Bucharest, Romania (April 5th) – For Grappling fans and competitors the European Championship is one of the most looked forward to events of the year. With all major European teams having the event circled on their calendar, the athletes show up in top shape to try and claim this year's title. This year proved to be one of the best championships yet with many thrilling matches, big throws, and slick submissions. After 4 years under the new ruleset, teams and competitors had been able to fully prepare for the event and it showed in the matches!
16 nations sent their teams in an effort to claim the 2019 European title. France sent a young and talented team but, fell just short of traditional powerhouse Russia on Day 1 in Men’s No-Gi. Russia secured the Men’s No-Gi Grappling by claiming 6 of 7 individual gold medals. Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) made sure that France did not leave without any gold by winning the 62KG title. He battled through a challenging bracket before meeting Dmytro Baranov (UKR) in the final. After a feeling out period on the feet DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) shot in a for a single leg takedown before jumping on the back. In the following scramble DE OLIVEIRA (FRA) locked in a nasty triangle choke and forced the tap.
Men’s No-Gi Team Result:
1.) Russia- 190 points
2.) France- 98 points
3.) Ukraine- 73 points
4.) Poland- 71points
5.) Romania- 44 points
In Women’s No-Gi Action all eyes were on the race between Russia and Ukraine for team gold. It proved to come down to the wire with Russia winning with 90 team points to Ukraine's 85 points. In the contest for the team bronze medal, Italy just edged out Poland by 2 points for the title. France’s team finished in 5th place, showing that they ready to go neck in neck with the best of Europe in the near future.
Svitlana SKRYPNYK (UKR) won 1 of 2 Gold medals in Women’s No-Gi for Ukraine. She made it to the finals of 53KG by beating home town favorite Madalina LINGURARU (ROU) in the Semifinal. The finals match against Oxana MOSKALENKO (RUS), she showed off her takedowns and guard passing to score 12 unanswered points, the exclamation point came when she pressured her way into the mount position in the final moments of the match.
Women’s No-Gi Team Result:
1.) Russia- 90 Points
2.) Ukraine- 85 Points
3.) Italy- 60 Points
4.) Poland- 58 Points
5.) France- 53 Points
The action picks up again today with Gi Grappling. Catch all the matches live on United World Wrestling, with Finals matches starting at the 6pm local time.
