Iran wrestling news

[Irani]

20 hours ago, nhs67 said:

You're not being fair.  He got the first takedown and gave up the second takedown.  Your statement is true, however it isn't as if he outwrestled David Taylor or he wrestled poorly.  David Taylor is really good.  The way you say it is as if Ghasempour lost on poor decision making, when that simply isn't true.

Allow me to elaborate.

First of all DT wasn’t just very good, he was one of the best.

Ghassempour is really good at leg attacks.  He demonstrated that against Satiev, and against DT with the first take down.

after he took DT down, he went into a defensive posture and stopped his leg attacks, and only started attacking again after DY took him down 

in my opinion, after he took DT down, he should have wrestled lesss defensively and tried take downs on counter attacks while DT has to attack.  Once DT took the lead, and Ghassempour had to atrack, it was game over 

[Lucho]

1 hour ago, wrestlingfan22 said:

Azimi beat Firouzpour. The depth at 92kg for Iran is insane—those two Ghas and Yazdani. For 2028, can any of them other than Ghas make 86? Or will they all be at 97 competing with Azarpira?

Tbf 92 and 97kg have been weight classes Iran has historically always been good in its not a surprise we have a lot of great wrestlers here. However, with 97kg having Yazdani, Goleij, Azarpira and Bazri already pencilled in I'm hoping at least one of Azimi and Firouzpour stays at 92kg. It's a shame none of them can't cut down well to 86kg or else our overload in these weight classes would have been fixed.

[Lucho]

Also in Iran's wrestling league between Bank Shar and Esteghlal Juybar there was some interesting results. Bank Shahr won 7-3 overall.

57kg: Mahdi Veisi (Bank Shahr) beat Ali Yahyaipour (Esteghlal Juybar) 3-2

61kg: Reza Atri (Bank Shahr) beat Ali Gholizadegan (Esteghlal Juybar) 2-0

65kg: Shamil Mamedov (Esteghlal Juybar) beat Abbas Ebrahimzadeh (Bank Shahr) 8-3

70kg: Mohammad Bakshi (Esteghlal Juybar) beat Ebrahim Elahi (Bank Shahr) 4-1

74kg: Amir Mohammad Yazdani (Bank Shar) beat Amir Hossein Hosseini (Esteghlal Juybar) 7-4

79kg: Fariborz Babaei (Bank Shahr) beat Sobhan Rahmani (Esteghlal Juybar) 4-3

86kg: Ibragim Kadiev (Esteghlal Juybar) beat Mohammad Nokhodi (Bank Shahr) 5-0

92kg: Mohammad Mobin Azimi (Bank Shahr) beat Amir Hossein Firouzpour (Esteghlal Juybar) 3-0

97kg: Mojtaba Goleij (Bank Shahr) beat Ahmad Bazri (Esteghlal Juybar) 5-0

125kg: Amir Reza Masoumi beat Amir Reza Sahraei (Esteghlal Juybar) 2-1

Other interesting results in the league were Abolfazl Rahmani losing to Mohammad Hossein Norouzian 12-8 and Mahdi Yousefi losing to Erfan Elahi 9-7. It looks like Nokhodi might be looking to go up to 86kg which would be interesting to see. He unfortunately got out muscled by Kadiev so he may still need a little bit longer to bulk up completely. What is most interesting to me is the quality of the coaching staff for both teams was much better than our own national team. Komeil Ghasemi for Esteghlal Juybar and Reza Yazdani for Bank Shahr. 

 

[Lucho]

32 minutes ago, Irani said:

Allow me to elaborate.

First of all DT wasn’t just very good, he was one of the best.

Ghassempour is really good at leg attacks.  He demonstrated that against Satiev, and against DT with the first take down.

after he took DT down, he went into a defensive posture and stopped his leg attacks, and only started attacking again after DY took him down 

in my opinion, after he took DT down, he should have wrestled lesss defensively and tried take downs on counter attacks while DT has to attack.  Once DT took the lead, and Ghassempour had to atrack, it was game over 

I honestly think DT has figured out the Iranian style and would have won that match regardless of what Ghasempour did. You can see how Valencia completely contained Ghasempour at worlds this year. Ghasempour's biggest issue is that he can't mentally come back once he is behind and he is cutting too much weight that is sustainable for him at 86kg with his current body. 

