On March 8, the European Freestyle Wrestling Championship for athletes under 23 years old (U23) kicked off in Tirana. On the first day of the competition, finalists were determined in five weight categories: 57 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 79 kg, and 97 kg.
None of the Armenian wrestlers managed to reach the finals, but two earned the right to compete for bronze medals through the repechage rounds. These are Hayk Abrahamyan (65 kg) and Sergey Sargsyan (97 kg).
The final pairs for the first day of the U23 European Freestyle Wrestling Championship are as follows:
Up to 57 kg:
Nika Zangaladze (Georgia) – Lev Pavlov (Russia).
Up to 65 kg:
Abdullah Toprak (Turkey) – Amal Dzhangubaev (Russia).
Up to 70 kg:
Magomed-Emi Eltemirov (Russia) – Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan).
Up to 79 kg:
Arsen Balayan (Russia) – Farid Jabbarov (Azerbaijan).
Up to 97 kg:
Bady-Maadyr Samdan (Russia) – Vladislav Kozlov (Belarus).
Results of the Armenian national team wrestlers:
57 kg:
Quarterfinal: Norik Harutyunyan (Armenia) – Bekir Kesser (Turkey) 5:8.
65 kg:
1/8 Final: Hayk Abrahamyan (Armenia) – Abdullah Toprak (Turkey) 2:7.
Hayk Abrahamyan will continue in the repechage rounds, as Abdullah Toprak advanced to the final.
70 kg:
1/16 Final: Vladimir Azaryan (Armenia) – Márton Varga (Hungary) 8:3.
1/8 Final: Vladimir Azaryan (Armenia) – Kaloyan Atanasov (Bulgaria) –11.
97 kg:
1/8 Final: Sergey Sargsyan (Armenia) – Abduljalil Shabanov (Azerbaijan) 11:3.
Quarterfinal: Sergey Sargsyan (Armenia) – Vladislav Kozlov (Belarus).
Sergey Sargsyan will continue in the repechage rounds, as Vladislav Kozlov advanced to the final.
Thus, tomorrow, 7 wrestlers from the Armenian national team will compete: two in the repechage rounds, and five will begin their tournament matches:
61 kg: Levik Mikayelyan.
74 kg: Narek Nikoghosyan.
86 kg: Razmik Yepremyan.
92 kg: Knyaz Iboyan.
125 kg: Khachatur Khachatryan.