The Russian wrestler had won the title on three previous occasions and progressed to the final yesterday at Polyvalent Hall Bucharest.

Vlasov, a two-time world champion, retained his 77 kilogram title by earning a victory by fall against Germany’s Roland Schwarz.

Serbia’s 2017 world champion Viktor Nemes won bronze by overcoming Turkey’s Fatih Cengiz 3-1, while Armenia’s Arsen Julfalakyan secured a podium place by beating Bulgaria’s Daniel Aleksandrov 5-1.

Further Russian success came in the 63kg division, as Stepan Maryanyan emerged the gold medallist.

Maryanyan, who claimed the world title for the first time last year, eased to a 9-0 win over Norway’s Stig-Andre Berge in the gold medal match.

Azerbaijan’s Taleh Mammadov won the first bronze by securing a 6-2 win against Armenia’s Slavik Galstyan.

Levani Kavjaradze of Georgia rounded off the podium after beating Poland’s Michal Tracz 5-2.

A third Russian gold medal of the day came in the 55kg event, as Vitalii Kabaloev beat home favourite Florin Tita in the final.

Bronze medals were earned by Azerbaijan's Eldaniz Azizli and Germany's Fabian Schmitt.

Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp continued his domination at the European Championships, as he claimed an eight title in 10 years.

The two-time Olympic medallist beat Georgia’s Iakobi Kajaia 3-0 in the 130kg gold medal bout.

Alin Ciurariu won a bronze medal in front of a home crowd as the Romanian beat Estonia’s Heiki Nabi.

The podium was rounded off by Russia’s Sergey Semenov, who secured a 4-0 win over Tuomas Lahti of Finland.

Ukraine’s Zhan Beleniuk triumphed in the 87kg division as he earned a 5-1 win over Azerbaijan’s Islam Abbasov.

Denis Kudla won the first bronze as the German beat Belarus’ Mikalai Stadub, while Hungary’s Erik Szilvassy was a narrow 2-1 winner against Lithuania’s Eividas Stankevicius.

The Championships will conclude tomorrow with the final five men's Greco-Roman titles on offer.