Iranian freestyle wrestlers land in 2nd place in world wrestling championships

Iran’s national freestyle wrestling team has finished its campaign at the 12th edition of the World Wrestling Championships in the United States, taking the second place at the end of the prestigious international with no gold medal in tally.

The Russian freestyle wrestling team collected 61 points and was named the top-ranked squad on Sunday. Persians landed in the second place with 48 points, and third-place Georgians earned 44 points.

Mongolia and Azerbaijan came fourth and fifth respectively with 41 and 39 points.

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian freestyle wrestler, Hassan Yazdani, downed his rivals from South Korea 16-4, Bulgaria and Georgia both by technical falls, and the United States 9-4 as he marched to the final bout.

He lost the last encounter against Russian wrestler Magomedrasul Muhtarovitch Gazimagomedov 3-10 to get the silver medal.

Iran’s Hassan Rahimi (shown below) also exhibited impressive performances in the 57-kilogram category at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, and could overwhelm his Venezuelan, Belarusian, American, North Korean and Russian opponents (4-3, 7-0, 3-0, 5-3 and 5-1 respectively) to reach the final.

The 26-year-old wrestler, however, suffered a bitter defeat (4-5) from Georgian sportsman Vladimer Khinchegashvili to take the first silver medal for Iran.

The achievements came a day after Iran’s Alireza Karimi emerged victorious 12-0 in his 86-kilogram third place contest against Bulgaria’s Mihail Petrov Ganev to snatch the bronze medal.

On Friday, Iranian freestyle wrestler Ahmad Mohammadi defeated Togrul Asgarov from Azerbaijan 15-1 in the 65-kilogram weight class to win the bronze medal. 

Italy’s Cuban-born Frank Chamizo overcame Uzbek opponent Ikhtiyor Navruzor 4-3 in the final match and received the gold medal. 

The 12th edition of World Wrestling Championships opened in Las Vegas, the United States, on September 7, and will finish on September 12.

Dozens of sportsmen and women from various countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Estionia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine are taking part in the event.

Male Greco-Roman wrestlers vied in the 59-kilogram, 66-kilogram, 71-kilogram, 75-kilogram, 80-kilogram, 85-kilogram, 93-kilogram and 130-kilogram weight categories on September 7 and 8. Iranians landed in the fourth spot.

Female freestyle wrestlers were in action in the 48-kilogram, 53-kilogram, 55-kilogram, 58-kilogram, 60-kilogram, 63-kilogram, 69-kilogram and 75-kilogram weight classes on September 9 and 10.

Male freestyle athletes competed from September 10 to 12 to clinch a medal in the 57-kilogram, 61-kilogram, 65-kilogram, 70-kilogram, 74-kilogram, 86-kilogram, 97-kilogram and 125-kilogram sections.

Iran’s national freestyle wrestling team could secure five berths for 57-, 65-, 75-, 86-, and 97-kilogram classes at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, but missed its chance in 125-kilogram category.

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