#WrestleZagreb

Tuesday night's European finals set

By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (April 18) --- The second day of freestyle action at the European Championships kicks off with action at 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg.

FULL EUROPEAN C'SHIP SCHEDULE:
- 11:30 - Qualification rounds
- 16:45 - Semifinals
- 18:00 - Finals

Tuesday's semifinal matchups:

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) vs. Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO) 
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Arman ELOYAN (FRA) 

74kg
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL) vs. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) 
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) vs. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) 

86kg
Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR) vs. Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL) 
Boris MAKOEV (SVK) vs. Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) 

92kg
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) vs. Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) 
Ermak KARDANOV (SVK) vs. Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) 

125kg
Taha AKGUL (TUR) vs. Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) 
Daniel LIGETI (HUN) vs. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) 

14:31: Akgul trailed 1-0 after the opening period but scored three points in the closing frame to win a close 3-1 battle. He'll likely have Olympic bronze medalist Conyedo Ruano, who is up 3-0 with :20 seconds left.

14:12: Two of the all-time greats in Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) are wrestling on Mat B and C, respectively.

14:10: In typical Chamizo fashion, he got going when he needed to and picked up the 7-4 win. He'll meet fellow Olympic bronze medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) in tonight's semifinals.

14:05: Things are getting heated between Chamizo and Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE). Chamizo has been punched, kicked and had his hair pulled in the opening three minutes.

14:01: We have a pair of world champions on the mat right now. Chamizo is wrestling on Mat B and Abakarov is on Mat C.

13:25: Amine picked up a third takedown on Rubaev and increased his lead to 7-0. It's been a weird match from the Moldovian. He hasn't taken a single shot and there's less than a minute left.

13:20: Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine is kicking off his quest for a second straight European title on Mat B. He's wrestling Georgii RUBAEV (MDA).

12:49: One of the most talked about storylines coming into the European Championships was the late transfer of Greek Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE). He just had his first match, where he dominated Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN), 10-0, in the first period.


12:43: One of the benefits of being seeded is having more time to recover after weigh-ins. The seeded athletes usually have around two hours of extra rest before competing. We're nearing that mark when the top athletes will be making their way to the mat, one after another.

Here are some of the stars that'll be making their way to Mat B soon:
- Bout 108 - Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR) 
- Bout 110 - Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) 
- Bout 111 - Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) 
- Bout 112 -  Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) 
- Bout 114 - Taha AKGUL (TUR)  

12:32: Daniel LIGETI (HUN) has a crowd behind him on Mat A. There's at least 20 people--one with a big drum--cheering for the Hungarian Big Man. He's in a tight 2-2 battle with Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT).

12:16: We'll stay on Mat B as U23 European champion Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL) is making his way to the mat. He'll wrestle against Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA).

If you're unfamiliar with Ivanov, he's a more compact heavyweight that loves to throw. His go-to move is an arm throw.


12:13:  Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA), who won Olympic gold in Tokyo at 97kg, moved up to 125kg a season ago. It's taken nearly two years, but he looks like a true 125kg guy. He picked up a 3-0 opening-round win over Paris KAREPI (ALB).

12:05: There's your upset of the day (keeping in mind we're only a half-hour into the session). Arman ELOYAN (FRA) just took out 2022 European champion Vladimir EGOROV (MKD), 2-2, to set up a matchup with Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU).

11:58: Reigning 57kg world champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) is up now on Mat B. He's wrestling up a weight class, competing at 61kg for the European Championships. He's wrestling Niklas STECHELE (GER).

11:45: We'll kick the morning session off with repechage matches for those who fell on Monday.

#WrestleZagreb

Grand Prix Zagreb Open Entries

By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 25) --  World champions Victor CIOBANU (MDA) and Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) lead the field at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open that begins January 29 in the Croatian capital.

Another big name entered in the tournament is Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Parviz NASIBOV (UKR). He is bumping up a weight class for the tournament and will wrestle at 72kg instead of 67kg.

Datunashvili will be taking a trip to his neighboring country to compete for the first time since winning the gold medal at the Oslo World Championships at 87kg. He will likely face his rival Kyril MASKEVICH (BLR) in Zagreb as well. The two met in the Oslo finals which the Serbian wrestler won.

For Serbia, twin brothers Mate and Viktor NEMES (SRB) are also entered into the field. They begin another Olympic cycle in the hope of qualifying and performing at the Olympics together. In Tokyo, only Mate was able to qualify.

While Ciobanu won the world title at 60kg, he is entered at 63kg for the tournament. He also will be in action after a three-month gap.

