Brawl costs wrestlers European Games medals

Brawl costs wrestlers European Games medals

Published Jun. 17, 2015 11:10 a.m. ET

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) Two wrestlers threw away their medal chances at the European Games on Wednesday when their bout degenerated into punches and a head-butt.

As Georgia's Vladimer Khinchegashvili and Belarusian Vladislav Andreev faced off in their men's 57-kilogram freestyle semifinal, tempers became heated shortly after the mid-match break, and both swung punches.

As the referee moved in, Khinchegashvili head-butted Andreev, who did not appear badly hurt.

Both were disqualified, and a new semifinal held between their defeated quarterfinal opponents.

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That opened the way for lucky loser Marcel Ewald of Germany to reach the final, where he took silver, losing on points to Russian Viktor Lebedev.

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