Greco News

Monday Roundup: CRO & BUL Nationals; Another TUR Camp?

By 5PM Staff

Posted on October 19, 2020

Photo: Bulgarian Wrestling Federation

Bulgaria and Croatia both successfully held their annual national championships over the weekend, joining a growing list of countries that have done the same so far this autumn. It is not yet known or being publicized if the results from BUL and CRO will dictate their respective teams for the Senior World Championships in December, though that is the expectation.

Bulgaria

In the city of Lovech, some 150 kilometers northeast of Sofia, Bulgaria’s nationals went off without a hitch and wrapped up on Sunday with virtually every long-established Senior competitor coming away with individual titles. 2013 World Champion Ivo Angelov (world #10), who celebrated his 36th birthday on Friday, dominated the 60-kilogram field to capture gold without surrendering a single point in four bouts. In the final, Angelov downed Bozhidar Vergilov 8-0 as he locked up yet another gold in an event that has served as a launching pad in past seasons throughout his decade-plus career. ’18 World silver Kiril Milov (97 kg) also added to his collection of domestic trophies, and like Angelov, ran roughshod over the competition. racking up three tech’s en-route to the top spot.

77 kilograms offered the most suspense in the final round with ’18 World bronze Aik Mnatsakanian (world #6 at 72 kg) and ’19 European Championships bronze Stoyan Kubatov going the distance in a bout that could have implications with regard to the Olympic Qualifier next March. Mnatsakanian was unable to generate meaningful offense throughout the contest as Kubatov capitalized early and pressed the issue. Frustration apparently set in for Mnatsaknian, who was behind 5-1 and wound being penalized for cautions, resulting in a disqualification. Multi-time champ Daniel Aleksandrov remained at his customary non-Olympic category of 82 kilos to defeat Radoslav Rusev via technical superiority 9-0.

A potential match-up pitting Angelov versus ’20 European Championships gold/Cadet World medalist — and son of Bulgarian legend Arman Nazaryan — Edmond Nazaryan did not materialize due to the youth suffering a minor injury that held him out of the tournament.

2020 Bulgarian National Championships

October 17-18 — Lovech, BUL

FINAL RESULTS

55 kg: Nedyalko Petrov def. Stefan Grigorov 11-10
60 kg: Ivo Angelov def. Bozhidar Vergilov 8-0, TF
63 kg: Nikolay Vichev def. Augustin Spasov 9-1, TF
67 kg: Konstantin Stas def. David Dimitrov 8-6
72 kg: Krassmir Dormushev def. Nestor Nestorov 9-0, TF
77 kg: Stoyan Kubatov def. Aik Mnatsakanian 5-1 (DQ)
82 kg: Daniel Aleksandrov def. Radoslav Rusev 9-0, TF
87 kg: Tarek Abdelslam def. Ioan Dimitrov 6-1
97 kg: Kiril Milov def. Marian Marinov 8-0, TF
130 kg: Radoslav Georgev def. Ivan Ivanov 3-1

FULL PLACINGS

55 kg

GOLD: Nedyalko Petrov
SILVER: Stefan Grigorov
BRONZE: Miroslav Emilov
BRONZE: Galin Gochev

60 kg

GOLD: Ivo Angelov
SILVER: Bozhidar Vergilov
BRONZE: Mikhail Mikhailov
BRONZE: Tsvetan Sirashki

63 kg

GOLD: Nikolay Vichev
SILVER: Augustin Spasov
BRONZE: Desislav Dormushev
BRONZE: Nicholas Sulev

67 kg

GOLD: Konstantin Stas
SILVER: David Dimitrov
BRONZE: Stoyan Iliev
BRONZE: Svilen Kostadinov

72 kg

GOLD: Krassmir Dormushev
SILVER: Nestor Nestorov
BRONZE: Joro Dobrev
BRONZE: Boyan Ivanov

77 kg

GOLD: Stoyan Kubatov
SILVER: Aik Mnatsakanian
BRONZE: Atanas Kolev
BRONZE: Mikhail Maharadze

82 kg

GOLD: Daniel Aleksandrov
SILVER: Radoslav Rusev
BRONZE: Denis Kukushev
BRONZE: Russian Dermasky

87 kg

GOLD: Tarek Abdelslam
SILVER: Ioan Dimitrov
BRONZE: Vladmir Stoychev
BRONZE: Svetoslav Nikolov

97 kg

GOLD: Kiril Milov
SILVER: Marian Marinov
BRONZE: Radi Nekov
BRONZE: Simeon Stankovic

130 kg

GOLD: Radoslav Georgev
SILVER: Ivan Ivanov
BRONZE: Asen Tabakov
BRONZE: Asen Petrov

Croatia

Multi-time European Championships medalist Dominik Etlinger (72 kg, world #16), Ivan Lizatovic (63 kg), and Bozo Starcevic (82 kg) have two things in common: 1) they are currently three of Croatia’s most accomplished active athletes; 2) as displayed next to their names, not one of them competed in an Olympic weight at the Croatian Nationals, and all three emerged victorious.

Lizatovic, who himself earned a Euro bronze in ’17, benefited from the round-robin five-man bracket if only because it provided him with the opportunity to get four matches, the most he’s had in one tournament this calendar year. In doing so, the 31-year-old seared his way to the final where he put it on Luka Prihistal for the national crown. Lizatovic normally competes at 60 kilograms and it is that weight category to which he will return early next month at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open.

It is a similar story for Etlinger, who collected his 9th career title on Sunday, with one key difference: 72 kilos presented a full 14-man bracket. As expected, Etlinger, 28, was rarely tested en-route to his championship, outdueling Luka Malobabic to put a bow on the weekend.

Like Lizatovic (and Starcevic), Etlinger plans on wrestling in an Olympic weight coming up at the Zagreb GP. Last season, he made 69 kilos for Thor Masters in January and put together one of the finest performances of his Senior tenure. In that event, Etlinger tech’ed out both of Poland’s recent World medalists who occupy 67, Mateusz Bernatek and Gevorg Sahakyan. With his eyes on first reaching the podium in Serbia and then qualifying 67 kilos in March, Etlinger is going to jump back in fold at 67 for Zagreb, which comes attached with a two-kilo allowance. (A follow-up Q&A with Etlinger discussing that event as well as some recent news items to hit Zagreb will be released later this week).

Photo: Fédération Croate de Lutte

Starcevic bypassed 77 in favor of 82, and he had a tough first-round opponent in Filip Sacic. That bout went to Starcevic, who ran the table from then on, defeating Marko Anusic for gold. To Sacic’s credit, he made the most of his repechage and wound up finishing third.

2020 Croatian Senior Championships

October 17-18 — Gospić, CRO

FULL PLACINGS