).

Shkarin handed Emad Reza MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) a 9-0 thrashing in the semifinal to set up the gold medal bout against Anapiya. Emad is one of the four Mohsen Nejad brothers. Mehdi is a multiple-time Asian medalist and finished fifth at the Paris Olympics while Ahmad won the U20 World Championships gold last year. Yasin is also a Greco-Roman wrestler.

Greco-Roman Semifinal Results

48kg
GOLD: Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB) vs. Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)

SF 1: Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB) df. Laszlo SZUROMI (HUN), 8-0
SF 2: Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) df. Yedige TOLEUTAYEV (KAZ), 10-0

55kg
GOLD: Jayden RANEY (USA) vs. Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)

SF 1: Jayden RANEY (USA) df. Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN), via fall (3-6)
SF 2: Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ) df. Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM), 13-8

65kg
GOLD: Amir Mahdi SAEIDI (IRI) vs. Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR)

SF 1: Amir Mahdi SAEIDI (IRI) df. Narek GRIGORIAN (ARM), 1-1 
SF 2: Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR) df. Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE), 4-1

80kg
GOLD: Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ) vs. Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN)

SF 1: Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ) df. Orkhan HAJIYEV (AZE), 8-6
SF 2: Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN) df. Emad Reza MOHSENNEJAD (IRI), 9-0

110kg
GOLD: Zoltan CZAKO (HUN) vs. Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR)

SF 1: Zoltan CZAKO (HUN) df. RONAK (IND), via fall
SF 2: Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR) df. Aliasghar DADBAKHSH (IRI), 8-0