Iran Wrestling News

[Coach_J 2,073]

Must say, the banter between Iranian wrestling fans is priceless.  You guys know the sport, do your homework, and pull no punches, most especially on Iranian wrestlers.  Love the contributions you make to the forum and appreciate the brutally honest takes.  May you enjoy a blessed new year and may we all hope 2021 treats the world better.

[irani 690]

@Coach_J It is a pleasure having you as a friend on this board.

I hope 2021 brings you joy and happiness.

 

[Shiraz123 655]

David Taylor will wrestle in France on the 15 January along with some other American wrestlers. Dabir said Hassan has to wrestle Taylor at least once before the Olympics, this is probably a good chance (and they might not get another one) but I doubt they will send a team. 

[Shiraz123 655]

What do you think about all this about Rahimi coming back? 

[irani 690]

11 minutes ago, Shiraz123 said:

What do you think about all this about Rahimi coming back? 

He is entitled to try!  I see that some of the newspapers are really critical of him, but I cannot imagine that he will do any damage, and if anything his participation might further motivate Atri and Amouzadeh.

I cannot imagine that he can get in shape in time for the trials though.

 

[Shiraz123 655]

Just now, irani said:

He is entitled to try!  I see that some of the newspapers are really critical of him, but I cannot imagine that he will do any damage, and if anything his participation might further motivate Atri and Amouzadeh.

I cannot imagine that he can get in shape in time for the trials though.

 

He would come back at 65, no way he can do 57 on a 2 day weigh in at his age after also not training for 3 years.

[irani 690]

Just now, Shiraz123 said:

He would come back at 65, no way he can do 57 on a 2 day weigh in at his age after also not training for 3 years.

That is not what the news articles that I read implied, but it certainly makes more sense to me

[Bozak2018 33]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-executes-another-wrestler-reports-say

[Shiraz123 655]

Yes there is the death penalty in Iran for murder. I dislike the Islamic Republic and even disagree with the death penalty (because you will make a mistake and kill someone innocent inevitably) but a lot but people make weird criticisms lately. They do a lot worse than having the death penalty for certain crimes. Does Fox News want the death penalty removed in America? If you're a country like Norway or something without the death penalty then feel free to say how bad Iran is and I will happily agree. 

[Bozak2018 33]

I'm not saying if I am for against the death penalty.  The article was about an Iranian wrestler that was executed.  I thought it appropriate to post in the thread about Iranian wrestling news.  Nothing more to it than that.

[wrestfan 641]

it seems all human right activists like foxnews, Saudi Arabia and MEK now care about every single murder case in Iran. that's great, isn't it ?

that kid killed someone in a brawl and unfortunately there is death penalty in Iran for murder. and being a wrestler is not supposed to save you. they postponed the execution for 5 years. per rules in Iran, in cases like this it's up to the victim's family to forgive or not, some big names like Sourian tried to talk to the victim's family and convince them to "forgive" but that plan failed unfortunately.

[wrestfan 641]

Iran will send only 3 wrestlers to Matteo Pellicone tournament in Italy

Ehsanpour (65), Karimi (97) and Taheri (125)

they will send a bigger team to Ukraine next month but it's mostly youngsters like Firouzpour (both of them), Elahi etc

[Shiraz123 655]

I thought they would send more guys to Italy, they were talking about getting Hassan to wrestle Taylor then and instead end up sending 3 guys. The young team to Ukraine is interesting, though.  Looking at the calendar this means the next chance they have to send more of the top wrestlers to a tournament is in April at the Dan Kolov, however this tournament is at the same time as the Asian qualifier for Tokyo, so a wrestler at 97 and 65 will miss out. If not Kolov then they have another tournament in Italy in May and if not than then the Poland one in June.

Edited January 27 by Shiraz123

[The Genius 222]

19 hours ago, Bozak2018 said:

I'm not saying if I am for against the death penalty.  The article was about an Iranian wrestler that was executed.  I thought it appropriate to post in the thread about Iranian wrestling news.  Nothing more to it than that.

