#GRWorldClubsCup

Iran Team Wins GR World Clubs Cup, Azizli & Kayaalp Remain Undefeated

Monday, December 24, 2018 - 03:05 By Ali Feizasa

Share this article

ARDABIL, Iran (December 24) -- Iran's Team Bimeh Razi Ardabil defeated Team Russia to capture 2018 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup title in Ardabil city of Iran.

The Iranian team which had two 2018 world champions in the line up defeated Russia, 8-2 in the final match.

Azerbaijan’s world champion Eldaniz Azizli gave the first win to the Iranian team by a technical fall victory over Vitalii Kabaloev (RUS) at 55kg. Azlili won all of his matches in the tournament with technical falls.

Mehrdad Mardani (60kg) and Saman Abdevali (63kg) added other victories, helping Bimeh Razi take the 3-0 lead.

The first victory of the Russian team came from the 67kg bout, where Maksim Surkov beat Mohammad Elyasi narrowly, 1-1. Then Denis Murtazin doubled Russia's wins as he earned a 10-8 victory over Boroumand Aslan in a fantastic match.

But the Iranian team won all other bouts of the final match.

At 77kg, Iran's 2018 world team member Pejman Pashtam defeated Dmitrii Petakin, 6-4. At 82kg, former world champion and 2016 Olympic medal winner, Saeid Abdevali downed Gadzhimurad Dzhalalov, 5-0, while two-time Asian champion Ramin Taheri defeated former world silver medalist Evgeny Saleev, 5-0 in the 87kg match.

Mehdi Aliyari, the only world medalist of Iran in Budapest, gave Bimeh Razi Ardabil their seventh victory as Murat Lokyaev didn’t compete and the last victory of the Iranian side was at 130kg where 2018 Russian world champion Sergey Semenov, who was competed for the Iranian team, pinned Vasilii Parshin. This helped his team defeat Russia 8-2 in the final of 2018 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup.

In the third place match, another Iranian team Sina Sanat Izeh had a difficult job against Team Turkey, but won the match narrowly, 6-4.

Rio Olympic bronze medal winner Shmagi Bolkvadze from Georgia was in the Iranian team line up and won the 67kg bout against Turkish veteran Atakan Yuksel. Riza Kayaalp, the nine-time world and  Olympic medalist,  2016 Olympic bronze medalist Cenk Ildem and U23 2017 world champion Burhan Akbudak were among winners wrestlers of Team Turkey.

Kayaalp had a great victory over 2018 world champion Sergey Semenov and remained undefeated during the tournament. Kayaalp failed to win his 10th Olympic and world medal during 2018 world championships but had an excellent return in World Clubs Cup.

In fifth place match, Georgia defeated Iranian team Shohadaye Modafe Haram, 6-4, and Ukraine beat Serbia 8-2 to place seventh. Viktor Nemes, 2017 world champion and 2018 world bronze medal winner, competed for Team Serbia and had three wins and one deficit.

Final day results of 2018 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup:

Final match: Bimeh Razi Ardabil (IRI) df. Russia, 8-2
55kg- Eldaniz AZIZLI (Bimeh) df. Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) by Tech Fall, 9-0 
60kg- Mehrdad MARDANI (Bimeh) df. Ildus YAMUKOV (RUS), 8-3 
63kg- Saman ABDEVALI (Bimeh) df. Zhambolat LOKAYAEV (RUS) by Tech Fall, 8-0 
67kg- Maksim SURKOV (RUS) df. Mohammad ELYASI (Bimeh), 1-1 
72kg-Denis MURTAZIN (RUS) df. Boroumand ASLAN (Bimeh), 10-8
77kg- Pejman PASHTAM (Bimeh) df. Dmitrii PETAIKIN (RUS), 6-4 
82kg- Saeid ABDEVALI (Bimeh) df. Gadzhimurad DZHALALOV (RUS), 5-0
87kg- Ramin TAHERI (Bimeh) df. Evgeny SALEEV (RUS), 5-0 
97kg- Mehdi ALIYARI (Bimeh) df. Murat LOKYAEV (RUS) by forfeit 
130kg- Sergey SEMENOV (Bimeh) df. Vasilii PARSHIN (RUS) by FALL 

Third place match: Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) df. Turkey, 6-4
55kg-Pouya NASERPOUR (Izeh) df. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 2-1
60kg- Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (Izeh) df. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) by FALL 
63kg- Abdurahman ALTAN (TUR) df. Mohammad Javad REZAEI (Izeh), 3-1 
67kg- Shmagi BOLKAVADZE (Izeh) df. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) by Tech Fall, 8-0
72kg- Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (Izeh), 8-7 
77kg- Keyvan REZAEI (Izeh) df. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) by Tech Fall, 8-0 
82kg- Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Abbas MEHDIZADEH (Izeh), 4-2 
87kg- Saman AZIZI (Bimeh) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR), 7-3 
97kg- Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Mohammad YEGANEH (Izeh), 6-2 
130kg- Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Behnam MEHDIZADEH (Izeh) by forfeit 

Fifth place match: Georgia df. Shohadaye Modafe Haram (IRI), 6-4
55kg- Nodari OKROMTCHEDLISHVILI (GEO) – No wrestler 
60kg- Ramaz SURMANIDZE (GEO) df. Omid OLIYAYI (Shohadaye Modafe) by Tech Fall, 16-8
63kg- Mosayeb AKBARI (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO) by Tech Fall, 8-0
67kg- Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. Mohsen TAHERI (Shohadaye Modafe), 6-0
72kg- Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO) df. Milad NEDAEI (Shohadaye Modafe) by Tech Fall, 10-0
77kg- Beka MAMUKASHVILI (GEO) df. Mohammad SORKHI NEJAD (Shohadaye Modafe)
82kg- Hadi ALIZADEH POURNIA (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO) by forfeit
87kg- Mehdi MOHAMMADZADEH (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Lasha DEVIDZE (GEO) by Tech Fall, 10-1
97kg-Irakli KAJAIA (GEO) df. Ali KANANI (Shohadaye Modafe), 6-0
130kg- Parsa NAZARI (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Sulxani BUIDZE (GEO) by forfeit

