2026 U17 World Championships

Iran, Russia in Tight Team Title Race After Omarov, Ibragimov Golds

By Vinay Siwach

BAKU, Azerbaijan (August 1) -- Among the three nations that had two finalists each in Saturday's gold-medal bouts at the U17 World Championships in Baku, only Russia was able to win two golds with Iran winning one and Uzbekistan suffering losses in both finals.

The two golds put Russia in the race for the team title in Freestyle along with Iran with defending champion the United States not in contention.

Russia and Iran went head-to-head in the 110kg final between U17 European champion Magomed OMAROV (RUS) and U17 Asian silver medalist Amirhossein ESMALI (IRI), the last match on Saturday.

The first period of the final saw little action on the mat as both Omarov and Esmali were warned by the mat chairman of open-hand wrestling. Omarov was put on the 30-second activity clock and Esmali led 1-0 at the break.

The match picked up pace in the second period and Omarov found and opening to hit a double-leg attack that resulted in four points, giving him a 4-1 lead. Iran, surprisingly, challenged the call and lost it which made Omarov's lead 5-1.

Esmali had 1:30 left in the match to make it count and he began with a stepout to cut the lead to 5-2. He then scored a takedown to make the score 5-4 but still needed two points to win with 31 seconds left. That's when Omarov called for a medical help.

When he returned to centre, Omarov had a spring in his step and defended the attacks of Esmali, who pushed him towards the zone. Esmali tried reaching the legs of Omarov who threw them behind and scored an easy go-behind and lead 7-4, his winning score.

The second gold medalist for Russia was Magomed IBRAGIMOV (RUS) at 65kg after an electric final against Shokhiddin ALIEV (UZB). Both Ibragimov and Aliev were at the 2025 event as well and finished 10th and 13th respectively.

Ibragimov stunned Aliev with a double-arm lock throw for four points to open the scoring in the final. But Aliev blocked Ibragimov from turning and tried to pin him for the remaining minute in the first period. Unable to complete the fall, Aliev went into the break down 4-2 and a lost opportunity.

The two continued their high-paced wrestling and Aliev pushed Ibragimov towards the zone but the Russian circled and scored a go-behind to lead 6-2. Aliev then tried to inside trip Ibragimov who countered it with a throw for four points. Aliev got two points for exposure but Ibragimov led 10-4 at this point.

Aliev managed to use the inside-trip to throw for two points with six seconds left and then he tried front headlock that was blocked by Ibragimov, who planted Aliev on the mat for a fall and win the gold medal.

Iran's victory came at 80kg as Amirali FERASATI (IR) completed his dominant run with a gold medal, beating Zeteny TUGYI (HUN), 10-0, in the final.

The U17 Asian champion outscored his opponents 35-2 in four bouts in Baku and never looked in any sort of trouble in the tournament.

Against Tugyi, Ferasati built a 4-0 lead in the first period, thanks to three stepout and a point for passivity from Tugyi. Ferasati scored his first takedown in the second period after tiring out Tugyi and rolled him for two more ponits to lead 8-0.

Tugyi went for a deep shot without much conviction and Ferasati countered with a takedown to complete a technical superiority win with 23 seconds remaining.

At 48kg, Bakdaulet AGABEK (KAZ) used a deadly leg-lace to end high-flying AARYAN's (IND) run at the tournament, winning the gold medal 10-0. He became Kazakhstan first U17 world champion in Freestyle after four years.

Agabek scored a stepout, which India challenged and lost, to open the scoring in the final and lead 2-0. As both wrestlers were fight for position, Agabek did a snap which disbalanced Aaryan and the Kazakhstan wrestler scored a takedown.

He then transitioned into wrapping Aaryan's legs around his head and scored three turns, enough for the victory and the gold medal. With the 10-0 win, Agabek outscored his opponents 47-3 in the tournament with four technical superiority wins.  

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD: Bakdaulet AGABEK (KAZ) df. AARYAN (IND), 10-0

BRONZE: Farrukh MAKHMUDOV (UZB) df. Muslikhiddin KHODZHIEV (TJK), via fall (6-1)
BRONZE: Volodymyr BOIKO (UKR) df. Kooper DEPUTY (USA), 11-0

55kg
GOLD: Jovanni TOVAR (COL) df. Jakhongir TULKUNOV (UZB), 11-0

BRONZE: Arman ELAHI (IRI) df. Davit BALEYAN (ARM), 5-2
BRONZE: Prathmesh PATIL (IND) df. Chase KARENBAUER (USA), 8-0

