#WrestleRome

Three Defending Champs Upended on Quest to Repeat as European Champions

Thursday, February 13, 2020 - 21:30 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (February 13) --- Miglena SELISHKA (BUL), Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) and Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) halted Thursday night’s trio of returning European champions from defending their crowns from a year ago. 

At 50kg, Selishka scored the two-point victory over defending European champion Oksana LIVACH (UKR) and flip-flopped the first and second positions on the podium from last year’s European Championships.

“I feel fantastic; I feel good. I can’t say it with words,” Selishka said after her European finals win. 

She trailed 1-0 after the first four minutes of wrestling but adjusted mid-way through the second period and solved the Ukrainian puzzle that stumped her for over half the match. “I was just thinking that I need to keep wrestling and try to score points.” 

Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) and her coach celebrate her 50kg gold-medal win. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

That’s precisely what she did, starting her five-point scoring run with a referee-given inactivity point. 

Selishka added a stepout point and a takedown and extended her lead to 4-1. She surrendered a two-point takedown and only led by a point, but capitalized on a Livach slip and scored her fifth and final point of the match. Selishka avenged her 2019 European finals loss and improved on that 2019 runner-up finish with the 5-3 win over third-ranked Livach.

Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) celebrates after picking up a last-second takedown over Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) in the 59kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Anastasia Nichita scored a dramatic comeback win over Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) and became the first Moldovan woman ever to win a European title.

“Firstly, for me, it means a lot because I train hard every day. I have done everything I could to win that medal,” said Nichita. “I was dreaming of it for so long. It means everything to me.”

Nichita trailed 2-0 after the first three minutes after she gave up the period's only takedown. The 21-year-old Moldovan evened the match with a takedown of her own with two-minutes left in the second period. 

But Nichita fell behind again after Dudova gained two points from a stepout and a failed challenge. 

When asked what her plan was heading into the final 25 seconds down by two points, Nachita said, “Honestly, I didn’t have any plans. I just wrestled till the very end. I only stopped when I saw 00:00 on the scoreboard.”

She fired off attack after attack, and with three seconds left, finally got to the legs of Dudoba. Nichita snuck behind Dudova and ended her hopes of repeating as European champion. “I didn’t expect it to happen,” Nachita said after scoring the takedown with three seconds left. 

Nichita qualified Moldova for the Olympic Games with a fifth-place finish in Nur-Sultan and will move back down to the Olympic weight of 57kg. “I will go on training hard. I want to win an Olympic medal for our country, for the Republic of Moldova.” 

Ekaterina Bukina finally captured her long-awaited European gold medal with a 4-3 victory over reigning champion Yasemin ADAR (TUR). 

Bukina fell in her previous three trips to the European finals and stopped Adar from adding a fifth consecutive continental crown to her resume. 

“It’s my first win at the European Championships. Even though I have the Olympic bronze, first place is always the first,” Bukina said after her big win. 

In the finals, Bukina blasted Adar in the opening period with an unexpected ankle pick and led 4-0. She said she saw the ankle pick present itself and capitalized on her one opportunity. “I saw that she put her foot close; I tried the chance that was given to me and it was successful.” 

She surrendered three points in the second period but stayed composed and stood atop the European podium for the first time in her career with her one-point finals victory. “I was very happy to win. I was happy that they played the Russian national anthem and gave me the medal,” said Bukina.

Bukina’s European title run puts the Russian coaching staff in a tough position moving forward. London Olympic champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) is moving up from her 2019 world-title winning weight of 72kg to the Olympic weight of 76kg. 

Bukina said she's not sure where this win puts her in the race to represent Russia at the Olympic Games. “It depends on who will be in better shape. Right now, she is wrestling in the other weight category, but we will decide later when it’s closer to the Olympics. It’s too early to talk about it.” 

Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) was one of three Russian women who won gold medals on Thursday night. She won the 68kg title with a 10-0 win over Dalma CANEVA (ITA). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Russia Leads Team Race After Winning Three Golds on Thursday Night 
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) joined Bukina as European champions on Thursday night. The trio of champions helped the Russian Federation (105 points) carry a 31 point lead over Ukraine  (74 points) into the final day of women’s wrestling. 

