For about half a century, Vasily Enkhoevich Garmaev has faithfully served the sport of freestyle wrestling in Buryatia. He trained a whole galaxy of famous Buryat wrestlers. Best trainer in freestyle wrestling of the 20th century, Honored Coach of the USSR Dmitry Mindiashvili called him a true patriot of the republic, one of those who “put Buryat wrestling on its feet, created a school that was authoritative throughout the wrestling world.”

Phenomenal organizer

Vasily Garmaev is the son of a front-line soldier who fought from Stalingrad to Berlin, the first master of sports in freestyle wrestling of the republic. The first judge in the All-Union and international categories in freestyle wrestling in Buryatia.

Any decision made by Vasily Enkhoevich becomes final and has no retroactive effect. It is difficult to tear him away from live work. Now he is 77 years old, and he is still in the thick of events in the wrestling fraternity, working as a trainer-methodologist at Children's Sports School-10.

He cannot imagine himself without struggle; it is this love that leads him through life. She makes him become furiously excited, mercilessly criticize mistakes and defend athletes and coaches with his chest.

Everyone knows that Vasily Enkhoevich has phenomenal organizational skills. Thanks to him, the first freestyle wrestling championship of the republic took place.

It was Garmaev who initiated the holding of an international freestyle wrestling tournament in the republic for the prizes of the newspaper “Rural Life” with the participation of national teams from more than 10 countries. This tournament, according to experts, gave a powerful impetus to the development of freestyle wrestling in Buryatia.

And what is his idea about holding open championships of sports societies “Dynamo”, “Burevestnik”, “Spartak”, “Trud”, “Urozhay” worth!

Fight is in the Buryat genes

Vasily Enkhoevich asserted and continues to assert that freestyle wrestling with its specific techniques seems to be specially created for the Buryats: “The ancestral memory of the Buryats, genes, is triggered.”

He was one of the first to train young village wrestlers and opened a section for classical and freestyle wrestling - on a voluntary basis.

In the newspaper “Dzhidinskaya Pravda” Valery Samdanov recalled how in 1962 a young livestock breeder Vasily Garmaev appeared in Beloozersk and immediately opened a freestyle wrestling section in the village. WITH light hand Garmaeva freestyle wrestling has become business card district. In the same year, he organized a historic match between the national teams of wrestlers from the steppe Dzhida and the mountain Tunka.

As first secretary of the district Komsomol committee, he stubbornly stuck to his line: he actively promoted freestyle wrestling, opened and helped to spread the wings of talented youth: Ravil Valeev, Anatoly Budunov, Nikolai Gomboev, Nikolai Mitapov, Tsyden-Dambe Ayusheev, Valery Garmazhapov, Viktor Abusheev, Lubsan

Aisuev. It was he who convinced history teacher Anatoly Tsaganov to become a wrestling coach in Upper Ichetui. And in Petropavlovka I noticed a tall boy Sergei Pashinsky and brought him to the freestyle wrestling section.

It marked the beginning of the traditional sports rivalry between Jida and Mongolia. At his instigation, sports competitions began to be held by profession - among shepherds, machine operators, and agricultural specialists.

He was the first of the Buryatia wrestlers to visit Olympic Games, after which rumors about the wrestler Garmaev spread throughout the Soviet Union. Then, in 1964, on the initiative of Dmitry Mindiashvili, the Komsomol Central Committee encouraged Vasily Garmaev, as the first freestyle wrestling master in Buryatia, with a free Komsomol ticket to the Tokyo Olympics. At that time, it was almost impossible to get to the freestyle wrestling competitions at the Olympics due to the high cost of tickets. The inventive Garmaev wrapped his head in a towel (it turned out to be a kind of turban), joined the Indian delegation and went into the hall. One of his fellow Bayangol residents remarked on this matter: “You can’t imagine a second Vasily Garmaev. It’s a whole phenomenon.”

Having headed the Urozhay children's and sports school in 1976, Vasily Garmaev ensured that not only freestyle wrestling sports schools were opened throughout the republic, but also children's and youth sports schools with departments of chess, checkers, athletics, boxing. And the main subject of his concern was and remains freestyle wrestling.

