Iran Wrestling News

[uncle bernard 1,113]

Congrats on a great week guys! Love watching the Iranians wrestle.

[HawkY 112]

Great job by the Iranian team.

May not have a team title but 4 golds when no other country even had 2 is very impressive,

Some thoughts on the wrestlers I talked about before.

Geraei. It takes a very special person to repeat at these lower weight classes and he did. The field tested him, but winning close matches is the name of the game at these weights and he did. Yes there was no Ismael and some depth from other medalists, but  he beat Zoidze who beat Ismael and is a deserving champ.

Saravi is  very  good. He had a close match with Evloev and was right there, now is a world champ. I talked quite a bit Sargsyan and I wasn't wrong to say that him and Saravi were above the field. Saravi was even better. So what about Evloev. I want to see that match again. One weakness Evleov does have is his par terre defense. He is vulnerable to turns and throws form there. Saravi can exploit that, but it will be hard. Eveolv's 44-1 over 3 years?  Aleksanjan might tape his body back together for another go at one of these big tournies as well.  A big loss for Sargsyan. He really needed a gold here given Russia's 1 at this weight. 

Youseffi. I don't know what to feel about Yuseffi. Big accomplishment to win gold at heavy. Puts him in a very special class. But he isn't Iran's 1 from my understanding. Youseffi  wouldn't have beaten Riza or Lopez at tokyo imo. 130 was depleted but the complicated thing is aside from Riza, no one who was missing is a class above on the participants  on paper. Semenov and Oscar could have lost to people who were there. Acosta was his boring self, came away with no medal. Kajaia's live by the sword die bye the sword low offense caught up to him and got beat by the mediocre Zarubi.  I don't know where this puts 130 kg. Especially if Riza declines. Could Semenov late bloom, Amin establish himself, someone new?

[irani 820]

Great performance by the GR team

•  More golds than any other team, 3 of them in olympic weights
• 4 for 4 in the finals

I think if you combine the performance of the GR and FS teams, this is probably the best combined performance ever, 7 golds, and 3 silvers is pretty damn good

On Iranian TV, they had a split screen of the fans in Shiraz who were gathered outside of Geraie's house.  Apparently someone had put a giant tv outside his house, and 100s, if not 1000s were outside his hource cheering him on

Edited October 10, 2021 by irani

[irani 820]

I finally figured out my feelings towards Greco Roman

• At least one throw -  Great match, A+
• Just one throw -  Good match. A
• No throws, but a few good pare Terre scores , a bit of  a yawn B-
• No throws, no par Terre moves, waste of time, F

Edited October 11, 2021 by irani

[Seena 8]

This was in deed the best combined performance (Freestyle, Greco-Roman) Iran has had in History. Within the 20 wrestlers in both styles, they accomplished 13 Medals (7 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze). It’s above and beyond gratifying watching them perform that great! Plus a young team that can show great potential for Paris 2024, especially with 5 of the 6 Olympic Weights winning Medals. I’m beyond proud of what this team accomplished. I look forward to seeing most of them next September in Serbia.

[wrestfan 815]

winning 4 gold medals is a great result for the Greco team but what a pity they lost the team title to Russia (with just 1 gold medal) only because of 6 points.

interestingly right now Iran has more depth in Greco which is weird because freestyle is still much more popular. except 2 or 3 wrestlers the rest aren't absolute #1 in the country and can lose to someone else in any competition. Yousefi was #3 few months ago, he is #2 at the moment but now he is the world champion lol

Iran could win the team title with just one more win, I still can't believe how come Abbaspour (who was a gold medal prospect) lost like that. the Armenian who beat Mardani was leading Moldova in the SF 6-0 before that choking thing. his win would send Mardani to the repechage and eliminate the Russian Maryanyan. (who eventually won the bronze)

they already have to make a decision about the next year for both Greco and freestyle. Asian Games is only few days after the World Championships and we know Asian games is a big deal for the sport system in Iran and wrestling always brings the most number of gold medals for Iran. but Worlds is a big deal too. they can't send a weak team to Serbia.

for example I'm sure Yazdani wants to defend his world title in 2022 but on other hand winning gold in AG means prize money. maybe Ghasempour finally gets to wrestle Taylor after all lol (even though I highly doubt Yazdani prefers AG over WCh)

