Armenia ends first day of U20 European Freestyle Wrestling Championships with one finalist and three chances for bronze
- Author: Vahe Hakobyan
- Sportaran
The 2026 U20 European Freestyle Wrestling Championships began in Skopje on July 10. Five members of the Armenian national team took to the mat on the opening day of competition. By the end of the day, one Armenian wrestler had reached the final, while three others remained in contention for bronze medals through the repechage rounds.
The main success of the day for the Armenian team was Aren Hayrapetyan’s qualification for the final in the 65 kg weight category. In a closely contested semifinal, he defeated Azerbaijan’s Bashir Verdiyev 6-5. Hayrapetyan will face Maxim Dimov of Moldova in the gold-medal bout on July 11.
Three more Armenian wrestlers will continue their pursuit of bronze medals. In the 57 kg category, Sasha Petrosyan will compete in the repechage after Ebubekir Gur of Turkey, who defeated him in the round of 16, advanced to the final.
The same applies to Narek Nikoghosyan in the 79 kg category, who lost to eventual finalist Magomed Alibakharchiev of Russia, and Hakob Hakobyan in the 97 kg category. Hakobyan also earned a chance to compete for bronze after his opponent, France’s Askhab Dadaev, reached the final.
At the end of the first day, France and Russia had two finalists each, while Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine were represented by one finalist apiece.
Semifinal results
57 kg
Ebubekir Gur (Turkey) — Giorgi Tsuriashvili (Georgia) — 11-0
Magomed-Salyakh Ozdamirov (Russia) — Muhammad Ismailov (Azerbaijan) — 4-2
65 kg
Maxim Dimov (Moldova) — Khizir Dasiev (France) — 7-7* on last scoring action
Aren Hayrapetyan (Armenia) — Bashir Verdiyev (Azerbaijan) — 6-5
70 kg
Baysangur Bitmurzaev (France) — Zurab Abalaki (Georgia) — 8-8*
Haji Karimov (Azerbaijan) — Ramazan Abdulkadyrov (Russia) — 7-0
79 kg
Bohdan Oleksiienko (Ukraine) — Yasin Uzun (Turkey) — 11-0
Magomed Alibakharchiev (Russia) — Narek Nikoghosyan (Armenia) — 11-0
97 kg
Konstantine Petriashvili (Georgia) — Shamil Tambiev (Russia) — 8-3
Askhab Dadaev (France) — Farhad Suleymanli (Azerbaijan) — 4-2
Final pairings
July 11, starting at 19:00 Moscow time
57 kg
Ebubekir Gur (Turkey) — Magomed-Salyakh Ozdamirov (Russia)
65 kg
Maxim Dimov (Moldova) — Aren Hayrapetyan (Armenia)
70 kg
Baysangur Bitmurzaev (France) — Haji Karimov (Azerbaijan)
79 kg
Bohdan Oleksiienko (Ukraine) — Magomed Alibakharchiev (Russia)
97 kg
Konstantine Petriashvili (Georgia) — Askhab Dadaev (France)
Three Armenian wrestlers will compete in the repechage for the right to contest bronze medals: Sasha Petrosyan at 57 kg, Narek Nikoghosyan at 79 kg and Hakob Hakobyan at 97 kg.
The repechage bouts will take place on July 11 ahead of the evening finals session.