[Truzzcat]

2 hours ago, Lucho said:

Tbf 92 and 97kg have been weight classes Iran has historically always been good in its not a surprise we have a lot of great wrestlers here. However, with 97kg having Yazdani, Goleij, Azarpira and Bazri already pencilled in I'm hoping at least one of Azimi and Firouzpour stays at 92kg. It's a shame none of them can't cut down well to 86kg or else our overload in these weight classes would have been fixed.

I was hoping Yaz would build into a strong 92 to where he was cutting for it and then just kind of did 2028 at his walk around weight. For a guy that once wrestled u20's at 66kg's I feel like you athleticism has to be extremely hindered cutting to make 30kg's heavier albeit 14 years later.

[Lucho]

2 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

I was hoping Yaz would build into a strong 92 to where he was cutting for it and then just kind of did 2028 at his walk around weight. For a guy that once wrestled u20's at 66kg's I feel like you athleticism has to be extremely hindered cutting to make 30kg's heavier albeit 14 years later.

Yeah I wanted Yazdani to compete at 92kg with Ghasempour at 86kg and Azarpira at 97kg for 2026, 2027 and then Yazdani moving up to 2028 as you said. I feel like him going up 11kg plus his shoulder injury is going to be very very tough to come back from. Especially as its not like 97kg is an easy weight class. Even domestically Goleij, Bazri, Azimi and Firouzpour are solid guys let alone Azarpira who he most likely will compete against for the spot. In saying that though if there's anyone that could do this it would be him tbh. I feel like what ends up happening by 2028 is Nokhodi/Ghasempour at 86kg, Azimi/Firouzpour at 92kg and Yazdani/Azarpira at 97kg.

[Window12]

On 9/21/2024 at 6:47 PM, Irani said:

Hassan Yazdani had his shoulders operated on.  The operation took 7 hours, and they operated on three different parts of his shoulder.

Some reports forecast that he will be out for 1-2 years.

Personally, I fear that he may be finished.

https://www.khabarvarzeshi.com/news/475455/توپ-فوتبال-روی-کتف-حسن-یزدانی-تصویر-عجیب-پادشاه-کشتی-بعد-از

 

Yes Yazdanis return still has many uncertain aspects 15 months on- It’s telling that yesterday despite some hype about him wrestling Golij -it was Bazri that wrestled Goliej instead.

Hemmat Moslemi in no uncertain terms said it was not to Yasdani’s benefit if he wrestles.

If he wants to make a come back and prove he is still a force to be reckoned with he has to start somewhere but I guess starting in a high level match in a pressure cooker atmosphere with the arena packed with spectators would have been too risky with many folks not easy with it  and the match  was dropped unceremoniously.

But he has to start somewhere if he wants to make a comeback though…

Edited November 29, 2025 by Window12
.

[Window12]

3 hours ago, Lucho said:

Nokhodi/Ghasempour at 86kg, 

Do you think Nokhodi has the frame for 86kg?

he seems small to me. The move to 86 did not work out great for Savadkohi.. and perhaps Kyle Dake…

[Window12]

11 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

We have an international guest visiting during a holiday of feasting and you couldn't even give them an extra helping of stuffing or mashed potatoes & gravy? For shame.

Taz I believe has a fondness for a special Iranian restaurant in Bahrain that serve Kobideh with rice with extra butter . Sadly this was not available during his visit in the USA. I believe the restaurant wanted to open a Branch in the USA but this was shut down after a raid by ICE agents. I believe that contributed to keeping Taz lean and mean in his latest excursion to the American continent. One thing that the media has not touched upon was that he did have a decent feast though with Aaron Brooks muslim convert brother, Muzzaffar.

[Husker_Du]

what's the latest on Masoumi transferring? 

[Truzzcat]

7 minutes ago, Husker_Du said:

what's the latest on Masoumi transferring? 

believe its waiting on Iran approval still but from what I have heard he is training in Azerbijan. I would assume he will be out for 2026 and back for 2027.

[Husker_Du]

On 11/28/2025 at 3:35 PM, bnwtwg said:

We have an international guest visiting during a holiday of feasting and you couldn't even give them an extra helping of stuffing or mashed potatoes & gravy? For shame.

oh, we had thanksgiving dinner together.

