#WrestleCoralville

Iran announces freestyle World Cup roster

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 - 13:12 By Gary Abbott

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CORALVILLE, Iowa (November 22) -- Iran’s lineup for the Freestyle World Cup has been released.

The Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling World Cup will be held at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, December 10-11. It is the first time that freestyle and women’s wrestling will be held together side-by-side at the World Cup.

The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, conducted by United World Wrestling. The top five teams in freestyle and the top five teams in women’s wrestling from the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September have confirmed their participation. There is also an All-World Team in each discipline, featuring the top available athletes from the World Championships in each weight class that were not from a nation that qualified for the World Cup.

The Iran World Cup team will feature five senior world medalists, as well as seven others who have won world medals at the age-group levels.

The team is led by two-time world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR at 97kg. Ghasempour won world titles in 2021 and 2022 and also won U23 world titles in 2018 and 2019.

2022 World champion Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI will wrestle at 65kg. He has also won three age-group world titles, with a U20 title in 2021 and U17 world titles in 2018 and 2019.

Three-time world medalist Alireza KARIMI is competing at 86kg. Karimi won a 2019 World silver medal, as well as claimed world bronze medals in 2015 and 2018. He was also a 2011 U17 World silver medalist.

Two-time world silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODI will wrestle at 79kg. Nokhodi lost in the 2021 and 2022 World finals to Jordan BURROUGHS (USA). He was also a 2019 U20 world silver medalist and a 2017 U17 world bronze medalist.

The other senior world medalist on the roster is 2021 World silver medalist Amirmohammad YAZDANI at 70kg. He was also a 2015 U17 world silver medalist.

Other athletes on the Iran roster who have won age-group world medals include Armin HABIBZADEH (61kg), Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI (70kg), Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (74kg), Ali SAVADKOUHI (79kg), Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (92kg), Amirali AZARPIRA (97kg) and Amirreza VALADI (125kg).

Iran, which placed second at the 2022 World Championships in freestyle, will be joined in the World Cup by the first-place United States, third-place Japan, fourth-place Mongolia and fifth-place Georgia, in addition to the All-World Team.

The rosters of the World Cup teams for the other nations have now all been announced by USA Wrestling.

Ticket packages for the 2022 Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling World Cup are currently on sale. The seating capacity for Xtream Arena for the World Cup will be approximately 5,300. Ticket packages include a Gold package for $275, Silver package for $200 and All-Session tickets for $90.

A special Presentation of Teams and Team USA Meet & Greet will also be held on Friday, December 9 at 6:45 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling World Cup tickets -> https://worldcupiowacity.com/tickets/

Iran Freestyle World Cup team:
57 kg – Reza MOMENIJOUIJADEH
61 kg – Armin HABIBZADEH
65 kg – Rahman AMOUZAD
65 kg – Mohammadreza BAGHERI
70 kg – Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI
70 kg – Amirmohammad YAZDANI
74 kg – Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR
79 kg – Mohammad NOKHODI
79 kg – Ali SAVADKOUHI
86 kg – Alireza KARIMI
92 kg – Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR
97 kg – Kamran GHASEMPOUR
97 kg – Amirali AZARPIRA
125 kg – Amirreza VALADI

#WrestleAmman

U20 World Championships Greco semis set

Friday, August 18, 2023 - 07:19 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 18) -- The attention turns to Greco-Roman with five weight classes -- 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg -- in action in Amman. The evening session will also see the women's wrestling world champions crowned.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Here are the semifinals for the Greco-Roman evening session

55kg
Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ) vs. Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) vs. Farid SADIKHLI (AZE)

63kg
Zhantoro MIRZALIEV (KGZ) vs. Dinislam SAGITZHAN (KAZ)
Komei SAWADA (JPN) vs. Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)

77kg
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) vs. Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Erlan MARS UULU (KGZ) vs. Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)

87kg
Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI) vs. Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Tourpal MAGAMADOV (FRA)

130kg
Wenhao JIANG (CHN) vs. Achilleas CHRYSIDIS (GRE)
Fekry EISSA (EGY) vs. Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) 

14:30: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) blanks Talip CIFTCI (TUR) 8-0 in the 130kg quarterfinals. He won a silver medal last year. But so far, he has looked unstoppable in Amman

14:15: No stopping Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) as he moves into the semifinals with another technical superiority win, this time over Mihael LUKAC (CRO). Par terre domination peaks

13:50: Returning bronze medalist at 130kg Aden ATTAO (USA) with a thrilling 8-7 win over former U20 European champion Koppany LASZLO (HUN). Attao was trailing 7-5 but scored a takedown against a tiring Laszlo which the Hungary team challenged but lost.

13:35: Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM) moves into the quarterfinals at 63kg with a resounding 12-2 win over Matej REBIC (CRO). At 130kg, returning silver medalist Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) gets an 8-0 shutout against Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM).

13:15: Absolute domination from Iran so far in Greco-Roman. All three wrestlers who have wrestled so far have started with a win. Two got byes to pre-quarters. Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) coming up now

12:50: Clutch from Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) as he gets a takedown in the final 15 seconds over returning silver medalist Denis MIHAI (ROU) and then throws him for four to get a 6-5 win. Mihai is devasted here.

12:30: Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) remain on a collision course as both win their respective pre-quarterfinals. Nazaryan won over Nurassyl AMANALY (KAZ) while Bolkvadze beat Tomislav BRKAN (CRO). In the quarterfinals, Nazaryan has David ANDREASIAN (AIN) and Bolkvadze faces Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)

12:15: Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI) gets an 8-0 win over Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL) to move into the 87kg quarterfinals. He will now take on Wyatt VOELKER (USA) who defeated Mohit KHOKHAR (IND).

12:00: The crowd cannot stop cheering for Suhib ALHASANAT (JOR) as he pins Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)! Alhasant was put in par terre but as Khozrevanidze tried a back throw, he fell on his back and Alhasant pinned him. Georgia called for a leg foul but it was assessed clean on review. The results can have huge complications for Georgia in the team title race

11:53: One for the vault that! U20 European champion Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM) survives a comeback from Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE) to win 7-7 at 63kg. From par terre in the first period, Hoveyan scored exposure and a four-pointer while Mustafayev managed only two turns and two stepouts, giving Hoveyan the bigger technique advantage and the win. Hoveyan had defeated Mustafayev 8-5 in the quarterfinals at U20 Euros 

11:45: Emre MUTLU (TUR), who missed out on a medal last year, wins 9-4 against Maxim SARMANOV (MDA) at 55kg. Mutlu is a former U23 European champion and a senior European bronze medalist

11:32: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) goes big from par terre and finishes his opening bout against  Lukas BENZING (GER) at 55kg via technical superiority. On Mat B, Alisher GANIEV (UZB) wins 9-0 over Alibek AMIROV (AIN)

11:20: Former U17 world champion and returning silver medalist from 72kg Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) has opened his campaign with a 4-0 win over Abdulmasih ABDULMASIH (AIN) at 77kg.

10:45: Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) goes big and high and finishes the bout 10-0 against Kareem ELDESOUKY (EGY) at 87kg. Unparalleled athleticism from the wrestler

10:35: Returning world champion Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) gets a first-period technical superiority win over Daisei ISOE (JPN) at 87kg. He will have silver medalist Abofazl CHOUBANI (IRI) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) as his biggest rivals.

10:00: Welcome to day five of the U20 World Championships in Amman. Greco-Roman will be in action as we move toward the final three days of the tournament.