Through the efforts of trainers V.N. Ivanova, N.S. Ivakhinova, G.B. Baimeeva, F.N. Makhutova, V.M. Sydeeva, V.M. Bumboshkin, the republic's freestyle wrestling team of the 70s-90s was formed. Legendary names - Oleg Alekseev, Gennady Manzhuev, Batotsyren Dashinamzhilov, Ayur Tsyrendorzhiev, Garmazhap Tsyrenov, Munko Tsydypov, Anatoly Leznov, Vladimir Vostretsov, Mikhail Elbaskin, Bair Tsyrengarmaev, Gennady Makhutov, Sergey Pashinsky, Vyacheslav Markhaev, Ilya Garmaev, Boris Budaev , Munko Tsydypov , Dorzho Khaltanov, Sergey Zambalov, Dugar Zhamsuev, Albert Khangalov.

An idea generator, a person with amazing organizational skills, organized several significant freestyle wrestling tournaments. One of his brainchildren is a competition for prizes of the regional Komsomol committee, which grew into a tournament for prizes of the head of Buryatia at an international level.

In the mid-70s, he came up with the idea of ​​organizing an international tournament under the auspices of the newspaper “Rural Life”. Many did not believe that Garmaev would be able to organize such a large-scale tournament in Ulan-Ude, calling him a dreamer. Ah, no. The uniqueness of Garmaev is that many of his seemingly unrealistic ideas were brought to life. He went to Moscow to see the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Selskaya Zhizn, a member of the CPSU Central Committee, and quietly slipped past a security guard. A few minutes later, he calmly went downstairs and convinced the guard to let the then state coach of the sports committee, Klim Olzoev, through.

In a conversation with Alexander Pavlovich Kharlamov, he was so convincing (Siberia needs just such a tournament!) that the editor-in-chief of the popular newspaper had no choice but to give the go-ahead. At the very first tournament for the prizes of the newspaper “Rural Life”, which immediately became international, seven Buryat wrestlers became champions.

"BMK" sums up the performance of the Buryat men's team at the last Russian Championship

Why one medal is not a failure

In the city of Odintsovo, Moscow region, from August 3 to 5, the Russian Freestyle Wrestling Championship took place. The Republic of Buryatia was represented by 11 athletes, one of whom, Dashi Sharastepanov, won bronze medal. In the wrestling communities of Buryatia in in social networks many fans were upset. There were comments with harsh criticism; some considered the result of the championship for the Buryatia team to be a failure.

“BMK” analyzed the results of Buryat wrestlers at the national championships since 2009. One medal as a result of a competition for us is simply quantitative stability. In 2009, in Kazan, Vladimir Vilmov and Bayar Tsyrenov won two bronze medals in the weight category up to 60 kg. Viktor Banzaraktsaev then had 5th place, and in 2010 in Volgograd he had bronze in the weight of 60 kg. Bayar Tsyrenov became fifth. In 2011, in Yakutsk, Alexander Bogomoev won one bronze medal in the up to 57 kg category. In the weight up to 60 kg, Bayar Tsyrenov was fifth again. At the pre-Olympic Russian Championship 2012 in St. Petersburg, two bronze medals in the 60 kg category remained with Bogomoev and Bato Badmaev. Then in 2013 in Krasnoyarsk we again had only one medal, and that was silver award Bazar Zhalsapova weighing 57 kg. Alone again, but Golden medal, from Alexander Bogomoev in the 61 kg weight category, which he won in 2014 in Yakutsk. Only 5th place in the same category went to Viktor Banzaraktsaev. The following year, 2015 in Kaspiysk, the Buryat team won two awards at the Russian Championship - “gold” in the weight category up to 61 kg for Alexander Bogomoev and “bronze” for Evgeniy Zherbaev in the category up to 70 kg. The fifth was Bato Badmaev.

In 2016, Bogomoev was stable in Yakutsk - a gold medal (up to 57 kg). Baldan Tsyzhipov won the second medal, bronze, in the weight category up to 125 kg. Aldar Balzhinimaev and Dashi Sharastepanov were close to the podium, they had fifth places in the weight categories up to 57 and up to 61 kg. At the national championship last year, the only medalist was Tsybik Maksarov (125 kg).