[irani 820]

2 hours ago, wrestfan said:

winning 4 gold medals is a great result for the Greco team but what a pity they lost the team title to Russia (with just 1 gold medal) only because of 6 points.

interestingly right now Iran has more depth in Greco which is weird because freestyle is still much more popular. except 2 or 3 wrestlers the rest aren't absolute #1 in the country and can lose to someone else in any competition. Yousefi was #3 few months ago, he is #2 at the moment but now he is the world champion lol

Iran could win the team title with just one more win, I still can't believe how come Abbaspour (who was a gold medal prospect) lost like that. the Armenian who beat Mardani was leading Moldova in the SF 6-0 before that choking thing. his win would send Mardani to the repechage and eliminate the Russian Maryanyan. (who eventually won the bronze)

they already have to make a decision about the next year for both Greco and freestyle. Asian Games is only few days after the World Championships and we know Asian games is a big deal for the sport system in Iran and wrestling always brings the most number of gold medals for Iran. but Worlds is a big deal too. they can't send a weak team to Serbia.

for example I'm sure Yazdani wants to defend his world title in 2022 but on other hand winning gold in AG means prize money. maybe Ghasempour finally gets to wrestle Taylor after all lol (even though I highly doubt Yazdani prefers AG over WCh)

I remember in 1975 the world championship was at the same time as the Asian Games.  Furthermore, the Asian games were being hosted in Tehran.  There was NO WAY the wrestling A time was not going to compete in the AG.

They sent the B games to the world championship that year.  Iran had a terrible 1976 Olympics, and I attribute part of the failure to the absence of the A team from the world championship and missing a chance to experience the competition

[Uwwdoc 114]

4 hours ago, wrestfan said:

winning 4 gold medals is a great result for the Greco team but what a pity they lost the team title to Russia (with just 1 gold medal) only because of 6 points.

interestingly right now Iran has more depth in Greco which is weird because freestyle is still much more popular. except 2 or 3 wrestlers the rest aren't absolute #1 in the country and can lose to someone else in any competition. Yousefi was #3 few months ago, he is #2 at the moment but now he is the world champion lol

Iran could win the team title with just one more win, I still can't believe how come Abbaspour (who was a gold medal prospect) lost like that. the Armenian who beat Mardani was leading Moldova in the SF 6-0 before that choking thing. his win would send Mardani to the repechage and eliminate the Russian Maryanyan. (who eventually won the bronze)

they already have to make a decision about the next year for both Greco and freestyle. Asian Games is only few days after the World Championships and we know Asian games is a big deal for the sport system in Iran and wrestling always brings the most number of gold medals for Iran. but Worlds is a big deal too. they can't send a weak team to Serbia.

for example I'm sure Yazdani wants to defend his world title in 2022 but on other hand winning gold in AG means prize money. maybe Ghasempour finally gets to wrestle Taylor after all lol (even though I highly doubt Yazdani prefers AG over WCh)

I asked Yaz and he said he will come to Serbia over AG. But it's a long time until then and things can change, it may not entirely be his own choice. 

His next step is focusing on the league, I imagine a lot of teams will be battling over his signature and whoever forks out the most cash will get him. His stock has risen since the Gold.

Also Bana gave Mardani a bollocking for not winning his match as it would have sent Iran top. Big Rasoul Jalili comforted him though which was nice lol. 

What a tournament and was an absolute unbelievable time to be a part of it. Iran's most successful combined results in the worlds ever.  Historic moments such as Yaz getting revenge. That Sunday when Iran just kept winning. The comeback victories. Geraei winning worlds 2 months after winning olympics, and in dramatic fashion! Was great stuff.

 

Also Iran might not have officially finished top in both styles with the scoring system. But I would say most countries and fans of differing nationalities felt Iran was the country of the tournament throughout. Great result.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Uwwdoc

[Jim L 326]

16 hours ago, irani said:

I finally figured out my feelings towards Freestyle

• At least one throw -  Great match, A+
• Just one throw -  Good match. A
• No throws, but a few good pare Terre scores , a bit of  a yawn B-
• No throws, no par Terre moves, waste of time, F

Freestyle? Don't you mean Greco?