[GrandOlm]

Looks like the Turkish federation pulled some strings and old Riza might be back by next year. I had a feeling his big ego wouldn't let it end this way https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1155863/kayaalp-star-avoids-four-year-ban

I don't think Riza has the conditioning anymore to beat the top Iranians, but he can beat almost everyone else if he's even close to his 2024 level. I think he's the favorite at the European Championships. I don't trust anyone from that continent to stop him. They couldn't for over a decade and they still don't have anyone new who is really good. 

[Lucho]

On 11/29/2025 at 7:33 PM, Window12 said:

Do you think Nokhodi has the frame for 86kg?

he seems small to me. The move to 86 did not work out great for Savadkohi.. and perhaps Kyle Dake…

I feel like he could fill it out if he makes the jump now. He has around 3 years to fill his body out. He is also a much better wrestler than Savadkouhi, Dake is unlucky that he was wrestling against the best 86kg on the planet for trials otherwise he is a strong 86kg imo.

[Lucho]

On 12/1/2025 at 1:26 PM, GrandOlm said:

Looks like the Turkish federation pulled some strings and old Riza might be back by next year. I had a feeling his big ego wouldn't let it end this way https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1155863/kayaalp-star-avoids-four-year-ban

I don't think Riza has the conditioning anymore to beat the top Iranians, but he can beat almost everyone else if he's even close to his 2024 level. I think he's the favorite at the European Championships. I don't trust anyone from that continent to stop him. They couldn't for over a decade and they still don't have anyone new who is really good. 

The guy is 36 years old, there is no way he is a contender at 130kg at this stage of his career. He ain't Lopez. The truth is that even if he wins the Europeans and a world bronze does his legacy change. He retires as possibly the greatest greco wrestler of all time to never win an Olympic gold and that is incredibly unlikely to happen at 38/39 in LA with prime Mirzazadeh/Hedayati/Yousefi as his competition. He should go into coaching and improve Turkey's program.

[GrandOlm]

2 hours ago, Lucho said:

The guy is 36 years old, there is no way he is a contender at 130kg at this stage of his career. He ain't Lopez. The truth is that even if he wins the Europeans and a world bronze does his legacy change. He retires as possibly the greatest greco wrestler of all time to never win an Olympic gold and that is incredibly unlikely to happen at 38/39 in LA with prime Mirzazadeh/Hedayati/Yousefi as his competition. He should go into coaching and improve Turkey's program.

Yeah I don't think Riza has the endurance anymore to win a world or olympic title. If someone as badly conidtioned as Semenov can get him dead tired two years ago, imagine what Yousefi would do to him now. 

I don't think Riza is the best to never win, not even among super heavyweights. Tomov was much better than Riza. So was Rostorotsky. Those two were both amazing athletes (Rostorotsky was a giant). Riza is significantly undersized (his natural weight class is probably 87kg when not pumped up with....)  and he is not an elite athlete. Riza makes up for it with tenacity, good technique, and will to win. But those can only take you so far (as Lopez showed time and time again). He's very fortunate that he's wrestled in an era where all the soviet systems that used to produce wrestlers collapsed and before another country took the sport seriously. 

Riza has a big ego. That ego has served him will, you kind of need to be delusionaly optimistic to succeed at 130kg at 178 cm tall and 30 percent body fat. 

[shiraz321]

9 hours ago, GrandOlm said:

Yeah I don't think Riza has the endurance anymore to win a world or olympic title. If someone as badly conidtioned as Semenov can get him dead tired two years ago, imagine what Yousefi would do to him now. 

I don't think Riza is the best to never win, not even among super heavyweights. Tomov was much better than Riza. So was Rostorotsky. Those two were both amazing athletes (Rostorotsky was a giant). Riza is significantly undersized (his natural weight class is probably 87kg when not pumped up with....)  and he is not an elite athlete. Riza makes up for it with tenacity, good technique, and will to win. But those can only take you so far (as Lopez showed time and time again). He's very fortunate that he's wrestled in an era where all the soviet systems that used to produce wrestlers collapsed and before another country took the sport seriously. 

Riza has a big ego. That ego has served him will, you kind of need to be delusionaly optimistic to succeed at 130kg at 178 cm tall and 30 percent body fat. 

Wow excellent knowledge

[Window12]

15 hours ago, Lucho said:

I feel like he could fill it out if he makes the jump now. He has around 3 years to fill his body out. He is also a much better wrestler than Savadkouhi, Dake is unlucky that he was wrestling against the best 86kg on the planet for trials otherwise he is a strong 86kg imo.