That is, this year would have been a failure if the team had been left without medals at all. Fans are also accustomed to the fact that the leader of the wrestlers of Buryatia, Alexander Bogomoev, brought gold for three years (2014-2016), but now he has been defeated. In 2017, the athlete missed the Championship due to injury.

That's why Bogomoev lost

According to a BMK source close to the Buryat national team, the struggle of the three-time Russian champion and winner of the 2015 Eurocup Alexandra Bogomoeva didn't work out because of his illness.

- Sasha was sick! The day before the start, they cut out boils (acute inflammation - editor's note) on his neck. This greatly affects sports uniform, very relaxes the body. Probably everyone noticed Sasha’s unusual fatigue!– said the source.

For medical reasons, doctors removed the athlete from the competition before the fight for 3rd place. Alexander Bogomoev lost before Magomedrasul Idrisov who became the champion weight category up to 61 kg.

Bogomoev himself refused to comment on his state of health and the reasons for his withdrawal from the competition, neither confirming nor denying information about health problems. The athlete, in a conversation with a BMK correspondent, admitted that, of course, he was upset by this failure.

- No problem at all. There are no excuses in sports, -said Alexander Bogomoev.

- You are still the best, Sasha! Tokyo 2020 is ahead. The main thing is that there are no health problems, get better!- fans of the wrestler write.

Fleeting luck

Buryatia was still able to show at the Russian Championships in Odintsovo decent school struggle. For the first time and successfully at this level, a 20-year-old showed himself Bulat Bayaskholonov. In the up to 61 kg category, he reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Magomedrasul Idrisov, who had just won the fight against Bogomoev, but experience played a role - Idrisov advanced further.

- Bulat fought great! He walked forward, as if he had been given the order “not a step back!” Shooting!” There was not a twinkle in his eyes, but a whole flame, although this was the first championship for 20-year-old Bulat!– said the ex-senior coach of the youth team of Buryatia Bayar Tsyrenov about the struggle of Bulat Bayaskholonov.

- Bayaskholonov reminds Budaev, there is no back speed - impetuous, brave, not afraid to make mistakes, this is his success, I’m proud of his fights,- wrote one of the fans of the Buryat wrestling on Vkontakte.

World, European, Russian and Asian champion Boris Budaev cheers for the wrestlers of Buryatia at the Russian Championship 2018

Many of the Buryatia team showed themselves worthy, but luck seemed to elude the wrestlers. Alexey Sabidaev could well have reached the bronze medal. But he lost one step away from a medal due to a rib injury he received in a previous meeting.

Arsalan Budazhapovalmost reached the final, but in the 1/4 fight with Lapshov, with the score 3:1 in his favor, in the last 10 seconds he missed a hold behind his back and lost with the score 3:3.

Evgeniy Zherbaevin the weight category up to 70 kg, he immediately won the first fight due to the absence of his opponent. Magomedmurad Dadaev did not lose weight. That is, he entered the 1/8 bout with Olympic champion Soslan Ramonov without warming up, while Ramonov had already won two meetings with Abutalim Gamzaev and David Baev before that. As a result, Evgeniy Zherbaev lost to Ramonov, but the judges’ decision can be called controversial.

- Zhenya constantly dominated on the mat, there are no authorities for him, the judges are afraid to show passiveness Olympic champion, the Siberian wrestlers and even the Yakuts clearly lack a “lobbyist”, they brazenly condemn them, even arrange the draw as they want. For some reason, they exempt some from the championship. They let you know in advance that places in the national team have already been reserved. Zherbaev can worthily defend the colors of any team as the first number, as well as Bogomoev, Sharastepanov, Budazhapov, - expressed an opinionBayaskhalan Batoevin the group “Fighters of Buryatia” on VKontakte.

Evgeniy Zherbaev refused to comment on his result. He stated that he would only speak when he started winning. The athlete is upset, but at the same time he previously became the best at the Russian Championship among students in the weight category up to 70 kg and has the right to participate in the World Championship among students in Brazil. Alexey Borovitsky (up to 65 kg) also received a ticket to the world student championship. The competition took place in September.

