TEHRAN – Despite an injured star wrestler, last minute roster fluctuations and a coaching change, in the end nothing could stop the Iranian Greco-Roman team from capturing their fourth World Cup title in five years.

Lead by injured 2012 Olympic champion Hamid SORYAN (59kg) and 2013 world champion Taleb NEMATPOUR (85kg) the Iranian team battled past defending champion Russia 6-2. The win avenged their loss in the finals at the 2013 World Cup and put to rest a week that saw the departure of longtime coach Mohammed BANA and doubts about who would take the mat for Iran.

Soryan inspired the packed Hatfe-Tir Wrestling Hall in Tehran with a thrilling come-from-behind 6-5 victory in the opening match. The Iranian wrestler, who was wrestling through an upperback injury, was losing 4-1 late in the second period when, assisted by the chants of the home crowd, powered through a series of gut wrenches from the par terre position.

“It was a tough final for me,” said Soryan. “I was a little disappointed during the final match, but I defeated him by support of fans. Still, I am not satisfied about my performance.”

 PHOTO ALBUM

Saeed ABDEVALI (71kg) and Habibollah AKHLAGHI (80kg) matched Russian victories by World No.1 Adam KURAK (66kg) and 2012 Olympic champions Roman VLASOV (75kg) to make the team score 3-2 heading into 85kg where Iran’s Taleb NEMATPOUR faced Davit CHAKVETADZE of Russia.

Nematpour was winning 2-1 with :01 to wrestle when he fled a hold and risked losing the match on a third and final caution. The Russian side protested but it was Nematpour who came away the winner.

I knew the time is over but I apologize to the fans,” said Nematpour. “I should not have stopped wrestling. It made the fans under pressure and stressful.”

Mehdi ALIYARI sealed the team victory for Iran beating 2013 world champion Nikita MELNIKOV, 3-1 to push the team score to a definitive 5-2. Iran’s Bashir BABAJANZADEH put the finishing touches on a big evening beating Vasily PARSHIN of Russia by technical fall, 9-0. The Iranian team had previously won titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Iranian Wrestling Federation president and head men’s freestyle coach Rasul Khadem after the match addressed the effort of the wrestlers and fans.

“We are thankful to God that we fulfilled our fan’s expectations,” said Iranian Khadem. “I am happy to win at home. We dominated by power in the final match and I hope to see a day for Iran wrestling where we continue to win championships.”

Nematpour, still souring from his almost-loss told reporters that he knew who to thank for their team’s win.

“Certainly this title was the result of our wrestlers efforts,” said Nematpour. “But we really won because of the incredible support of our fans.”

Full team standings and results from the second day of competition can be found below.

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Final Team Standings

1- Iran
2- Russia
3- Azerbaijan
4- Hungary
5- Turkey
6- Korea
7- Kazakhstan
8- Finland
9- USA
10- Armenia

First Place Match

Iran (IRI) v. Russia (RUS), 6-2
59 kg –Hamid SORYAN (IRI) v. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS), 6-5
66 kg – Adam KURAK (RUS) df. Omid NOROOZI (IRI), 8-6 
71 kg – Saeed ABDEVALI (IRI) df. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS), 3-0
75 kg – Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Farshad ALIZADEH (IRI) by TF, 11-0
80 kg – Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) df. Evgeny BOGOMOLOV (RUS) by TF, 8-0
85 kg – Taleb NEMATPOUR (IRI) df. Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS), 3-1
98 kg – Mehdi ALIYARI (IRI) df. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS), 3-1
130 kg – Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI) df. Vasily PARSHIN (RUS) by TF 9-0

Third Place Match

Azerbaijan (AZE) v. Hungary (HUN) 6-2
59kg – Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Csongor KNIPLI (HUN) by TF, 11-0
66kg – Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) df. Krisztian JAGER (HUN) by DQ
71kg – Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df.  Balint KORPASI (HUN), 4-2
75kg – Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) v. Laszlo SZABO (HUN), 3-0
80kg – Emin AHMADOV (AZE) v. Gabor MADARAS (HUN), FALL
85kg – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Shahriyar MAMMADOV (AZE), 1-0
98kg – Balazs KISS (HUN) df. ARAZ HASANOV (AZE), 4-0 
130kg – Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) df. Balint LAM (HUN) 1-0

Fifth Place Match

Turkey (TUR) df. Korea (KOR), 4-4 (Classification Points, 18-14)
59kg – CHOI Gi-uk (KOR) df. Serif KILIC (TUR), 12-10 
66kg – RYU Han-Su (KOR) df. Enes BASAR (TUR), 5-0
71kg -  JUNG Ji-Hyun (KOR) df. Yunus OZEL (TUR) via criteria 5-5
75kg – KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) df. Furkan BAYRAK (TUR) by TF, 9-0
80kg – Dogan GOKTAS (TUR) df. KIM June- Hyoung (KOR) by TF, 9-0
85kg – Basar DEMIRCI (TUR) df. No wrestler (KOR) via forefeit
98kg – Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR) df. GU Hak-Bon (KOR) by TF 9-0
130kg – ATILLA GUZEL (TUR) df. KIM Yong-Min (KOR), 3-1