At 55kg, Khoroshavtseva only needed less than two minutes to pick up the 10-0 technical superiority victory over Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) in the 55kg gold-medal match. She kickstarted the match with a slide-by and ended the match with back-to-back four-point throws. 

Khoroshavtseva's win handed Russia their first gold medal in any style of these European Championships.

Velieva was Russia’s second champion of the day. She put on a dominant display in the 68kg finals and joined Khoroshavtseva atop the continental podium with an 11-0 technical superiority victory over Dalma CANEVA (ITA). 

Bukina rounded out the three Russian gold medalists with her win over world champion Yasemin Adar in the 76kg finals. 

The European Championships resume on Friday morning at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 
50kg
GOLD - Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 5-3
BRONZE - Milana DADASHEVA (RUS) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 10-4 
BRONZE - Kseniya STANKEVICH (BLR) df. Emilia CIRICU BUDEANU (MDA), 10-0 

55kg 
GOLD - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) df. Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR), 10-0 
BRONZE - Sofia Magdalena MATTSSON (SWE) df. Ellen RIESTERER (GER), 10-0 
BRONZE - Bediha GUN (TUR) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 11-4 

59kg 
GOLD - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) df. Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL), 6-5 
BRONZE - Anhelina LYSAK (UKR) df. Laura MERTENS (GER), via fall 
BRONZE - Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) df. Elif YANIK (TUR), 14-3 

68kg
GOLD - Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 11-0 
BRONZE - Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. Hanna SADCHANKA (BLR), via fall 
BRONZE - Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU) df. Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER), 9-0 

76kg
GOLD - Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) df. Yasemin ADAR (TUR), 4-3 
BRONZE - Iselin SOLHEIM (NOR) df. Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR), 6-6 
BRONZE - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) df. Pauline LECA

#WrestleNoviSad

Farokhi, Hedayati lead Iran's golden charge at U23 Worlds

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 15:58 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 21) -- Iran’s Greco-Roman dominance shows no signs of slowing down. After winning team titles at the U17 World Championships in Athens, the U20 Worlds in Samokov, and the senior event in Zagreb, Iran looks poised to complete a clean sweep in Novi Sad as Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) claimed gold medals at the U23 World Wrestling Championships 2025 on Tuesday.

World champion Farokhi and defending champion Hedayati, who celebrated his birthday as well on Tuesday, won gold medals in dominant fashion at 87kg and 130kg respectively.

"I was able to win two back-to-back tough matches at the World Championships and bring home two gold medals," Farokhi said. "These were high-level competitions."

Farokhi, a gold medalist at 82kg in Zagreb, moved up to 87kg for Novi Sad but had no troubles in switching weights. As he did in Zagreb, Farokhi brought his best game in par terre and rolled to his second gold in one month after a 9-0 victory in the final against Ivan CHMYR (UKR), his fifth technical superiority victory.

After being put on top in par terre, Farokhi launched a trap-arm gut and turned Chmyr four times for the win. Ukraine threw one of those ever increasing challenges for no reason but lost it to add one more point to Farokhi's score.

"When you move up a weight class, the opponents are definitely stronger and tougher," Farokhi said. "It was a good experience, and it gave me a better sense of how I can perform at 87 kg -- an Olympic weight class"

Hedayati, who has not lost an international bout since his 2022 U20 World Championships finals loss, showed why he will dominate the 130kg weight class for years to come.

Up against Razmik KURDYAN (ARM) in the final, Hedayati began with takedown on the edge for two points. Kurdyan was put in par terre and from there Hedayati turned him twice to extend his lead to 7-0. With just 23 seconds left before the break, Hedayati scored a stepout to finish the final 8-0 and claim his second straight U23 world title.

At 63kg, Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) upended returning 63kg U23 world champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-3, in the final using a four-point suplex from par terre to score his points.

Eriomenco, who had defeated Babashov in the U23 European finals, looked very dominant in run up to the final while Babashov had some tough bouts on Monday. But the Azerbaijan wrestler began aggressively and managed to earn first par terre advantage.

He performed a suplex for four points to make his lead 5-0 and take huge step towards winning his first ever world title. He further consolidated his position when he defended from par terre in the second period and gave up only stepout to Eriomenco as the score changed to 5-2.

