U23 Wrestling World Championships:
Iran completes clean sweep of Greco-Roman team titles
Iran cemented its dominance in Greco-Roman wrestling on Thursday by cruising to the title at the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, to complete a clean sweep of four trophies across all age groups in a calendar year.
The Iranian 10-man squad collected three gold medals, one silver and two bronzes to finish atop the standings with 143 points – 47 clear of second-placed Ukraine – marking the country’s fourth Greco-Roman crown – second in a row – at the competition since its inception in 2017.
On the final day of the Greco-Roman event, Sajjad Abbaspour had to settle for a silver medal in the 60kg division, while Abolfazl Mohmadi finished with a consolation bronze in the 82kg class.
Abbaspour enjoyed an impressive run the final showpiece but was by far the second best against Koto Gomi, who made quick work of the Iranian with technical superiority (9-0) and became only the fifth Japanese to win a world gold in eight under-23 editions.
Gomi got the first point when Abbaspour was put in par terre and soon after, he turned the Iranian for two more points before adding a throw which got him one point and a 4-0 lead.
When the second period began, Abbaspour tried to get Gomi in par terre with some aggressive wrestling. He managed to body lock Gomi, but as he tried to force the Japanese toward the mat, Gomi tossed him using the momentum for four points to clinch the victory. Iran challenged the call only to lose it as Gomi capped off his campaign with a fourth successive superiority win.
Mohmadi, meanwhile, bounced back from a first-round setback (4-3) against Ukraine’s Ruslan Abiidev to defeat China’s Maimaiti Abudoushalamu (9-1) and American Beka Melelashvili (13-4) in emphatic fashion before beating Georgia’s Data Chkhaidze 10-3 for a joint bronze alongside Omar Satayev of Kazakhstan.
Moldova’s Alexandrin Guțu overcame Abiidev on criteria (1-1) to capture his third world U23 gold in a row.
On Wednesday, former Asian senior champion Iman Mohammadi defeated Uzbekistan’s Abror Atabaev 5-1 in the 72kg final to claim his second U23 gold, adding to his 63kg title from 2022.
Mohammadi was awarded the par terre in the first period and he hit a front headlock which was scored two and one more point was awarded for a stepout. But Iran challenged, claiming four points on the throw, which was confirmed on review but the stepout point was removed as it was a push.
After the challenge, Mohammadi led 5-0 and when Atabaev was given par terre in the second period, Mohammadi defended that position with ease and went on to win the gold medal.
Gholamreza Farrokhi – a gold medalist on his debut at the Senior Worlds in September – and defending world under-23 champion Fardin Hedayati claimed the ultimate prize in emphatic fashion at 87kg and 130kg respectively.
Farrokhi, an 82kg gold medalist at the Senior Worlds in Zagreb, moved up to 87kg in Novi Sad but had no troubles in switching weights, scoring 44 points, while conceding only one, across five bouts.
Hedayati, meanwhile, celebrated his 21st birthday in style by routing American Razmik Kurdyan 8-0 with 23 seconds left before the break in the final.
The Iranian, 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.
Ahmadreza Mohsennejad was the other Iranian bronze winner in the competition, thanks to a 7-1 victory over Hleb Makaranka of Belarus in the 67kg category.