#Grappling

Russia Sweeps U17 European Grappling Despite Armenia Challenge

Tuesday, May 26, 2026 - 07:35 By United World Wrestling Press

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YEREVAN, Armenia (May 20) -- Armenia’s emerging grapplers showcased remarkable depth while Russia dominated the heavier divisions at the U17 Men’s European Grappling Championships here on Monday, with the three traditional regional powers — Armenia, Russia and Ukraine — sweeping podium places across the men’s categories.

Armenia’s strength was most visible in the lighter weights. In the 39-42kg category, Yura MELKONYAN led an Armenian one-two finish ahead of Emanuel GHULYAN, winning the bout 2-1. The trend continued at 50kg where Aram HOVSEPYAN (ARM) clinched gold while compatriot Arshak GALSTYAN (ARM) secured bronze. In the 63kg division, Avet BARSEGHYAN (ARM) added a bronze to the home country’s tally.

The hosts consistently placed multiple wrestlers on the podium, underlining the depth of their youth programme. Armenia added further medals through Marat KARAPETYAN and Hovhannes MRKTCHYAN at 46kg, Gor KHACHATRYAN at 54kg, Garush VARDANYAN at 76kg and Martin DAVTYAN at 85kg.

Russia, meanwhile, stamped its authority in the middle and upper weights. Albert PAREMUZIAN won (RUS) the 46kg title before Azizdzhon SOTVOLDIEV (RUS) took gold at 58kg, beating Davyd KHOMANETS (UKR) 5-0 in the final.

The Russians continued their dominance in the 63 and 69kg categories, recording a gold-silver finish in both. In 63kg, Kurbanali MAKHMUDOV (RUS) defeated Boris BAIRAMUKOV (RUS) to win the gold medal, whereas Ramil ZHIROV (RUS) claimed the 69kg title, beating Iaroslav BALAKIREV (RUS) 7-2 in the final.

The Russians were especially dominant at 76kg where Gusein KHASAEV defeated compatriot Muslim MAMMAEV 2-1 in an all-Russian final.

Ibragim KUMYSHEV (RUS) added another gold at 85kg while Russia also collected silver and bronze in the heavyweight 110kg division through Dzhamal ALKHASOV and Ramazan ESEDOV, respectively.

Ukraine produced fewer overall medallists but impressed with quality performances. Roman SHOSTAK led a Ukrainian one-two finish at 54kg ahead of Illia ZHOLOBOV, while Yaroslav FEDYNA emerged heavyweight champion at 110kg. Ukraine also secured double podium finishes at 58kg through Khomanets and Artem ZAIETS.

Poland’s Marcel Jan BIALEK was the only medallist outside the dominant trio, taking silver at 85kg.

While Russia won the team title with a total of 190 points, hosts Armenia were second with 164, and Ukraine finished third, amassing 85 points.

Russia Dominates in Women`s

Russia reinforced its status as the tournament’s powerhouse by capturing the women’s team title as well, after a commanding series of performances across all categories. Echoing the dominance of the men, Russian grapplers reached the podium in all five weight categories and ultimately finished ahead of Ukraine in the overall standings, with 105 points.

Olesia YATSKO (UKR) beat Ailina GALIEVA (RUS) 7-4 to reign supreme in the 46kg category. It was a Russian 1-2 in the 49kg division, with Vasilisa SHUTOVA (RUS) defeating compatriot Elena KHISMATULLINA (RUS) to take the gold, while Karolina HYRIA (UKR) won the bronze medal.

The strongest statement came in the 56kg category, where Russia completed a remarkable clean sweep of the podium. Sofia ZASLAVSKAIA secured the gold medal after an outstanding performance, while Veronika ZIIAEVA added silver and Eva Sergeevna USHAKOVA claimed bronze, underlining the nation’s depth and control in the weight class.

Russia continued to collect crucial team points in the 60kg division, where Viktoria MOKSUNOVA earned silver. Nadia Bozena PLEWINSKA (POL) took the gold medal with an impressive display while Yana PAVLIUK (UKR) finished third to keep Ukraine firmly in contention for second place in the team rankings.

In the 65kg division, Ukraine celebrated gold through Sofia GOLOVACH, who delivered one of the country’s standout performances of the tournament. Matylda ULEWICZ (POL) earned silver, while Angelina IARKINA (RUS) added another bronze medal to the Russian tally.

Despite strong competition from both Ukraine and Poland, Russia’s consistency across all categories proved decisive, with the multiple podium finishes allowing them to comfortably secure the overall women’s title.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 1: Gamkrelidze beats Valencia; Sujeet, Lee in finals

Wednesday, February 4, 2026 - 09:34 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- The Zagreb Open 2026 begins with six weight classes in Freestyle -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg. Stars like Zahid ZALENCIA (USA),  Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), AMAN (IND) are in action.

Please read the 2026 SEASON PREVIEW on uww.org

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | PREVIEW

Here's a recap of the morning session: 61kg medalists are already decided with Austin DESANTO (USA) winning gold and AMAN (IND) finishing with silver. 

Spencer LEE (USA) and Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) will face each other in the 57kg gold medal bout. SUJEET (IND) won two bouts via technical superiority and will now wrestle for gold at 65kg. At 74kg, a big final is set as David CARR (USA) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) will clash. And at 86kg, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) and 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), who is now up at 86kg dropped their opening bouts. However, with Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) making it to the final, Valencia is pulled back while Kougioumtsidis has been knocked out.

