Bronze medalists of the European Championship-2025 with their coach (from left to right - Greco-Roman wrestlers Artem Deleanu, Victor Ciobanu, Vitalii Eremenko and Alexander Solovei, second from left - coach Mihail Cucul) Photo © facebook.com
The only silver medal was won by the world champion and two-time European champion, 23-year-old Irina Ryngach. She defeated Eniko Elekes in the quarterfinals of the competition in the weight category up to 65 kg. The fight ended in a 2:2 draw, but thanks to the fact that Ryngach was the last to win a point, it was she who advanced to the next stage. In the semifinals, Irina Kolyadenko from Ukraine (11:0) was broken almost without resistance.
In the final fight, the Moldovan athlete fought for the medal of the highest dignity with Grace Bullen. A year earlier the representative of Norway won a gold medal at the European Championships in Bucharest, but in a lighter weight category – up to 62 kg. Despite a tight fight, Irina Ryngach lost the fight with the score 8:11. It is worth mentioning that the native of the village of Sărăcica Veke, Leova district, climbed the podium of the continental championships for the 5th time in a row and improved her last year’s result (bronze medal).
The second medal for the national team of Moldova was brought by Mariana Dragutan, who took the 3rd place. In the 1/4 finals she defeated Amaury Andrich (Germany) with the score 3:2, but in the semifinals she was defeated by Frenchwoman Tatiana Debien (0:10), who became the vice-champion of Europe. In the fight for the bronze medal in the weight category up to 55 kg the 25-year-old native of Straseni left no chance to Rosa Szentamasi from Hungary (7:4). During the year she has slightly worsened her result – at the previous World Championships she became the silver medalist of the European Championships.
Nina Bodisteanu failed to overcome the 1/4 finals stage in the weight category up to 62 kg. The victory over Iris Mathilde Thibault from France (5:2) was followed by the defeat of Louise Helga Nimesh (1:11). At the end of the competition, the 28-year-old athlete took 7th place.
In the weight category up to 59 kg Mariana Kerdivare-Eşanu in her only fight at the tournament lost to Bediha Gün (Turkey) with the score 0:2. The 32-year-old native of Calarasi district, the 2017 European vice-champion, was initially placed in the main draw of the tournament due to the fact that she is ranked 13th in the world ranking. Her teammates Emilia Krechun, Maria and Julia Leorda had to overcome the qualification round, but they lost to their opponents.
Michaela Samoil, who won the silver medal at the European Youth Championships in March, was unable to do anything against Solomiya Vinnik (Ukraine) and lost in the qualification round with the score 0:10.
The Moldovan women’s wrestling team took the 6th place out of 24 in the final team standings. Our athletes scored the same number of points as the French and Germans (53), but according to additional indicators they were in the middle. Ukraine topped the ranking (180 points), followed by Turkey (158), Romania (79) and Poland (54).
Greco-Roman wrestlers became the most effective in our national team. Artem Deleanu (up to 55 kg), Victor Ciobanu (up to 60 kg), Vitalii Eremenko (up to 63 kg) and Alexander Solovei (up to 77 kg) won bronze medals.
Last year’s European champion Artem Deleanu failed to defend his title in Bratislava. In the 1/4 finals he defeated Denis Florin Mihai (Romania) 7:1, but in the semifinals he lost to Emin Sefershaev (Russia), who competed in neutral status and eventually won the gold medal. In the fight for the bronze medal in the weight category up to 55 kg, 26-year-old Delianu confidently defeated Arnold Magala from Slovakia (8:0).
In the weight category up to 60 kg, world champion (2021) and European champion (2019) Victor Ciobanu won the bronze medal in a duel with Amiran Shavadze from Georgia (10:0) after a major defeat by Azerbaijan’s Nihat Mammadli (0:8), who later became European champion.
Vitaly Eryomenko, who won the gold medal at the European Youth Championships in March, lost to Kerem Kamal of Turkey (0:9) in the 1/4 finals, but returned to the medal fight after defeating Tino Tapio Ojala of Finland (6:0). In the fight for the bronze medal he lost to Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan) on technical points (2:3), but he performed a touché and got 5 qualification points, reinforced by the higher position of the Moldovan athlete in the world ranking (2nd for Eremenko and 10th for Mammadov).
Alexandru Solovei brought the national team of Moldova the fifth bronze medal at the World Championships in the weight category up to 77 kg. He started his tournament journey with a defeat in a duel with future European champion Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia), but then won two victories in a row – over Mateusz Bernatek (Poland) with the score 10:8 and Hayk Mnatsakanyan (3:1), a native of Russia, who received the sports citizenship of Bulgaria.
Other wards of Mikhail Kukul – Valentin Petik (up to 67 kg), Mikhail Petik (up to 72 kg) and Mikhail Bradu (up to 82 kg) – took 9th, 7th and 11th places respectively. Closest to the medal fight was 25-year-old Mikhail Petik, who defeated Ivo Iliev (Bulgaria) 9:3 in the 1/8 finals. In the 1/4 finals he lost to naturalized French wrestler of Egyptian origin Ibrahim Ghanem (0:8), and in the additional qualifying round – to Mehmet Sahin from Turkey (2:5).
Our Greco-Roman wrestling team took the final 7th place among 33 national teams, earning 60 points. The national team of Azerbaijan topped the ranking (151), Turkey – 2nd (110), Hungary with 104 points closed the top three.
Freestyle wrestlers did not win a single medal. However, high performance of Leonid Kolesnik (up to 61 kg), Ion Laurenciu Marcu (up to 79 kg), Evgeny Mihalchan (up to 86 kg) and Radu Lefter (up to 97 kg), who lost to their rivals in a tight fight for bronze medals, allowed the national team to place 6th among 26 national teams represented in this discipline.
The national freestyle wrestling team has 58 points – 4 more than France. The national teams of Azerbaijan (119), Georgia (114) and Turkey (73) topped the team standings.
The next major tests for athletes represented in Olympic wrestling will be the European Games (July 23-26 in Lyon, France) and the World Championships, which will be hosted by Zagreb, Croatia, from September 13-21.
