#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.

#WrestleBucharest

Bullen brims with confidence after third European gold

Saturday, February 17, 2024 - 00:48 By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 17) -- "Desperation."

Grace BULLEN (NOR) doesn't mince her words when asked about what forced her to switch training base from Norway to Georgia. For the past two years, Bullen has been training in Georgia and former world champion Zurabi IAKOBASHVILI (GEO) has been training her.

"I wanted to be great in wrestling," Bullen said. "I wanted to do good and not quit without knowing that I've done my full potential. And knowing that, it was not hard for me to pack my bag and move to another country."

Since that move, Bullen has changed weight classes, won two World Championships medals and now a European gold medal after four years.

In Bucharest for the European Championships, Bullen claimed her third European Championships gold medal and first since 2020 to continue her impressive return to the mat. Bullen had failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, lost in the first round in the Oslo World Championships and was slowly fading away.

"I needed to be surrounded by people who love what I do as much as I do and see the potential in me as well that I know that I have. Today was the place that you can see that I can do good even though I am not at my 100 [percent]," she said.

Grace BULLEN (NOR) takes down Luisa NIEMESCH (GER) in the 62kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

On Thursday, Bullen destroyed her opponents with three falls in as many matches. Though there was no fall in the final on Wednesday, she held on to a 5-4 win over Luisa NIEMESCH (GER).

"Luisa is a tough opponent. She wrestled good," she said. "I see how she wrestled in her bracket with good wrestlers. Everyone knows that I love to attack and love my double legs. So she was very low. It was just for me to be patient with my attacks and just take the easy point instead of doing the risky and big one. Because those can be easy for her to counter and just being on my offense but still not being too passive with my wrestling."

The 62kg final was sort of similar to how Bullen had planned it. She kept her attacks going and even got a stepout. She used her double-leg attacks to score a takedown. It was only towards the end of the match that Neimesch caught her off guard and scored a takedown, exposure and tried a pin. However, it was too little too late.

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"All worth it at the end," Bullen said. "It's good to get this type of competition, especially in this important year that we have ahead of us. This is my first competition back after the World Championship last year. So just getting the feeling of being back on the mat and especially in a big competition like this."

Bullen decided to wrestle at the Olympic weight class of 62kg at the World Championships and won a bronze medal which also gave her the Olympic quota for Paris. Now, she has a European title in the same weight class. She now hopes to become an Olympic medalist for Norway in Paris.

"It will be some tough six months," she said. "It's already been tough four years for me just getting to the spot of having a ticket to the Olympics. I'm looking forward to enjoying every moment that I have on the training mat. Then I want to work on the small stuff because I just changed weight class. It's been one year and I've done great things in a new place with new athletes that I haven't wrestled when I'm in this weight class. Just getting the opportunity to feel myself and being the Grace that I know I can be and my coaches have the confidence in me to be. Having that in mind, I think we will do good stuff this year just wrestling-wise."

Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN) denied Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) her third Euro title by winning the 53kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

World silver medalist Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN) earned her third European title as she won the gold medal at 53kg, denying Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) her third straight European title.

Kaladzinskaya defeated Malmgren 9-6 at the World Championships but was more dominant in Bucharest, beating her 10-2. Malmgren attempted her big throws and caught Kaladzinskaya in an arm spin twice but failed to score any points.

As soon as Kaladzinskaya was put on the activity clock in the first period, she scored a stepout and scored a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break. Malmgren tried hitting an arm spin but Kaladzinskaya blocked it and went behind to get two points. She hit a double-leg takedown to finally score and cut the lead to 5-2.

With 19 seconds left in the bout, Malmgren tried going deep on Kaladzinskaya's leg but she blocked Malmgren middle of the attack and flung Malmgren to her back for four points. While the pin was not secured as the time ran out, Kaladzinskaya won 10-2, securing her third European title.

Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) celebrates after beating Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) for the 57kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In a battle of two Tokyo Olympic medalists, Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) defeated Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) 7-2 to claim her third European title as well.

The final was off to a slow start to the final, there was only an activity point awarded to Kurachkina who scored a takedown in the second period. Her powerful snaps would trouble Nikolova as she scored her second takedown, and added a third with an ankle pick to lead 7-0. Kurachkina went a little inactive in the final minute of the final which cost her a stepout and a point for fleeing. But it was not enough to stop her from winning the gold medal at 57kg.

Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) won her second straight European title and third overall. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

At 65kg, Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), who was wrestling a weight class up than last year, also won her third European Championships after she defeated Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), a former Ukrainian wrestler in the final.

After a few scrambles in the opening minute, Zelenykh was put on the activity clock and as she tried to a big move on Koliadenko, the Ukrainian blocked the move and scored exposure, getting two points. As the activity period expired, her lead extended to 3-0.

Koliadenko added another takedown to make it 5-0 at the break and a stepout in the second period gave her another point. No more points were scored as Koliadenko won 6-0.

Nesrin BAS (TUR) stepped up and won the 72kg gold medal for Turkiye. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Nesrin BAS (TUR) earned her first senior European gold medal, defeating defending champion and home favorite Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) in a dramatic 72kg final.

Bas blocked Anghel when the Romanian was trying a front roll and then put her back on the mat. The fall was confirmed but Romania challenged as it appeared that the time had expired. A pin can be challenged only for technical reasons such as expiration of time or a foul. The jury confirmed that the fall was called after the time expired. But that delayed the final result as Bas would go on to beat Anghel 5-1.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN) df. Jonna MALMGREN (SWE), 10-2

BRONZE: Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) df. Sztalvira ORSUS (HUN), 3-1
BRONZE: Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) df. Natalia MALYSHEVA (AIN), via fall (6-11)

57kg
GOLD: Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) df. Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), 7-2

BRONZE: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR), 10-6
BRONZE: Anhelina LYSAK (POL) df. Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA), via fall

62kg
GOLD: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Luisa NIEMESCH (GER), 5-4

BRONZE: Yuliia TKACH (UKR) df. Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), 8-6
BRONZE: Veranika IVANOVA (AIN) df. Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE), 9-6

65kg
GOLD: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 6-0

BRONZE: Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) df. Anne NUERNBERGER (GER), 2-1
BRONZE: Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Kadriye AKSOY (TUR), 10-4

72kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU), 5-1

BRONZE: Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) df. Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN), 6-2

#WrestleBudapest: European Championships freestyle bracket reactions

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Bullen brims with confidence after third European gold