Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! May 14, 2018

Monday, May 14, 2018 - 12:31 By

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Reviewing Thursday's Beat the Streets, the Youth Olympic Games qualifiers and Yazdani making Iran's world team.  

1. Cadet European Championships Begin Monday 
The 2018 Cadet European Championships begin Monday, May 14 in Skopje, Macedonia. 

The second cadet continental championship will serve as a qualifier for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games which take place this October. 

The first place finisher in freestyle and Greco-Roman will qualify their countries spot in the five designated weight classes, while the first and second place finishers in women's wrestling will qualify their nations spot for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.  

European Championship Schedule

Youth Olympic Weight Classes 
Freestyle - 48kg, 55kg, 65kg, 80kg, and 110kg 
Greco-Roman - 45kg, 51kg, 60kg, 71kg, and 92kg 
Women's Wrestling - 43kg, 49kg, 57kg, 65kg, and 73kg 

Amir ZARE (IRI) closes out the 2018 Cadet Asian Championship with a 10-0 win over Kumar ANIRUDH (IND). (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

2. Iran's Cadets Illuminate Uzbekistan 
Iranian freestyle wrestlers left the 2018 Cadet Asian Championships with medals in all but one weight class. 

Iran claimed an impressive six golds and three bronzes to close out the first cadet continental championship of the year. 

Even more impressive, in their six finals bouts, Iranian wrestlers picked up four technical superiority wins and averaged nearly ten points a match! 

Full Cadet Asian Championship Results   

3. Beat the Streets Match-up Order Announced 
The wait is almost over!

Three Olympic champions in Togrul ASGAROV (AZE), Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)  and Helen MAROULIS (USA) are set to compete at Beat the Streets which begins this Thursday, May 17 at 2:30 PM in New York, New York. 

The final two duals, USA vs. Nigeria and USA vs. Cuba start at 6:30 PM.

Women's Freestyle
USA vs. Nigeria 
57kg: Helen MAROULIS (USA) vs. Odunayo ADEKUROYE (NGR)
59 kg: Alli RAGAN (USA) vs. Adeniyi AMINAT (NGR)
68 kg: Tamyra STOCK (USA) vs. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

FREESTYLE
USA vs. Cuba
57kg – Josh RODRIGUEZ (USA) vs. Reineri ORTEGA (CUB)
70kg – James GREEN (USA) vs. Franklin MAREN CASTILLO (CUB)
79kg – Kyle DAKE (USA) vs. Livan LOPEZ AZCUY  (CUB)
92kg – J’den COX (USA) vs. Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB)
97kg – Kyle SNYDER (USA) vs. Reineris SALAS PEREZ (CUB)
125kg– Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) vs. Yudenny ESTEVEZ (CUB)

Age-level Match-up - Patrick GLORY (USA) vs. Gavin TEASDALE (USA) 

Co-Main Event – Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) vs. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)
Main Event  – Jordan OLIVER (USA) vs. Togrul ASGAROV (AZE) 

4. Olympic Champion, Yazdani Locks up Another Iranian World Team Spot 
The world and Olympic champion, Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) defeated 2018 Takhti Cup champion, Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) twice in the best of three series to make Iran’s 2018 Asian Games and 2018 World Championship roster. 

In the first match-up, Yazdani was tested early, giving up the first two points. The reigning world champion came back to outscore Ghasempour, 8-0 to take the first match, 8-2. 

The Olympic champion remained undefeated in Iran for the fourth consecutive year with a 5-0 victory in the second match. 

FULL RESULTS

5. Youth Olympic Qualifications by Country 
The 2018 Youth Olympic Games will take place October 12-14 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The highest placing athlete from the Asian Championships qualified their countries spot for the Games in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. 

In women's wrestling, the top two athletes from the Asian Championships qualified their nations spot for the Buenos Aires Games. 