The fight deserves special attention Bayara Tsyrenova. After the “bronze” of the 2009 Championship, the athlete cannot get into the prizes, remaining one step away from the podium. Three years in a row he reached the semi-finals and lost.

- At this championship, I staged the fight with Goygereev a little wrong. And in the consoling meeting with Yakut Bulatov, the mistake on my part was that I paid more attention to small dirty tricks on his part - he grabbed his fingers, twisted them. It was necessary to answer him in the same way and continue to fight,- said Bayar Tsyrenov.

First, the coach of Zhargalma Tsyrenova admitted that she was caught as a substitute in the Russian championship and was disqualified for two years, and then it became known that two foreign players from Chuvashia were competing for Buryatia.

Overweight substitution

Last year the Russian Championship was held in St. Petersburg. One of the tournament participants was a master of sports international class Zhargalma Tsyrenova, who is part of the national team.

– Zhargalma went a week before the start of the competition. We prepared for the performance in a weight of up to 63 kilograms. The weigh-in for this weight was scheduled for June 10th, as these weights fought on June 11th. During the week that I left earlier, Zhargalma decided to fight in a weight of up to 60 kilograms, she said that she felt good and wanted to fight in this weight, presenting me with a fait accompli over the phone. She did not fulfill my instructions as a personal trainer,” shares Tsydenzhab Balzhinimaevich.

According to the coach, the weigh-in in the weight category up to 60 kilograms took place on June 9, and Zhargalma went to it without his consent. As a result, the athlete was unable to “make” the weight – the advantage was 1,400 grams.

– The judge from Buryatia suggested to Zhargalma that Ulyana Tukurenova, also my student, take the weigh-in instead of her, since the judge from the republic promised all possible support. Our fighters showed cowardice and unscrupulousness that I didn’t understand and agreed. This was a very unpleasant, dishonest act, for which our athletes received a well-deserved punishment. Coaches from other regions noticed the substitution. There was a big scandal. Both of my students were disqualified,” the coach recalls with bitterness.

During the weigh-in, there was Main coach Russian national team Yuri Shakhmuradov, who was extremely indignant and rightly condemned this act. He announced the disqualification of our wrestlers for two years. As a result, Zhargalma missed the championship and the Russian Cup, the main competitions where the national team is formed.

– They stopped paying her salary as a member of the Russian national team. Until January 2017, Zhargalma did not perform anywhere. Only in January 2017 was she allowed to participate in the International Tournament “Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin”, because everyone was allowed there Russian athletes. She was the only one of all the athletes representing the Buryat team to take third place,” Gulgenov continues.

This season, Zhargalma was going to take part in the Grand Prix in Sweden at her own expense, but Shakhmuradov was categorically against it: “Under no circumstances, we will not allow you.”

– Although there was no official document on disqualification. Literally today, the Ministry of Sports of the Republic, separately from other wrestlers who participate in the championship, allocated money to Zhargalma for the Russian championship. At present, the issue of Zhargalma’s participation in the Russian Championship has not yet been finally resolved. How everything will work out is still unclear. To my great regret, I have not trained Zhargalma recently due to the fact that I suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in January and was under treatment until April 21. We are resuming our training. I also really hope that this situation will be resolved, and Zhargalma Tsyrenova will again perform at the very high level, says the wrestler’s coach.

This is not the first time that athletes have tried to cheat at weigh-ins. Recently UFC champion Daniel Cormier lost 540 grams in two minutes. Cormier pulled a stunt that no one on the athletic commission noticed. Both times he weighed himself naked and covered from the public with a towel. The only difference is that the second time the UFC champion leaned his hands on a towel, and thus transferred part of the weight.

Let us remind you that Zhargalma Tsyrenova is a world champion among students, a multiple winner of the Russian Cup, a silver medalist at the European Championship, a Russian champion in 2014, and a winner of the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix.

Exchange of experiences and fighters

If the participation of Zhargalma Tsyrenova remains in question, then 12 other wrestlers from Buryatia are already “sitting on suitcases”. Russian Women's Wrestling Championship this year year will pass in Dagestan, about 150 athletes from 35 regions will take part in the tournament.

Three names stand out in the Buryat national team. This is world sambo champion Anna Shcherbakova, who is not the first time trying to transfer her successes from the tatami to the mat.

