Wrestling U17 World Championships:
Iran wins three final-day medals but misses out on FS team crown
The final day of the U17 World Championships saw Iranian wrestlers collect three more medals though it still was not enough for the country to defend its freestyle title Amman, Jordan.
Team USA was crowned the champion – a second freestyle trophy for the Americans in three years – with 152 points, 20 clear of second-place Iran, with Kyrgyzstan in third on 104 points.
Abolfazl Shamsipour bagged a second freestyle gold for Iran, courtesy of a victory against Germany’s Manuel Wagin in the 71kg final.
There was little to separate the two wrestlers as the showdown was decided when Shamsipour was awarded a point for the German’s passivity in the second period, giving the Iranian a 1-1 criteria lead and the scoreline remained unchanged until the end.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Amirabbas Ramezani had to settle for a silver medal in the 45kg contests after he relinquished a five-point lead to suffer a 9-5 loss to American Samuel Sanchez in the final.
Amirreza Alipour grabbed a sixth freestyle medal for Iran in the Jordanian capital, outmuscling Canadian Michaeljeet Singh Grewal for the 92kg bronze.
Sunday’s results came after Reza Afshar had grabbed the 80kg gold on the preceding night, thanks to a 1-1 win against Georgian Nikoloz Maisuradze, while Amirabbas Alizadeh took the silver in the 48kg event following a technical-superiority defeat against Ulugbek Rashidov of Uzbekistan.
Abolfazl Mohammadnejad, meanwhile, finished his campaign with a consolation bronze in the 110kg class when he defeated India’s Singh Jaspooran 2-1.
Earlier in the competitions, the Iranian Greco-Roman squad had lifted a third successive team trophy with three golds and bronzes apiece across 10 weight classes.
Armin Shamsipour dominated the 48kg contests, outscoring his opponents 37-1 in four bouts – including a 10-1 triumph over Uzbekistan’s Khusniddin Abdukarimov in the final.
Amir-Mahdi Saeidinava clinched a second Greco-Roman gold for Iran, beating Ukrainian Vladyslav Pokotylo 6-2 in the 65kg showdown, while Danial Izadi defeated German Ole Ayke Sterning 4-0 for the 92kg title.
Abolfazl Karami (51kg), Emadreza Mohsennejad (80kg), and Ali-Asghar Dadbakhsh were the Irania bronze medalist in the Greco-Roman competitions.