13:38: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who defeated Zahid VALENCIA (USA) in the opening bout at 86kg, scores a late stepout to take a 2-2 criteria lead and beat Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) at 86kg semifinals. Gamkrelidze will wrestle Parker KEKEISEN (USA) for gold after he scored a 9-5 victory over Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the other semifinal.

13:20: 74kg semifinals - David CARR (USA) with another technical superiority win at 74kg. He advances to the final after beating Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) 12-1. Four different takedowns and two gut-wrenches in that win for the American. A huge final coming up as world champion at 70kg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) hangs on for a 4-3 win over Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA). The French wrestlers was up 2-1 but Aoyagi scored a stepout and takedown before giving up a stepout but managed to win the bout.

13:05: 70kg semifinals - Sina KHALILI (IRI), U23 world silver medalist, rolls to a 10-0 victory over ABHIMANYOU (IND) using gut-wrenches. He makes it to the final and will wrestle Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) for the gold medal. The Georgian defended his lead against Caleb HENSON (USA) to win 6-3. After leading 6-0, Kemertelidze gave up a takedown and then a stepout to Henson. But the American could not score the four points needed to win the semifinals.

12:55: 65kg semifinals - SUJEET (IND) continues his dominance at 65kg, beating Joseph MCKENNA (USA), 11-0 in the semifinal in semifinal. He will now wrestle for gold against Peyman NEMATI (IRI) who scored a comeback win over Gamzatgadzhi KHALIDOV (HUN). The Hungarian had a 2-0 lead before Nemati managed to turn it around and complete a 4-2 win

12:40: 57kg semifinals - Spencer LEE (USA) completes a dominant 10-2 victory over Fuga SASAKI (JPN). He managed an early 6-2 and then continued to dominate the match, eventually winning 12-2. He will face Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) for the gold medal after the Mexican defeated Milad VALIZADEH (IRI). Bravo Young kept his false attacks and change of direction was excellent throughout the bout

Semifinals begin at 12:30 local time

So far, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) has suffered a technical superiority loss at 86kg while Takara SUDA (JPN), moving up from 61kg to 65kg, dropped his match against Joseph MCKENNA (USA). At 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) has captured the gold medal after winning three bouts in a Nordic bracket

12:15: In what was a virtual final at 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) not only needed a victory over AMAN (IND), he also need to win via technical superiority or fall. He does exactly that by pinning Aman after taking an 8-0 lead and win the gold medal at 61kg. Aman finishes with a silver medal.

12:12: U23 world champion SUJEET (IND) finishes his quarterfinal at 65kg with a 10-0 victory over Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) and sets up a quarterfinal against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) who defeated Takara SUDA (JPN) 7-0 in the other quarterfinal.

12:08: Sina KHALILI (IRI) took a 9-1 lead over Ian PARKER (USA) but was gave a stepout with a minute remaining. However, he had little trouble holding on to his 9-3 lead and win his bout at 70kg.

12:00: Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) hangs on for an easy 4-0 victory over European silver medalist Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB) at 57kg. He moves into the semifinals in which he will wrestle Fuga SASAKI (JPN)

11:55: Fuga SASAKI (JPN) hangs on for a 7-1 victory over ANKUSH (IND) in 57kg quarterfinals. Sasaki goes for three takedown and one stepout in his win over Ankush who failed to get any attacks going.

11:50: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) shuts down Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) at 70kg for a 3-0 win. Not much action in the match but Kemertelidze is happy with the win here.

11:45: Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (MEX) continues his excellent form and wins his quarterfinal against Anthony KNOX (USA), 12-2. He will wrestle in the semifinal at 57kg.

11:35: World champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA), who did not concede a single point at the World Championships, drops his quarterfinal against Vladimir GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 11-0. Gut-wrench from par terre for Gamkrelidze

11:25: Former U20 world bronze medalist ANKUSH (IND) uses the Figure 4 turn to great effect to beat Ali YAHYAPOUR (IRI), 11-0, at 57kg. Ankush has long been seen as the biggest challenge to Olympic bronze medalist AMAN (IND) at the weight class

11:15: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) off to solid starts at 86kg as he takes out Sandeep MANN (IND) 11-0 in the opening bout at 86kg. Valencia is the world champion at 86kg, a title he won at the same Arena Zagreb in September last year

11:05: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world champion at 70kg, makes his 74kg debut with a controlled 6-1 victory over James GREEN (USA). Aoyagi scored a stepout to lead 2-1 before scoring two counter takedowns to finish the bout as the winner.

10:55: David CARR (USA) took his own time to get going but he manages a victory via fall over Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI) after building a 13-2 lead at 74kg.

10:45: World champion at 79kg Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) seemed in complete control of his first bout at 86kg against Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), leading 6-1 with a minute remaining. However, Shamsipour mounts a comeback, scoring six points in the final minute and beat the Greek world champion 7-6  

10:40: First period technical superiority, 10-0, win for AMAN (IND) against Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) who is in action for the first time since winning a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Open in June last year.

10:30: Welcome to the Zagreb Open Ranking Series. Day one of the competition and we have six Freestyle weight classes in action. Multiple Olympic and world medalists in action today.