Masoumi remains dominant force of junior wrestling
For Iranian wrestler Amir-Reza Masoumi, the U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan, was a test of character – one that he passed in emphatic fashion.
The Iranian, who will turn 19 in less than a month, stepped into the freestyle 125kg contests on the back of a couple of domestic and international setbacks.
April’s Asian Championships was one to forget for the young prodigy as he was beaten 8-6 by high-profile Mongolian Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel in the semifinals – a first international defeat for the Iranian – before a loss to China’s Buheeerdun in the bronze-medal bout saw the superheavyweight wrestler leave Astana empty-handed.
A second blow to Masoumi’s progress as a senior wrestler came in May’s Takhti Cup in Urmia – which also served as the national team’s trials for the upcoming World Championships – where he was outclassed 8-0 by fellow Iranian Amir-Hossein Zare’ in the final showdown.
Still, Wednesday’s gold medal in the Jordanian capital proved that Masoumi is in a league of his own when it comes to the age-group wrestling.
In cruising to the ultimate prize, Masoumi – whose father Fardin is a former world superheavyweight silver and bronze medalist – collected a remarkable 51 points across five bouts, while conceding only one – in the first-round 9-1 victory over Turkey’s Hakan Buyukcingil.
The Iranian then made a quick work of China’s Da Lu, American Christian Carroll, and Volodymyr Kochanov of Ukraine, outmuscling all three by technical fall en route to the final.
It was the same scenario in the showpiece against Russian Said Akhmatov – representing the Individual Neutral Athletes team – as a four-point throw with nine seconds into the contest put Masoumi on his way to a second successive world under-20 gold before the six-minute mark.
Masoumi’s fourth gold in the international age groups, following the cadet crown in 2021 and last year’s under-23 triumph, capped off a glorious campaign in Amman for the Iranian freestyle squad, which won the team title with 165 points – 13 clear of runner-up USA – with Mohammadreza Shakeri (65kg), Mobin Azimi (92kg), and Abolfazl Babalou (97kg) also among the gold medalists for the Asian powerhouse.
Masoumi might spend some time behind Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Zare’ – who will be chasing a third world medal in September’s showdown in Belgrade – in the Iranian seniors’ pecking order but he has already cemented his status as the next big thing in freestyle wrestling.