Freestyle Wrestling National Championships:
Contenders emerge for Iran’s Olympic berths
Some new faces and surprise winners will be looking to go all the way to book a place in the Iranian squad for next year’s Paris Olympics after coming out on top at the Freestyle Wrestling National Championships in Sari, northern Iran.
Three of the four Iranian world medalists in September – Hassan Yazdani (86kg), Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg), and Mohammad Nokhodi (79kg) – were absent in the event, while Amir-Mohammad Yazdani had a disappointing run in the Olympic 74kg weight class.
A world 70kg silver winner in Belgrade, Yazdani had to settle for a joint-third spot finish alongside fellow Mazandaran teammate Erfan Elahi after suffering a 4-1 defeat against Adel Panahian, who was beaten by Hossein Abouzari in the final showdown.
Abouzari and Nokhodi will participate in an international tournament to decide who will represent the country in April’s Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as well as the Olympic qualifiers.
Superheavyweight prodigy Amir-Reza Ma’soumi – a winner of four world age-group golds – again threw down the gauntlet to reigning world senior champion Zare’ for a place in Paris by standing on the top podium in the 125kg contests, thanks to a final victory over Mahdi Hashemi.
A former world U20 and U23 bronze medalist, Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan dominated the 57kg contests, defeating 2021 world silver medalist Alireza Sarlak in the final, and will likely be Iran’s top choice to chase the Olympic quota in the coming months.
Stepping into September’s world event as the defending 65kg champion, Rahman Amouzad had a below-par run in Belgrade but a fifth-place finish was enough for the 21-year-old to secure the Olympic berth.
However, ‘Ruthless Rahman’ will still have to see off Abbas Ebrahimzadeh, who came out victorious against Ali Khorramdel in the 65kg final in Sari.
With Hassan Yazdani racing against time to be fit for the Olympics after a surgery on his injured shoulder, Ali Savadkouhi and Alireza Karimi fancied their chances of replacing the 86kg sensation in Paris when they started their campaigns in Sari.
Best known for his famous triumph over American 79kg great Jordan Burroughs in last year’s FS World Cup, Savadkohi outmuscled three-time world medalist Karimi 3-0 in the third round but was stunned in the final by Hadi Vafaeipour, who overcame a four-point deficit – courtesy of a takedown and double gut wrenches with less than a minute left on the clock – for a 6-4 win and the gold medal.
Kamran Qassempour is to compete in the 97kg weight class next year as he will be looking to add the Olympic glory to his double world 92kg gold medals. However, and untimely hamstring injury ruled him out of the Iranian Championships and two-time world under-23 champion Amir-Ali Azarpira made the most of the opportunity to win the gold.
Mohammad-Hossein Mohammadian, who was the Iranian 97kg wrestler at the Tokyo Olympics, looked to be the favorite for the top spot after a first-round victory over injury-hit Mojtaba Goleij but came short against Azarpira in the final showpiece.
In the non-Olympic categories meanwhile, Reza Atri – a 2022 world runner-up – beat Yassin Rezaei in the 61kg final, with Mohammad-Ali Amouzad defeating Mojtaba Amouzad for the 70kg gold.
Abodallah Sheikh A’zami claimed the 79kg title thanks to a win against Jamal Ebadi, while two-time world junior champion and an under-23 gold medalist last year Amirhossein Firouzpour continued his impressive run in the senior competitions with a victory over Mahdi Hajiloueian in the 92kg showdown.