Seventh place match: Ukraine df. Serbia, 8-2
55kg- Sergii DZIUBA (UKR) df. Kristijan GAZDAG (SRB), 9-7
60kg- Andriy MARTYNYUK (UKR) – No wrestler
63kg- Hevorh ARZUMANIAN (UKR) – No wrestler
67kg- Oleksii KALINICHENKO (UKR) df. Tamas NAD (SRB) by Tech Fall, 14-6 
72kg- Artur POLITAIEV (UKR) df. Mate NEMES (SRB)
77kg-Oleksandr KUKHTA (UKR) df. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB)
82kg- Viktor NEMES (SRB) df. Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR) by Tech Fall, 8-0
87kg- Serhii OMELIN (UKR) df. Oliver TOT (SRB) by Tech Fall, 9-0
97kg- Yevhenii SAVETA (UKR) df. Dejan FRANJKOVIC (SRB) by Tech Fall, 8-0
130kg- Andrii VOZNIUK (UKR) df.Horvat SABOLC (SRB) by Tech Fall, 8-0

Group Standings

Group A:
1- Bimeh Razi Ardabil (IRI) 2-Turkey 3- Shohadaye Modafe Haram(IRI) 4- Serbia

Group B:
1- Russia 2- Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) 3- Georgia 4- Ukraine 5- Kyrgyzstan

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 Worlds 2025: Forrest wins epic final to hand U.S. team title

Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 00:40 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 27) — For a second time this year, the United States and Iran were involved in a thrilling team title race in Freestyle at a World Championships with the U.S. eventually winning the title.

After being tied at 102 points each at the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, the U.S. needed one win and Iran needed to win all three bouts on the final day of the competition.

The U.S. sealed the team title as soon as Jaxen FORREST (USA) won the 61kg final, giving his country an unassailable lead of 137 points over Iran, which finished second with 127 points. Japan was third with 85 points.

With the team title, U.S. won the top spot in Freestyle in all age-group World Championships while Iran won the title in senior Worlds.

Three gold medals already in pocket, the U.S. won a fourth one on Monday through Forrest who had an unforgettable bout against Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ).

Both teenagers, U20 world bronze medalist Forrest and U17 world champion Asan Uulu put on a match that will be remembered for ages. Both wrestlers settled in, Forrest came up with an over-underhook for four but Asan Uulu soon fired back with two takedown to make it 4-4. After a back-and-forth scramble, Asan Uulu managed to score a push out for a 5-4 lead.

But Forrest took a big lead when he threw Asan Uulu from quad pod position for four points. Kyrgyzstan’s lost challenge added one more point to make it 9-5.

Jaxen FORREST (USA)Jaxen FORREST (USA) scores a takedown against Umurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The two were not done yet. As soon as the second period began, Asan Uulu scored a stepout, Forrest got a takedown to make it 11-6. Asan Uulu managed to get a takedown and score via exposure. He took a 12-11 lead with a takedown on edge with 1:30 left.

There was more left in the match as Forrest got on a low single to get a takedown and as the wrestlers returned to standing, he threw Asan Uulu for a big four, the third of the match to make it 17-12. He was happy to give one takedown to Asan Uulu in the final 10 seconds and win the gold medal 17-14, in what was perhaps the match of the year.

SUJEET (IND)SUJEET (IND) scores the match-winning takedown against Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) upgraded his bronze from last year to gold this year after he blanked world bronze medalist Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) in the final, his third 10-0 technical superiority over Jalolov this year.

Sujeet began like favorite underhook and snapdowns and Jalolov was put on the clock. Sujeet scored a takedown during that period to lead 3-0 before a stepout made it 4-0, a lead which Sujeet carried into the break.

The second period was no different as Sujeet did not let Jalolov settle down. He scored using a counter takedown to lead 6-0 with 1:52 remaining. Jalolov tried to hit a far reaching leg attack but Sujeet throws thew himself backward before scoring a takedown. A double leg takedown to make it 10-0 with 1:06 remaining.

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) celebrates after beating Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) in the 97kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Japan went past Turkiye in the team race by one point, all thanks to Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) winning the gold medal at 97kg by beating Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 12-2, in the final.

For a split second Suleimaniashvili was about to pin Yoshida but apart from that, Yoshida never looked in any kind of trouble. His body frame and power were too much for the Georgian who just folded in the battle.

Yoshida managed to score from various position and used the underhook to perfection to earn his first world title.

One of the most dominant wrestlers in this tournament, Arsen BALAIAN (UWW), capped off his incredible run with a 10-0 victory over Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA), 10-0.

RESULTS

61kg
GOLD: Jaxen FORREST (USA) df. Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ), 17-14

BRONZE: Akito MUKAIDA (JPN) df. Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR), 10-0
BRONZE: Tolga OZBEK (TUR) df. Erdal GALIP (BUL), 11-1

65kg
GOLD: SUJEET (IND) df. Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB), 10-0

BRONZE: Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ) df. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN), 7-5

86kg
GOLD: Arsen BALAIAN (UWW) df. Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA), 10-0

BRONZE: Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) df. Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO), 13-2
BRONZE: Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) df. Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA), 7-5

97kg
GOLD: Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) df. Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 12-2

BRONZE: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI), 7-1
BRONZE: Soslan DZHAGAEV (UWW) df. David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR), 4-2