Zagreb 2026

[Gene Mills Fan]

Just now, PortaJohn said:

Was hard trying to weed through the Iranian thread so maybe someone can answer me here.  Yazdani at 97kg???  Make it make sense

Supposedly the weight cut causes the injury to be more pronounced and maybe dodging the 92. the later maybe rumor.

[Voice of the Quakers]

1 minute ago, PortaJohn said:

Was hard trying to weed through the Iranian thread to find out the reasoning.  Maybe someone can answer me here.  Yazdani at 97kg???  Make it make sense

Assume he is trying to get adjusted to his new Olympic weight class as quickly as possible. Sad did the same thing skipping 92 KG a decade ago. Most other countries put less value in the non-Olympic weights than we in the US do.

[DuckFor2]

this is a great win for Buchanan, Yazdani is still a legend and came to win. Love to see it.

[PortaJohn]

6 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

I think he's done at 86 and 97 is an Olympic weight?

I get that part but he doesn't have the frame for 97

[PortaJohn]

7 minutes ago, Gene Mills Fan said:

Supposedly the weight cut causes the injury to be more pronounced and maybe dodging the 92. the later maybe rumor.

Ok, that would make more sense if true

Edited February 5 by PortaJohn

[Gus]

21 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

I get that part but he doesn't have the frame for 97

He did not look to lack size nor strength at 97kg.

[bnwtwg]

1 hour ago, PortaJohn said:

Was hard trying to weed through the Iranian thread to find out the reasoning.  Maybe someone can answer me here.  Yazdani at 97kg???  Make it make sense

He had surgery on both shoulders post 2024 olympics and is working his way back. He's also on the wrong side of 30. Combine those two and that's how you have Yaz up at 97 for the twilight of his career, at least for the spring. Maybe he cuts back to 92 and tries to win that spot, but maybe he is no longer winning in the room. Shoulder reconstruction is the grim reaper of wrestling.

[maligned]

Granted, Dake, Taylor, and others that have made big moves up in weight took time to acclimate to the extra horsepower needed for a full 6 minutes--but it's very hard to imagine Yazdani becoming physical or dynamic enough at 97kg to unseat Azarpira or to stop powerful guys like Snyder or Sad. His path to medals is back down at 86, unfortunately for him.

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

On 2/5/2026 at 6:49 PM, PortaJohn said:

Was hard trying to weed through the Iranian thread to find out the reasoning.  Maybe someone can answer me here.  Yazdani at 97kg???  Make it make sense

he had major shoulder surgery before the Olympics

then suffered the same injury during the Olympic finals, requiring the same surgery again

he's 31 now, he decided to move up to 97 to limit the stress on his body to help the shoulder heal, although some in Iran said there is no coming back from an injury like that

this was his first international tournament up at 97, he seemed slow and like he doesn't fully trust the shoulder yet. hard to say what the future holds for him, only he knows how his shoulder feels.

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

On 2/5/2026 at 8:08 PM, bnwtwg said:

He had surgery on both shoulders post 2024 olympics and is working his way back. He's also on the wrong side of 30. Combine those two and that's how you have Yaz up at 97 for the twilight of his career, at least for the spring. Maybe he cuts back to 92 and tries to win that spot, but maybe he is no longer winning in the room. Shoulder reconstruction is the grim reaper of wrestling.

basically this (except the first shoulder surgery took place before the Olympics)

I doubt he's losing in the room given Ghasempour is also in not great form lately and Yazdani just beat Goleij 4-0 in the Iranian league a few weeks ago.

[jross]

Yaz was undersized and unable to bully SB, further hampered by his conditioning.  The fatigue fadeaway reminded me of the first D.T. matches.  

[juniorvarsity]

On 2/5/2026 at 12:28 PM, Crotalus said:

Always funny when they travel across the world just to wrestle US guys. At least he'll get an international opponent in the finals.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk
 

It's not like they'll wrestled each other anywhere else besides trials and open. And that might not even happen. But yes, it's a bit annoying but I do always watch the USA vs USA matches at these tournaments. I am always interested.

[juniorvarsity]

3 hours ago, Bulldozer Without Brakes said:

he had major shoulder surgery before the Olympics

then suffered the same injury during the Olympic finals, requiring the same surgery again

he's 31 now, he decided to move up to 97 to limit the stress on his body to help the shoulder heal, although some in Iran said there is no coming back from an injury like that

this was his first international tournament up at 97, he seemed slow and like he doesn't fully trust the shoulder yet. hard to say what the future holds for him, only he knows how his shoulder feels.

Yazdani should get on the juice. Nobody is testing anyone in Iran right now. Just sit out the ranking series and Asians to avoid drug testing, get big, and secure the 97kg spot for Iran. 

[juniorvarsity]

On 2/4/2026 at 12:31 PM, bnwtwg said:

Zahid is still recovering from the first year of cardio in his life lol.

With the attrition of Taylor, loss of Steveson, regression of prime Parris, major injury and supposed looming USADA suspension for Brooks once healed, and what can only be assumed as Zahid's exit of Treigning Lab cardio program, 86 and 125 went from our deepest weights to our most shallow in the blink of an eye.

When is the time frame you are referencing here?

[bnwtwg]

25 minutes ago, juniorvarsity said:

When is the time frame you are referencing here?

The future was supernova bright exiting the Tokyo games. Taylor, Brooks, Zahid, possible Nickal comeback, even Downey was on the upswing still. 125 was ridiculously stacked with Steveson, Parris, Kerk, Hendrickson, Gwiz, Zillmer. That doesn't even include the college guys like Keck, Trumble, Hidlay, Starocci etc.

Things can change in the blink of an eye.