#WrestleAlmaty

With Brother on His Side, Mohammadreza Geraei Hopes to Make Tokyo Special

Saturday, April 10, 2021 - 05:07 By Vinay Siwach

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Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won the gold at Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty. (UWW: Sachiko HOTAKA)

"He got it done in Nur-Sultan. I did it in Almaty. Now, we will do it in Tokyo."

Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) is a proud brother. Less than two years after his elder brother Mohammadali qualified Iran for the Tokyo Olympics at 77kg (GR) through the Nur-Sultan World Championships, the younger did the same at 67kg at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Friday. Now, he is ready to capture the coveted medal alongside his brother come August in the Japanese capital.

"It's a pleasure and honor to go to the Olympics with my brother, and he can definitely help me develop and reach the goal of winning an Olympic medal," Geraei said. "Having him there is great as a partner, support system and teacher."

Mohammadali, popularly known as 'The Falcon,' is a two-time world medalist and has been one of the most consistent Iranian wrestlers in recent times.

The products of the famous Takhti Academy in Iran, the two brothers have been each others' motivators since childhood. Two of the three kids of the Geraeis, Mohammadreza has been following in the footsteps of his two-year elder brother Mohammadali, thanks to their father.

"I am very lucky to come from a wrestling family. My father pushed me into wrestling at a very young age," he says.

 

Wrestling since the age of 10, Geraei quickly became one of the best talents to come out of Iran. Not only he has qualified Iran for the Games, he won the gold medal later in the evening with 9-0 thrashing of two-time world champion and Korean legend Hansu RYU (KOR).

It was not the only technical superiority win for him on Friday, though. Geraei began his day just liked his finished, with a 9-0 win. Up against Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) in the qualifying round, he completed a 52-second 8-0 win with two bodylock throws.

The quarterfinals were no different as he handed Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmed DAHSHAN (JOR) an 8-0 thrashing. With one step away from joining his brother in Tokyo, Geraei brought his best against Asian Championships bronze medalist ASHU (IND). After winning a point for Ashu's passivity, the Iranian made little work of the Indian with big throws taking two, four and two points.

"Everything worked for my benefit. I have been preparing for this and my body is prepared," he said. "I was able to achieve what I was training for and I will continue to do so."

Even after that, the '19 champion knew the task was still not finished. Facing the veteran Ryu in final, he went right after a reverse lift from the par terre position. Leading 5-0 lead at the break, he came back to hit another four-point throw and completed a 3-minute 45-second win at an empty Baluan Sholak Palace of Culture and Sports.

Asian Olympic Qualifier, Almaty

Born in the Shiraz city in southern Iran, Geraei was pushed into wrestling by his father to continue hia family's tradition.

"We are three brothers. Our development coach Rahim Givi is one of best who helped me a lot and my family always supported me," he says. "We were always committed to wrestling and there was little to no time for other things."

Despite a great base, Gereai found that success at the international stage was hard to come by. After a few wins at the junior level, he failed to claim the big medals. Even after regular participation, the medal at world level eluded him.

In 2019 he made the world take notice as he became the Asian champion at 72kg in Xi'an, China. In the same year, he became world champion. In an incredible run at the U23 World Championships in Budapest, Geraei handed defeats to two former age-group champions to claim the gold medal.

Also Read: Geraei Dominates Ryu in Greco 67kg Final After Both Qualify for Tokyo

Just when things were looking up, life came to a standstill. A few weeks before the World Championships in Nur-Sultan when he was preparing to compete in the tournament, he injured his lower back. Despite all his efforts, he failed to be fit for the Championships.

"That is the worst moment of my career. I wanted to wrestle at the World Championships," he recalled. Then COVID-19 hit, derailing his plans to qualify for the Games in 2020.

Despite all the hardships, he kept himself motivated with the goal of going to the Olympics and remembering all the Iranian legends who had done it before. The two brothers had set up gym at their home in Shiraz. The two would even wrestle each other in a six-minute bout.

"We have never competed officially but we practice all the time," he said. "My brother always beats me. He is better than me but I keep on going after him."

Geraei now wants the friendly banter to turn into real-time motivation in Tokyo. It's not like the two brothers have not won medals at the same Games. In 2018, while Mohammadali won the gold medal at the 77kg category, the younger brother claimed the bronze medal at the 67kg weight category in Jakarta, Indonesia, Geraei went to claim the bronze medal.

While it was a special moment, Gereai thinks the best is yet to come.

"The best moment will be in Tokyo. Just wait"

#WrestleBudapest

Takahashi marks return from injury with Ranking Series gold

Friday, July 18, 2025 - 20:08 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 18) -- The last memories of Kota TAKHASHI (JPN) on the mat were painful. He had a heavily strapped right knee and was wrestling at the Non-Olympic World Championships in Tirana last year. He was torn.

A surgery and nine months later, Takahashi returned to international wrestling at the Budapest Ranking Series on Friday and captured the 74kg gold medal.

The world U23 champion was the third gold medalist from Japan in Budapest after Takara SUDA (JPN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) won at 61kg and 70kg, respectively.

