National Freestyle Senior Championships:
Goleij wins 97kg gold to emerge as contender for Wrestling Worlds spot
Mojtaba Goleij threw down the gauntlet to Hassan Yazdani and Amirali Azarpira over Iran’s 97kg slot for next September’s World Championships after claiming gold at the National Freestyle Wrestling Championships on Thursday.
Serving as the opening phase of the country’s World Championships trials, the three-day event crowned 10 champions across different weight classes in Tabriz, who introduced themselves as contenders for a place in Iran’s freestyle squad for Manama, Bahrain.
A world bronze medalist in 2021, Goleij rebounded from his defeat to Yazdani in the Iranian Premier League final a fortnight ago, defeating Alireza Rekabi 9-2 in the 97kg showdown.
Two-time world silver medalist Amirmohammad Yazdani also finished on a high note in a new weight category, edging Amirhossein Hosseini 6-5 to claim the 74kg gold.
Ali Yahyapour capped off his 57kg campaign with a 10-5 victory over Mahdi Veisi in a thrilling final, while 2021 world silver medalist Alireza Sarlak bounced back from a semifinal loss to Veisi to settle for a shared bronze medal alongside Amir Parasteh.
Peyman Nemati secured the 65kg title courtesy of a 3-0 win against Morteza Hajmollamohammdi in the final. Former Asian champion Ali Savadkouhi – best remembered for his stunning victory over American great Jordan Burroughs at the 2022 Freestyle World Cup – overcame Sajjad Gholami 7-2 in the 86kg final.
There were a couple of upsets on the final day of the competition, as Sina Khalili and Mohammad-Mobin Azimi had to settle for silver medals in their respective divisions.
A winner of senior Asian bronze and world under-23 silver earlier this year, Khalili suffered a setback in his bid for a national team spot after a narrow 2-1 loss to world U20 bronze medalist Ebrahim Elahi in the 70kg final.
Reigning world U23 champion Azimi, meanwhile, enjoyed an emphatic run at 92kg before suffering a criteria loss (7-7) to Asian 86kg champion Abolfazl Rahmani in the final.
In the 61kg division, Reza Momeni stayed on course for a third successive appearance at the World Championships thanks to a 5-1 win over Mahdi Rahimi in the final.
Young Iranian prodigy Mahdi Yousefi, who has won four international medals – including world U20 and senior Asian golds – over the past 12 months, continued his impressive rise with a 4-2 victory over Adel Panahian in the 79kg final, boosting his chances of securing Iran’s slot in Manama.
Morteza Janmohammadzadeh brought the curtain down on an action-packed three days in the northwestern Iranian city with a 5-2 victory over Mohammad Alitabar in the 125kg final.
The National Greco-Roman Senior Championships were held in Ahvaz last week, marking the start of Iran’s quest to determine its national team lineup in the discipline.
Mohammad Hosseinvand Panahi (55kg), Pouya Nasserpour (60kg), former world champion Meisam Dalkhani (63kg), Mohammad Kamali (67kg), Mohammad-Javad Rezaei (72kg), Ali Oskou (77kg), Mohammad-Amin Hosseini (82kg), Behrouz Hedayat (87kg), four-time Asian gold medalist Nasser Alizadeh (97kg), and Mohammad Alghousi (130kg) claimed gold medals across the 10 weight classes.