Iran wrestling news

[Lucho]

On 3/28/2025 at 2:44 PM, bnwtwg said:

Does Iran have world champs on deck? Really?

Yes. The answer is always yes. The only question is how many and are we talking UWW weights or Olympic weights? Because the answer is still yes.

Iran hasn't won a FS olympic gold since Rio which was 2016. I think its a valid concern given how much more competitive it has become to win an olympic medal with Russian transfers. LA 2028 is probably the last chance for Yazdani to win his second olympic gold and Ghasempour to win an olympic gold. The rest of the guys I had seen were not too impressive so I didn't have too much hope in the future class but after Asians some have impressed me.

[Lucho]

On 3/29/2025 at 12:29 AM, shiraz321 said:

Peaked at cadets you mean, he has no positive junior results. He  turned 18 in January, so he still has a few years as a junior to go. I think if this other guy flops at 61 at asian juniors they may give him another chance. 

Yeah I meant cadets. I get the two mixed up. I saw he moved up to 61kg but hasn't looked that good which is a shame. I really like Valizadeh and Javan though at 57 and 61kg they look really solid. Those guys alongside Yousefi at 79kg and Rahmani at 86kg have impressed me quite a bit. We just need a proper 74kg which I think we need to give Amir Mohammad Yazdani another shot at, he got bronze at Yarygin this year so I think he is good enough to potentially be a medal threat (at least over Emami). 

[Lucho]

On 3/31/2025 at 7:58 PM, Window12 said:

I guess the elephant in the room now in terms of discussion merit worthiness is Massoumi. Is he now better than Zare? Is there anyone active in the weight class better than him?

I honestly think as crazy as it sounds that Masoumi wont ever be able to beat Zare but could be the one to beat Gable if they ever step on a mat in freestyle. Zare seems to be a bad match up for Masoumi. Kind of like Dake-Taylor and Taylor-Yazdani. But it will be an exciting wrestle off between them regardless.

[bnwtwg]

2 hours ago, Lucho said:

Iran hasn't won a FS olympic gold since Rio which was 2016. I think its a valid concern given how much more competitive it has become to win an olympic medal with Russian transfers. LA 2028 is probably the last chance for Yazdani to win his second olympic gold and Ghasempour to win an olympic gold. The rest of the guys I had seen were not too impressive so I didn't have too much hope in the future class but after Asians some have impressed me.

Yazdani was the heavy favorite going into the gold medal match against either guy on the other side of his bracket. Then he tore his shoulder. Injuries suck.

[Wrasslin]

On 3/19/2025 at 3:47 AM, shiraz321 said:

I dont think Amouzad can beat Kiyooka but we will see

He definitely can (if Kiyooka is the Japanese rep- they've got a ton of talent at 65kg, even without Otoguro). 

[D3 for LU]

Well... 65Kg IS the premier weight in FS.

D3

[Lucho]

21 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

Yazdani was the heavy favorite going into the gold medal match against either guy on the other side of his bracket. Then he tore his shoulder. Injuries suck.

I know he was the heavy favourite but he still lost. Whether Yazdani was unlucky due to being injured doesn't really matter once all things are said and done. At the end of the day the guy who won was Ramazanov. Do I think Ramazonov wins that match up 9 times out of 10? Absolutely not, the only way he would have won is if Yazdani was injured which was unfortunately the case. In fact I would argue he won't even place this year at the worlds. He had a lot of fortune on his side for the Olympics. If he doesn't get found out in the European championships he will get found out in the world championships. 

[shiraz321]

They announced the trials procedure for the rest of the year now that the Asian champs and other recent tournaments have concluded. 

 

Amouzad at 65 and Firouzpur at 92 are confirmed 2025 world team members with no further trial or foreign tournament. They are on the team. With the news of Firouzpour being the world team member I think it confirms we wont see Yazdani return this year. Some other guys like Ghasempour at 86 and Zare at 125 just need to win the Takhti cup to be on the team. So if Masoumi wins the Takhti even with Zare being in the bracket he would still need to beat him in a separate trial or outperform him in a foreign tournament. I heard from a good source Masoumi will wrestle for another country if he doesn't make the team very soon. 

[Window12]

If Masoumi beats Zare in Takhti cup then by definition Zare will not have  fulfilled the condition to be team member. This is too close for me to call. I would not mind if Massumi or Zare for that matter competed for another country to both have a shot at the world title. Perhaps Bahrain ?

Also who are going to be the 97 Kg contenders? Is Azapira able to compete? Babaloo? Azimi? Goleij?

[shiraz321]

24 minutes ago, Window12 said:

If Masoumi beats Zare in Takhti cup then by definition Zare will not have  fulfilled the condition to be team member. This is too close for me to call. I would not mind if Massumi or Zare for that matter competed for another country to both have a shot at the world title. Perhaps Bahrain ?

Also who are going to be the 97 Kg contenders? Is Azapira able to compete? Babaloo? Azimi? Goleij?

