#WrestleWarsaw

Live Blog: Poland Open Ranking Series, Day One

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 - 08:40 By Eric Olanowski

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Poland Open Ranking Series begins in Warsaw with five freestyle weight categories in action on Monday.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Photo

Tuesday's Final Matchups:
57kg: Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV (UZB) vs. Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) (Round 3)
70kg: Alec PANTALEO (USA) vs. James GREEN (USA) 
79kg: Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) vs. Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) 
86kg: Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO) vs. Zahid VALENCIA (USA) 
97kg:  Ali Khalil SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) vs. Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) 

13:22: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll see you back here at 18:00 (local time) for the Day One medal matches.

13:13: Aliyev scores five unanswered points in the second period, but Pantaleo's four-point move in the first period pushes him past the three-time world champ, 6-6. He'll wrestle the winner of James Malcolm GREEN (USA) and  Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO), who are wrestling now on Mat B. 

13:08: What a first period for Alec PANTALEO (USA). He scored a four-point move and a two-point takedown and leads three-time world champion Haji Aliyev, 6-1, after the first period. 

13:03: James GREEN (USA) and Iakobishvili are on the clock, too. They'll wrestle at 13:09 on Mat B.

12:57: We'll take a quick seven-minute break to give Aliyev some rest time. When the time is up, he'll take on Alec PANTALEO (USA) for a spot in tonight's 70kg finals. 

12:37: World champs Aliyev and Iakobishvili are wrestling right now on Mat A!

12:27: Mohammadian held on to win a close battle against Karimmachiani. He scored a takedown and gave up a pair of one-point moves in the second period but held the criteria advantage. He'll now take on Ali SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) in tonight's 97kg gold-medal match.

12:22: Mohammadian struck first with the matches only takedown. He leads, 2-0, after the first period.

12:20: HERE. WE. GO! MAT A: Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) and Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) are wrestling now!

12:14: World champions  Haji Aliyev (AZE) and Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) are up in three matches on Mat A.

11:56: With Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) and Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) wrestling in the 97kg semifinals, it's important to note that this plays a major role in who represents Iran at the Tokyo Olympic Games. I spoke with the Iranian Wrestling Federation, and they said, "We have a qualification cycle. This consists of the performances of each wrestler during the last 7 months (in training and competitions) and for sure Poland Rankings will be one part of this cycle."

11:52: Deepak PUNIA (IND) won't compete at the Poland Open. The Indian pulled out of the competition with an elbow injury. That pushes Zahid VALENCIA (USA) into the semifinals. He'll take on the winner of Tokyo Olympians Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI) and Myles AMINE (SMR). 

11:49: Karimmachiani just put on a show! He thumped Conyedo, 11-0, in just five minutes. He'll now take on Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI). 

11:38: It feels like he just wrestled, but Conyedo is up again! He's wrestling two-time world silver medalist Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI).

11:30: That was close, but Zahid VALENCIA (USA) got the job done. He hung on late to defeat Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL), 6-5. He'll square off against '19 world silver medalist Deepak PUNIA (IND).

Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) upset Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), 2-2, in their opening-round meeting. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

11:21: We're not even one with our first cup of coffee and we already have a massive upset. Italy Abraham Conyedo scored the matches only takedown and upset Olympic champion Sharifov in their opening-round meet.

11:14: This should be a good one on Mat A. It's Olympic champion  Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) and world bronze medalist Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA). They've both qualified their nation's for the Tokyo Olympic Games at 97kg. 

11:13: I spoke too soon! As I wrote Aliyev trailed, 2-1, he strung together seven unanswered points and won the match, 8-2. That win pushed him into his 70kg Round 2 match against Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ). 

11:06: It's still early, but three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE) trails Sirojiddin KHASANOV (UZB), 2-1, with short time left in the first period. They are wrestling on Mat C.

11:00: Good morning, wrestling fans! For those asking about brackets: instead of releasing them all at once, they'll be released each morning after weigh-ins. 

#WrestleNoviSad

Farokhi, Hedayati lead Iran's golden charge at U23 Worlds

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 15:58 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 21) -- Iran’s Greco-Roman dominance shows no signs of slowing down. After winning team titles at the U17 World Championships in Athens, the U20 Worlds in Samokov, and the senior event in Zagreb, Iran looks poised to complete a clean sweep in Novi Sad as Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) claimed gold medals at the U23 World Wrestling Championships 2025 on Tuesday.

World champion Farokhi and defending champion Hedayati, who celebrated his birthday as well on Tuesday, won gold medals in dominant fashion at 87kg and 130kg respectively.

"I was able to win two back-to-back tough matches at the World Championships and bring home two gold medals," Farokhi said. "These were high-level competitions."

Farokhi, a gold medalist at 82kg in Zagreb, moved up to 87kg for Novi Sad but had no troubles in switching weights. As he did in Zagreb, Farokhi brought his best game in par terre and rolled to his second gold in one month after a 9-0 victory in the final against Ivan CHMYR (UKR), his fifth technical superiority victory.

After being put on top in par terre, Farokhi launched a trap-arm gut and turned Chmyr four times for the win. Ukraine threw one of those ever increasing challenges for no reason but lost it to add one more point to Farokhi's score.

"When you move up a weight class, the opponents are definitely stronger and tougher," Farokhi said. "It was a good experience, and it gave me a better sense of how I can perform at 87 kg -- an Olympic weight class"

Hedayati, who has not lost an international bout since his 2022 U20 World Championships finals loss, showed why he will dominate the 130kg weight class for years to come.

