#WrestleFaenza

Russian Cadets Match Junior Squad, Sweep European Team Races

Sunday, June 23, 2019 - 22:51 By Eric Olanowski

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FAENZA, Italy (June 23) – The Cadet European Championships came to a close on Sunday night with five different nations claiming individual freestyle golds, but it was the Russian Federation who grabbed the team title to pick up their second straight continental sweep. Their junior team also won the freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's wrestling team tiles two weeks ago in Pontevedra, Spain. 

Overall, through the three cadet, junior and senior European Championships, Russia has accumulated eight out of nine team titles. They swept the cadet and junior European Championships, while also finishing with two of three team titles at the Senior European Championships. So far, Ukraine’s women’s wrestlers are the only ones to dethrone the Russians in a team race. 

In Faenza, Russia’s freestyle team capped off their run to a third team title of the week with nine medals and were ten points shy of hitting 200 points. They welcomed their 190 points from four champions, a silver medalist, and four bronze medals. 

They had a trio of Day 6 champions and grabbed their fourth freestyle gold medal of the competition when Abdulkerim ABDULAEV (RUS) demolished Davit KUTCHUASHVILI (GEO), 10-0 in the 72kg gold-medal bout to close out the tournament. 

In the finals, Abdulaev dug his toes in the mat and pushed Kutchuashvili out of bounds shortly after being awarded an inactivity point and collected the two-point advantage over the Georgian heading into the final two minutes of the match. 

In the second period, Abdulaev halted Kutchuashvili’s knee pull single off the whistle and picked up a counter-offensive spin behind. This extended his lead to 4-0. Abdulaev quickly jumped to a left-sided gut wrench then hopped over, locking up a trap arm gut wrench. The Russian ended the match with a pair of turns and won his first European title since winning gold at the 2017 U15 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Azerbaijan finished in second place with a solo champion, a pair of runner-ups, and four bronze-medal finishers. Their lone gold medalist came on Sunday night when Sabir JAFAROV (AZE) defeated Genik ASATRYAN (ARM), 6-1 in the 60kg finals. 

Georgia ended their tournament with 140 points, which was good enough for third in the team race. Nikolozi SANTELADZE (GEO) reached the top of the podium on Sunday with a 12-5 win against Murad HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) in the 45kg finals. They also had two wrestlers fall short in the finals and had to settle for a pair of silvers, while also finishing with three bronze medalists. 

RESULTS

Final Freestyle Team Scores 
GOLD – Russia (190 points)
SILVER – Azerbaijan (153 points)
BRONZE – Georgia (140 points)
Fourth – Armenia (102 points)
Fifth - Ukraine (87 points)

45kg
GOLD - Nikolozi SANTELADZE (GEO) df. Murad HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 12-5 
BRONZE - Tolga OZBEK (TUR) df. Anzor MAZHIDOV (RUS), 8-4
BRONZE - Mikita BERAZUN (BLR) df. Stefan SHTERJOV (MKD), 4-2 

51kg
GOLD - Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR) df. Giorgi GOGRITCHIANI (GEO), 16-6 
BRONZE - Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) df. Ilya RAHOZAU (BLR), 10-0 
BRONZE - Umar UMAROV (RUS) df. Pavel GRAUR (MDA), 8-1 

60kg
GOLD - Sabir JAFAROV (AZE) df. Genik ASATRYAN (ARM), 6-1 
BRONZE - Ayub Muratovitch MUSAEV (BEL) df. Alexandru Ioan MATEA (ROU), 10-0 
BRONZE - Daniil KHARCHILAVA (RUS) df. Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO), 8-2 

71kg
GOLD - Abdulkerim ABDULAEV (RUS) df. Davit KUTCHUASHVILI (GEO), 10-0 
BRONZE - Muhammed Halit OZMUS (TUR) df. Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP), 10-0 
BRONZE - Menua YARIBEKYAN (ARM) df. Lilian BALAN (MDA), 6-4 

