Farrokhi, Hedayati cruise to Greco-Roman glory at U23 Worlds
There seems to be no slowing down to Iran’s global dominance in Greco-Roman wrestling, as the country looks poised to complete a clean sweep of world team titles across all age groups.
Having already lifted the U17, U20, and senior trophies earlier in 2025, Iran began its title defense at the U23 World Championships with double gold medals across four weight classes in Novi Sad, Serbia, on Tuesday.
Gholamreza Farrokhi – a gold medalist on his debut at the Senior Worlds in September – and defending world under-23 champion Fardin Hedayati who celebrated his birthday as well on Tuesday, claimed the ultimate prize in emphatic fashion at 87kg and 130kg respectively.
“I was able to win two back-to-back tough matches at the World Championships and bring home two gold medals,” Farrokhi said. “These were high-level competitions.”
Farrokhi, a gold medalist at 82kg in Zagreb, moved up to 87kg for Novi Sad but had no troubles in switching weights. As he did in Zagreb, Farrokhi brought his best game in par terre and rolled to his second gold in one month after a 9-0 victory in the final against Ukraine’s Ivan Chmyr, his fifth technical superiority victory.
After being put on top in par terre, Farrokhi launched a trap-arm gut and turned Chmyr four times for the win. Ukraine threw one of those ever-increasing challenges for no reason but lost it to add one more point to Farrokhi’s score.
“When you move up a weight class, the opponents are definitely stronger and tougher,” Farrokhi said. “It was a good experience, and it gave me a better sense of how I can perform at the Olympic 87 kg class,” added the Iranian, who scored 44 points, conceding only one, across five bouts.
Hedayati, who has not lost an international bout since his final loss at the U20 Worlds in 2022, was again in a league of his own in the superheavyweight event, outscoring his opponents 30-0 across four bouts.
Up against Armenian Razmik Kurdyan in the final, Hedayati began with takedown on the edge for two points. Kurdyan was put in par terre and from there Hedayati turned him twice to extend his lead to 7-0. With just 23 seconds left before the break, Hedayati scored a stepout to finish the final 8-0 and claim his second straight U23 world title.