Iran wrestling news

[Undefeated]

In Greco, we’ve got Hedayati stuck behind Mirzazadeh. There’s a chance he could beat Mirzazadeh in the Olympic trials, but either way, both of them are legit Olympic medal contenders. As for Yousefi - I think the best move for him might actually be to emigrate.

[Undefeated]

Dorostkar: Yazdani’s definitely going at 97.

https://video.varzesh3.com/video/380206/درستکار-یزدانی-قطعا-در-97kg-کشتی-خواهد-گرفت

[shiraz321]

Maybe he was encouraged by Bazri vs Azarpira, lol. He crushed Bazri when they wrestled a few years back. 

 

https://www.aparat.com/v/1Loa5

[GrandOlm]

9 hours ago, Shibboleth said:

If Masoumi actually transfers to Azerbaijan it's gonna be a big F U to Meshvildishvili who is a reigning olympic bronze (when the other bronze and gold retired) and also reigning European champion. Probably Meshvildishvili is # 4-5 in the world after Zare, Hendrickson, Masoumi and... who else? Yea he's 4. And he's not that old and gonna be out of the picture forever. And he can't transfer again because he's already a transfer.

Geno is better than Mesh. Geno is not retired yet, as far as I'm aware. Though he might be retired by the time Masoumi is eligible to compete post transfer. Gable is also better than Mesh, but he's not an active wrestler for now. 

I don't think we know where Hendrickson stands yet. Yes he pulled off a nail biter of a major upset in another ruleset. But he also just gave up a million points to someone who wouldn't have medaled at worlds. For all we know, he might not be able to beat someone like Deng. 

[GrandOlm]

10 hours ago, Undefeated said:

Dorostkar: Yazdani’s definitely going at 97.

https://video.varzesh3.com/video/380206/درستکار-یزدانی-قطعا-در-97kg-کشتی-خواهد-گرفت

Why would he do that? The competition  so much fiercer at 97. 86 might be better than the good old Punia and Amine days, but it's still a weak weight. A 5 ft 11 man can't make 190 lbs anymore after years of weighing that much?  Nonsense. 

[GrandOlm]

11 hours ago, Undefeated said:

In Greco, we’ve got Hedayati stuck behind Mirzazadeh. There’s a chance he could beat Mirzazadeh in the Olympic trials, but either way, both of them are legit Olympic medal contenders. As for Yousefi - I think the best move for him might actually be to emigrate.

Yousefi is puzzling. He destroyed Semenov. The same Semenov who is winning major silverware and having a wonderful career, while Yousefi rots on the bench. 

[GrandOlm]

19 hours ago, Undefeated said:

It’s all hypocrisy. Supporters with double standards who call themselves patriots - but what they really mean by patriotism is loyalty to the Islamic Republic. Go bring back Khamenei’s advisors’ kids from IMPERIALIST America to the homeland. They stole the country’s wealth and left, but they’re not called traitors. Meanwhile, Masoumi, who goes with his own money, is labeled a sellout! Enough of this nonsense.

The Ghasempour comparisons that they're bringing up are not valid. Ghasempour can wrestle at another weight class like 92 kg at worlds. Even for the olympics, he has the option of trying out 86 or 97 kg. So it's not like it's one guy stopping him.  Masoumi is 6 ft 6. There is no other weight he can make.  

You know who is a good comparison, Yasmani Acosta. He could have stayed put and not had a career behind Lopez and Oscar.  Acosta transferred and now he's an Olympic Silver and World Bronze medalist. 

[Lucho]

2 minutes ago, GrandOlm said:

Yousefi is puzzling. He destroyed Semenov. The same Semenov who is winning major silverware and having a wonderful career, while Yousefi rots on the bench. 

Hedayati and Yousefi wrestled each other and Hedayati won who then lost to Mirzazadeh to make the world team this year. Basically its because he can't beat who is in front of him domestically. Its honestly scary how much depth is in our heavyweights nowadays in both freestyle and greco. Yousefi is also already a world champ so its not like he his career has been wasted. Who knows he might end up winning a couple more world/olympic medals in the coming years just maybe not for Iran unfortunately.