That’s also sort of my point. The current best guy is having to cut to get to the weight seems to have the natural size  advantage over Dake and no doubt as things stand over Nokhodi. Kadiev seemed to be too strong for Nokhodi also. Nokhodi will have his work cut out for him if he wishes to go to 86 but it may add a bit of depth for Iran at this weight…

[Irani]

On 11/29/2025 at 4:14 PM, Truzzcat said:

believe its waiting on Iran approval still but from what I have heard he is training in Azerbijan. I would assume he will be out for 2026 and back for 2027.

Massoumi is in Iran wrestling in the Iranian wrestling league.

no clue what will happen to his transfer.

speaking of iran wrestling league, there are rumors that Sadulaov will be signing up to wrestle in the Iran league in the playoffs.  In theory, he may end up wrestling Hassan Yazdani

[Truzzcat]

43 minutes ago, Irani said:

Massoumi is in Iran wrestling in the Iranian wrestling league.

no clue what will happen to his transfer.

speaking of iran wrestling league, there are rumors that Sadulaov will be signing up to wrestle in the Iran league in the playoffs.  In theory, he may end up wrestling Hassan Yazdani

That would be absolute cinema if he wrestled Yaz. Any chance we see Azimi vs Yaz?

[Irani]

12 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

That would be absolute cinema if he wrestled Yaz. Any chance we see Azimi vs Yaz?

Azimi is wrestling 92 and Hassan is supposed to wrestle 97.

if Hassan really does wrestle, he will face Sadulaov or Goleij.

reports are that Sadulaev is now confirmed 

https://khanehkoshti.ir/گادجی-ماگومدوف-و-سیداکوف-به-ایران-می/

[bnwtwg]

14 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

That would be absolute cinema if he wrestled Yaz. Any chance we see Azimi vs Yaz?

I will put absolutely zero stock in the outcome of this match. Offseason Sadulaev + recovering Yazdani = anything from 2-1 to 22-12 to a :30 pin and it means nothing. Now, if they ever meet at worlds...

[Irani]

1 hour ago, bnwtwg said:

I will put absolutely zero stock in the outcome of this match. Offseason Sadulaev + recovering Yazdani = anything from 2-1 to 22-12 to a :30 pin and it means nothing. Now, if they ever meet at worlds...

I agree, however, I would still pay top dollar to watch it.

[Lucho]

On 12/2/2025 at 4:20 PM, GrandOlm said:

Yeah I don't think Riza has the endurance anymore to win a world or olympic title. If someone as badly conidtioned as Semenov can get him dead tired two years ago, imagine what Yousefi would do to him now. 

I don't think Riza is the best to never win, not even among super heavyweights. Tomov was much better than Riza. So was Rostorotsky. Those two were both amazing athletes (Rostorotsky was a giant). Riza is significantly undersized (his natural weight class is probably 87kg when not pumped up with....)  and he is not an elite athlete. Riza makes up for it with tenacity, good technique, and will to win. But those can only take you so far (as Lopez showed time and time again). He's very fortunate that he's wrestled in an era where all the soviet systems that used to produce wrestlers collapsed and before another country took the sport seriously. 

Riza has a big ego. That ego has served him will, you kind of need to be delusionaly optimistic to succeed at 130kg at 178 cm tall and 30 percent body fat. 

I can't comment on Greco during USSR but from when I've been watching wrestling Riza Kayaalp, Rovshan Bayramov and Eldaniz Azizli stand out as guys who were good enough to be Olympic champs who didn't end up winning gold for various reasons. I still think he is incredibly talented he did beat Lopez even if there were bribery allegations regarding the result. 

[Lucho]

On 12/3/2025 at 6:11 AM, Window12 said:

That’s also sort of my point. The current best guy is having to cut to get to the weight seems to have the natural size  advantage over Dake and no doubt as things stand over Nokhodi. Kadiev seemed to be too strong for Nokhodi also. Nokhodi will have his work cut out for him if he wishes to go to 86 but it may add a bit of depth for Iran at this weight…

He can't cut down to 74kg unfortunately or else he would have been our perfect guy at 74kg. I feel like he is in a weird position where he is too big for 74kg but too small for 86kg so 79kg is perfect for him. But if he wants an Olympic medal he needs to make a tough decision now. Its strange how he hasn't been able to win gold yet. I really felt like this year was his to lose, especially after he finally beat Burroughs.