Up against Razmik KURDYAN (ARM) in the final, Hedayati began with takedown on the edge for two points. Kurdyan was put in par terre and from there Hedayati turned him twice to extend his lead to 7-0. With just 23 seconds left before the break, Hedayati scored a stepout to finish the final 8-0 and claim his second straight U23 world title.

At 63kg, Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) upended returning 63kg U23 world champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-3, in the final using a four-point suplex from par terre to score his points.

Eriomenco, who had defeated Babashov in the U23 European finals, looked very dominant in run up to the final while Babashov had some tough bouts on Monday. But the Azerbaijan wrestler began aggressively and managed to earn first par terre advantage.

He performed a suplex for four points to make his lead 5-0 and take huge step towards winning his first ever world title. He further consolidated his position when he defended from par terre in the second period and gave up only stepout to Eriomenco as the score changed to 5-2.

Babashov then countered an attack from the Moldova wrestler and forced him to stepout outside to extend his lead to 6-2. He gave up one more stepout but held on to the 6-3 lead to win the gold medal.

With the win, he now leads the head-to-head against Eriomenco 2-1 as both have traded victories at 2024 U23 European Championships and its 2025 edition with the Moldovan one being the more recent winner.

Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) holds off Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) in the 77kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

A silver medalist from 2023 at the U23 Worlds, Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) managed to win gold at 77kg as he defeated Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 4-1, in the final.

Orjonikidze was himself to blame for the loss as he committed a defensive leg foul in the first period when Mirzoiev got the par terre position and as he was trying to lift, Orjonikidze blocked him with his leg, giving a 3-0 lead to the Ukrainian.

Georgia challenged the decision but on review, it was confirmed that a leg foul was indeed committed. The lost challenge gave one more point to Mirzoiev.

Orjonikidze got the par terre position in the second period but he failed to score any points and Mirzoiev easily defended his 4-1 lead to eventually claimed the gold medal.

Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR)Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) defeated Richard KARELSON (EST) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Yakushenko closer to U23 title

U20 world champion Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) is a win away from winning his second world tittle three months after he reached the 97kg final at U23 World Championships. He defeated European Championships silver medalist Richard KARELSON (EST) 6-3 in the semifinals.

Karelson tried to make a match of it but Yakushenko scored a four-pointer from par terre to lead 5-0 before Karelson scored a takedown. But Yakushenko got a stepout to lead 6-2. He defended his lead despite Karelson getting par terre in the second period.

He will face Asian U23 champion Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) who rolled to a 9-1 win over Maksim AVERIN (UWW), scoring four turns from par terre in the second period.

At 55kg, U23 European champion Alibek AMIROV (UWW) will face Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) in the final after he defeated Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ) in the semifinal. Amirov was down 2-1 when he got the 

Aliyev hit a beautiful headlock for four against 2024 U17 world champion Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) before securing the fall in the semifinal.

Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) will take on Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) for the gold medal at 67kg after he defeated Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 1-1, having the criteria from the first point score in a 1-1 finish.

Andelrehim led 4-1 when his opponent in the semifinal, Attila JOZSA (HUN), injury default for a leg injury.

Seven years after winning the U17 World Championships gold medal, Abror ATABAEV (UZB) will have a chance to win a second world title after he reached the 72kg final. After getting the first par terre and 1-1 lead against Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ), Atabaev defended his par terre position and kept the 1-1 criteria lead.

Maulitkanov threw everything at Atabaev in the final two minutes but the Uzbekistan defended all the attacks. Atabaev was close to giving up a takedown in the final 15 seconds but he managed to keep himself up and then score a pushout to lead 2-1. Kazakhstan challenged the call but it was a clear stepout and the lost challenge made it 3-1 for Atabaev.

He will face former Asian champion Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) for gold after the Iranian defended his 1-1 criteria lead against Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM). The final will be battle of two Asian champion as Atabaev won that title in 2023.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 6-3

BRONZE: Dordzhi SHUNGURTSIKOV (UWW) df. Servet ANGI (TUR), 6-1
BRONZE: Adham ELSAYED (EGY) df. Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ), 3-2

77kg
GOLD: Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) df. Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO), 4-1

BRONZE: Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) df. Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 3-3
BRONZE: Levente LEVAI (HUN) df. Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN), 4-2

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Ivan CHMYR (UKR), 10-0

BRONZE: Payton JACOBSON (USA) df. Lachin VALIYEV (AZE), 5-3
BRONZE: Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 5-1

130kg
GOLD: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) df. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM), 8-0

BRONZE: Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) df. Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW) df. Artur SARKISJAN (CZE), 9-1

Semifinals

55kg
GOLD: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)  vs. Alibek AMIROV (UWW)

SF 1: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) df. Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), via fall (5-1)
SF 2: Alibek AMIROV (UWW) df. Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ), via fall (7-2)

67kg
GOLD: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) vs. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY)

SF 1: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) df. Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW), 1-1
SF 2: Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY) df. Attila JOZSA (HUN), via inj. def. (4-1)

72kg
GOLD: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) vs. Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

SF 1: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM), 1-1
SF 2: Abror ATABAEV (UZB) df. Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 3-1

97kg
GOLD: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) vs. Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)

SF 1: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) df. Richard KARELSON (EST), 6-3 
SF 2: Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ) df. Maksim AVERIN (UWW), 9-1