Lucho

I think USA, Russia and Iran are pretty balanced in seniors tbh. I think Russia has 2 powerhouse wrestlers (Sidakov, Sadulaev) whilst Iran and USA have 1 each (Zare, Lee respectively). However, Russia's team seems a lot weaker with less depth and even Sidakov and Sadulaev are competing against Valiev and Tazhudinov so gold isn't guaranteed for them. Whereas I think USA and Iran have more depth across the 10 weight classes. Iran's guys are pretty experienced at this point relative to their ages. I think its ultimately going to come down to whether USA and Iran win the weights they are expected to (57, 125) and whether they can get guys on the podium in the other weights. Russia will struggle a lot this year imo as 74 and 97 are quite deep weights nowadays and arguably the best russian guys don't even compete for Russia anymore.

I had a look at the archives and the last time we didn't win a u17 FS gold was 2015 so this was our worst performance in 10 years in FS. In saying that though Russia also did not do that well they only had 2 golds (Omarov 110 and Dzebisov 92). The US has been really really strong at the junior levels in recent years and I reckon that's because of the amount of high level FS clubs opening up across the country. From memory Ben Askren has one that is producing some solid guys. Our U20's don't look really impressive either so I doubt we will win a gold there as well. What's more surprising is India's heavies beating us in both FS and GR, looks like Haryana has realised they can also send their big boys to wrestle. At the end of the day what matters is senior level titles and I'm hoping the boys can get it done in September.

I think they will also struggle to field a competitive greco team too in the near future unfortunately. Without Mijain Lopez their team is very weak tbh. I don't think Rosillo, Pino or Orta are going to be world championship contenders anymore in their respective weight classes and they don't have any promising new crop coming in either.

I wish they didn't have Dorostkar as the head coach. Why can't Dabir just let his ego go and pick Reza Yazdani as the head coach of the national team? Our biggest problem in freestyle is the stubbornness of the top brass as opposed to investment and talent. If Reza Yazdani was the head coach of this team I am very confident we would have won at least 2 of the finals in Paris last year. Dorostkar isn't qualified to be the head coach of Iran's junior guys let alone our senior team.

I didn't know that Japan and Russia did that but it makes sense since I saw that their teams were different to what they had at the continental tournaments. I don't think its a bad idea if we do the same but I think at this age level getting these kids to wrestle is the most important thing. I would much rather our guys lose now then at senior level. An olympic/world medal is worth 1000s of these junior golds. I think it would be better if we sent guys to the u15 asians and u23 asians than anything else. I reckon send like the second string guys to u23 asians so they can also wrestle even if japan and some of the other countries don't send guys there.

I feel like since our u17 guys couldn't compete at Asians they are a little disadvantaged compared to everyone else. I reckon that's the big differentiator this year as this is their first international competition of the year. In saying that though we sent 5 guys to the finals and have potential to win 7 medals with 3 gold. It's also good because we sent our 45 and 48kg to the finals and that's where we are really lacking in talent and depth. At the end of the day all that matters is we develop guys for the senior team. The US historically has not been always dominant in junior level but always produces top talent when it comes to seniors.

Our greco team wasn't really good this year but the guy who won gold at 92kg Amirsam Mohammadi looks really really good. I think we might have found our future 97kg after Saravi.

It seems strange to me why at 55 and 63kg greco we kept flip flopping between guys and now at 70kg freestyle we also decided to do the same as well. In saying that Amir Mohammad Yazdani is the best 70kg in Iran as his floor is a lot better than the other guys even if his ceiling is not as good. So the coaches choosing him is not actually that ridiculous. What is bizarre is at 55kg greco where neither Dadmarz nor Shamsipour made the team and its instead Payam Ahmadi the guy who just won u20 Asians. I feel like our coaches are trying to reinvent the wheel with our selections at times. Either the guy that won the selection the first time should be the rep or don't hold selections with such promises. What benefit does it provide Keshtkar at 63 if he made the team, lost the spot and then just made the team again with less than 2 months until worlds. It's only setting them up for failure.

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.

I doubt Yazdani is going to make 86kg again especially if the doctors are telling him not to. Apparently Ramazanov is moving up to 92kg this year so its possible we will see a Yazdani-Ramazanov rematch in the very near future (2026) if the rumours are true. I'm interested to see Firouzpour wrestle him as he has already beaten Naifonov and Kurbanov. Hopefully he can avenge Yazdani's loss to him in the olympics. This also makes 86kg pretty open. Kadimagomedov, Kadiev, Ghasempour and Valencia all competing will be fun to watch.

Fair enough its just that 97kg is going to be stacked with Snyder, Tazhudinov, Yoshida and Sadulaev in the mix. Its very possible 1 or 2 of those guys don't medal depending on how ends up on what side of the bracket. Unless Azarpira has the tournament of his life its quite possible he will face two of Snyder/Sadulaev/Yoshida/Tazhudinov in the quarters/semifinals at least. Can he beat 2 of them back to back is my concern.

Thanks for that. Just saw Azarpira beat Bazri to make worlds team, I really have high hopes for Azarpira medalling this year at worlds but it will be tough. I'm just surprised it was such a close match (3-0). Is Bazri really that good or did Azarpira wrestle poorly? Bazri seems to have quite a lot of support within Iranian wrestling circles like Goleij and Babaei but I never considered him to be a contender for a worlds spot. I know he is a junior silver medalist but he is 27 and hasn't really impressed apart from that. It doesn't look good for Azarpira imo especially 2 months out of worlds.

