#WrestleBudapest: European Championships freestyle bracket reactions

Sunday, March 27, 2022 - 16:31 By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 27) -- The European Championships get underway Monday in Budapest, Hungary with five freestyle weight classes. The competition will see 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg and 97kg on the first day.

The brackets for the freestyle weights were drawn Monday with the four-seed system put in place for the first time at a competition.

Here are the freestyle brackets could play over the next two days.

57kg (12 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
No. 2 Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
No. 3 Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
No. 4 Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)

U23 world champion Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) will be wrestling Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP) in the opening round and the winner will take on number two seed Mikyay NAIM (BUL).

Top seed Vladimir EGOROV (MKD) will be waiting for the winner of Gary GIORDMAINA (MLT) and Niklas STECHELE (GER) for his quarterfinal bout. He also has the best chance to jump up in the rankings. Currently, he's ranked 15th with 17000 points. He will jump to ninth-place with a top-two finish. However, if he finishes with a bronze medal, he'll still be ranked 10th.

Georgia's Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO) is seeded third and will have the winner of Martin ZIDZIK (SVK) and Razvan KOVACS (ROU) in the quarterfinal. For rankings, he is currently ranked 21st with 11400 points. A gold could help him break into the top-15.

61kg (13 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
No. 2 Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
No. 3 Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
No. 4 Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)

Another U23 world champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) is the favorite to win the gold at 61kg. He is also the top seed in the weight class and will wait for the winner of Adam BIBOULATOV (BUL) and Besir ALILI (MKD) for his first match. He is also looking to win his first continental title at the senior level and jump from the fourth rank to second.

A favorite to win the title and third seed Suleyman ATLI (TUR) and second seed Georgi VANGELOV (BUL) can meet in the semifinal but they have to go through Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) and Teimuraz VANISHVILI (GEO) to reach there.

Vangelov can also break into the top-four by winning gold while Atli, ranked 18th with 8520 points, can be the seventh if he reaches the final.

65kg (13 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
No. 2 Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
No. 3 Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
No. 4 Beka LOMTADZE (GEO)

A fan-favorite match-up at 65kg between Haji ALIYEV (AZE) and Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) can be the final in Budapest. But for that, the two have to win their side of the bracket which some big names like Munir AKTAS (TUR) and world champion Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) for Aliyev, Stevan MICIC (SRB) and Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) for Muszukajev.

Aliyev can also improve his ranking from fourth to second if he can win the gold medal. However, he will be third with silver and remain fourth with any other result.

Number two seed Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL), ranked 10th, has 25000 points and can remove Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) at fifth by winning the gold medal.

For Muszukajev, he can only be seventh if he wins gold in Budapest but will remain at the same rank if he fails to win a medal.

70kg (16 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO)
No. 2 Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
No. 3 Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)

With 16 participants in the weight category, 70kg will begin with pre-quarters and top seed Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) has Marc DIETSCHE (SUI) in the opening round. The winner will get the winner Daniel CHOMANIC (SVK) and Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) in the quarterfinals. An interesting match-up for Iakobishvili can occur against U23 European champion Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) in the semifinal.

In rankings, Iakobishvili is in the third position and will overtake first-placed Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), who has 45520 points, even with a ninth-place finish.

From the lower side of the bracket, Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR), second seed Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) and third seed Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA) will be wrestling for the two semifinal spots.

Andreasyan will be ranked fourth if he can finish 10th or better while Grahmez is ranked 20th but will be in the top-eight if he can reach the medal bouts in Budapest.

74kg (17 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
No. 2 Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)
No. 3 Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
No. 4 Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL)

The deepest weight class in Budapest will be 74kg and like the last European Championships, a rematch between defending champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) will be for the gold medal. But he has Kamil RYBICKI (POL) in the first round and in all likelihood wrestle Malik AMINE (SMR) in the quarterfinals.

Fourth seed Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) will be a big test in the semifinals if Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) cannot make it to the last four from the top side.

Salkazanov has 37000 points and is ranked fifth but can be second if he wins the gold medal in Budapest. He is guaranteed to be ranked third after the competition.

Two-time world champion Chamizo is seeded second and wrestles Giorgi SULAVA (GEO) in the first round. If he wins, he will get the winner for Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR) and Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR).

A semifinal against third seed Hetik CABALOV (SRB) is also on the cards for Chamizo who has a chance to break into the top-six by winning any medal.

Ranked 12th, Cabolov will be a top-10 wrestler if he can wrestle for a medal in Budapest.

Bayramov and Demitras, ranked 16th and 19th, respectively, also fall in the same category but they need to win gold to be in the top-10.