Qualifiers After the Cadet Asian Championships 
Freestyle 
48kg - UZB
55kg - JPN 
65kg - IRI
80kg - IRI 
110kg - IRI

Greco-Roman 
45kg - IRI 
51kg - JPN  
60kg - UZB
71kg - JPN
92kg - IRI 

Women's Wrestling 
43kg - JPN and MGL 
49kg - JPN and UZB 
57kg - JPN and IND 
65kg - JPN and CHN 
73kg - JPN and UZB 

Full Cadet Asian Championship Results   

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday! @vlasovroma90 #kaspeuro2018
2. Happy Mother’s Day, wrestling fans!
3. One of the most anticipated matches in years will go down May 17th in NYC. If you live in the area go ahead and support @beatthestreets, which provides wrestling opportunities to disadvantaged youth around the city. —>http://bit.ly/rotr-tix
4. Preparing for the match #wrestling #sportsgirl #cadet #asia #борьба
5. A few Black and Whites from the 2018 European Championships Kaspiysk.  #wrestling #kaspiysk2018 #unitedworldwrestling

Top 5: Iranian Wrestlers

Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 21:45 By Andrew Hipps

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 12) -- With 43 of its 69 Olympic medals coming on the mat, it's safe to say that Iran has an important and rich wrestling tradition. 

The spark of future greatness happened during the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki when the nation won an improbable five medals. Since that hot start the country has kept up its winning ways, crowning Olympic and world champions year after year, with its strongest Olympic performance coming at the 2012 Olympics in London, where six Iranians won medals, including three gold.

Those performances were driven by individual accomplishments and these are the five men of the mat who have proven to be the best in their nation's history.

5. Hassan YAZDANI

Hassan YAZDANI, nicknamed "The Greatest," is currently one of the world's top wrestling stars. His first world medal came in 2015 when he earned a silver at 70kg. The following year, Yazdani won the Olympic gold medal at 74kg. He then went on to win world titles in 2017 and 2019, along with a world bronze in 2018. Yazdani has a 17-2 record in world championship competition, with both losses coming to the world champion.

4. Rasoul KHADEM

Rasoul KHADEM was one of the world's top upper-weight wrestlers in the 1990s. Khadem became an Olympic champion in 1996 at 90kg after winning an Olympic bronze at the Barcelona Olympics four years earlier at 82kg. He won back-to-back world titles in 1994 and 1995 before his run to Olympic gold in Atlanta. At the 1996 Games, Khadem's Olympic gold-medal victory came over  Makharbek CHADARZEV (URS/RUS), a five-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. He added a world silver medal in 1998. Khadem was also a five-time Asian champion.

3. Abdollah MOVAHED

Abdollah MOVAHED had a dominant run as a freestyle lightweight from 1965 until 1970, winning five world titles and an Olympic gold medal while going undefeated. He competed at the Olympic Games three times, winning gold at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. In 1970, Movahed won his second Asian Games title while also serving as the flag bearer for Iran in the Opening Ceremony.

2. Hamid SOURIAN

Hamid SOURIAN established himself as one of the all-time greats in Greco-Roman wrestling. He claimed six world titles, with his first one coming in 2005. He went on to win three straight world titles from 2005 until 2007. Sourian won back-to-back world titles in 2009 and 2010 before adding his sixth world crown in 2014. At the 2012 Olympics in London, Sourian became Iran's first-ever Olympic champion in Greco-Roman. Two other Iranians, Omid NOROUZI and Ghasem REZAEI, joined Sourian as Olympic Greco-Roman champs in London. He had an incredible streak of 34 consecutive wins at the world championships before it was snapped in 2015 when he lost by disqualification to Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE).

1. Gholamreza TAKHTI

Gholamreza TAKHTI, nicknamed "Jahān Pahlevān," captured three Olympic medals from 1952 until 1960. Takhti's first Olympic medal came in 1952 when he earned a silver in Helsinki, Finland. Four years later, Takhti became an Olympic champion at the Melbourne Olympics in 1962. He added a third Olympic medal in 1960 when he finished with a silver at the Rome Olympics. In addition to his Olympic medals, TAKHTI won four world medals, including world gold medals in 1959 and 1961. He was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.