#WrestleCoralville

Iran announces freestyle World Cup roster

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 - 13:12 By Gary Abbott

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CORALVILLE, Iowa (November 22) -- Iran’s lineup for the Freestyle World Cup has been released.

The Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling World Cup will be held at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, December 10-11. It is the first time that freestyle and women’s wrestling will be held together side-by-side at the World Cup.

The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, conducted by United World Wrestling. The top five teams in freestyle and the top five teams in women’s wrestling from the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September have confirmed their participation. There is also an All-World Team in each discipline, featuring the top available athletes from the World Championships in each weight class that were not from a nation that qualified for the World Cup.

The Iran World Cup team will feature five senior world medalists, as well as seven others who have won world medals at the age-group levels.

The team is led by two-time world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR at 97kg. Ghasempour won world titles in 2021 and 2022 and also won U23 world titles in 2018 and 2019.

2022 World champion Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI will wrestle at 65kg. He has also won three age-group world titles, with a U20 title in 2021 and U17 world titles in 2018 and 2019.

Three-time world medalist Alireza KARIMI is competing at 86kg. Karimi won a 2019 World silver medal, as well as claimed world bronze medals in 2015 and 2018. He was also a 2011 U17 World silver medalist.

Two-time world silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODI will wrestle at 79kg. Nokhodi lost in the 2021 and 2022 World finals to Jordan BURROUGHS (USA). He was also a 2019 U20 world silver medalist and a 2017 U17 world bronze medalist.

The other senior world medalist on the roster is 2021 World silver medalist Amirmohammad YAZDANI at 70kg. He was also a 2015 U17 world silver medalist.

Other athletes on the Iran roster who have won age-group world medals include Armin HABIBZADEH (61kg), Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI (70kg), Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (74kg), Ali SAVADKOUHI (79kg), Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (92kg), Amirali AZARPIRA (97kg) and Amirreza VALADI (125kg).

Iran, which placed second at the 2022 World Championships in freestyle, will be joined in the World Cup by the first-place United States, third-place Japan, fourth-place Mongolia and fifth-place Georgia, in addition to the All-World Team.

The rosters of the World Cup teams for the other nations have now all been announced by USA Wrestling.

Ticket packages for the 2022 Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling World Cup are currently on sale. The seating capacity for Xtream Arena for the World Cup will be approximately 5,300. Ticket packages include a Gold package for $275, Silver package for $200 and All-Session tickets for $90.

A special Presentation of Teams and Team USA Meet & Greet will also be held on Friday, December 9 at 6:45 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling World Cup tickets -> https://worldcupiowacity.com/tickets/

Iran Freestyle World Cup team:
57 kg – Reza MOMENIJOUIJADEH
61 kg – Armin HABIBZADEH
65 kg – Rahman AMOUZAD
65 kg – Mohammadreza BAGHERI
70 kg – Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI
70 kg – Amirmohammad YAZDANI
74 kg – Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR
79 kg – Mohammad NOKHODI
79 kg – Ali SAVADKOUHI
86 kg – Alireza KARIMI
92 kg – Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR
97 kg – Kamran GHASEMPOUR
97 kg – Amirali AZARPIRA
125 kg – Amirreza VALADI

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar Open 2025: Day 1 highlights and recap

Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 02:33 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 29) -- The third Ranking Series event, Ulaanbaatar Open, gets underway in the Mongolian capital. Seven Greco-Roman weight classes will be in action on Thursday.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | ULAANBAATAR OPEN PREVIEW

13:05: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) goes big from par terre and scores eight points before getting two points for a leg foul from Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) to win 11-0. He will take on Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final. Yilmaz had beaten Maksatbek Uulu 11-3 in the round-robin bout earlier

13:02: Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) takes just a minute to beat Nishant PHOGAT (IND) 9-0 in the first semifinal at 77kg. He will wrestle for gold.

13:00: The semifinals, only two in 77kg, will begin now. Nishant PHOGAT (IND) vs Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) and Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) vs. Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) 

12:20: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) gets the par terre and then turn Mustafa SAHIN (TUR) for a 3-0 lead in his Round 5 bout at 72kg. He then defends his position from par terre and wins 3-1. He will take home 8000 ranking points.

12:05: NITESH (IND) reverses the par terre position to get a point after Uzur DZHUZUPEKOV (KGZ) scores two turns from par terre. Nitesh gets a turn from par terre to make it 5-3. A par terre position in second period for Nitesh but no points scored. With the score 5-4, Dzhuzupekov defends his lead and wins at 97kg

11:50: Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) with a big suplex and beats Ankit GULIA (IND) to top his group at 72kg. He will have his Round 5 match against Mustafa SAHIN (TUR) which will be a virtual gold medal bout.

11:40: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) with an 11-1 win over Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) at 77kg to confirm his semifinal spot. Yilmaz is a bronze medalist from the European Championships.

11:25: Asian silver medalist Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) holds off Murat FIRAT (TUR) 5-1 at 67kg. Solid win for Beishekeev. His compatriot Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) rolls to a 9-0 win over Lkhagvasuren DASHJAMTS (MGL) at 77kg.

11:20: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) with another injury pull out at 82kg. Shahin BADAGHI (QAT) gets the victory.

11:10: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) waits for the second period to unleash the gut-wrench as he beats  Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL) 9-1 in the 97kg Round 2 bout.

11:05: Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) was down 3-2 against Ankit GULIA (IND) but bounces back with takedowns and two rolls to win 8-3 in Round 2.

11:00: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) comes on the mat but pulls out of the bout against PRINCE (IND) at 82kg. But he doesn't submit the injury report so we may see him again in later rounds.

10:50: Paris Olympic bronze medalist at 97kg Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) starts off a little rusty against Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) and gives up six points. But he manages to score at the right time using gut-wrenches and wins 10-6.

10:48: World U23 champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) with two front throws to stun NEERAJ (IND) 9-0 at 67kg. Remember these are round-robin matches and not eliminations.

10:45: Injury scare for Turkiye as Alperen BERBER (TUR) pulls out of his match against Karan KAMBOJ (IND) at 87kg. Berber got the par terre and got two front rolls for a 5-0 lead before a reversal and roll made it 5-3 as Berber held his hamstring in pain. He tried continuing but Kamboj pushed him for a stepout and Turkiye coach called to pull out due to injury.

10:40: Another quick finish at 72kg as Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) rolls to a technical superiority win over Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL). Sohrabi looking to gather those points for a better seed at the World Championships.

10:35: Mehmet SAHIN (TUR) with a 9-0 win over Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) in Round 1 of the competition. Six weight classes have round-robin competition while 77kg has Nelson system with two groups.

10:30: Welcome to day one of the competition at the Ulaanbaatar Open with seven Greco-Roman weight classes -- 55kg, 67kg, 72kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 97kg.