Babashov then countered an attack from the Moldova wrestler and forced him to stepout outside to extend his lead to 6-2. He gave up one more stepout but held on to the 6-3 lead to win the gold medal.

With the win, he now leads the head-to-head against Eriomenco 2-1 as both have traded victories at 2024 U23 European Championships and its 2025 edition with the Moldovan one being the more recent winner.

Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) holds off Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) in the 77kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

A silver medalist from 2023 at the U23 Worlds, Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) managed to win gold at 77kg as he defeated Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 4-1, in the final.

Orjonikidze was himself to blame for the loss as he committed a defensive leg foul in the first period when Mirzoiev got the par terre position and as he was trying to lift, Orjonikidze blocked him with his leg, giving a 3-0 lead to the Ukrainian.

Georgia challenged the decision but on review, it was confirmed that a leg foul was indeed committed. The lost challenge gave one more point to Mirzoiev.

Orjonikidze got the par terre position in the second period but he failed to score any points and Mirzoiev easily defended his 4-1 lead to eventually claimed the gold medal.

Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) defeated Richard KARELSON (EST) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Yakushenko closer to U23 title

U20 world champion Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) is a win away from winning his second world tittle three months after he reached the 97kg final at U23 World Championships. He defeated European Championships silver medalist Richard KARELSON (EST) 6-3 in the semifinals.

Karelson tried to make a match of it but Yakushenko scored a four-pointer from par terre to lead 5-0 before Karelson scored a takedown. But Yakushenko got a stepout to lead 6-2. He defended his lead despite Karelson getting par terre in the second period.

He will face Asian U23 champion Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) who rolled to a 9-1 win over Maksim AVERIN (UWW), scoring four turns from par terre in the second period.

At 55kg, U23 European champion Alibek AMIROV (UWW) will face Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) in the final after he defeated Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ) in the semifinal. Amirov was down 2-1 when he got the 

Aliyev hit a beautiful headlock for four against 2024 U17 world champion Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) before securing the fall in the semifinal.

Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) will take on Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) for the gold medal at 67kg after he defeated Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 1-1, having the criteria from the first point score in a 1-1 finish.

Andelrehim led 4-1 when his opponent in the semifinal, Attila JOZSA (HUN), injury default for a leg injury.

Seven years after winning the U17 World Championships gold medal, Abror ATABAEV (UZB) will have a chance to win a second world title after he reached the 72kg final. After getting the first par terre and 1-1 lead against Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ), Atabaev defended his par terre position and kept the 1-1 criteria lead.

Maulitkanov threw everything at Atabaev in the final two minutes but the Uzbekistan defended all the attacks. Atabaev was close to giving up a takedown in the final 15 seconds but he managed to keep himself up and then score a pushout to lead 2-1. Kazakhstan challenged the call but it was a clear stepout and the lost challenge made it 3-1 for Atabaev.

He will face former Asian champion Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) for gold after the Iranian defended his 1-1 criteria lead against Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM). The final will be battle of two Asian champion as Atabaev won that title in 2023.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-3

BRONZE: Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (UWW) df. Servet ANGI (TUR), 6-1
BRONZE: Adham ELSAYED (EGY) df. Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ), 3-2

77kg
GOLD: Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) df. Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 4-1

BRONZE: Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) df. Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 3-3
BRONZE: Levente LEVAI (HUN) df. Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN), 4-2

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Ivan CHMYR (UKR), 10-0

BRONZE: Payton JACOBSON (USA) df. Lachin VALIYEV (AZE), 5-3
BRONZE: Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 5-1

130kg
GOLD: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) df. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM), 8-0

BRONZE: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW) df. Artur SARKISJAN (CZE), 9-1

Semifinals

55kg
GOLD: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)  vs. Alibek AMIROV (UWW)

SF 1: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) df. Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), via fall (5-1)
SF 2: Alibek AMIROV (UWW) df. Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ), via fall (7-2)

67kg
GOLD: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) vs. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY)

SF 1: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) df. Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 1-1
SF 2: Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) df. Attila JOZSA (HUN), via inj. def. (4-1)

72kg
GOLD: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) vs. Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

SF 1: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM), 1-1
SF 2: Abror ATABAEV (UZB) df. Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 3-1

97kg
GOLD: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) vs. Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)

SF 1: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) df. Richard KARELSON (EST), 6-3 
SF 2: Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) df. Maksim AVERIN (UWW), 9-1