Your first contribution to this thread was to post a Fox News story about a random death penalty case in Iran because it concerns someone that once wrestled? 

I don't know why you guys try to make things political, but I am happy to reciprocate your kind gesture and spam the US threads with random criminal stories surrounding Americans that wrestled for a few months when they were 14 or something. 

[lu1979 389]

I would like to hear from some of the guys who follow the Iranian team as to who they think will make up the team in Tokyo.   Aside from H Yazdani at 86kg who I assume is a lock I'm not sure who the favorites are.  Is Zare the strong favorite at heavy?  He has to be one of the few guys with an international win over Geno P.  (that match was wild and well worth watching if you haven't seen it) Will 97 kg be between Karimi and the guy who pinned Snyder?  Are there others guys who could break in there?  Any knowledgeable speculation would be welcome.

[wrestfan 641]

8 hours ago, lu1979 said:

I would like to hear from some of the guys who follow the Iranian team as to who they think will make up the team in Tokyo.   Aside from H Yazdani at 86kg who I assume is a lock I'm not sure who the favorites are.  Is Zare the strong favorite at heavy?  He has to be one of the few guys with an international win over Geno P.  (that match was wild and well worth watching if you haven't seen it) Will 97 kg be between Karimi and the guy who pinned Snyder?  Are there others guys who could break in there?  Any knowledgeable speculation would be welcome.

Yazdani is almost a lock but not 100%. he has to go through Kamran Ghasempour who is a two time World U23 Champion.

57, I consider Reza Atri as the clear favorite but the youngster Rahman Amouzad is catching up with him. if he stays at 57kg (which is a big if since he is 18 and getting bigger fast) he will challenge Atri for the spot.

65, no big name, but lots of average guys here. it won't be easy for Iran to even qualify the weight (luckily most Asian good wrestlers are already qualified) I think Amir Mohammad Yazdani has the upper hand but he lost so many times in Iran.

74, it will be between Mostafa Hosseinkhani and Younes Emami, hard to imagine anybody else. Hosseinkhani is quite inconsistent, sometimes he has a close match with Burroughs and the next day he losses to some random Indian kid. Emami had some good results at 70kg but never wrestled at 74kg. and Iran has to qualify the weight first.

86, Yazdani most probably but Ghasempour is also good enough to at least challenge him

97, will be a close competition between Mohammadian (the guy who pinned Snyder), Karimi and Ali Shaabani. and there are couple of decent wrestlers to challenge these 3. I don't think Karimi stands a great chance in this new weight, I assume it will be between Mohammadian and Shaabani, when they faced in 2020 World Team Trials Shaabani beat Mohammadian twice. but I think Mohammadian wasn't in a good shape. Shaabani is very strong and physical but lacks technique comparing to Mohammadian.

125, there are 4 favorites actually, or maybe 5. Zare, Taheri, Hadi, Mohebbi and Foroutan. Hadi is aging and Mohebbi apparently didn't impress the coaches recently. Foroutan is new to the weight and Taheri has a poor international record, so yes I think Zare is the main favorite but he lost to Taheri in 2020 World Team Trials. Taheri has no chance to medal at the Olympics but he still can beat anybody in Iran to make the team which is terrible! Zare had hard time to score on him and Taheri won 2 of their 3 matches during the trials. (and was supposed to wrestle at the 2020 Worlds)

so my prediction, 57 Atri, 65 AM Yazdani, 74 Hosseinkhani, 86 H Yazdani, 97 Shaabani, 125 Zare

Edited January 30 by wrestfan

[Shiraz123 655]

Depends how they pick the team. Are they going to do a straight trial this time or will it be a mix of international tournaments and trials like last time until the coaches get who they want? lol

If they don't want Taheri on the team (and I don't blame them because he is the new Mohebi with the way he gets thrown for 4 constantly) they can probably send him and Zare to an international tournament and eliminate Taheri like that instead of having a straight trial. 

