Iran lines up star-studded teams for wrestling double-header with Russia
The Wrestling Federation of Iran named the country’s freestyle and Greco-Roman squads for a friendly double-header against wrestling powerhouse Russia in Moscow on November 22-23.
Newly-crowned world 82kg champion Mohammadali Geraei will spearhead the Iranian Greco-Roman squad in the Russian capital, with his younger brother Mohammadreza competing in the 72kg contest.
The two will be joined by Iranian prodigy Saeid Esmaeili, who won the 67kg gold at the Paris Olympics in August, with world under-20 champion Ahmadreza Mohsennejad also in contention for the weight class.
Pouya Dadmarz, a silver medalist at the World Championships two weeks ago, will be the Iranian 55kg wrestler in Moscow.
Alireza Mohmadi (87kg) and reigning world superheavyweight champion Amin Mirzazadeh (130kg) will make a first appearance since winning an Olympic silver and bronze respectively.
Ali Ahmadi-Vafa (60kg), Iman Mohammadi (63kg), Ali Oskou (77kg), Mahdi Bali and Shayan Habib-Zare’ (97kg) complete the Iranian Greco-Roman lineup.
The Iranian freestyle team will be headlined by two-time world champion Kamran Qassempour (92kg) and Olympic silver medalist Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg), while Amirmohammad Yazdani (74kg) will be back in action after missing the World Championships with injury.
Rahman Amouzad will also be back on the mat for the first time since a 65kg final defeat against Japanese Kotaro Kiyooka in the Paris Games.
Other weight classes will feature Ali Mo’meni (57kg), Reza Mo’meni (61kg), Sina Khalili (70kg), Mahdi Yousefi (79kg), Abolfazl Rahmani (86kg) and Amirhossein Firouzpour (97kg) in thrilling bouts against the Russian opposition.