Wrestling World Championships:
Amouzad avenges Paris setback, Iran ends 12-year wait for freestyle crown
Iran collected seven medals across 10 weight classes to claim a first freestyle team trophy in 12 years at the Wrestling World Championships.
A medal haul of two golds, two silvers, and three bronzes, saw Iran finish atop the team standings in Zagreb with 145 points – 11 ahead of the United States, with Japan in third place on 111 points.
Leader hails world champions
Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei praised the national freestyle wrestling team after their triumph in Zagreb.
In a message following the victory, he congratulated the athletes for their “astonishing effort and then admirable conduct,” saying the blend of strength and spirituality had created “sublime values.”
“Bravo to you!” the statement added.
This was Iran’s sixth freestyle title in the history of the Wrestling Worlds.
Living up to his nickname, ‘The Ruthless’, Rahman Amouzad capped off a dominant campaign in the 65kg division by outclassing Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka in the final, while Amirali Azarpira had to settle for a silver medal after a loss to American Kyle Snyder in the 97kg showdown.
Amouzad not only avenged his final loss to Kiyooka in last year’s Paris Olympics, he did it in overwhelming fashion, blitzing his way to a 10-0 victory at the Arena Zagreb.
"I worked really hard and had been waiting for this moment for almost a year, and I’m happy this championship is mine," Amouzad said after grabbing his second world gold in three years. "I put in a lot of effort physically, mentally, and with analysis."
It was just over a year ago that Kiyooka came seemingly out of nowhere and snatched the 65kg gold in Paris with an inspired 10-3 victory over Amouzad.
But on Tuesday, the outcome could not have been more different.
The Iranian deftly countered a single-leg attack from Kiyooka with a back lift for two, then added a two-point exposure. And he wasn't finished with the sequence, transitioning to a cradle at the edge and wedging Kiyooka over for two more and a 6-0 lead.
Amouzad kept the pressure on a shell-shocked Kiyooka, scoring a stepout that had a fleeing point tacked on. A final takedown and the match was over with eight seconds to spare in the first period.
"I have more plans and bigger goals ahead," Amouzad said. "This is just the beginning for me, and my work isn’t finished yet. In two months, I’ll compete in the Islamic Solidarity Games and I’ll participate in any tournament the coaching staff believe I should."
The 97kg final was a much closer but no less dramatic affair, as Snyder picked up his eighth medal in eight trips to the World Championships to go along with an Olympic gold from Rio 2016 and a silver at Tokyo 2021.
The 29-year-old Snyder received an activity point in a tenuous first period, but Azarpira broke the logjam by getting behind for a takedown early in the second. A penalty point against Azarpira for finger-grabbing tied the score at 2-2, but with the Iranian holding the criteria advantage.
With the atmosphere growing intense, Snyder put the pressure on and scored a stepout with 8.5 seconds left, then held on as the match ended with him defending against a single-leg attack. Iran made a futile challenge at the end, as it finished 4-2.
It was a massive heartbreak for the 23-year-old Iranian, who had beaten reigning world and Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov in the semifinals and was the favorite to grab the gold, having defeated the American in the previous two meetings – including the bronze-medal contest at the Paris Olympics.
Tuesday’s medal came after Amirhossein Zare’ had come out victorious by a 5-0 scoreline against Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Azerbaijan on Sunday to defend his 125kg world title, walking away with his third superheavyweight gold medal since 2021.
Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan finished with an impressive silver medal on his debut at the World Championships following a superiority loss to Russian Zaur Uguev in the 61kg final, while Kamran Qassempour eased to a 10-0 win against Indian Mukul Dahiya to win a consolation bronze in the 86kg division.
Mohammad Nokhodi and Amirhossein Firouzpour added a couple of bronzes to Iran’s medal count on Monday.
Nokhodi recovered from a last-four setback against Greece’s Georgios Kougioumtsidis to beat Azerbaijan’s Dzhabrail Gadzhiev 4-2 and win a joint-bronze in the 79kg event.
Firouzpour managed to finish with something to cheer about on his debut at the Senior World Championships, as he made quick work of Kazakhstan’s Kamil Kurugliyev, securing a fall victory in less than two minutes in the third-place bout of the 92kg event.