A host of young stars are also seeking glory. U23 world champion Tamas LEVAI (HUN), former European champion Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL), and U23 Euro champion Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) are looking for some hardware.

Victor CIOBANUVictor CIOBANU (MDA) will wrestle at 63kg in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

55kg

Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Fabian SCHMITT (GER)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Mihai Denis FLORIN (ROU)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Mykola HAVRYCHKIN (UKR)

60kg

Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Viachaslau MAKARANKA (BLR)
Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL)
Daniel BOBILLO (ESP)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Michał TRACZ (POL)
Sebastijan NAD (SRB)
Sebastijan KOLOMPAR (SRB)
Dimitar SANDOV (SUI)
Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Dmytro TSYMBALIUK (UKR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Diego ROMERO (USA)
Randon MIRANDA (USA)

63kg

Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Andy JUAN (ESP)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Krisztián KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Aleksandrs JURKJAN (LAT)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Rusu CORNELIU (MDA)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Pedro CALDAS (POR)
Arnaut RAZVAN (ROU)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Jonas MÜLLER (SUI)
Alex BICA (SWE)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Hevorh ARZUMANIAN (UKR)

67kg

Christoph BURGER (AUT)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR)
Maksim NEHODA (BLR)
Alejandro CONCEPCION (ESP)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
István VANCZA (HUN)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Konstantinas KESANIDI (LTU)
Alexei HAHLOVSCHI (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas ÖHLEN (SWE)
André JONSSON (SWE)
Oleksii MASYK (UKR)
Dmytro MIROSHNYK (UKR)
Dmytro VASYLIEV (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg

Stefan STEIGL (AUT)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ-SILVA (ESP)
Junior BENITEZ (ESP)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Róbert FRITSCH (HUN)
Attila TOSMAGI (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Håvard JORGENSEN (NOR)
Juan Sebastian AAK (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
BOTEZ IGOR ANDREI (ROU)
Aleksa ERSKI (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Olah OLIVER (SVK)
Erik PERSSON (SWE)
Christoffer DAHLEN (SWE)
Miru OLSSON (SWE)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Andrii KULYK (UKR)
Vladyslav YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Pat SMITH (USA)

77kg

Kazbek KILOU (BLR)
Tsimur BERDYIEU (BLR)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Oliver KRUGER (DEN)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Akseli YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Beka MAMUKASHVILI (GEO)
Demuri KAVTARADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Zoltán LEVAI (HUN)
Mantas SINKEVICIUS (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Per-Anders KURE (NOR)
Iwan NYLIPIUK (POL)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI ILIE (ROU)
Viktor NEMES(SRB)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Nicolas CHRISTEN (SUI)
Leos DRMOLA (SVK)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Rasmus ÅSTROM (SWE)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)
Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV (UKR)
Elmar NURALIIEV (UKR)
Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR)
Burke PADDOCK (USA)
RaVaughn PERKINS (USA)

82kg

Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Tamás LEVAI (HUN)
Móric KISMONI (HUN)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Daniel COJOC VASILE (ROU)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Anton OLSSON (SWE)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

87kg

Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NDL)
Ruben Elias BEEN (NOR)
Kułynycz ARKADIUSZ (POL)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Samuel OJOG NICI (ROU)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
Dickov ŽARKO (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Algot KALLMAN (SWE)
Artur OVSEPIAN (UKR)
Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH (UKR)
Alan VERA (USA)

97kg

Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Pavel HLINCHUK (BLR)
Mikalai STADUB (BLR)
Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU (BLR)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Dadak ONDREJ (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Jesus GASCA (ESP)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Loïc SAMEN (FRA)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO)
Azizsir RAMSIN (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Róbert ERSEK (HUN)
Dáriusz VITEK (HUN)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Martynas NEMSEVISIUS (LTU)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Arnoldas Baranovas (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NDL)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Tadeusz Michalik MICHALIK (POL)
Ionut Cristnel Florin GOSA (ROU)
Aleksandar SIMONVIC (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Micheil KADJAJA (SRB)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Andrii DEHTIAROV (UKR)
Zielimkhan DZIHASOV (UKR)
YEVHENII Saveta  (UKR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Valentyn SHKLIARENKO (UKR)
Vladyslav HONCHAR  (UKR)
Tracy HANCOCK (USA)

130kg

Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO)
Konsta MAENPAA (FIN)
Franz RIHTER (GER)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Rornas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafał KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Istvan BEREI LENARD (ROU)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Sviatoslav KALASHNIKOV (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Tanner FARMER (USA)