U23 Wrestling World Championships:
Iran lifts historic freestyle trophy, completes team title double
A haul of seven medals, including three golds, saw Iran clinch a first freestyle title at the U23 Wrestling World Championships in Tirana, Albania.
Pejman Dorostkar’s 10-man squad collected 158 points to stand atop the table with 158 points – 56 clear of runner-up Japan – with Azerbaijan finishing third with 100 points.
The freestyle triumph meant Iran made a clean sweep of titles in Tirana – following last week’s Greco-Roman crown – taking the country’s tally to a remarkable 15 age-group team trophies in five years.
Mahdi Yousefi, who won a world under-20 bronze in September, rounded off his campaign in Tirana in style by grabbing the 79kg gold on Sunday.
Stepping into the final showpiece on the back of four superiority wins, Yousefi continued his dominance against China’s Feng Lu, marching to a 12-5 victory.
Mahdi Hajiloueian, meanwhile, enjoyed an impressive run to reach the 97kg final but had to settle for a silver after a 11-6 loss to high-profile Rizabek Aitmukhan of Kazakhstan.
There was little to separate the two wrestlers in the opening stages, with Aitmukhan holding a criteria advantage (2-2) at the break before he pulled away in the second period to add the under-23 glory to his world senior title in 2023, while the Iranian took a second world medal following his 2021 junior silver.
Elsewhere on the final day of the competitions, Ali Mo’meni and Abbas Ebrahimzadeh added a couple of bronze medals to Iran’s medal count.
Mo’meni recovered from a last-four 4-3 defeat against Kyrgyzstan’s Abdumalik Karachov to outmuscle American Maxwell Gallagher 8-0 for a third-place finish in the 57kg event – alongside Iunus Iavbatirov, who was part of the individual neutral athletes’ team.
India’s Chirag Chikkara defeated Karachov 4-2 in the final.
In the 65kg weight class, Ebrahimzadeh – beaten 11-7 in the semifinals by Japanese Kaiji Ogino – had an easy job in the third-place bout against Turkey’s Abdullah Toprak, winning 15-4.
Bilol Sharip Uulu of Kyrgyzstan took the other bronze, while Russian Ibragim Ibragimov made a quick work of Ogino (14-2) to defend his title.
Sunday’s results came after Iran had won three freestyle medals on the preceding night at the Feti Borova Sports Hall.
Amirreza Ma’soumi didn’t concede a single point in his four
wins by superiority, including the final showdown against European under-23 champion Alen Khubulov of Bulgaria, to walk away with the ultimate prize of the 125kg contests – a sixth world age-group gold for the superheavyweight prodigy in two years.
A former world cadet and junior champion, Amirhossein Firouzpour claimed his second under-23 title in emphatic fashion, defeating American Jacob Cardenas 11-4 in the 92kg final.
Ebrahim Khari left Tirana with a consolation bronze, thanks to a 4-3 win against Armenia’s Levik Mikayelyan in the 61kg event.
Last Wednesday, the Iranian Greco-Roman squad had lifted a third team trophy in five years, courtesy of seven medals.
Ali Ahmadi Vafa (55kg), Mohammad Naqousi (82kg), and Fardin Hedayati (130kg) notched up three golds, while Danial Sohrabi (72kg), Shayan Habib-Zare’ (97kg), Erfan Jarkani (63kg), and Ali Oskou (77kg) finished with a bronze, as Iran topped the standing with 149 points, followed by Georgia (121pts) and Armenia (93pts).