Seventh Place Match

Kazakhstan (KAZ) df. Finland (FIN) 4-4 (Classification Points, 17-15)
59kg- Jussi-pekka HNIMISTO (FIN) df. Daulet ABSALIMOV (KAZ), 5-0
66kg- Askhat ZHABIROV (KAZ) df. Tero VVALIMAKI (FIN), 4-3
71kg- Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) df. Henri PALOMAKI (FIN), 9-0
75kg-  Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – No wrestler (FIN) via forfeit
80kg- Aleksandr KAZAKEVIC (LTU) df. Danyal GAJIYV (KAZ), 6-0 
85kg- Alkhazur OZDIYEV (KAZ) df. Rami HIETANIEMI (FIN) by TF, 10-0
98kg- Timo KALLIO (FIN) df. Ilya NASTOCHENKO (KAZ), 8-0
130kg- Mindaugas MIZGAITIS (LTU) df. Yessenkeidi ZHALGASBAYEV (KAZ), 9-1 

Ninth Place Match

United States (USA) df. Armenia (ARM) 4-4 (Classification Points, 21-15)
59kg- Narek KHACHATRYAN (ARM) df. Ryan MANGO (USA), 9-6
66kg- Ravaughn PERKINS (USA) df. Gevorg SAHAKYAN (ARM) by FALL
71kg- Rafayel ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Adrew SMITH (USA)  by TF, 10-2
75kg- Andrew BISEK (USA) v.  Karapet CHALYAN (ARM), 1-0
80kg- Rafik MANUKYAN (ARM) df. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) by TF, 10-0 
85kg- Jordan HOLM (USA) df. Hrach HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 5-0
98kg- Movses ADAMYAN (ARM) df. Daren BURNS (USA) by TF, 12-4 
130kg- Robert SMITH (USA) v. Vachik YEGHIAZARYAN (ARM) by FALL

Group A Standings:
1. Russia: 4-0
2. Hungary: 2-2
3. Turkey: 2-2
4. Kazakhstan: 1-3 
5. United States: 0-4

Group B Standings:
1. Iran: 4-0
2. Azerbaijan: 3-1
3. Korea: 1-3
4. Finland: 1-3
5. Armenia: 1-3 

Group A, Session V

Hungary (HUN) df. Turkey (TUR), 7-1
59 kg - Csongor KNIPLI (HUN) v. Serif KILIC (TUR), 7-5
66 kg - Krisztian JAGER (HUN) v. Enes BASAR (TUR), 3-0
71 kg - Balint KORPASI (HUN) v. Yunus OZEL (TUR), 3-0
75 kg - Laszlo SZABO (HUN) v. Furkan BAYRAK (TUR) by TF, 9-0
80 kg - Selcuk CEBI (TUR) df. Gabor MADARAS (HUN) by TF, 8-0
85 kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) v. Ildem KANSU (TUR), 2-1
98 kg - BALAZS KISS (HUN)  v. Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR) by TF, 9-1
130 kg - Balint LAM (HUN) v. Atilla GUZEL (TUR), 2-0

Kazakhstan (KAZ) df. United States (USA), 5-3 
59kg- Daulet ABSALIMOV (KAZ) df. Ryan MANGO (USA), 13-7 
66kg- Askhat ZHABIROV (KAZ) df. Ravaughn PERKINS, 1-0
71kg- Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) df. Patrick SMITH (USA) by TF, 16-7
75kg- Andrew BISEK (USA) v. No Wrestler via forfeit
80kg- Danyal GAJIYV (KAZ) df. Geordan SPEILLER (USA), 8-0
85kg- Jordan HOLM (USA) v. Alkhazur OZDIYEV (KAZ) by TF, 8-0
98kg- Ilya NASTOCHENKO (KAZ) df. Daren BURNS (USA) by TF, 9-0 
130kg- Robert SMITH (USA) v. Yessenkeidi ZHALGASBAYEV (KAZ) by TF, 8-0

Group B, Session V

Iran (IRI) df. Armenia (ARM), 5-3
59kg - Hamid SORYAN (IRI) df. Narek KHACHATRYAN(ARM), 9-0 
66kg - Gevorg SAHAKYAN (ARM) df. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI), 4-2
71kg -  Rafayel ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Broomand ASLAN (IRI), 6-5
75kg - Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) df. Hadi ALIZADEH POURNIA (IRI), 4-1
80kg - Mehdi MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Rafik MANUKYAN (ARM), 9-0
85kg - Davood AKHBARI (IRI) df. Hrach HOVANNISYAN (ARM) by FALL
98kg - Davood ABEDINZADEH (IRI) df. Movses ADAMYAN (ARM), 6-0
130kg - Vachik YEGHIAZARYA (ARM) v. Behnam MEHDIZADEH (IRI), 7-1

Azerbaijan (AZE) df. Finland (FIN), 6-2
59kg- Orkhan AHMADOV (AZE) df. Jani HAAPAMAKI (FIN), 3-0
66kg- Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) df. Tero VALIMAKI (FIN), 6-0
71kg- Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df. Henri PALOMAKI (FIN) by TF, 11-0
75kg- Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) df. No wrestler (FIN) via forfeit
80kg- Aleksandr KAZAKEVIC (LTU) df. Emin AHMADOV (AZE), 5-2 
85kg- Shahriyar MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Antti HAKALA (FIN), 2-0
98kg- Araz HASANOV (AZE) v. Timo KALLIO (FIN), 2-0
130kg- Mindaugas MIZGAITIS (LTU) df. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) via forfeit