Iran wrestling news

[GrandOlm]

14 hours ago, Lucho said:

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. 

I think Riza is 2-5 against Lopez. Riza had a win at 2011 worlds held at Turkey (I think this is the bribe allegation match, I agree that it was a bit weird how he easily he scored against Lopez with that throw) and then he "beat" Lopez at 2015 worlds. I say beat in quotation because the match was a stalemate. Nothing happened during the bout, the ref gave Riza a point for no real reason and it stayed 1-0. 

I agree that Riza is a talented wrestler (from a technique stand point, mentality). But he is also undersized. Not just for the modern era. Riza would be small for a super heavy in the 1950s. Just look at him next to Lopez, he is dwarfed. There is really no advantage to giving up that much weight and size to someone in greco. Or look the Riza's face before their final in Rio. He knew he couldn't beat Lopez, outside a small miracle. 

[Irani]

Massoumi reiterates that he will be wrestling for Azerbaijan, starting 2027

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR350IJCCSm/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[Lucho]

1 hour ago, Irani said:

Massoumi reiterates that he will be wrestling for Azerbaijan, starting 2027

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR350IJCCSm/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

I mean Massoumi hasn't really been that good since he started wrestling with Gazyumov in Baku. He barely beat Sahraei twice and still hasn't really had a competitive match against Zare domestically. It seems to me he has regressed rather than improved. I would much rather invest in a guy like Mohammadnezhad, Sahraei, Jan Mohammadzadeh long term than a guy who would throw in the towel at 21. Would he be a great asset for us long term? Absolutely but he thinks switching countries is like changing hair colour, it will come back and bite him in the future imo.

[Window12]

On 12/5/2025 at 11:28 AM, Lucho said:

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. It’s 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.

He struggled against physically stronger opponents even at 79- say Burroughs or Usmanov if my memory is correct. But I agree his ideal weight seems to be 79. I fear he may not be able to replicate the relative success that he has had in 79 at 86 where his key rivals at that weight such as Valencia Kadiev Ghassempour and possibly Rahmani are not only going to be comparatively technical but at this time undoubtedly stronger. So there are risks for him professionally in going up but I guess we are talking possibility of glory at the Olympics which is a motivational factor for him taking a risk.

[Irani]

Unnamed U23 Iranian gold medalist tested positive for doping.

Sure and fast way to go from hero to zero

https://www.iranintl.com/202512106803

[Lucho]

6 hours ago, Irani said:

Unnamed U23 Iranian gold medalist tested positive for doping.

Sure and fast way to go from hero to zero

https://www.iranintl.com/202512106803

I have a feeling it is Iman Mohammadi. He went from 63 to 72kg and won Iran nationals and then now he has won U23 worlds. It seems incredibly unlikely that he could become this successful with just a jump up in a weight class given he isn't the most technically gifted wrestler. If it is Farokhi or Hedayati I'm going to be devastated. Especially Farokhi as he seems like an incredible prospect for the sport.

[Irani]

2 hours ago, Lucho said:

I have a feeling it is Iman Mohammadi. He went from 63 to 72kg and won Iran nationals and then now he has won U23 worlds. It seems incredibly unlikely that he could become this successful with just a jump up in a weight class given he isn't the most technically gifted wrestler. If it is Farokhi or Hedayati I'm going to be devastated. Especially Farokhi as he seems like an incredible prospect for the sport.

That seems like a good guess.  We’ll find out soon

they need to weed out this doping culture out of the GR community.  For some reason it seems to be happening too frequently in the GR camp 

[Window12]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSJ-b3YDJr0/?igsh=aWZhNGczY3VmaGFr
 

its gonna be more of the same - not sure if Azarpira will be that easy though 

[shiraz321]

Yaz will wrestle Goleij in a few hours. I thought Shamsipour did well against Kadiev also in the 86kg match. Lost 3 - 0 but was in on a few leg attacks that he failed to finish. 

[Truzzcat]

2 hours ago, shiraz321 said:

Yaz will wrestle Goleij in a few hours. I thought Shamsipour did well against Kadiev also in the 86kg match. Lost 3 - 0 but was in on a few leg attacks that he failed to finish. 

For someone his age to not get overwhelmed by kadievs tricks I thought was very impressive. He also definitely has some filling out to do with his frame for 86, I think hes going to be a superstar.

[shiraz321]

Live stream of the league. 

 

[Gene Mills Fan]

Thank you @shiraz321

[Irani]

Hassan Yazdani teached Babaloo 10-0

[Window12]

Looks like he beats Goleij 5-0. Two shot clock points though

[Irani]

40 minutes ago, Irani said:

Hassan Yazdani teached Babaloo 10-0

 

[shiraz321]

That was funny. Firouzpour and Azimi had a controversial ending to their match which resulted in the crowd throwing things on to the mat. It delayed the Yazdani vs Goleij match for so long that I thought it was cancelled. Then they came out and the match was very boring. Maybe even boring due to them being ready to go out and then having to go back and cool down then warm up again. Yazdani's ability to go up in weight and do well is definitely impressive, though. We will see if he can take Azarpira's spot. 