Does anyone know what's going to happen with the international competitions? Is Iran still sending teams to U17 worlds, U20 Asians and the Hungary ranking series? I imagine we would be sending guys to Zagreb for worlds but I only know that Iran's greco team isn't going to the Hungary ranking series apparently.

I didn't know UWW had a process for this. However, I don't see Iran letting Masoumi leave without him renouncing his citizenship or something drastic even if Armenia or whichever country gives them some cash under the table. Ghasempour didn't do that when he was behind Yazdani at 86kg. Also with UWW tightening the regulations for 2028 and beyond I doubt there would be many countries he could realistically join, Bahrain already has Tazhudinov and he is around Masoumi's age. Azerbaijan have 95 transfers already so its either Qatar or Armenia that realistically could sign him.

At 79kg I would say Akhmed Usmanov is the best and 65kg Mammedov/Kiyooka are the best guys. I only really see 125kg, 92kg and 86kg as weights we can realistically win gold in.

Realistically I doubt Dabir will let him leave unless the federation gets some sort of compensation. Masoumi isn't Ali Arsalan he is arguably top 2 or at the very least top 3 125kg in the world. If he does leave he will be out of competition for 2-3 years. In wrestling that's a long time and there's no guarantee he will be able to win medals once he can come back. We've seen it with Gable Steveson. This sport doesn't wait for anyone.

Since moving up from 67kg he has looked really solid. I hope he ends up winning a medal this year at worlds but from memory 72kg is surprisingly quite stacked with a lot of contenders. Him and Firouzpour are really the only two I can think of that have stepped up from the recent crop of U23s (apart from Masoumi) into the senior level.

I was really hoping AM Yazdani would have made the world team but it looks like it wasn't meant to be. I don't really know why we struggle so much to find a proper 74kg rep. Emami is going to lose badly at worlds this year.

The list of athletes for the Ulaanbaatar Open has come out. Iran has sent some guys in both FS and GR. 70kg: Mohammad Ali Amouzad and Aliakbar Fazli 74kg: Hossein Abouzari, Amir Mohammad Yazdani and Younes Emami 79kg: Fariborz Babaei 97kg: Ahmad Bazri 55kg: Pouya Dadmarz and Armin Shamsipour 60: Ali Ahmadi Vafa 63: Mohammad Keshtkar 67: Gholamreza Abdevali, Mohammad Reza Gholami and Mohammad Mehdi Gholampour 72: Danial Sohrabi 77: Alireza Abdevali and Ahoura Bouveiri Piani 82: Ghloamreza Farrokhi, Mohammad Ali Geraei and Mohammad Naghousi 87: Alireza Mohmedi 97: Alireza Mirzajani, Amir Hossein Moradiyan and Mohammad Seydi Avendi 130: Amir Hossein Abdevali and Morteza Alghosi I'm not sure why we didn't send more FS guys considering greco sent guys in all weights. Its nice to see new faces in the greco scene (I think they are prepping the junior guys) whilst our freestyle coaches are being incredibly opaque with how the selection process is.

Rasoul Khadem can also be in the conversation for this as well. He had a pretty good record against one of the GOATs Makharbek Khadartsev. He got gold and bronze at the olympics and is a 2x world champ.

The name of the indian is Jaskaran Singh. You can watch the finals match between him and Yasin Rezaei on an iranian youtube channel called Iransport it also shows the 57kg finals. Amir Mohammad Yazdani moved up to 74kg now and he will be competing at Takhti cup today. He also went to Yarygin and got bronze but he still has a lot to work on imo if he wants to become a contender at 74kg.

There were some interesting results in most of the weight classes tbh. Ahmad Bazri winning 97kg beating Goleij in the quarters and Fariborz Babaei beating Mahdi Yousefi in the final was also an upset. The indian 65kg is an Asian junior champ but I don't think he has had any senior level success. I think he is coached by Amir Tavakolian and Komeil Ghasemi which probably explains why he was so good. Yasin Rezaei continues to be such an inconsistent wrestler he reminds of Amir Mohammad Yazdani. Sometimes his super offensive style works and other times it ends up costing him matches. In saying that though Jaskaran Singh genuinely could be really that good and be a dark horse contender for a world medal in Zagreb.

If Dake can bulk up before Final X I can see him beating Valencia, if not I don't think he can. Valencia has filled himself out as a true 86kg and has arguably the greatest 86kg in Taylor coaching him.

From what I've seen against Iranian guys (Azarpira and Rahmani) he was mainly using his strength against them to control centre. Him and Vafaeipour both start off strong but fizzle off due to their poor gas tanks. Do I think Valencia is a bad wrestler? Absolutely not and I wouldn't be surprised if he wins gold this year at worlds but he is definitely not a technician by any stretch of the imagination.

I honestly don't really rate him that much and he sort of reminds me of Zahid Valencia. He doesn't seem that good technically and just tries to physically out muscle guys. I think he alternates between 86 and 92kg at least in the league so I'm not sure what weight he will compete in. Regardless I think he would probably podium but not win the tournament. I would think one of Noruzian, Soheili, Rahmani and Soleimanian will probably have their breakout tournament and win it. The more pressing question is if Ghasempour isn't competing does that mean he can't make 86kg? I would really like him to make 86kg as that would make our team really stacked but I also don't think its going to happen...