[Ragu]

24 minutes ago, GrandOlm said:

he might not be able to beat someone like Deng.

I’d bet a lot of money Wyatt beats Deng

[Window12]

23 minutes ago, Ragu said:

I’d bet a lot of money Wyatt beats Deng

I think team USA has two amazing stars this year- Wyatt Hendrickson and Zahid Valencia. They will achieve the greatest of the greatest feats in wrestling. They are unquestionably unique and unparalleled. The likes of their talents has never been seen… Anything I missed out there? 

[Window12]

1 hour ago, GrandOlm said:

Why would he do that? The competition  so much fiercer at 97. 86 might be better than the good old Punia and Amine days, but it's still a weak weight. A 5 ft 11 man can't make 190 lbs anymore after years of weighing that much?  Nonsense. 

They say because of his shoulder surgery he is advised by his medical team not to cut weight. I get this as if he develops a more muscular build the additional strength afforded by stronger rotator cuff muscles will offer additional stability. In any case apparently he is now about 100kg. The counter argument is that whilst his shoulder will be more stable with more muscular support at 97 kg - his opponents will be also be much stronger and will subject his shoulder to greater stress. I mean Ghassempour found out that Kyle Snyder is in a different class from strength point of view a couple of times that they wrestled. I think there will be some mileage if they got Reza Yazdani to help him build up to that weight as he was a smaller more muscular build and he might have some tricks to pass on. Who knows what might happen- he may pull of a great comeback or things may end up disappointing. I guess the Iranian wrestling establishment are just letting him rehabilitate and see how things pan out …. 

Edited Saturday at 04:54 AM by Window12
.

[Shibboleth]

6 hours ago, GrandOlm said:

Geno is better than Mesh. Geno is not retired yet, as far as I'm aware. Though he might be retired by the time Masoumi is eligible to compete post transfer. Gable is also better than Mesh, but he's not an active wrestler for now. 

I don't think we know where Hendrickson stands yet. Yes he pulled off a nail biter of a major upset in another ruleset. But he also just gave up a million points to someone who wouldn't have medaled at worlds. For all we know, he might not be able to beat someone like Deng. 

Yea let's say Geno is out of the picture, maybe not formally retired. He's 100% not going past 2028. Same with Gable, he may try LA olympics but that's it for freestyle wrestling for him. Parris is out of the picture as well for now.

As for Hendrickson I think he's #3 in the world now, after Zare and Masoumi. Maybe #3 Iranian (who is that?) can challenge him? I don't think so. As for the rest - Deng I think is also retired. He's 37. Kurbanov, the 3x Russian champ, Henrdickson teched the only time they met. Manashvili I think he'll manhandle. 

I think Meshvildishvili will give him a good match but lose on points.

I think he's clear #2 this year - and before Masoumi and Zare both compete, and before maybe Geno comes back or someone else enters the fray. The new Turkish big guys are promising, and also Kurbanov may actually improve

Edited Saturday at 10:23 AM by Shibboleth

[Window12]

1 hour ago, Shibboleth said:

As for Hendrickson I think he's #3 in the world now, after Zare and Masoumi. Maybe #3 Iranian (who is that?) can challenge him? I don't think so. As for the rest - Deng I think is also retired. He's 37. Kurbanov, the 3x Russian champ, Henrdickson teched the only time they met. Manashvili I think he'll manhandle. 

I think Meshvildishvili will give him a good match but lose on points.

I think he's clear #2 this year - and before Masoumi and Zare both compete, and before maybe Geno comes back or someone else enters the fray. The new Turkish big guys are promising, and also Kurbanov may actually improve

Something seems off with all this hyping up of Hendrickson on the Iranian wrestling thread at the intuitive level. The logical part of my brain is asking if he that good why he is not getting his own thread on the main international thread where all the homerism can run rampant for a wrestler who as yet has no international credentials to speak of (though  I guess he is likely to have done well in an attenuated competition like the pan am).

[Gantry]

42 minutes ago, Window12 said:

a wrestler who as yet has no international credentials to speak of (though  I guess he is likely to have done well in an attenuated competition like the pan am).

