NOVI SAD, Serbia (May 2) – Rio 2016 silver medalist Mariya STADNIK (AZE) racked up three technical falls Tuesday and led a pair of teammates from Azerbaijan into the first-day finals of the Senior European Wrestling Championships.
Stadnik cruised into the evening’s championship bouts at Sport Hall Spens with a 10-0 drubbing of Alina VUC (ROU) in the semifinals as she sets her sights on a seventh senior European title at 48kg.
The two-time Olympic Games silver medalist squares off with European under-23 runner-up Ilona SEMKIV (UKR), while Vuc takes on world student silver medalist Anna LUKASIAK (POL) for a bronze medal.
Two of Stadnik’s freestyle teammates – Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (57kg) and Aleksander GOSTIEV (86kg) – followed her into the finals with surprise wins in the semifinals.
Edisherashvili, the 2013 European champion at 55kg for Georgia, forged a 5-1 win over Yarygin Grand Prix titlist Zaur UGUEV (RUS) to earn the berth in the 57kg final opposite Andrei DUKOV (ROU), a bronze medal winner at last year’s championships in Riga.
Gostiev, the runner-up at 86kg last year, advanced to his second championship final with a late takedown for a 3-2 win over Rio 2016 silver medalist Selim YASAR (TUR).
Gostiev will take on Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) in the middleweight final, after the Yarygin champion scored a last-second go-behind in the semifinals for a 4-2 victory over last year’s bronze medal winner Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO).
In the women’s middleweight category of 63kg, Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) scored with big throws to upset 2014 world champion Yulia TKACH (UKR), 6-4 in the quarterfinals and Rio Olympian Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) in the semifinals.
Yusein, in her third European final and first since 2011, takes on Monika MICHALIK (POL), a Rio 2016 bronze medalist who turned 37 on Tuesday as she seeks her first European title since 2009 and fourth overall.
Pairings for Tuesday evening’s medal bouts and semifinal results:
Freestyle
57kg (16 entries)
Gold – Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE) v Andrei DUKOV (ROU)
Bronze – Zoheir EL OUARRAQE (FRA) v Zaur UGUEV (RUS)
Bronze – Levan METREVELI (ESP) v Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Semifinal – Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE) df. Zaur UGUEV (RUS), 5-1
Semifinal – Andrei DUKOV (ROU) df. Suleyman ATLI (TUR), 7-6
86kg (18 entries)
Gold – Aleksander GOSTIEV (AZE) v Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS)
Bronze – Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) v Selim YASAR (TUR)
Bronze – Istvan VEREB (HUN) v Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO)
Semifinal – Aleksander GOSTIEV (AZE) df. Selim YASAR (TUR), 3-2
Semifinal – Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) df. Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO), 4-2
Women’s Wrestling
48kg (15 entries)
Gold – Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) v Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Bronze – Federika PETERSSON (SWE) v Milana DADASHEVA (RUS)
Bronze – Anna LUKASIAK (POL) v Alina VUC (ROU)
Semifinal – Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) df. Milana DADASHEVA (RUS) by TF, 14-4, 5:13
Semifinal – Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Alina VUC (ROU) by TF, 10-0, 0:45
63kg (13 entries)
Gold – Monika MICHALIK (POL) v Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Bronze – Sara DA COL (ITA) v Laura SKUJINA (LAT)
Bronze – Yulia TKACH (UKR) v Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS)
Semifinal – Monika MICHALIK (POL) df. Laura SKUJINA (LAT), 7-2
Semifinal – Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) df. Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS), 16-14
