Late Basavaiah Wrestling Committee had organised a National-level Wrestling Tournament at BGS Stadium in K.G. Koppal here yesterday, with 45 pairs vying for the honour. Santosh Darod of Kolhapur was adjudged the winner in the ‘Mar-pit’ (fight to finish) Wrestling, walking away with the Late Basavaiah Trophy and a silver mace.

The bout between Santosh Darod and Sunil Chotiyala (Army) was really fierce and exciting with Santosh Darod defeating Sunil Chotiyala after a 13-minute-long fight.

However, the one-hour-long bout between Kartik Kate and Praveen Bola of Davangere was really equally poised throughout with spectators waiting with bated breath for the winner to emerge but ended in a tie.

Winning bouts

Praveen Chikkalli beat Halid, Shashikanth of Kolhapur beat Ravi of Rammanahalli, Girish of Rammanahalli beat Riyaz Mullah of Dharwad, Doreyappa of Dharwad beat Manu of Rammanahalli, Bharat of Udbur beat Raghu Kenchappa of Kumbarakoppal, Arjun of Lingadevarakoppal beat Vikas of Mahadevapura, Manoj of Mellahalli beat Suryakanth of Nanjangud, Diskhit Kumar of Mysuru beat Ajay of Bengaluru, Nagaraj of Golur beat Dinesh of Udbur and Zayed Quereshi beat Gangadhar of Melapur.

Tie bouts

Rohil Choudhary of Delhi and Ravi Sandige of Kolhapur, Kiran of Bhadravati and Sikander Sheikh of Kolhapur, Yeshwanth Kalinga and Nathapalve of Sangli, Nagesh of Hampapura and Bhajarang of Sangli, Kiran of Baburayanakoppal and Basavaraj of Kyathamaranahalli, Kiran of K.G. Koppal and Praveen Chakravarthy of Ganjam, Chetan of M.G. Koppal and Tapsir Pathane, Shakib and Sujendra of Pandavapur, Soori of Mysuru and Parashuram of Davangere, Raju of Rammanahalli and Hanumanthu, Shivu of Halladakeri and Manju of Sitapur, Satish of Bannur and Akbal Pasha and Ravichandra of Bijapur and Kiran Mane of Kolhapur.

District in-charge Minister G.T. Devegowda inaugurated the tournament. MDCC Bank Director G.D. Harish Gowda and others were present.

In the prize distribution ceremony, MLA L. Nagendra and former MUDA Chairman D. Dhruvakumar presented the Late Basavaiah Trophy and silver mace to the winner Santosh Darod of Kolhapur. Nagendra was felicitated on the occasion.