 After graduating from school Teryan moved to Baku to study at the Baku Institute of Physical Education.He won the Soviet championships in Greco-Roman wrestling from 1950–54, and since 1952 competed internationally, winning a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki in the bantamweight category (57 kg).He was a member of the first Soviet wrestling team to compete in a World Championships at the 1953 World Wrestling Championships in Naples.