Armenian Wrestler Advances to Semi-Finals at World U-17 Championship

The first day of the World U-17 Wrestling Championship in freestyle, held in Baku, saw one of the three representatives from Armenia secure a spot in the semi-finals. David Balayan (55 kg) won his qualification round with a score of 8:6 against Polish wrestler Maciej Mrozek, while his Mexican opponent in the round of 16 forfeited the match.

In the quarter-finals, the Armenian wrestler defeated Georgian Saba Mindiaashvili with a score of 4:1, advancing to the semi-finals. Eric Papikyann (65 kg) confidently won his qualification round 9:1 against Azerbaijan's Rashid Nazarov, but lost 1:8 in the round of 16 to Russia's Magomed Ibrahimov, thus concluding his participation.

Vahe Aslanyan (80 kg) lost 2:6 to Russian Kanteimir Yelmesov in the qualification round and was eliminated from further competition.

Representing the Armenian U-17 freestyle wrestling team, Murad Garibyan (51 kg), Grisha Gevorgyan (60 kg), and Varuzhan Aslanyan (71 kg) will enter the competition on August 1.

The Armenian U-17 Greco-Roman wrestling team previously participated in the championship with 10 athletes, securing 1 gold and 2 bronze medals. Janes Nazaryan (71 kg) became the U-17 world champion, while Ararat Avetisyan (48 kg) and Gevorg Harutyunyan (51 kg) earned bronze medals.