Seventy-one Greco-Roman wrestlers in four weight categories were whittled down to four national champions and 12 podium winners during the June 21-22 Greco-Roman wrestling Championship in Karaganda.
In the 66-kilogramme weight category, Ashat Zhanbyrov of South Kazakhstan region won the title. Astana wrestler Almat Kepisbaev took silver and Almaty region representative Nurtai Nurgaliyev and Aktobe representative Nurtas Utepbergen shared third place on the podium.
In the 75-kilogramme category, Astana resident Doszhan Kartikov won gold, Rashid Kochiyev finished second and Marat Kozhapas from Almaty along with Askhat Dilmukhamedov of the Almaty region shared third place.
Karaganda native Andrei Samokhin became the only champion from the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. In the 85-kilogramme weight category, he won the final match against Almaty resident Alkhazur Ozdiev. Yerbol Raimbekov of Astana and Almaty wrestler Sayat Sarmanbekov were awarded bronze medals.
In the heavyweight category up to 130-kilogrammes, international class master of sports Abdumalik Sartbayev from the Mangistau region took gold. Silver went to Esengeldy Zhalgasbayev of the Kyzylorda region. Representatives from the Kostanai region and Almaty Talgat Zhientaev and Damir Kuzembaev won bronze.
The championship was a qualifying tournament. The event’s gold medalists will now participate in the XVII Summer Asian Games in South Korea and the silver medalists will participate in the upcoming World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