[The Genius 368]

Just think if they sent Dehbozorgi instead of Abbaspour like I wanted Iran could have been #1 in GR (or not, who knows). I don't want to see Abbaspour Mardani or Taheri for a while to be honest, especially Taheri he can retire now as far as I'm concerned. 

[irani 820]

1 hour ago, Jim L said:

Freestyle? Don't you mean Greco?

Of course I do.

Thanks, I will correct the original post

[irani 820]

Just for discussion, if Iran does send their A team to the world championship next year, who would represent Iran in some of the weights and can they win gold in the Asian games?

Focusing on the weights that matter

86 KG - Ahmad Bazri SHOULD be able to win gold in the AG

92 - Karimi should smoke the field

97 - Either Mohammadian or Goleij, depending on who is A and who is B should win gold

120 Kg -  This is where we run out of luck.  If Za-Re goes to the world championship,  there is not a big different between our A guy and B guy

[The Genius 368]

18 minutes ago, irani said:

120 Kg -  This is where we run out of luck.  If Za-Re goes to the world championship,  there is not a big different between our A guy and B guy

Who's the B guy, Taheri? There's a huge difference between Zare and Taheri in terms of international results 

Edited October 11, 2021 by The Genius

[irani 820]

18 minutes ago, The Genius said:

Who's the B guy, Taheri? There's a huge difference between Zare and Taheri in terms of international results 

Based on the past, yes, it is Taheri.  Za-Re does struggle with Taheri's wrestling style though.  Perhaps some new kids will mature into becoming a contender.  Our cadet world champion is promising, but he needs more time to become a senior contender

[The Genius 368]

4 minutes ago, irani said:

Based on the past, yes, it is Taheri.  Za-Re does struggle with Taheri's wrestling style though.  Perhaps some new kids will mature into becoming a contender.  Our cadet world champion is promising, but he needs more time to become a senior contender

Taheri is 6 years older and has never won a major tournament that I know of, I don't see how you can say there isn't a big difference between them, H2H results aside they are leagues apart in international tournaments, which is all that matters

Edited October 11, 2021 by The Genius

[wrestfan 815]

42 minutes ago, irani said:

Just for discussion, if Iran does send their A team to the world championship next year, who would represent Iran in some of the weights and can they win gold in the Asian games?

Focusing on the weights that matter

86 KG - Ahmad Bazri SHOULD be able to win gold in the AG

92 - Karimi should smoke the field

97 - Either Mohammadian or Goleij, depending on who is A and who is B should win gold

120 Kg -  This is where we run out of luck.  If Za-Re goes to the world championship,  there is not a big different between our A guy and B guy

AG will be held only in Olympic weights. he has to cut weight for 86kg (which will be easy for him) or move up to 97kg if he wants to go to Hangzhou.

97kg will be easy, Mohammadian, Goleij or Shabani they all can tech everybody in Asia.

125kg is a bit harder with that Mongolian guy (and probably Deng of China) not sure who is #2 in Iran at the moment. Mohebbi lost to Foroutan in Takhti Cup, Foroutan lost the U23 trials to Hashemi. and Taheri lost to Egypt lol so I say let's send Zare to both events, he doesn't cut weight after all. having back to back tournaments in 2 weeks won't hurt him.

[irani 820]

45 minutes ago, wrestfan said:

AG will be held only in Olympic weights. he has to cut weight for 86kg (which will be easy for him) or move up to 97kg if he wants to go to Hangzhou.

97kg will be easy, Mohammadian, Goleij or Shabani they all can tech everybody in Asia.

125kg is a bit harder with that Mongolian guy (and probably Deng of China) not sure who is #2 in Iran at the moment. Mohebbi lost to Foroutan in Takhti Cup, Foroutan lost the U23 trials to Hashemi. and Taheri lost to Egypt lol so I say let's send Zare to both events, he doesn't cut weight after all. having back to back tournaments in 2 weeks won't hurt him.

I understand (and hate) why the Olympics have limited the weight classes to 6

I cannot comprehend for the life of me why the AG are limited to to 6 weights.

