#kaspeuro2018

Pair of Olympic Champions Lead Greco-Roman Field at European Championships

Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 12:30 By Eric Olanowski

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KASPIISK, Russia (April 17) - The 2018 European Championships commence in less than two weeks in Dagestan, Russia. Though line-ups are not official, Greco-Roman preliminary line-ups have been submitted to United World Wrestling and the pair of Olympic champions in Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) lead a field littered with Olympic medalists.

The first five weight categories (55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg, and 130kg) will start wrestling on Monday, April 30, and the remaining five weight classes (60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg, and 97kg) being on Tuesday, May 1.  

55kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Nedyalko Petrov PETROV (BUL)
Sandro FRANKOL (CRO)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
VasilII TOPOEV (RUS)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)

60kg
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)
Raphael JAEGER (AUT)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL)
Leo Alexandre Sylvain TUDEZCA (FRA)
Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER    (GER)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Illya TSARYUK ISR)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS  (LTU)
Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL)
Antonio MARTINS CABRAL (POR)
Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU)
Sergey EMELIN (RUS)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

Olympic bronze medalist, Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

63kg
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Rakhmatsikhudo KHAIBARAU (BLR)
Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO)
Mate KRASZNAI (HUN)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Zaur KABALOEV (RUS)
Tamas NAD (SRB)
Rahman BILICI (TUR)

67kg 
Karen ASLANYAN  (ARM)
Elman MUKHTAROV (AZE)
Soslan DAUROV (BLR)
Deyvid Tihomirov DIMITROV (BUL)
Michal NOVAK (CZE)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Yasin OZAY (FRA)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik WEISS  (GER)
Istvan KOZAK  (HUN)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Valeriu TODEREAN (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Dawid KARECINSKI (POL)
Pedro Miguel DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA  (POR)
Artem SURKOV (RUS)
Mate NEMES  (SRB)
Hussam Saad Ali OMAR (SWE)
Enes BASAR (TUR)

Olympic bronze medalist, Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

72kg
Christoph BURGER (AUT)
Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE)
Yury KANKOU (BLR)
Danijel JANECIC (CRO)
Jan ZIZKA (CZE)
Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Maximilian Andreas SCHWABE (GER)
Balint KORPASI (HUN)
Nikita MASJUKS (LAT)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Pal Eirik GUNDERSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI  (ROU)
Adam KURAK (RUS)
Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Daniel Mattias SOINI  (SWE)
Murat DAG (TUR)

Two-time Olympic champion, Roman VLASOV (RUS). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

77kg
Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Florian MARCHL (AUT)
Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE)
Kazbek KILOU  (BLR)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Ismael NAVARRO SANCHEZ (ESP)
Tero Antero Matias HALMESMAEKI (FIN)
Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO)
Florian NEUMAIER (GER)
Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE)
Tamas LORINCZ  (HUN)
Igor PETRISNIN (ISR)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Igor BESLEAGA (MDA)
Mateusz Lukasz WOLNY (POL)
Roman VLASOV (RUS)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Nicolas Peter CHRISTEN (SUI)
Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)

82kg 
Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Petr NOVAK  (CZE)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Laszlo SZABO  (HUN)
Viorel BURDUJA (MDA)
Edgar BABAYAN (POL)
Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS)
Zarko DICKOV  (SRB)
Jan Alexander JERSGREN (SWE)
Emrah KUS (TUR)

87kg
Artur SHAHINYAN  (ARM)
Islam ABBASO (AZE)
Viktar SASUNOUSKI  (BLR)
Tarek Mohamed ABDELSLAM SHEBLE MOHAMED (BUL)
Pedro Jacinto GARCIA PEREZ (ESP)
Eerik APS (EST)
Rami Antero HIETANIEMI (FIN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER)
Dimitrios TSEKERIDIS (GRE)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Roman ZHERNOVETSKI (ISR)
Fabio PARISI (ITA)
Julius MATUZEVICIUS (LTU)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS)
Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV (SRB)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Metehan BASAR (TUR)

98kg Olympic champion, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM). Photo by Tony Rotundo.

97kg
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL  (AUT)
Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE)
Siarhei STARADUB (BLR)
Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA)
Kukuri KIRTSKHALIA (GEO)
Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Balazs KISS (HUN)
Robert AVANESYAN (ISR)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Marcel Adam KASPEREK (POL)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Mikheil KAJAIA (SRB)
Tamas SOOS (SVK)
Carl Erik Andre PERSSON (SWE)
Cenk ILDEM (TUR)

Three-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist, Riza KAYAALP (TUR). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

130kg
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Juan Rafael HEREDIA MENA (ESP)
Artur VITITIN (EST)
Tuomas Heikki Juhani LAHTI (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA  (GEO)
Christian JOHN (GER)
Balint LAM (HUN)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Rafal Andrzej KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Vitalii  SHCHUR (RUS)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

#WrestleBudapest

Grace Bullen Move: Outside Trip That Defines European Champ

Thursday, July 9, 2026 - 10:31 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 9) -- Grace BULLEN (NOR) lost the most important match of her career while attempting her trademark outside trip, trying to finish the bout with a fall. It came in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games semifinal against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), who countered with a neck bridge, tossing Bullen over for the fall.

UWW+

Despite the mixed results the move has produced over the years, Bullen did not hesitate to use it in the 2026 European Championships final against Amina TANDELOVA (RUS). Trailing 9-0, Bullen hooked her left foot behind Tandelova's heel and brought her down for the fall.

Three months after their epic European 62kg final, Bullen and Tandelova will be at the Budapest Ranking Series from July 15 to 19, the last stop to gain ranking points before the World Championships.

They will be joined by a strong field that includes former world champion Qi ZHANG (CHN), world bronze medalist Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR), and European medalists Johanna LINDBORG (SWE) and Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR).

The field also includes Ana GODINEZ (CAN) and former U20 world champion Eniko ELEKES (HUN), who will have the backing of the home crowd. Two Indians, MANSI (IND) and SAVITA (IND), are also entered among others.

Grace BULLEN (NOR)Grace BULLEN (NOR) performs the outside trip against Amina TANDELOVA (RUS) during the 62kg final at the European Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

The same move also rescued Bullen at the Tirana Ranking Series, where she trailed Mansi before winning 6-5.

Speaking after winning European gold, Bullen acknowledged both the risk and the reward of the move.

"I know it's my go-to when I'm down, but I also lost in that situation, the same place," Bullen said. "I know how it is being on the receiving end, also being an attacker in that situation. But glad it worked out for me.

"It's more risky that way and just locking the leg and going forward it's much less risky, especially for me."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Grace Bullen (@gracebullen7)

 

A pivotal career decision saw Bullen relocate her training base to Georgia under coach Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI. Since moving to 62kg, she has won world and Olympic medals and established herself as one of the division's most dangerous wrestlers. The demanding training in Georgia and the move up in weight have transformed her wrestling and her mindset, even if the results have occasionally fluctuated.

"I'm also getting older," she said. "I have to be wise with how I train and so I keep my shape."

That experience has also made Bullen more patient than she was five years ago.

"I've years of experience in wrestling," she said. "I take losses with a greater smile than I ever did before. Just knowing that this year I was in two ranking series competitions and only won one match, I am more patient with everything. I know that even though I lose, I can win in the future."