Emami also did wrestle one match at 74, unfortunately Israel was in his bracket and he had to lose the next match to the Turk on purpose. It would have been interesting to see him progress though the tournament. 

 

 

[lu1979 389]

13 hours ago, wrestfan said:

Yazdani is almost a lock but not 100%. he has to go through Kamran Ghasempour who is a two time World U23 Champion.

57, I consider Reza Atri as the clear favorite but the youngster Rahman Amouzad is catching up with him. if he stays at 57kg (which is a big if since he is 18 and getting bigger fast) he will challenge Atri for the spot.

65, no big name, but lots of average guys here. it won't be easy for Iran to even qualify the weight (luckily most Asian good wrestlers are already qualified) I think Amir Mohammad Yazdani has the upper hand but he lost so many times in Iran.

74, it will be between Mostafa Hosseinkhani and Younes Emami, hard to imagine anybody else. Hosseinkhani is quite inconsistent, sometimes he has a close match with Burroughs and the next day he losses to some random Indian kid. Emami had some good results at 70kg but never wrestled at 74kg. and Iran has to qualify the weight first.

86, Yazdani most probably but Ghasempour is also good enough to at least challenge him

97, will be a close competition between Mohammadian (the guy who pinned Snyder), Karimi and Ali Shaabani. and there are couple of decent wrestlers to challenge these 3. I don't think Karimi stands a great chance in this new weight, I assume it will be between Mohammadian and Shaabani, when they faced in 2020 World Team Trials Shaabani beat Mohammadian twice. but I think Mohammadian wasn't in a good shape. Shaabani is very strong and physical but lacks technique comparing to Mohammadian.

125, there are 4 favorites actually, or maybe 5. Zare, Taheri, Hadi, Mohebbi and Foroutan. Hadi is aging and Mohebbi apparently didn't impress the coaches recently. Foroutan is new to the weight and Taheri has a poor international record, so yes I think Zare is the main favorite but he lost to Taheri in 2020 World Team Trials. Taheri has no chance to medal at the Olympics but he still can beat anybody in Iran to make the team which is terrible! Zare had hard time to score on him and Taheri won 2 of their 3 matches during the trials. (and was supposed to wrestle at the 2020 Worlds)

so my prediction, 57 Atri, 65 AM Yazdani, 74 Hosseinkhani, 86 H Yazdani, 97 Shaabani, 125 Zare

Thank you for the insight - I enjoy following the Iranian wrestlers -I like their style and their fans are amazing.

[irani 690]

On 1/29/2021 at 8:41 AM, lu1979 said:

I would like to hear from some of the guys who follow the Iranian team as to who they think will make up the team in Tokyo.   Aside from H Yazdani at 86kg who I assume is a lock I'm not sure who the favorites are.  Is Zare the strong favorite at heavy?  He has to be one of the few guys with an international win over Geno P.  (that match was wild and well worth watching if you haven't seen it) Will 97 kg be between Karimi and the guy who pinned Snyder?  Are there others guys who could break in there?  Any knowledgeable speculation would be welcome.

You asked for knowledgeable speculation; unfortunately, I cannot give you that.  However, I am going to give my speculation, which is not knowledgeable.  To make up for my lack of knowledge, I will even give you predictions about the outcome at each weight class

 57 - Amouzad Will medal, and will get gold at 65 Kg in the 2024 Olympics!

65 AM Yazdani - WNP

74 Emami -  WNP

86 H Yazdani, - Silver or bronze depending on when he runs into DT

97 Mohammadian - Will medal

125 Zare - Will Medal

 

[wrestfan 641]

7 hours ago, Shiraz123 said:

Depends how they pick the team. Are they going to do a straight trial this time or will it be a mix of international tournaments and trials like last time until the coaches get who they want? lol

If they don't want Taheri on the team (and I don't blame them because he is the new Mohebi with the way he gets thrown for 4 constantly) they can probably send him and Zare to an international tournament and eliminate Taheri like that instead of having a straight trial. 