79kg (14 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
No. 2 Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
No. 3 Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
No. 4 Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)

Despite garnering the No. 1 seed, Arman AVAGYAN (ARM) has one of the toughest roads to the finals. He’ll have to get through the winner of the fourth-seeded Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) or Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) to improve on his fifth-place finish from last season. In Warsaw last year, the Armenian fell to eventual European champion Gulaev, 11-1, in the quarterfinals before dropping his bronze-medal match against Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO).

The bottom side of the chart is highlighted by reigning U23 world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) and European runner-up Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA). The Greek wrestler is seeded second, while Alekma is seeded third.

86kg (15 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Myles AMINE (SMR)
No. 2 Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
No. 3 Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
No. 4 Osman GOCEN (TUR)

A week removed from a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships, San Marino’s Myles AMINE returns to competition as the top-seeded wrestler at 86kg. The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist will be looking for his third consecutive European medal. He finished in second and third, respectively, in ’20 and ’21.

His toughest test on the top side will be the fourth-seeded Osman GOCEN (TUR). The Turkish wrestler is coming off five wins at the Yasar Dogu – including a semifinal win against Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB).

World medalists Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) and Boris MAKOEV (SVK) are the second and third, respectively.

Makoev, the Paris world runner-up, has the tougher road of the two. He’ll likely have European Games bronze medalist Ahmed DUDAROV (GER) in the quarterfinals before meeting last year’s Oslo bronze medalist Abakarov for a spot in the finals.

92kg (10 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
No. 2 Georgii RUBAEV (MDA)
No. 3 Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)

Top seed and Oslo bronze medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) should not have a hard time reaching the final at 92kg from the top side of the bracket. He is ranked fourth with 31000 points and is likely to move to the second spot with a medal in Budapest.

Second seed Georgii RUBAEV (MDA) will face the winner of Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) and Benjamin GREIL (AUT) in his first bout. But a tougher test awaits if he can manage to reach the semifinal and third seed Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) also reaches the semifinal.

97kg (11 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
No. 2 Radu LEFTER (MDA)
No. 3 Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO)
No. 4 Burak SAHIN (TUR)

Top seed Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) and transfer to Hungary Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) can clash in the quarterfinals at 97kg to give fans a top-class bout. The winner gets the winner of Erik THIELE (GER) and fourth-seed Burak SAHIN (TUR).

Nurov, ranked sixth with 31700 points, has the chance to be ranked third if he can win at least a bronze medal.

Second seed Radu LEFTER (MDA) Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), veteran Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) and Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) on his side and the path to the semifinal will be a tough one.

125kg (12 participants)

Seeds:
No. 1 Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
No. 2 Taha AKGUL (TUR)
No. 3 Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
No. 4 Robert BARAN (POL)

World champions Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Taha AKGUL (TUR) are seeded first and second, respectively, and sit on opposite sides of the bracket. If history repeats itself and both guys stay undefeated until the finals, they’d meet at the European Championships for the sixth time in their careers.

Petriashvili won their initial meeting in 2016, but since that win, Taha has won four consecutive European bouts against his Georgian rival.

For the blockbuster finals match to take place, Petriashvili has to pass a solid quarterfinals test against Italy’s fellow Olympic bronze medalist Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO. This will be the Cuban-turn-Italian’s first competition up at 125kg after bumping up from his Olympic-medal winning weight of 97kg.

#BeachWrestling

Beach Wrestling: Iran's return to top; Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan win first golds

Sunday, September 28, 2025 - 13:44 By United World Wrestling Press

KATERINI-PIERIA, Greece (September 27) -- Iran’s return to Beach Wrestling after an eight-year absence could have been cautious. Instead, it was commanding.

Iran won four medals, including two golds, to claim the men’s team title at the U17 World Beach Wrestling Championships after a close race with Georgia, which finished second with 75 points to Iran’s 80. Azerbaijan was third with 62 points.

In the women's category, hosts Greece managed to go past France to finish first with 50 points while France ended up second with 42. The United States was third with 32 points.

The U17 World Championships is a significant stop in Beach Wrestling as it will be taken into consideration for while awarding the quotas for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Iran Iran's two gold medalists in Greece, Mahdi FOTOUHI (IRI), left, at 90kg and Youssof HOSSEIN (IRI), right, at 70kg.

Gold medalists for Iran, Youssof HOSSEIN (IRI) at 70kg and Mahdi FOTOUHI (IRI) at 90kg, were competing in Beach Wrestling for the first time but never let their inexperience affect their performances.

Hossein, who defeated Stefan MUNTEAN (MDA) in the knockout match, was placed in Group D with Yuki UEDA (JPN), Nikolaos PAPADOPOULOS (GRE) and Ilie TURCAN (MDA). He defeated Papadopoulos 3-1 in the group bout before blanking Turcan 3-0 in just 40 seconds. He was quicker against Ueda, winning in 34 seconds.