Two other surnames, unlike Shcherbakova, are little known to the Buryat public. This is not surprising, because Maria Kuznetsova and Veronika Chumikova grew up in Chuvashia, for which they played. However, since last year, the athletes have been training in Ulan-Ude.

– In 2016, wrestlers from Chuvashia approached the head coach of the Buryat women’s team Andrey Buzin. The athletes expressed a desire to compete for the Buryatia national team and train with us, since, in their opinion, women’s wrestling is very well developed in Buryatia. A little later, the Ministry of Sports of Buryatia was approached by the Ministry of Sports of Chuvashia with an official proposal to join efforts to train representatives of the Republic of Chuvashia Veronica Chumikova and Maria Kuznetsova. These athletes are members of the Russian national team and are well known to the wrestlers of Buryatia from joint training camps and competitions, the Ministry of Sports explains the situation with legionnaires.

As a result, an agreement was signed between Chuvashia and Buryatia, and the coaching council of the Russian Freestyle Wrestling Federation gave the go-ahead for Chumikova and Kuznetsova to move to Buryatia and be employed at the Sports Training Center.

It is interesting that in the official competitions Chumikova and Kuznetsova compete in the double competition: Chuvashia - Buryatia.

– Points are awarded to two regions. The athletes expressed a desire for Buryatia to be mentioned first at the upcoming Russian Championship as part of the double competition, the department explains.

The fact of attracting foreign players to the Buryatia national team aroused the anger of fans on the Internet. However, it must be recalled that without the involvement of athletes from other regions, the republic would not have received Olympic bronze in 2012. Lyubov Volosova was born in the small Khakass village of Tashtyp and moved to Buryatia back in 2004. And her success in London did not bother any of the sports fans in our region.

By the way, in this composition of the Buryatia national team there are enough foreign players in addition to the Chuvash duet. Stalvira Orshush moved from the Irkutsk region, and Nina Menkenova brings medals not only to Buryatia, but also to her native Kalmykia.

Lev Khandazhapov, “Number One”
Photo: Federation wrestling RF

One of the legendary wrestlers of Buryatia is Nima Sosorovich Ivakhinov. For many years he had no equal on the mat, winning the championships of Buryatia, the USSR, international competitions, major tournaments in Mongolia and other countries.

To begin with, let's give short biography famous wrestler. Nima Sorovich was born in November 1938 in the village of Khurlik, Tunkinsky district of Buryatia, in the vicinity of the village of Arshan, on the banks of the Tunka River. Graduated high school in the village of Kyren, later studied to become a veterinarian at the Buryat Agricultural Academy, where he actively devoted himself to sports.

Nima Ivakhinov was involved in wrestling from an early age, because this is a national men's competition of the Buryats. But initially he was going to connect his life not with wrestling, but with boxing. According to Nima Sosorovich, in those years wrestling was not yet popular as a sport, while boxing was practiced everywhere.

When I was still at school, I beat a bag of sawdust for three years, so my blow is very powerful. It was fashionable then, there was no trace of freestyle wrestling, only classical wrestling here and there,” recalls the sports veteran.

But health problems prevented him from becoming a boxer. Doctors discovered a heart murmur, and although Nima Ivakhinov did not feel any problems, he had to give up the boxing path.

I was kicked out of boxing. Coach Alexander Badmazhapov was very upset when I was forbidden to go. But in wrestling there was no such thorough medical examination, only one medical examination and that was it. And in boxing, before each competition you have to undergo an examination,” says Nima Sosorovich.

So he had to devote himself to the fight. According to him, although he wrestled in rural surkharbans from a young age, he became closely involved in wrestling at the institute, around 1962, when he began to engage in Greco-Roman or classical wrestling.

Returning to Tunka to work as a livestock specialist on a collective farm, Nima Sosorovich managed to interest his peers in Greco-Roman wrestling and organized the first wrestling section in the village of Galbay, equipping a gym in an empty house. Young enthusiasts themselves sewed mats from tarpaulin and filled them with sawdust, and built a stove. Soon, together with the physical education teacher of the Kyrensky boarding school, Sayan Shokhonov, they organized the Tunkinsky district championship in Greco-Roman wrestling. Later, having already moved to Ulan-Ude, Nima Sosorovich was one of the founders of the children's and youth wrestling team sports school(now SDUSSHOR-7), organized a wrestling section at VSTI (now VSGUTU), where he worked as a physical education teacher.

