Armenian Wrestlers Achieve Their Best U23 European Championship in History

The 2026 U23 European Wrestling Championship concluded on March 15 in Zrenjanin. At the continental youth championship, the Armenian national team won 8 medals — 3 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze. In addition, Armenian teams finished among the leaders in the team standings: 2nd place in Greco-Roman wrestling and 3rd place in freestyle wrestling.

Why the 2026 Tournament Became Historic

Although the 2026 tournament was not Armenia’s best in terms of the total number of medals, it became the most successful in terms of quality of results. First, Armenia finished in the team medal standings in both wrestling styles for the first time. Second, Armenian wrestlers won three gold medals for the first time.

Previously, the 2021 championship had been considered Armenia’s best performance. That year Armenia achieved major success in Greco-Roman wrestling. The team included current stars Malkhas Amoyan and Hrachya Poghosyan, who won gold medals, as well as David Ovasapyan, Gevorg Tadevosyan, and Samvel Grigoryan, who are now members of the senior national team.

Armenia’s History at U23 European Wrestling Championships

The U23 European Championships have been held since 2015.

2026 — 8 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze)
2nd place Greco-Roman, 3rd place freestyle.

2025 — 5 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
6th place Greco-Roman, 5th place freestyle.

2024 — did not participate (tournament held in Baku)

2023 — 10 medals (4 silver, 6 bronze)
5th place Greco-Roman, 4th place freestyle.

2022 — 7 medals (2 silver, 5 bronze)
5th place Greco-Roman, 4th place freestyle.

2021 — 10 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze)
2nd place Greco-Roman, 6th place freestyle.

2020 — tournament canceled due to the pandemic

2019 — 3 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
11th place Greco-Roman, 7th place freestyle.

2018 — 5 medals (5 bronze)
8th place Greco-Roman, 6th place freestyle.

2017 — did not participate (tournament held in Hungary)

2016 — did not participate (tournament held in Bulgaria)

2015 — 4 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
9th place Greco-Roman, 5th place freestyle.

Armenian Champions and Medalists

In 2026, the champions were Greco-Roman wrestlers Aramais Harutyunyan (130 kg) and Suren Aghajanyan (60 kg), as well as freestyle wrestler Levik Mikaelyan (61 kg), who became a two-time U23 European champion.

The only silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling was won by Samvel Terteryan (77 kg). He came very close to winning gold but lost to a Russian wrestler 1:1 on criteria (first point scored). It is worth noting that Samvel is only 19 years old and was competing at the U23 level for the first time.

Bronze medals in freestyle wrestling were won by:

• Khachatur Khachatryan (125 kg)

• Arman Harutyunyan (57 kg)

• David Margaryan (70 kg)

In Greco-Roman wrestling, the bronze medal was won by Manvel Khachatryan (55 kg).

There could have been even more medals. At least bronze medals were expected in freestyle from Arman Musikyan (65 kg) and last year’s vice-champion Knyaz Iboyan (92 kg). In Greco-Roman wrestling, Ashot Khachatryan (72 kg) was also expected to compete for a medal but finished 5th.

One of the Greco-Roman team leaders, Vigen Nazaryan (87 kg), performed unsuccessfully. Already part of the senior national team, he faced a strong Georgian opponent Achiko Bolkvadze in his first match and lost.

The most surprising success came in the super heavyweight category (130 kg) in Greco-Roman wrestling. Aramais Harutyunyan, who had never previously medaled at European or World Championships, confidently defeated all his opponents.

Armenia had never had a U23 European champion in the super heavyweight category before, although David Hovhannisyan came close in 2021, winning silver.

Suren Aghajanyan’s Dominance

The most dominant wrestler on the Armenian team was Suren Aghajanyan, who won all four of his matches early.

In the final, he confidently defeated Georgian Giorgi Kochalidze 9:0.
In the semifinal, he beat Denmark’s Brian Santiago 9:1.
In the quarterfinal, Aghajanyan secured a dramatic victory by fall against Poland’s Olivier Skripczak (10:8 + fall). During the second period, the coaches had to work hard to “wake the beast” in Suren — fortunately they succeeded, and after that he became unstoppable.
In the opening match, he quickly defeated France’s Ilian Ainaoui 9:0.

The total time of all four matches was just 8 minutes and 48 seconds, making it one of the most dominant performances of the tournament.

All results and matches of Armenian wrestlers can be found in our dedicated wrestling section.

The next major tournament will take place April 20–26 — the 2026 European Wrestling Championships for seniors.

Meanwhile, tomorrow, March 17, Yerevan will host the U20 international freestyle tournament named after Leva Vardanyan.

Thus, the 2026 U23 European Championship became the most successful tournament in the history of the Armenian youth national team, demonstrating that a new strong generation of wrestlers is emerging.

The U23 team is the closest reserve for the national team, and in the coming years many of these athletes are expected to move up to the senior squad and compete for Olympic qualification spots.

While Suren Aghajanyan, Manvel Khachatryan, and Aramais Harutyunyan may already compete for places in the senior team, Samvel Terteryan will likely have to wait. The 77 kg category currently features one of the biggest stars of world wrestling — Malkhas Amoyan.