Richard Karelson takes silver in U23 European wrestling champs
Estonian wrestler Richard Karelson battled his way to a silver medal at the Under 23 European Championships in Tirana, Albania, after going down to Ukraine's Yehor Yakushenko in the -97 kg Greco-Roman men's final on Friday.
Karelson had beaten Luka Katić (Serbia), Ionut Gosa (Romania), and Luka Gabisonia (Georgia) in the preceding rounds, in the latter case winning 9:0.
At Friday's final, the Estonian took an early lead, earning a point for activity, but was unable to gain additional points in the parterre position.
The first half ended with Karelson holding a one-point advantage.
In the second bout, the Ukrainian also earned a point for activity and managed to gain an additional 2+1 points in the parterre position.
Neither wrestler scored any additional points in standing wrestling, meaning the final match ended with a 4:1 victory for Yakushenko.
Karelson's road to the final was marked by three strong victories.
Yakushenko took gold, while Gabisonia and Abubakar Haslahhanov (Belarus) shared bronze.
Other Estonian wrestlers faced a tougher path in the competition.
In the -72 kg category, Artur Jeremejev finished 12th.
In the -82 kg category, Ekke Kõu Leitham finished 16th, while Eerik Pank ranked 12th in the -130kg category.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