Later, when freestyle wrestling began to gain popularity in Buryatia, Nima Ivakhinov began to engage in it. Among his many victories, he recalls the USSR championship among rural athletes, which he won in 1965. And the most memorable, in his words, were the interregional competitions in which Irkutsk, Chita, and Tuva took part. Since then, there have been victories in a variety of tournaments, be it regional surkharbans, or international tournaments held abroad. Now Nima Sosorovich is an honored coach, master of sports. It's already sunset sports career Nima Sosorovich competed at the veterans tournament in Canada, where he won bronze. At that time he was 55 years old.

After becoming a coach, Nima Sosorovich trained many champions. Among them are such famous athletes as Russian champion Vladimir Aktinov and his brother Leonid Aktinov, a master of all types of wrestling, be it freestyle, classical or judo. Or Syren Arduev, who in 1968 was the first to fulfill the master of sports standard in rural conditions, and replaced his mentor after he moved to Ulan-Ude. Or international master of sports Maxim Molonov.

The strongest was Nikolai Ivanov. He did everything he needed – he won everything,” recalls Nima Sosorovich.

Now the honored athlete has been retired for many years. According to Nima Sosorovich, at 78 he feels vigorous for his age.

I still have heart murmurs, but I don’t feel any weakness. “I feel fine, although I’m already 79 years old,” says the elderly wrestler.

According to him, wrestling gave him a lot, strengthening his character and improving his health. And one day a hobby combat sports saved his life.

I lived in Ulan-Ude on Shishkovka, there are a lot of hooligans there. One evening I was walking and a guy wanted to stab me with a knife. I simply put my hand out with a machine gun, and immediately hit him in the jaw, knocking him down,” recalls Nima Ivakhinov.

One might add that he is familiar with another famous wrestling coach from Tunka, Syren-Dorzhi Andrenov, and his student, deaf Olympic champion Alexander Tsoktoev. Nima Sosorovich is also familiar with the ex-head of the Tuninsky district, entrepreneur and head of the RPO “Kita” Andrei Samarinov.

Andrei Samarinov was raised by my cousin Sosor Sanzheevna in Mondy when he studied there,” says Nima Ivakhinov.

The famous philanthropist Andrei Samarinov provided sponsorship to his chess-playing granddaughters, Inna and Nadezhda. Nima Sosorovich is very proud of the successes of her granddaughters: Inna Ivakhinova won the European Youth Championships twice, Nadezhda also achieved a lot in chess, becoming a FIDE master. The elderly wrestler is very glad that his granddaughters devoted themselves to chess. He did not approve of the idea that they could follow in his footsteps by doing women's wrestling.

What kind of fight? When women fight, it’s very bad,” says Nima Sosorovich.

Let us note that in 1976, Nima Sosorovich moved to Ulan-Ude after he was given an apartment. However, he often travels to the Tunkinsky district to visit his relatives, who now live in the village of Arshan. The honored athlete greatly admires the nature of the Tunkinsky region, especially its springs, which heal various ailments.

We have many different healing springs. Previously, healers-lamas knew which source cured which disease, and put tags there. One of these lamas died at the age of 92, the doctor Baiminov, a relative of the businessman Baiminov, says Nima Ivakhinov.

Monitoring events in his small homeland, the honored athlete knows about the conflict that split the Tunkinsky district into two camps after last year’s presidential elections. But famous wrestler avoids political strife. “I don’t go there and I don’t support anyone,” says Nima Sosorovich. He sincerely wishes his fellow countrymen to overcome differences and come to reconciliation. The honored athlete also has wishes for the residents of Buryatia as a whole.

I want to wish everyone health and family happiness, so that there will be children and grandchildren. My great-grandson is running around here, my granddaughter is rattling dishes. And I would like young athletes to train regularly. There is always time for training. You don’t have to put too much effort into it, but training should be regular,” says Nima Ivakhinov.