[Window12]

Whats the  scores between Azarpira and Goleij been like? I dont recall any memorable matches between them  but Goleij and to a lesser degree Azarpira  are not known for having memorable matches....

Goleij over the years has had some very close matches with Sadulaev and Snyder so may be already Yazdani is not that far from the top tier? 

[Irani]

Goleiji is mostly known for pulling ahead of superstars in big matches, and then blowing the lead in the last 10 seconds

against Hassan, he never pulled ahead so th match was more boring than usual.

 

to be fair to him, here is a video of him against Valencia years ago

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSE54mvAJpl/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

 

[Lucho]

8 hours ago, Window12 said:

Whats the  scores between Azarpira and Goleij been like? I dont recall any memorable matches between them  but Goleij and to a lesser degree Azarpira  are not known for having memorable matches....

Goleij over the years has had some very close matches with Sadulaev and Snyder so may be already Yazdani is not that far from the top tier? 

I think they have been quite low scoring. I'm pretty sure they wrestled at Iran nationals either this year or last year and Azarpira won. Goleij is one of the unluckiest wrestlers we've had, he was so close to beating both Snyder and Sadulaev but then lost in the last few seconds. It's strange how that's happened so many times for us. Yazdani vs Taylor in Tokyo, Goleij vs Sadulaev and Snyder, Ghasempour vs Sadulaev etc. Is it conditioning, mental or both?

[Window12]

1 hour ago, Irani said:

Goleiji is mostly known for pulling ahead of superstars in big matches, and then blowing the lead in the last 10 seconds

against Hassan, he never pulled ahead so th match was more boring than usual.

 

to be fair to him, here is a video of him against Valencia years ago

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSE54mvAJpl/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

 

Are you sure they did not send Hassan Yazdani in disguise to act like he was Goleij? (Iranians are crafty like that)… I mean whoever it was in that clip was god forbid doing actual wrestling moves…

[Lucho]

10 hours ago, shiraz321 said:

That was funny. Firouzpour and Azimi had a controversial ending to their match which resulted in the crowd throwing things on to the mat. It delayed the Yazdani vs Goleij match for so long that I thought it was cancelled. Then they came out and the match was very boring. Maybe even boring due to them being ready to go out and then having to go back and cool down then warm up again. Yazdani's ability to go up in weight and do well is definitely impressive, though. We will see if he can take Azarpira's spot. 

Azimi has Firouzpour's number he has beaten him twice in their last two encounters. Yazdani is still adjusting to 97kg and even then teched Babaloo and beat Goleij comfortably. I kinda want to see him compete at Asians just so he gets to wrestle Yoshida, Aitmukhan and Taz before worlds. I feel like if Yazdani can win Asians then he should have a wrestle off against Azarpira.

[Lucho]

13 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

For someone his age to not get overwhelmed by kadievs tricks I thought was very impressive. He also definitely has some filling out to do with his frame for 86, I think hes going to be a superstar.

Kadiev also narrowly beat Ezatollah Akbari 5-4, so I'm not sure if Kadiev was 100% in this tournament or not. If he was in pretty good shape then maybe Shamsipour has potentially to become our long term answer to 86kg. However its good that these guys get to wrestle the top Russian guys as its a great experience for them and a confidence booster as well. I'm just hoping we end up finding a good 57 and 61kg prospect in the meantime.

[Window12]

11 minutes ago, Lucho said:

I think they have been quite low scoring. I'm pretty sure they wrestled at Iran nationals either this year or last year and Azarpira won. Goleij is one of the unluckiest wrestlers we've had, he was so close to beating both Snyder and Sadulaev but then lost in the last few seconds. It's strange how that's happened so many times for us. Yazdani vs Taylor in Tokyo, Goleij vs Sadulaev and Snyder, Ghasempour vs Sadulaev etc. Is it conditioning, mental or both?

Yes I would believe that their match were low scoring.. they don’t seem to like feet to back moves or throws.

in terms of last second losses they could just be statistical — I mean some matches are lost early some somewhere in the middle and some in last seconds… would  I be right in saying the most famous one would be Steveson V Petriashvilli? …I mean that win made Steveson the superstar of wrestling that he never became…

 

Edited December 13, 2025 by Window12
.

[Irani]

Here is the controversial end of the Azimi Firouzpour match

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1299590522198774/?fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e

[Irani]

Looks like the Bank Shahr team used several Russians.

so the Sadulaev story was just BS publicity?