DORTMUND, Germany (July 2) – Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) rolled to his third title in a row at the Junior European Championships on Sunday while Georgia also claimed its third straight Greco-Roman team crown.

Pataridze dropped challenger Georgi GADZHINOV (RUS) to his back only seconds into the 120kg final at Helmut Kornig Halle and wrapped up the 8-0 technical fall a little over a minute later.

The triumph was a somewhat anticlimactic since the Greco-Roman team champion had already been decided by the time Pataridze stepped onto the mat for the Greco-Roman finale. Georgia won the team title, 71-68, over Russia with three champions, one runner-up, and four bronze medalists.

Asked about winning his third title, Pataridze flashed the thumbs-up sign and said “It feels great,” adding that he wants to add a third junior world title to his list of successes in Tampere, Finland, in August.

In all, Pataridze stressed that he has a European and two world titles as a cadet, along with his three junior European titles and two more at the junior world championships – eight altogether as he looks ahead to Tampere.

As for helping to win a third team title for Georgia, Pataridze gestured toward his teammates, “These guys are great and everyone helped to win the title and everyone is going home with a medal – which is really fantastic.”

Meanwhile, in the bronze medal bouts at 120kg, Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN) fashioned a 4-1 win last year’s bronze medal winner Pavel RUDAKOV (BLR) for Finland’s third medal of the championships and fifth place in the final team standings.

In the other bronze medal final, Lenard BEREI (ROU), a 2015 European cadet bronze medalists, took a pair of passivity points and made them stand for a 2-0 win over Yakup YERLIKAYA (TUR).

In the gold medal final at 84kg, Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS) received a point for passivity on both sides of the break and made it stand for a 2-1 victory over Mikita KLIMOVICH (BLR) for his first triumph on the junior level.

The newcomer from St. Petersburg, with two European and world cadet titles under his belt, had a uneven day of low-scoring bouts in which patience was the key and a pair of technical falls wrapped up in the first period.

For the bronze medals, Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE (GEO) scored a four-point bodylock early in the second period on his way to 15-8 lead before pinning Tunjay VAZIRZADE (AZE) at 5:48. The win virtually assured Georgia the team title with Pataridze waiting in the wings.

Toni METSOMAEKI (FIN) hauled in Finland’s first bronze medal of the evening with a technical fall in 1:07 over Dogukan KURU (TUR).

Earlier in the evening, 2016 cadet world silver medalist Kerem KAMAL (TUR) caught two-time cadet European champion Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) in a misstep with 10 seconds remaining in the 55kg final and spun around behind for a 5-3 win while putting a dent in Russia’s come-from-behind hopes.

For the bronze, Nordic junior champion Helary MAEGISALU (EST) forced a pair of step-outs on Mykhaylo STUPIN (UKR) in the second period for a 4-2 win. And, defending champion Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) stepped in for a bodylock and two early points and then cruised to the technical fall over Razvan ARNAUT (ROU).

At 66kg, 2016 junior European silver medalist Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) stepped over a double-arm trap and throw by Giorgi KURTANIDZE (GEO) for two points and added two more off a back-arching throw out of bounds for a 4-0 lead in the first minute -- which stood for the next five.

Sergei STEPANOV (RUS) scored right after the break to sew up a technical fall victory over Artur TATARINOV (GER) for one bronze medal. Former European junior champion Murat FIRAT (TUR) cartwheeled in midair to land on top of a four-point throw and cap a 7-1 victory over Sebastian NAD (SRB).

Results of the Medal Bouts and Semifinals

Greco-Roman

55kg (17 entries)
Gold – Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS), 5-3

Bronze – Helary MAEGISALU (EST) df. Mykhaylo STUPIN (UKR), 4-2
Bronze – Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) by TF, 8-0, 2:35

Semifinal – Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Mykhaylo STUPIN (UKR) by TF, 8-0, 3:45 
Semifinal – Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) df. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) by TF, 9-0, 1:29

66kg (22 entries)
Gold – Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) df. Giorgi KURTANIDZE (GEO), 4-0

Bronze – Sergei STEPANOV (RUS) df. Artur TATARINOV (GER) by TF, 8-0, 3:16
Bronze – Murat FIRAT (TUR) df. Sebastian NAD (SRB), 7-1

Semifinal – Giorgi KURTANIDZE (GEO) df. Sergei STEPANOV (RUS) by TF, 11-1, 3:19
Semifinal – Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) df. Murat FIRAT (TUR), 5-1

84kg (21 entries)
Gold – Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS) df. Mikita KLIMOVICH (BLR), 2-1

Bronze – Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE (GEO) df. Tunjay VAZIRZADE (AZE) by Fall, 5:48 (15-8)
Bronze – Toni METSOMAEKI (FIN) df. Dogukan KURU (TUR) by TF, 8-0, 1:07 

Semifinal – Mikita KLIMOVICH (BLR) df. Tunjay VAZIRZADE (AZE) by Fall, 3:23 (10-2)
Semifinal – Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS) df. Toni METSOMAEKI (FIN) by TF, 8-0, 2:00

120kg (14 entries)
Gold – Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) df. Georgi GADZHINOV (RUS) by TF, 8-0, 1:08

Bronze – Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN) df. Pavel RUDAKOV (BLR), 4-1
Bronze – Lenard BEREI (ROU) df. Yakup YERLIKAYA (TUR), 2-0

Semifinal – Georgi GADZHINOV (RUS) df. Pavel RUDAKOV (BLR), 2-1 
Semifinal – Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) df. Lenard BEREI (ROU), 7-1

Team Rankings (Top Six)
1. Georgia, 71 points (3 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze medals)
2. Russia, 68 (2-2-3)
3. Turkey, 51 (1-1-2)
4. Ukraine, 44 (1-1-1)
5. Finland, 28 (1-0-2)
6. Romania, 27 (0-0-1)