[wrestfan 815]

41 minutes ago, irani said:

I understand (and hate) why the Olympics have limited the weight classes to 6

I cannot comprehend for the life of me why the AG are limited to to 6 weights.

for the same reason lol they don't want too many athletes in the games.

but AG is much more flexible. it's also up to the host nation and China is not really interested in wrestling.

we had non-Olympic weights back in 2014 (at the time we had only 2 non-Olympic weights per style, now it's 4+4+4) but Indonesia as 2018 host dropped them all because they suck big time in wrestling. and China simply didn't change that. with Japan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as next AG hosts I don't think non-Olympic weights will be back anytime soon. (maybe only Japan could be interested in changing that)

[irani 820]

1 hour ago, wrestfan said:

for the same reason lol they don't want too many athletes in the games.

but AG is much more flexible. it's also up to the host nation and China is not really interested in wrestling.

we had non-Olympic weights back in 2014 (at the time we had only 2 non-Olympic weights per style, now it's 4+4+4) but Indonesia as 2018 host dropped them all because they suck big time in wrestling. and China simply didn't change that. with Japan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as next AG hosts I don't think non-Olympic weights will be back anytime soon. (maybe only Japan could be interested in changing that)

I think Japan will and should be interested in having full weights of wreslting

Qatar and Saudi will probably also be interested, they will just sign Sadualev and David's Taylor's sons as their citizen and try to win medals the only way they know how :)

[Uwwdoc 114]

Any links to where I can watch some of Iran's matches with Iranian commentary?

[irani 820]

10 hours ago, Uwwdoc said:

Any links to where I can watch some of Iran's matches with Iranian commentary?

You can watch some of them here https://www.khabarvarzeshi.com/news/331510/ببینید-فیلم-و-نتایج-کامل-کشتی-گیران-ایران-۴-طلا-و-۲-برنز-تاریخ

In general, they are very supportive of the wrestler and coaching, but keep on talking what a terrible job the Iran medical staff did :)  (just as bad joke)

Great job Doctor!!

[Uwwdoc 114]

2 minutes ago, irani said:

You can watch some of them here https://www.khabarvarzeshi.com/news/331510/ببینید-فیلم-و-نتایج-کامل-کشتی-گیران-ایران-۴-طلا-و-۲-برنز-تاریخ

In general, they are very supportive of the wrestler and coaching, but keep on talking what a terrible job the Iran medical staff did :)  (just as bad joke)

Great job Doctor!!

Hahahaha. Thanks buddy!

[Shiraz123 822]

Team USA vs Team Iran  on February 12 in Texas

Edited October 12, 2021 by Shiraz123

[irani 820]

23 minutes ago, Shiraz123 said:

Team USA vs Team Iran  on February 12 in Texas

Cannot wait to see which wrestlers each team decides to bring in

If both teams bring their A teams, this is what I see

57 - US heavy favorite

61 - US heavy favorite

65 - toss up

70 - toss up

74- US heavy favorite

79 - US heavy favorite

86 -  Great match, could go either way

92 - Great match, could go either way

97 - Great match, could go either way

125 - Iran heavy favorite

[Shiraz123 822]

47 minutes ago, irani said:

Cannot wait to see which wrestlers each team decides to bring in

If both teams bring their A teams, this is what I see

57 - US heavy favorite

61 - US heavy favorite

65 - toss up

70 - toss up

74- US heavy favorite

79 - US heavy favorite

86 -  Great match, could go either way

92 - Great match, could go either way

97 - Great match, could go either way

125 - Iran heavy favorite

Apparently Steveson is coming at 125, not Gwiz. That surprises me. A lot of respect to Steveson for putting it on the line, he doesn't really need to do this seeing as he's won his olympic gold and gone/going to WWE and those fans won't know/care. Does more for Zare if anything. 

Mostly agree with you, but think USA is a good favourite over us at 65. Their 65s aren't medal calibre but they're a step up from Yazdani and Ghiasi. 

This will be interesting though, i'm sure they're not going to force them to make the actual weights (nor should they, i'm not complaining), so I wonder how that will impact the matches. Cox at 92 with a weight allowance will be tough for Ghasempour. But you could say not having to make 65 helps Yazdani since he fades hard. 

To be honest, looking at it, there's not a weight where Iran is a huge favourite. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by Shiraz123