NOVI SAD, Serbia (May 7) – World champion Balint KORPASI and Rio 2016 Olympian Viktor LORINCZ each won their first continental crowns on Sunday and paced Hungary to the Greco-Roman team title at the European Senior Wrestling Championships.
Wrestling on the final day of the weeklong event at Spens Sport Hall, Korpasi defeated world student champion Pavel LIAKH (BLR), 4-0, in the 71kg final and Lorincz capped the week’s events with a 3-2 triumph over Metehan BASAR (TUR) in the tourney finale at 85kg.
Between the two gold medals, Hungary also picked up a bronze medal from Viktor’s older brother, Tamas, who rebounded from a loss in the semifinals at 75kg, to register a victory by fall over former European junior runner-up Mihail BRADU (MDA).
Set up by four teammates in the medal matches on Saturday, the medals won by Korpasi and the Lorincz brothers lifted Hungary to the team title with 57 points, followed by perennial champion Russia with 51. Belarus was a distant third with 43 points.
In the other two finals, 2015 All-African Games gold medalist for Egypt Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL) celebrated his new life in Bulgaria with a triumph at 75kg in the semifinals against Lorincz and in the gold medal final over 2014 world champion Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS).
Abdelsalam stepped over an attempted chest-to-chest throw by Labazanov late in the bout to secure a 5-1 win.
At 80kg, last year’s champion at 75kg, Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) came out of a scramble with Radik KULIEV (BLR) with a 3-1 advantage and a 4-2 victory at 6:00.
Bronze medal matches – GR 71, 75, 80 & 85kg
At 71kg, Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) dragged behind for a takedown against Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA) early in second period for a 2-1 victory and the bronze medal.
Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) got rolling early in the first period with a go-behind takedown and gut wrench, cruising to a technical fall, 9-1, over Murat DAG (TUR) at 2:11.
At 75kg, Kazbek KILOV (BLR) wrapped up an 11-0 technical fall with a series of gut wrench turns over Ruhin MIKHAILOV (AZE) while Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) scored with an arm throw and then dropped Mihail BRADU (MDA) for the fall at 2:57.
At 80kg, world silver medalist Aslan ATEM (TUR) rallied from five points down in the second period for a 6-5 win over Edgar BABAYAN (POL), capped with a spin behind with only five seconds remaining in the bout.
Adlan AKIEV (RUS), runner-up to Datunashvili at the prestigious Poddubny tourney in January, locked up with Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) and arched him over and out of bounds in the closing seconds for a 3-1 victory.
At 85kg, Nikolai BAYRAKOV (Bul) fashioned a lackluster 2-0 win over Eerik APS (EST) for one bronze medal, while Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) and Yuri SKRYUBA (UKR) battled to a1-0 win for Azizsir.
Results from Sunday evening’s medal matches and semifinals:
Greco-Roman
71kg (27 entries)
Gold – Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Pavel LIAKH (BLR), 4-0
Bronze – Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) df. Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA), 2-1
Bronze – Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) df. Murat DAG (TUR) by TF, 9-1, 2:11
Semifinal – Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA) df. Pavel LIAKH (BLR), 4-2
Semifinal – Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Abulazid MANTSIGOV (RUS), 2-1
75kg (22 entries)
Gold – Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL) df. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS), 4-1
Bronze – Kazbek KILOV (BLR) df. Ruhin MIKHAILOV (AZE) by TF, 11-1, 4:15
Bronze – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Mihail BRADU (MDA) by Fall, 2:57 (8-0)
Semifinal – Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) df. Ruhin MIKHAILOV (AZE), 4-1
Semifinal – Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL) df. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), 5-2
80kg (17 entries)
Gold – Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) df. Radik KULIEV (BLR), 4-2
Bronze – Aslan ATEM (TUR) df. Edgar BABAYAN (POL), 6-5
Bronze – Adlan AKIEV (RUS) df. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 3-1
Semifinal – Radik KULIEV (BLR) df. Aslan ATEM (TUR), 2-0
Semifinal – Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) df. Adlan AKIEV (RUS), 2-1
85kg (18 entries)
Gold – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR), 3-2
Bronze – Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) df. Eerik APS (EST), 2-0
Bronze – Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) df. Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR), 1-0
Semifinal – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL), 2-0
Semifinal – Metehan BASAR (TUR) df. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER), 3-3