He is a u23 world champ, that's certainly trumps any Pan Am accomplishments.  

[Window12]

16 minutes ago, Gantry said:

He is a u23 world champ, that's certainly trumps any Pan Am accomplishments.  

Ah yes that’s the year the Iranians did not get a visa for Albania. Attenuated 

[Window12]

24 minutes ago, Gantry said:

He is a u23 world champ, that's certainly trumps any Pan Am accomplishments.  

Also - U23… lol

[Undefeated]

Ebrahim Elahi vs Aria Yoshida. Starting at 58:00.
https://telewebion.com/episode/0x13b34058

[shiraz321]

11 hours ago, Undefeated said:

Ebrahim Elahi vs Aria Yoshida. Starting at 58:00.
https://telewebion.com/episode/0x13b34058

Elahi wont do anything internationally at the senior level unfortunately 

[shiraz321]

From what I saw at junior asians today and yesterday it will be a much weaker team this year for Iran at junior worlds compared to last year. 

[Undefeated]

https://video.varzesh3.com/video/380368/امیررضا-معصومی-در-تمرین-تیم-ملی-جمهوری-آذربایجان

Masoumi in Azerbaijan. The funny part is when his dad goes:
"Gazyumov! Olympic champion?"

[Undefeated]

I’m not sure what his dad's trying to do, but I really hope this is his first and last video. He better not start some drama with Dabir, 'cause that'll just drag his son into unnecessary controversy. They’ve already had enough of that. Whatever he's planning, he should wrap it up fast.

[bnwtwg]

On 7/12/2025 at 6:48 AM, Window12 said:

Something seems off with all this hyping up of Hendrickson on the Iranian wrestling thread at the intuitive level. The logical part of my brain is asking if he that good why he is not getting his own thread on the main international thread where all the homerism can run rampant for a wrestler who as yet has no international credentials to speak of (though  I guess he is likely to have done well in an attenuated competition like the pan am).

I have always been a huge fan of Hendrickson's technique as I think he is one of the best in the US at any weight, but the best technique does not equal results especially at the global level. I am cautiously optimistic for a medal but would not be surprised to see a quick exit just as easily.

I recognize he was not as physically matured as today and lacked a career-altering victory at the time, but Hendrickson could not get by Parris in freestyle (nearly teched him only to get wiped off the mat, and Parris was dismantled by an uninterested Steveson who was only training part-time while still in WWE) and could not get past Kerkvliet domestically until a torn ACL at the NCAA tournament just a few months ago. He was also taken to the brink by Hillger at USA team trials which essentially showed the blueprint from someone who, respectfully, who has no place on the USA ladder until basically every quality heavyweight didn't compete this year (Gable, Parris, Gwiz, Kerk, Cassioppi, Schultz & Coon greco only would win, Bradley, Zillmer moved down to 97 to possibly nab a default spot if Snyder didn't compete, etc.)

[Window12]

11 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

I have always been a huge fan of Hendrickson's technique as I think he is one of the best in the US at any weight, but the best technique does not equal results especially at the global level. I am cautiously optimistic for a medal but would not be surprised to see a quick exit just as easily.

I recognize he was not as physically matured as today and lacked a career-altering victory at the time, but Hendrickson could not get by Parris in freestyle (nearly teched him only to get wiped off the mat, and Parris was dismantled by an uninterested Steveson who was only training part-time while still in WWE) and could not get past Kerkvliet domestically until a torn ACL at the NCAA tournament just a few months ago. He was also taken to the brink by Hillger at USA team trials which essentially showed the blueprint from someone who, respectfully, who has no place on the USA ladder until basically every quality heavyweight didn't compete this year (Gable, Parris, Gwiz, Kerk, Cassioppi, Schultz & Coon greco only would win, Bradley, Zillmer moved down to 97 to possibly nab a default spot if Snyder didn't compete, etc.)

The Iranian wrestling commentators always say that you have to give due respect to whoever represents the USA as they will be good regardless and I think it applies to Hendrickson too.  He may be even number  2 or 1 etc internationally but he is untested at that level and hopefully his future results will speak for his abilities and put my questioning things to rest in an emphatic way. I’m sure time will tell.