Iranian wrestlers win four freestyle medals at U17 Worlds
The penultimate day of the U17 Wrestling World Championships in Athens, Greece, saw Iranian boys collect four medals across five freestyle divisions.
Mohammadreza Barari, meanwhile, finished his 55kg campaign empty-handed after a 4-0 loss to American Greyton Fredrick Burnett in the bronze-medal contest on Saturday, though he still contributed 10 points to Iran’s bid for the team title.
Sina Boustani had a decent run in the 48kg event, beating opponents from Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Japan, but was outclassed by American Ariah Mills in the final showpiece and settled for the silver.
Mills gave up an activity clock point in the first period and as Boustani was setting up a leg attack, the American hit a counter and scored the takedown to lead 2-1 at the break.
Boustani had his chance to score and reclaim the lead but Mills, who kept his distance, perhaps to have space to counter, got another takedown after a scramble. The American wrestler managed to score a go-behind and two turns to win 12-1 and get the first gold medal in freestyle for the United States.
Mohammadparsa Karami added a second silver to Iran’s medal haul, courtesy of a final setback against Ukraine’s Artur Kostiuk in the 80kg contests.
A European under-17 champion in June, Kostiuk was called passive and put on activity clock. He did not score in those 30 seconds but managed to get a takedown just before the break and led 2-1.
Karami was put on the activity clock in the second period and as he failed to score, Kostiuk’s lead swelled to 3-1. The Iranian had 25 seconds to score two points but Kpstiuk held on to win a first gold medal for his country at the U17 Worlds in nine years.
In the 65kg division, Morteza Hajmollamohammadi bounced back form a last-four setback against American Arseni Kikiniou to beat Indian Gourav Punia for a bronze medal, rallying from behind with seconds left to win on criteria (8-8).
Amirhossein Naqdalipour, meanwhile, made a quick work of Georgian Murtaz Bagdavadze, securing a superiority win (11-0) in the first period, to finish with a consolation bronze in the 110kg category.
Saturday’s results came after Iran had lifted a fourth successive team trophy in the Greco-Roman competitions last week in the Greek capital.
Represented by nine wrestlers after Abolfazl Shiri (65kg) was denied an entry visa by the host country, Iran had only two finalists across 10 classes but still managed to pip Uzbekistan to the team title.
Amirsam Mohammadi won the 92kg gold, while Yazdan Delrouz settled for the 110kg silver, with Mohammadhossein Kazemi (71kg), Amirmohammad Hajivand (48kg), Abolfazl Zare’ (60kg), and Amirreza Tahmasbpour (55kg) collecting four bronzes as Iran stood atop the table with 125 points.
Uzbekistan impressed with four gold medals but had to settle for a runner-up finish with 118 points.
Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points, with Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan – tied on 100 points – in fourth and fifth, respectively.