65kg
GOLD: Magomed IBRAGIMOV (RUS) df. Shokhiddin ALIEV (UZB), via fall (12-6)

BRONZE: Jovani SOLIS (PUR) df. KRISHAN (IND), via fall (6-6)
BRONZE: Sam ARSHAD (IRI) df. Zamir DANIYAR (KAZ), 9-0

80kg
GOLD: Amirali FERASATI (IRI) df. Zeteny TUGYI (HUN), 10-0

BRONZE: Volkan BILGIN (TUR) df. Yassin EZZAT (EGY), 11-1
BRONZE: Kantemir ELMESOV (RUS) df. Takahiro HAGINO (JPN), 9-7

110kg
GOLD: Magomed OMAROV (RUS) df. Amirhossein ESMALI (IRI), 7-4

BRONZE: Behruz ASHIROV (UZB) df. Murtaz BAGDAVADZE (GEO), 3-2
BRONZE: Arush RANA (IND) df. Sagyndyk TEMIRGALY (KAZ), 9-1

2026 World Championships

Yazdani Returns to World Championships After Beating Azarpira

By Vinay Siwach

KEMRAN, Iran (July 19) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) made his World Championships debut at 70kg in 2015. The Olympic champion will be at 97kg for his eighth World Championships, 11 years later.

Yazdani, a three-time world champion, booked his spot on Iran's team for the 2026 World Championships after beating world silver medalist Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) in two straight matches in Kemran on Friday.

Azarpira needed to win only one bout to earn his spot as he was a returning world medalist but Yazdani secured two wins, 4-2 and 5-3, to end Azarpira's hopes. 

According to selection criteria set by Iran, a returning world medalist needed to win only one bout while the opponent needed two straight wins to claim the spot.

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), blue, shakes hands with Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) after beating him in the second bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

In the first bout, Yazdani scored three stepouts and a point for passivity while Azarpira managed a takedown to the lead but he could not find another takedown or two one-point scoring actions needed to win.

An hour later, the two wrestlers returned for their second bout. Azapira, needed just a win to secure his place, led 3-3 on criteria in the second period. After Yazdani led 3-0, Azarpira fired back a takedown and stepout to earn the criteria.

In the final minute, Azarpira pressured Yazdani towards the zone and just went it seemed that he has scored a stepout, Yazdani circled back and scored a takedown to take a 5-3 lead. A shocked Azarpira protested the decision but he had no challenge left as he had used and lost the challenge in the first period.

Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) tries to score on Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) during the 97kg bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Yazdani, with all his experience, managed to hold on to his two point lead and confirm that he will return to the World Championships three years later. The Iranian will be chasing his eighth medal as he already has medals from every edition he has participated in.

The 31-year-old began with a silver medal at 70kg in 2015, won gold at 86kg in 2017, 2019 and 2021, and won bronze in 2018. At the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, he finished silver medals, losing those finals to David TAYLOR (USA).

This, however, won't be Yazdani's debut at 97kg. He wrestled at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in February and reached the final before Stephen BUCHANAN (USA) defeated him, 13-3.

Yazdani's next challenge will be to win a medal at the October 24-November 1 World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 97kg weight class will most likely have returning world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA), Paris Olympic champion and world bronze medalist Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and world bronze medalist Arash YOSHIDA (JPN).

Former Olympic and world champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) will also be in the mix if he makes the Russian team. Olympic silver medalist Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), former world champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), will also be challenging for the three-time Olympic medalist Iranian.

Yazdani, Firouzpour Win

Two other weight classes, 74kg and 97kg, were also contested to confirm the Iran Freestyle team for the World Championships.

Former world silver medalist Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) defeated Yones EMAMI (IRI) in two straight bouts to clinch the spot at 74kg, a weight class that Emami has ruled in Iran for quite a few years now.

In two high-scoring bouts, Yazdani won 10-6 and 11-7, mostly using his counters in the zone to book his spot.

At 92kg, world bronze medalist Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) defeated Mobin AZIMI (IRI), 2-1, in the second bout of the series to claim the spot. As he was the returning world medalist, Firouzpour needed only one win to qualify.

Azimi won the first bout 2-2 on criteria, scoring a late stepout after three points were awarded for passivity. However, there was no such comeback in the second bout as Firouzpour kept his lead.

On Tuesday, a wrestle-off was held in Greco-Roman in which Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) defeated world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), 5-1, at 130kg to secure his spot for the World Championships.

Iran's Freestyle Team for 2026 World Championships

57kg: Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
61kg: Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
65kg: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
70kg: Sina KHALILI (IRI)
74kg: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
79kg: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
86kg: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
92kg: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
97kg: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
125kg: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)