Defending U17 world champion Janes Nazaryan has reached the final of the U17 World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Baku without conceding a single point, while U17 European bronze medalist Ararat Avetisyan has won Armenia’s first medal of the tournament with bronze at 48 kg.
Nazaryan, competing at 71 kg, won all 4 of his bouts by technical superiority for a combined score of 34:0. He wrestles Russia’s Aslan Dzuev for the world title on Wednesday, July 29, at Baku’s National Gymnastics Arena. It will be his second consecutive world final, after taking gold at 65 kg in Athens last year and moving up a weight class for Baku.
He beat Norway’s Martin Letvik 8:0 in 1 minute and 24 seconds, threw Turkey’s Resit Yuruk for a 9:0 win in the round of 16, and closed out Hungary’s Ervin Czuczor 9:0 in the quarterfinals and Bulgaria’s Kristiyan Krastev 8:0 in the semifinal. The Turkish corner’s challenge in the round of 16 was rejected, adding a further point to the Armenian’s score.
Nazaryan won the U17 European Championships earlier this year by a combined 37:0, meaning no opponent has scored on him at either tournament. Dzuev, the reigning European champion at 65 kg, has also moved up to 71 kg and beat Armenia’s Zaven Mejlumyan 6:3 in the European final.
Avetisyan claimed Armenia’s bronze at 48 kg with an early 8:0 win over Hungary’s Benedek Tombor. The Armenian flag was raised in Baku during the medal ceremony. He finished 13th at last year’s championships, competing at 45 kg.
Trailing Mexico’s Hector Aguilar 2:7 after the first period of his opening bout, Avetisyan won 14:7, then defeated Asian silver medalist Javokhir Sharifboev of Uzbekistan 9:3 in the quarterfinals. Kazakhstan’s Ali Almas ended his run to the final, winning the semifinal 4:1 with a turn from par terre after an Armenian challenge was denied.
Vazgen Mnatsakanyan finished 5th at 65 kg after losing the bronze-medal bout 3:2 to Hungary’s Imre Juhasz. He had won 3 straight to reach the semifinals, opening with a 7:4 victory over Iran’s Armin Goli Galeh, scoring 4 points in the closing seconds.
The only Armenian-Azerbaijani bout of the Greco-Roman competition came at 51 kg. Gevorg Harutyunyan opened the day by beating Hungary’s Sandor Kurdi 9:0 in 55 seconds, then held the lead inside the final minute of his quarterfinal against returning world bronze medalist Abdurrahman Huseynli before the Azerbaijani corner challenged. The review reversed the score, Huseynli took the bout 6:4, and he will wrestle for gold.
Six other Armenian wrestlers were eliminated. Reigning U17 European champion Vahe Hoveyan won 2 bouts at 80 kg before losing his quarterfinal to Lithuania’s Benediktas Bubelevicius, and Khachik Khachatryan beat Latvia’s Viesturs Kilkens 3:0 at 110 kg before falling 8:0 to eventual finalist Bruno Pallone of the United States. Gegham Yeghiazaryan won 9:0 at 55 kg before losing 9:0 to Belarus’s Tsimafei Semianenka, Vazgen Vardanyan lost 4:1 to American Rylen Wax at 45 kg, Artush Petrosyan lost 12:4 to American Cooper Mathews at 60 kg, and European silver medalist Aleksan Shaljyan lost 3:1 to Turkey’s Yusuf Aksu at 92 kg.
Armenia’s delegation is the first from the country to compete at a tournament in Azerbaijan since the 2015 European Games in Baku, an absence of 11 years. Participation remained in doubt until the final days before the tournament over security concerns, and Armenia’s entry was absent from the competition’s official website for an extended period.
The team is represented by 16 wrestlers, 10 in Greco-Roman under head coach Gagik Khachatryan and 6 in freestyle.
The Greco-Roman competition concludes on Wednesday. The freestyle tournament begins on Friday, July 31, and runs through Sunday, August 2.