Emami also did wrestle one match at 74, unfortunately Israel was in his bracket and he had to lose the next match to the Turk on purpose. It would have been interesting to see him progress though the tournament.

that's the key, they will try to get who they want lol. it's not clear yet but as far as I know it won't be just a straight trial. even though considering the COVID situation it will be hard to find international tournaments for that purpose. I don't know about the level of Italy GP, but I think Taheri's defeat will make the coaches smile lol

I remembered that match but since it was against James Green (not a 74kg wrestler) I preferred to ignore it to not make my post longer ! lol I'm a bit surprised/disappointed they didn't send him to Italy. they probably have an eye on him for the Asian Qualifier.

[Housebuye 2,219]

22 hours ago, irani said:

You asked for knowledgeable speculation; unfortunately, I cannot give you that.  However, I am going to give my speculation, which is not knowledgeable.  To make up for my lack of knowledge, I will even give you predictions about the outcome at each weight class

 57 - Amouzad Will medal, and will get gold at 65 Kg in the 2024 Olympics!

65 AM Yazdani - WNP

74 Emami -  WNP

86 H Yazdani, - Silver or bronze depending on when he runs into DT

97 Mohammadian - Will medal

125 Zare - Will Medal

 

Taylor has not looked great recently. He beats Yazdani through weathering the storm and then never stopping. If he can’t do that anymore, Yazdani will win and it will be ugly to watch. 
  
Im picking Taylor of course, but I think Iranian fans may be pleasantly surprised. 

Edited January 31 by Housebuye

[wrestfan 641]

IAWF announced its plan for the trials to determine the freestyle team. we won't have extended trials like USA or Russia. it will be only between few wrestlers in each weight (probably no more than 3)

we will have straight matches to deteremine the Olympic team member at 57kg and 86kg on 9 March. maybe best of 3 but we don't know that yet. apparently they will decide about it after the first match !!!! (for example if Yazdani wins he will go to Tokyo, if he loses they will make it best of 3 to give him another chance, just my guess but most probably the correct guess)

57kg: Reza Atri vs Rahman Amouzad
86kg: Hassan Yazdani vs Kamran Ghasempour

they will decide about 125kg after some selected international tournaments and the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan. I have a feeling it's only between Zare and Taheri !! they didn't even invite Mohebbi and Hadi (and even Foroutan) to the training camp.

---

and about 3 other weights, Iran has to win the quota first. they will decide about it after winning the quota.

just one note about 74kg: it will be a trial between Jamal Ebadi and Younes Emami on 15 February, the winner will join Mostafa Hosseinkhani in the camp. then they will decide about sending who to the Asian Champs and who to then Asian OQT. both events will be in Kazakhstan back to back. two different wrestlers will represent Iran.

I think it's clear that Hosseinkhani has the upper hand. almost sure Amir Mohammad Yazdani will go to Kazakhstan for the quota. no idea about 97kg. I think Shaabani, Mohammadian and probably Karimi they are all good enough to win the quota. but Shaabani is probably the guy since he won the trials in 2020.

 

Edited February 8 by wrestfan

[Shiraz123 655]

They don't trust Zare to beat Taheri in a trial. I knew they were sending Taheri to Italy to set him up. He's terrible anyway but still funny. And I think Amouzad would have had more chance if the trials were closer to the Olympics and he could get some experience at some tournaments. I think it will probably be Atri now. 

[Housebuye 2,219]

What about my guy Goleij!

[wrestfan 641]

2 hours ago, Housebuye said:

What about my guy Goleij!

the announcement didn't mention a name for 97kg but right now there are 4 guys in the national camp, Shaabani, Karimi, Mohammadian and Goleij. I'm quite sure they are not going to send Goleij to Kazakhstan. let's say his chance is slim to even get to wrestle in the trials but he is still there. he is 4th in line.