TEHRAN (February 20) – They needed a pair of upsets and an unlikely fall, but when the dust settled after two days of wrestling in Tehran it was Azerbaijan who had won their first-ever Greco-Roman World Cup, besting rival Russian in the Friday night finale.

The win was razor-thin with the two side tied on match score (4-4) and the Azerbaijanis earning the title via criteria of classification points (18-17).

Maybe the deciding match of the meet came at 85kg between Islam ABBASOV (AZE) and Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS). Though the Russian opened the bout with a two-point throw, it was Abbasov who later converted a takedown attempt into an over-under pinning position and finished Chakvetadze with a minute remaining in the match.

The Azerbaijani’s also received a lift from 71kg Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE). Already world-renowned for his fast spinning hips and devastating headlocks, Chunayev found another way to win as he downed 2014 world champion Chingiz LABAZANOV after the Russian was disqualified for a third leg foul.

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) also helped the cause, upsetting 2014 world silver medalist Evgeny SALEEV (RUS), 2-1 at 80kg.

“We had good support from the federation,” said Azerbaijan head coach Jamshid KHEYRABADI. “We got what we were earned and this was a good start for the future of Azerbaijan Greco-Roman wrestling.”

The Russians earned runner-up World Cup honors for the second-straight year.

Iran, relegated to a bronze medal finish after their first round loss to Azerbaijan, bounced back Friday to handle Turkey, 6-2. Mohsen HAJI POOR (IRI) found a bear hug slam and fall against Ayhan KARAKUS (TUR) at 59kg to jumpstart the Iranian effort and get the crowd of more 5000 local supporters cheering for their national heroes.

Payam BOYERI (IRI) also showed the promise of Iran’s youth wrestlers when the junior bested former world No.1 Yunus OZEL (TUR), 6-0 at 71kg.

“It was a tough match against Turkey,” said Iranian head coach Ahad PAZAJ. “The performance of our young wrestlers was more than expectations and they were great help for us in third place match.”

In the 5th place match is was Hungary who powered past Sweden on the efforts of 2012 Olympic silver medalist Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) and 2014 world champion Peter BACSI (HUN) who each dominated their final matches.

For 7th place Germany surprised Armenia in a match that featured several impressive throws and high-scoring matches. Deniz MENEKSE (GER) led the German assault at 59kg where he came back from an early and daunting five-point deficit to trump Artur MKRTCHYAN (ARM), 9-8.

For Armenia, 2013 junior world champion Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) polished his undefeated record with an 8-0 technical fall over Jan ROTTER (GER) at 75kg.

The next United World Wrestling World Cup will be the Women’s Wrestling World Cup March 8-9 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Freestyle World Cup will be April 11-12 in at the Forum presented by Chase in Los Angeles.

1st-2nd: AZERBAIJAN (AZE) df. RUSSIA (RUS), 4-4 (17-17 classification points, Criteria of more falls)

59 kg - Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) df. Elman MUKHTAROV (AZE), 3-2  
66 kg - Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) df. Artem SURKOV (RUS), 5-1  
71 kg - Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) by DQ, 2-0  
75 kg - Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) by TF, 8-0  
80 kg - Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Evgeny SALEEV (RUS), 2-1  
85 kg - Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) by FALL, 4-4  
98 kg - Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) df. Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) by DQ, 5-0  
130 kg - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) df. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE), 2-1  

3rd-4th: IRAN (IRI) df. TURKEY (TUR), 6-2 

59 kg - Mohsen HAJI POOR (IRI) df. Ayhan KARAKUS (TUR) by FALL, 6-0  
66 kg - Afshin BIABANGARD (IRI) df. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) by forfeit, 0-0  
71 kg - Payam BOYERI (IRI) df. Yunus OZEL (TUR), 6-0  
75 kg - Emrah KUSH (TUR) df. Yousof AKHBARI (IRI), 7-2
80 kg - Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) df. Alsan ATEM (TUR) by DQ, 10-2  
85 kg - Davoud ABEDIN ZADEH (IRI) df. Metehan BASHAR (TUR), 2-0  
98 kg - Mahdi ALIYARI (IRI) df. Fatih BASHKOY (TUR), 1-1  
​130 kg - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Behnam MAHDI ZADEH (IRI) by TF, 10-2  

5th-6th: HUNGARY (HUN) df. SWEDEN (SWE), 6-2 

59 kg - Peter MODOS (HUN) df. Joakim FAGERLUND (SWE) by withdrawal, 0-0  
66 kg - Krisztian JAGER (HUN) df. Frunze HARUTYUNYAN (SWE), 5-0  
71 kg - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Zakarias TALLROTH (SWE), 3-1  
75 kg - Laszlo SZABO (HUN) df. Robert ROSENGREN (SWE), 3-0  
80 kg - Peter BACSI (HUN) df. Lennie PERSSON (SWE) by TF, 8-0  
85 kg - Kristofer JOHANSSON (SWE) df. Patrik SZABO (HUN), 4-1  
98 kg - Balazs KISS (HUN) df. Fredrik SCHÖN (SWE), 2-1  
130 kg - Johan EUREN (SWE) df. Balint LAM (HUN), 5-0  

7th-8th: Germany (GER) df. Armenia (ARM), 6-2

59 kg - Deniz MENEKSE (GER) df. Artur MKRTCHYAN (ARM), 9-8  
66 kg - Matthias MAASCH (GER) df. Gor SIREKANYAN (ARM), 5-2  
71 kg - Maximilian SCHWABE (GER) df. Rrafayel ALEKSANYAN (ARM), 5-4  
75 kg - Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) df. Jan ROTTER (GER) by TF, 8-0  
80 kg - Florian NEUMAIER (GER) df. Eduard SARGSYAN (ARM), 6-3  
85 kg - Masim MANUKYAN (ARM) df. Jan FISCHER (GER) by TF, 8-0  
98 kg - Felix RADINGER (GER) df. Vahe SIMONYAN (ARM), 2-1  
130 kg - Eduard POPP (GER) df. Edgar KHACHATRYAN (ARM) by TF, 16-2