Facing Luka MAKHARADZE (GEO) in the quarterfinals, Hossein scored a 3-1 victory and took only 40 seconds to beat Rashad ALIYEV (AZE) in the semifinals.

In an all-Iran final, Hossein fell behind 1-0 against Ilyar VEGHARI (IRI) but stormed back with two straight points with a knee and head touch from Veghari. He used a lateral drop as his final move to win 5-1. Veghari's lost challenge added to Hossein's score and made it 6-1.

Fotouhi was even more dominant at 90kg, winning all three of his group bouts via fall. Charilaos CHAITIDIS (GRE) survived getting pinned in the quarterfinals but Fotouhi was strong enough to win 3-0 and advance to the semifinals.

After winning the semifinal 2-1 against Elgun KARIMLI (AZE), Fotouhi was back to his dominant self and slammed Joni SHAORSHADZE (GEO) to pick his fourth fall in six bouts and the gold medal for Iran.

Fotouhi began with a step out to earn his first point of the final. Both wrestlers arm-locked each other and tried to throw at the edge but it was Shaorshadze who touched outside first which gave Fotouhi his second point.

In one of those moments when his Freestyle instincts took over, Fotouhi went for duckunder and touched his knee on the sand which gave Shaorshadze a point to make the score 2-1. The Georgian tried a fireman carry in the final 10 seconds but Fotouhi pancaked him for a fall.

At 60kg, Mykyta KUZMENKO (UKR) defeated Rati BERIDZE (GEO) twice, first in the group stages and then in final, to claim the gold medal.

Kuzmenko blanked all his opponents barring Beridze who managed to score one point when the two met in the Group B bout. However, the Ukrainian improved and gave no chance to Beridze in the final, winning 3-0.

The Ukrainian was quick to score two step-outs and lead 2-0 and when Beridze tried to score a point, Kuzmenko snapped him down and scored his third and winning point.

Georgia had another silver medalist, Nuradin MUSTAFAEV (GEO), who suffered a one-sided loss in the 80kg final to Nihad SULEYMANLI (AZE), who had represented Azerbaijan at the U17 World Championships in Athens in August.

Suleymanli did not give up a single point in the tournament and won the final against Mustafaev 3-0. He scored a step-out to open the scoring in the final before Mustafaev fell on the ground to give a second point. The Georgian wrestler tried tripping Suleymanli but instead gave a takedown for one point to drop the final.

Azerbaijan's first-ever gold medalist Ulviyya MUSAYEVA (AZE) with other team members.

Historic golds for Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan

In the women's category, Puerto Rico and Azerbaijan earned historic golds as four different countries crowned champions.

Heklanys RIVERA (PUR), the first woman to compete in Beach Wrestling for her country, made a stunning run to the gold medal at 45kg. She did not give up a single point in six bouts including the final.

Taking on Kaltouma SALISSOU (FRA) in the final, Rivera was put on the 30-second activity clock. With eight seconds remaining, Rivera used an underhook to get the first takedown for a point.

The second point was awarded to Rivera when Salissou committed a foul by grabbing Rivera's shorts. The winning takedown was similar to the first one as Rivera moved from underhook to tripping Salissou.

For Azerbaijan, 15-year-old Ulviyya MUSAYEVA (AZE) needed only 16 seconds to create history. She defeated last year's champion Reisa KOJIMA (JPN) via fall in the 55kg final. Kojima tried hitting a lateral drop in the final but fell on her back, which gave Musayeva three points for the win.

Earlier, Musayeva had lost one of the group bouts against Mia KOVAC (CRO) via fall but rebounded to win all remaining bouts to make the final and then capture the gold medal.

Hosts Greece, which won the team title, earned the gold medal at 75kg through Elena ZAIMIDOU (GRE) who scored a 32-second victory via fall over Madeline HAYDEN (USA) in the final.

Zaimidou, who has competed and won gold in Grappling at the European level, secured three victories via fall, and a victory via superiority over Merily VAESTER (EST) in the semifinals.

In the gold medal bout, Hayden stunned the local fans when she hit a beautiful over-the-head suplex on Zaimidou. Hayden went for a second suplex, but Zaimidou blocked her, using a headlock, and Hayden fell on her back which gave Zaimidou three points and the victory.

Hayden challenged the scoring but the points were confirmed on review and Zaimidou was awarded a point for lost challenge, which made her score 4-1.

European bronze medalist in Women's Wrestling, Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) earned the gold medal at 65kg after some nervous wins. She defeated Thea ROUSSEL (FRA), 3-0, in the final in 49 seconds using three easy snapdowns.

#WrestleBudapest: European Championships freestyle bracket reactions

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Beach Wrestling: Iran's return to top; Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan win first golds