Zagreb Ranking Series

[KennyEBHS]

I'm watching the gold medal match with Spencer Lee and there is NO ONE in the stands! I thought wrestling was supposed to be so popular in Eastern Europe.

[de4856]

17 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

 

I'm watching the gold medal match with Spencer Lee and there is NO ONE in the stands!

 

I noticed that too, but I am happy that Spencer and our other team members did well. 

[mspart]

So far we have done pretty well

mspart

[de4856]

SnyderMan looked good, but I was surprised by the Iranian heavyweight, he put the lumber to Mason. It shows the depth Iran has at this weight. 

[Shibboleth]

Something is off with Mason Parris. Probably demotivated and didn't train after the Paris 24 fiasco.

[pokemonster]

I was also surprised at the lack of discussion around it on here... Usually our USA team members stay home. 

[maligned]

12 minutes ago, de4856 said:

SnyderMan looked good, but I was surprised by the Iranian heavyweight, he put the lumber to Mason. It shows the depth Iran has at this weight. 

Yeah, if you're new to the party, Masoumi is probably the 3rd or 4th best heavy in the world. He just happens to be behind the #1 or #2 in the world.

[maligned]

17 minutes ago, de4856 said:

SnyderMan looked good, but I was surprised by the Iranian heavyweight, he put the lumber to Mason. It shows the depth Iran has at this weight. 

 

Masoumi has won the past three U20 worlds, plus a couple of U23 titles. Here was his U23 title last year:

 

[nhs67]

40 minutes ago, de4856 said:

SnyderMan looked good, but I was surprised by the Iranian heavyweight, he put the lumber to Mason. It shows the depth Iran has at this weight. 

 

30 minutes ago, Shibboleth said:

Something is off with Mason Parris. Probably demotivated and didn't train after the Paris 24 fiasco.

He had already lost to Masoumi in the past.  This result wasn't a surprise.

[Truzzcat]

@Irani is the sentiment In Iran that they still want Zare as the guy or are people calling for Masoumi?

[MPhillips]

1 minute ago, Truzzcat said:

@Irani is the sentiment In Iran that they still want Zare as the guy or are people calling for Masoumi?

Zare beats him and Zare is also young.

Welsh 79kg bronze.
Lost in the semi 4-2 to Khadjiev.
Welsh looked good.

[Truzzcat]

Just now, MPhillips said:

Zare beats him and Zare is also young.

Welsh 79kg bronze.
Lost in the semi 4-2 to Khadjiev.
Welsh looked good.

I have heard people that are skeptical of Zare's ability to win when it really counts.

[MPhillips]

1 minute ago, Truzzcat said:

I have heard people that are skeptical of Zare's ability to win when it really counts.

Understood.  Two World titles and a bronze and an Olympic bronze and silver...

Masoumi is right there.

[Irani]

10 minutes ago, Truzzcat said:

@Irani is the sentiment In Iran that they still want Zare as the guy or are people calling for Masoumi?

I really do not know.  I know I would LOVE to see Masoumi get good enough to pass Zare, but so far, their matches are a bit one sided.  Reminds me a bit of the Yazdani/Ghassempour rivalry.

But I am only speaking for myself, no idea, what the sentiment in Iran is.

[bnwtwg]

2 hours ago, maligned said:

Yeah, if you're new to the party, Masoumi is probably the 3rd or 4th best heavy in the world. He just happens to be behind the #1 or #2 in the world.

This.

In some order it's currently Zare, Masoumi, Geno. Steveson is the wild card until proven otherwise.

[Lucho]

I think domestically public perception is split between Zare and Masoumi for the spot tbh. Kind of like Yazdani and Ghasempour. Personally I think the top 3 heavyweights are Zare, Geno and Masoumi in that order but I can see arguments for Geno over Zare. There is no argument for Masoumi over Zare as Zare has beat him every time when they have wrestled. I think its mainly Mazandarani's rooting for Zare and Gilani's for Masoumi with everyone else like me just wanting to see the best for our guys regardless of who competes. In saying that though 2028 the 125kg olympic qualifiers for Iran might as well be the olympic final...

[GrandOlm]

On 2/5/2025 at 3:08 PM, KennyEBHS said:

I'm watching the gold medal match with Spencer Lee and there is NO ONE in the stands! I thought wrestling was supposed to be so popular in Eastern Europe.

Freestyle is popular in certain Caucus countries/regions. 

Greco is somewhat popular in Hungary. Greco also has marginal followings in Scandinavia, Estonia, Germany, Georgia, and Russia. 

That's about it. I don't think any European country comes anywhere close to the US in terms of wrestling popularity. Maybe Iran does. No one in Europe though. 

[Shibboleth]

4 hours ago, Lucho said:

Personally I think the top 3 heavyweights are Zare, Geno and Masoumi in that order but I can see arguments for Geno over Zare. 

 

I think we have to say goodbye to Geno, as a wrestler at least. So, Iran likely has top 2 wrestlers at heavyweight, in a separate tier; I thought Parris would be close, but 1st period tech convinced me otherwise.

All this provided Steveson stays out of freestyle, if Gable is back I think it's a pretty even matchup between him and the two Iranians

[Window12]

Interestingly Massoumi was told in the post medal ceremony interview that Gabel Stevenson may make a come back. He said it may be best if he remained retired having left on top as he may not get the results he wants having been away from the game for 4 years. At least Masoumi does not seem bothered but I wonder if he is right. Will Gable be at the same level having been away from the sport for a bit….

[nhs67]

6 hours ago, Shibboleth said:

 

I think we have to say goodbye to Geno, as a wrestler at least. So, Iran likely has top 2 wrestlers at heavyweight, in a separate tier; I thought Parris would be close, but 1st period tech convinced me otherwise.

All this provided Steveson stays out of freestyle, if Gable is back I think it's a pretty even matchup between him and the two Iranians

Did he retire?

Otherwise I don't see how or why we would write off the defending Olympic Champion.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

22 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Did he retire?

Otherwise I don't see how or why we would write off the defending Olympic Champion.

And despite his looks, he is only 30.  Not old for a heavyweight.

[pokemonster]

40 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

And despite his looks, he is only 30.  Not old for a heavyweight.

Wow, I thought he was pushing 40 and assumed he would be done after the last Olympics. Would've never guessed he was 30. 

[shiraz321]

Geno is inconsistent. His last world title was in 2019 then he wins the Olympics in 2024. He also had some very fortunate draws being opposite side of both Akgul and Zare in 2021, 2022, 2023 AND 2024. Or maybe Georgia was just smart with getting seeding points, I don't know. 2022 he didn't make the final and lost to Mongolia. 

 

Considering his age, how long he's been around and finally getting the olympic gold I am going to predict Geno's results dip from here. Could be wrong as I thought after Yaz finally managed to beat Taylor in 2021 that he'd figured Taylor out and would beat him through 2024 and instead he ended up having his worse losses to Taylor in 2022 and 2023 with the matches no longer even being competitive.

 

I would like to Steveson come back. He has a much more pleasing to watch style of wrestling than Zare. 

[Shibboleth]

1 hour ago, nhs67 said:

Did he retire?

Otherwise I don't see how or why we would write off the defending Olympic Champion.

He's the member of Parliament in Georgia (equivalent of member of Congress). So he's not closer in his role to Gym Jordan rather Zare. 

He was scrapping with Amit Elor recently though - she's doing a camp in Georgia with Valentin Kalika I guess - but that's just two Olympic Champs rolling. 

[maligned]

Sorry, I wasn't tracking this event very closely...why didn't Brooks end up wrestling?