In the other two weight classes that were in action on Friday, Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) and Trent HIDLAY (USA) captured the gold medal at 86kg and 92kg as Freestyle came to a close at the Ranking Series.

Takahashi, who won the Asian Championships gold in 2024, made himself a gold-medal threat for the World Championships in Zagreb with an impressive performance that saw him score wins over Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and David CARR (USA).

"This was my first international competition since my right knee surgery, and I wanted to show my true abilities," Takahashi said. "I'm very happy that I was able to win by thoroughly executing my tackles and aggressive wrestling style."

Takahashi was up against Salkazanov in his first match and began by blasting two double-leg attacks to race to a 4-0 lead. But the second period was not the same as he was put on the activity clock and Salkazanov cut the lead with a takedown during that.

Just when it seemed that Salkazanov can take the lead, Takahashi hit a low leg-attack and converted it into takedown to make the gap 6-3. Salkazanov did not let it go and scored a stepout with nine seconds left.

Takahashi was happy to not engage in those nine seconds, and happily gave a stepout and a caution. He won 6-6 and set up a quarterfinal against Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN). He did not need any of those attacks as he managed a 3-0 win.

The semifinal against Carr was a challenging one as Takahashi struggled to keep his conditioning for six minutes. He opened with a stepout and Carr was called for fleeing. As Carr used a chest wrap to stop Takahashi's double-leg attack, he fell on his back with hand opens. Only Takahashi was awarded two points which made his lead 4-0. Two stepouts later, it was 6-0.

Carr got going in the final two minutes as he scored two takedowns inside 20 seconds to make it 6-4. So far, Takahashi had remained low in his stance and cancelled Carr's long reach. However, his defense began to break up.

As Carr tried to turn Takahashi after the second takedown, Takahashi blocked the turn and got two points. Carr scored a reversal to make it 8-5. He then made it 8-7 with 10 seconds remaining but that was the final scoring action of the bout.

"Car is very aggressive, and I am also good at aggressive wrestling, but in the second half, my opponent's attacks were superior to mine. I ended up conceding points," he said. "I think that was my mistake. In the second period, I tried to attack, but the opponent kept attacking repeatedly. I ended up just defending, and that was the reason I lost points. I need to be more aggressive and attack more."

Takahashi's aggressive wrestling was once again on show in the final against another former world U23 champion Magomed KHANIEV (AZE). He scored two takedowns and defending so well that Khaniev was not able to score a point and Takahashi won gold medal, 4-0.

But the Japanese accepted the chinks in his armor and has decided to work on them before the World Championships where he knows that the competition will be even tougher.

"Similar story against Salkazanov. I want to review my stamina to maintain an aggressive attack throughout the six minutes without breaking my stance, and keep solid stance," he said. "In the second half, my desire to attack weakened, and I ended up being attacked by the opponent, leading to them scoring points. I need to improve on that."

Carr returned for the bronze medal bout and defeated Salkazanov 4-4, avenging his previous to the Slovak from Zagreb.

Trent HIDLAY (USA)Trent HIDLAY (USA) defeated Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 7-2 in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Trent HIDLAY (USA), a 86kg silver medalist last year in Budapest, upgraded to gold medal after beating world silver medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 7-4, in the 92kg final.

Hidlay was in red-hot form the whole day as he began with a win over Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)  and then posted a 10-0 win over Krizstian ANGYAL (HUN) in the quarterfinal. He began the semifinal against Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) with a powerful double-leg takedown.

As Kurugliev fell, he landed on his knee and suffered an injury so bad that he was unable to walk off the mat. Hidlay reached the final after the injury forced Kurugliev to stop.

It was Maisuradze who opened the scoring in the final with a snapdown to takedown for two points but Hidlay answered with two stepouts and the Georgian led 2-2 on criteria at the break.

Hidlay opened the second period with a takedown to take a 4-2 lead and then continued to put pressure on Maisuradze. It paid off as he scored another takedown on the edge to lead 6-2. Georgia challenged that both wrestlers were already out of the zone and it should be one point. But the challenge was lost, making it 7-2 for Hidlay with 1:47 left on the clock.

That was all in the bout as Hidlay captured the gold and put his name in contention for the gold medal at the upcoming World Championships.

At 86kg, Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) was the gold medalist after European silver medalist Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW) pulled out of the final injured.

Kadzimahamedau suffered a knee injury in the semifinal against Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) as the Iranian did not let go off his knee despite it turning more than 90 degrees.

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Magomed KHANIEV (AZE), 4-0

BRONZE: David CARR (USA) df. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 4-4
BRONZE: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) df. Yeldos KUANYSHBAY (KAZ), 8-2

86kg
GOLD:  Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) df. Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Osman GOCEN (TUR) df. Boris MAKOEV (SVK), 3-2
BRONZE: Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) df. Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ), 3-0 

92kg
GOLD: Trent HIDLAY (USA) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 7-4

BRONZE: Benjamin HONIS (ITA) df. Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN), via fall (5-5)
BRONZE: Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE), via inj. def.