#WrestleDortmund

U23 World Champ Bayramov Headlines Tuesday’s Finals

By Eric Olanowski

DORTMUND, Germany (June 28) --- U23 world champion Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) blitzed his way to Tuesday’s junior European championship finals, while Russia inserted four of five wrestlers into gold-medal matches.

Bayramov, the reigning senior-level European runner-up, went unscathed en route to the 70kg finals match. The 20-year-old outscored his three opponents on Monday 26-0 and will wrestle Stanislav NOVAC (MDA) tomorrow night for a second junior European title.

Meanwhile, Russian freestylers Said KHUNKEROV (57kg), Turpal Ali KHATUEV (65kg), Rasul ASLUEV (79kg) and Ali ALIEV (97kg) earned finals berths and are one match away from winning a continental title.

Khunkerov, a tenth-place finisher at this year’s prestigious Ivan Yariguin, reached the finals with a pair of technical superiority wins. First, he picked up the convincing 18-8 win over three-time cadet world medalist Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO), then shut out Ahmet KARAVUS (TUR), 10–0, to reach his first European finals.


Said KHUNKEROV (RUS) finishes a shot on Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO) during Monday's opening day of wrestling at the Junior European Championships. (Photo Kadir Caliskan)

Khunkerov and Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM) will square off tomorrow for the 57kg title. Khndzrtsyan outscored his three opponents 31-0 – including a 10-0 win over cadet European champion Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA) – and will try to improve on his ’18 cadet European silver-medal finish.

Turpal Khatuev (RUS) was Russia’s second finalist. He punched his ticket to the finals with a two-point victory in a 24-point shootout with ’19 cadet European champion Sabir JAFAROV (AZE). Khatuev will meet Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR) tomorrow night for gold. The Ukrainian breezed into the finals with a 7-2 win over Hungarian senior-level National runner-up Marcell BUDAI KOVACS (HUN).

Rasul Asluev nearly shut out Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO) in their semifinal meeting, but ultimately walked away with a 5-1 win and a final meeting against ’18 cadet world runner-up Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE). The Greek wrestler, who won U23 European bronze earlier this year, reached the finals with three wins on the day, which was capped off by a 9-2 throttling of Viktor KRUPA (UKR).

The fourth Russian Day 2 finalist was Ali Aliev. He beat Danylo STASIUK (UKR), 6-2, in the semifinals and will wrestle Polat POLATCI (TUR) in the 97kg finals.

Tomorrow’s wrestling resumes at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed on www.uww.org.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Said KHUNKEROV (RUS) vs. Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
SEMIFINAL - Said KHUNKEROV (RUS) df. Ahmet KARAVUS (TUR), 10 - 0
SEMIFINAL - Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM) df. Thomas EPP (SUI), 10 – 0

65kg
GOLD - Turpal Ali KHATUEV (RUS) vs. Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Turpal Ali KHATUEV (RUS) df. Sabir JAFAROV (AZE), 13-11
SEMIFINAL - Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR) df. Marcell BUDAI KOVACS (HUN), 7-2

70kg
GOLD - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) vs. Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO), 11-0
SEMIFINAL - Stanislav NOVAC (MDA) df. Mevlut OZDEMIR (TUR), 4-3

79kg
GOLD - Rasul ASLUEV (RUS) vs. Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
SEMIFINAL - Rasul ASLUEV (RUS) df. Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO), 5-1
SEMIFINAL - Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) df. Viktor KRUPA (UKR), 9-2

97kg
GOLD - Ali ALIEV (RUS) vs. Polat POLATCI (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Polat POLATCI (TUR) df. Danylo STASIUK (UKR), 6-2
SEMIFINAL - Ali ALIEV (RUS) df. Milan KORCSOG (HUN), 4-0

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 World Championships 2025 Day 6 Freestyle Highlights

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 25) -- The U23 World Championships 2025 in Novi Sad will see four Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 70kg, 79kg and 125kg -- in action on day six.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 5 RESULTS

14:00: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a world U20 silver medalist, reaches the semifinals at 125kg in Novi Sad after an 8-0  win over Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM).

13:40: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) got taken down by Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) for the opening score in their match but Lilledahl comes back and scores three takedowns to lead 6-2 at the break. He keeps the momentum going in the second period and beats Valizadeh 11-5 at 57kg.

13:25: Levi HAINES (USA) is on a mission here. He blanks Aykan SEID (BUL), 10-0, in the 79kg quarterfinals and powers his way into the semifinals.

13:10: PJ DUKE (USA) was challenged a little by Kaito MORITA (JPN) but he uses a big four-pointer to win 7-3 and advance to the semifinals at 70kg.

12:55: Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) had to wait for it but he beats Luka GVINJILIA (GEO), 12-2, at 57kg. Solid gut-wrench from Valizadeh to win his bout.

12:40: U20 world champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed four minutes and 25 seconds to see off Honghang LIAO (CHN) at 57kg. Lilledahl is the favorite to capture the gold here in Nvoi Sad. 

12:30: Yuta KIKUCHI (JPN) stars off with a 7-2 win against Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR) at 57kg. Very controlled win from the Japanese who has world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) in his corner.

12:15: In a match between world silver medalist Levi HAINES (USA) and U20 world champion Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI), Haines comes out on top 7-0. Yousefi completely shut down there in this 79kg bout.

11:45: Sina KHALILI (IRI) with a 12-2 technical superiority win over Naveen KUMAR (IND) at 70kg. That gu-wrench was very effective for Khalili.

11:40: PJ DUKE (USA) with a huge 10-0 win over Rostislav LEICHT (GER) at 70kg. He looks in top form and better than his run in Samokov where he won gold at the U20 World Championships. 

11:25: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) with an excellent strategy against recent U20 world silver medalist Sumit MALIK (IND). Gvinjilia scored a double leg attack and turned Malik twice to lead 6-0. Despite his strong efforts, Malik could only score 5 points and lost his 57kg bout 6-5

11:00: Sina KHALILI (IRI) hangs on to beat Omar OMAROV (UWW) 6-5 at 70kg. Both Omarov led 5-4 when Khalili forced a stepout with 24 seconds left. Omarov challenged the call for a par terre position but the challenge was lost, giving a 6-5 lead to Khalili. Omarov then tried two pushouts which were both called pushouts. Khalili survived there to win 6-5

10:50: Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO) with a brilliant fireman's carry for four points against CHANDERMOHAN (IND) before he adds a huge reverse slam for a five points. A pushout to end the match 10-0 in two minutes and 18 seconds at 79kg.

10:35: U20 world champion PJ DUKE (USA) up against Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB) at 70kg. He gets a point for Kuldashev's passivity before scoring a takedown for two points and lead 3-0 at the break. A point for Kuldashev in the second period but Duke hits two takedowns and then defends to win 7-1.