Azarpira won't be at the Takhti. Whoever wins the Takhti at 97 will go to some tournaments (without Azarpira) and if they are "successful" in those tournaments they can go to a foreign tournament with Azarpira or directly wrestle him for a spot on the team based off what the coaches decide. In the wrestle off they would need to beat him twice but he would only need to beat them once. 

 

And yes, I think it is unfair to Masoumi. They should let him go to worlds if he wins Takhti, especially since Zare will be at the Takhti anyway, but that is not the path they want to go. Zare seems to choke/lose every other year and Masoumi seems about as good against foreign competition but as is always the case in Iran world medalists are protected until the bitter end. They are even protecting Younes Emami of all people. 

[Shibboleth]

1 hour ago, shiraz321 said:

They announced the trials procedure for the rest of the year now that the Asian champs and other recent tournaments have concluded. 

 

Amouzad at 65 and Firouzpur at 92 are confirmed 2025 world team members with no further trial or foreign tournament. They are on the team. With the news of Firouzpour being the world team member I think it confirms we wont see Yazdani return this year. Some other guys like Ghasempour at 86 and Zare at 125 just need to win the Takhti cup to be on the team. So if Masoumi wins the Takhti even with Zare being in the bracket he would still need to beat him in a separate trial or outperform him in a foreign tournament. I heard from a good source Masoumi will wrestle for another country if he doesn't make the team very soon. 

Can you link the full procedure? Iran wrestling proodecure is as Byzantine as it gets lol

[shiraz321]

8 minutes ago, Shibboleth said:

Can you link the full procedure? Iran wrestling proodecure is as Byzantine as it gets lol

https://iwf.ir/?th=contentdetail&PageCode=78838

[Shibboleth]

9 hours ago, shiraz321 said:

https://iwf.ir/?th=contentdetail&PageCode=78838

Thanks.. So here's the rundown:

57 - Ali Momeni - same as Zare - if he wins Takhti he's in, otherwise, winner of Takhti will face Momeni at int'l tournament or face to face

61 - Ahmad Mohammadnezhad is skipping all the trials and is shoo in

65 - Rahman Amouzad - similar do 61 Amouzad is in

70 - Shakeri and Momeni are in pole for this. If someone else wins Takhti, that someone else will have to have playoffs with the better of the former two (this makes sense?) Also, where is AM Yazdani 

74 - Emami - same treatment as Momeni.

79 - Nokhodi in pole position. So, if Yousefi wins Takhti he'll get playoff with Nokhodi, but 1 down. (so it's like best of 3 but Yousefi starts 0-1, so he was to win 2 in a row). If someone else wins then that someone else has to go through Yousefi first (at a ranking tournament) and then same best-of-3 arrangement with Nokhodi. I guess Nokhodi is exempt from Takhti considering he was recently operated. 

There was some clause about Babaei which I don't quite understand.

86 - Ghasempour has the arrangement similar to Momeni and Emami

92 - Firouzpour is in without trials (like 61, 65)

97 - Azarpira exempt from Takhti due to injury/recovery. Winner of Takhti has to prove himself at a ranking tournament and then get the playoff vs Azarpira, best of 3 down 0-1 (similar to 79 kg)

If I understood it correctly - If Goleij specifically wins Takhti, then he gets to prove it through 1 ranking tournament and then compete with Azarpira at another ranking t. (?) I didn't understand this bit.

125 - Zare - Arrangement similar to Momeni, Emami, Ghasempour

[Window12]

12 hours ago, shiraz321 said:

And yes, I think it is unfair to Masoumi. They should let him go to worlds if he wins Takhti, especially since Zare will be at the Takhti anyway, but that is not the path they want to go. Zare seems to choke/lose every other year and Masoumi seems about as good against foreign competition

I am not sure who will emerge the winner in the next match between Massoumi and Zare. Its too close to call for me and fun to watch out for. But to be fair to Zare, he has been quite exceptional upto now at age 24 and since he started his senior level career in 2020 (age 19 I guess) after winning multiple age level titles, over the past 4-5 years he has won 2 gold and bronze at the world and a silver and bronze in Olympic competition.  This matches very respectably against anyone else tally currently active bar Sadullaev. I mean even David Taylor who has been  very dominant in the 86Kg category since 2018, lost out one year due to injury, lost one year on gold to Yazdani and lost out on being a US team member due to Brooks. This is notwithstanding that Zare has had formidable competition in Akgul, Petriashvilli and Steveson etc...

[Lucho]

These rules are ridiculous. Why should anyone at 61, 65 and 92kg compete if they can't make the team if they win Takhti??? The guy that makes the team should be the guy that wins the tournament. It doesn't matter if the person is injured and can't compete. This is literally why guys like Arsalan leave and wrestle for other countries. 

[Irani]

Slow/cautious return for Hassan Yazdani

شوک احتمالی به حسن یزدانی؛ شاید ۲۰۲۵ سال «پادشاه» نباشد