92kg 
GOLD - Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM) df. Islam KARTOEV (RUS), 6-3 
BRONZE - Sagadulla AGAEV (AZE) df. Redjep HAJDARI (MKD), 15-2 
BRONZE - Omer AGTAS (TUR) df. Saba GAMTENADZE (GEO), 10-0 

2026 World Championships

Yazdani Returns to World Championships After Beating Azarpira

Friday, June 19, 2026 - 11:56 By Vinay Siwach

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KEMRAN, Iran (July 19) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) made his World Championships debut at 70kg in 2015. The Olympic champion will be at 97kg for his eighth World Championships, 11 years later.

Yazdani, a three-time world champion, booked his spot on Iran's team for the 2026 World Championships after beating world silver medalist Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) in two straight matches in Kemran on Friday.

Azarpira needed to win only one bout to earn his spot as he was a returning world medalist but Yazdani secured two wins, 4-2 and 5-3, to end Azarpira's hopes. 

According to selection criteria set by Iran, a returning world medalist needed to win only one bout while the opponent needed two straight wins to claim the spot.

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), blue, shakes hands with Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) after beating him in the second bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

In the first bout, Yazdani scored three stepouts and a point for passivity while Azarpira managed a takedown to the lead but he could not find another takedown or two one-point scoring actions needed to win.

An hour later, the two wrestlers returned for their second bout. Azapira, needed just a win to secure his place, led 3-3 on criteria in the second period. After Yazdani led 3-0, Azarpira fired back a takedown and stepout to earn the criteria.

In the final minute, Azarpira pressured Yazdani towards the zone and just went it seemed that he has scored a stepout, Yazdani circled back and scored a takedown to take a 5-3 lead. A shocked Azarpira protested the decision but he had no challenge left as he had used and lost the challenge in the first period.

Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) tries to score on Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) during the 97kg bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Yazdani, with all his experience, managed to hold on to his two point lead and confirm that he will return to the World Championships three years later. The Iranian will be chasing his eighth medal as he already has medals from every edition he has participated in.

The 31-year-old began with a silver medal at 70kg in 2015, won gold at 86kg in 2017, 2019 and 2021, and won bronze in 2018. At the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, he finished silver medals, losing those finals to David TAYLOR (USA).

This, however, won't be Yazdani's debut at 97kg. He wrestled at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in February and reached the final before Stephen BUCHANAN (USA) defeated him, 13-3.

Yazdani's next challenge will be to win a medal at the October 24-November 1 World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 97kg weight class will most likely have returning world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA), Paris Olympic champion and world bronze medalist Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and world bronze medalist Arash YOSHIDA (JPN).

Former Olympic and world champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) will also be in the mix if he makes the Russian team. Olympic silver medalist Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), former world champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), will also be challenging for the three-time Olympic medalist Iranian.

Yazdani, Firouzpour Win

Two other weight classes, 74kg and 97kg, were also contested to confirm the Iran Freestyle team for the World Championships.

Former world silver medalist Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) defeated Yones EMAMI (IRI) in two straight bouts to clinch the spot at 74kg, a weight class that Emami has ruled in Iran for quite a few years now.

In two high-scoring bouts, Yazdani won 10-6 and 11-7, mostly using his counters in the zone to book his spot.

At 92kg, world bronze medalist Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) defeated Mobin AZIMI (IRI), 2-1, in the second bout of the series to claim the spot. As he was the returning world medalist, Firouzpour needed only one win to qualify.

Azimi won the first bout 2-2 on criteria, scoring a late stepout after three points were awarded for passivity. However, there was no such comeback in the second bout as Firouzpour kept his lead.

On Tuesday, a wrestle-off was held in Greco-Roman in which Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) defeated world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), 5-1, at 130kg to secure his spot for the World Championships.

Iran's Freestyle Team for 2026 World Championships

57kg: Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
61kg: Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
65kg: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
70kg: Sina KHALILI (IRI)
74kg: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
79kg: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
86kg: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
92kg: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
97kg: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
125kg: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)