U23 Wrestling World Championships:
Khateri, Yousefi grab golds as Iran sweeps historic double
The U23 World Championships in Las Vegas proved one for the ages for Iranian wrestling after the country secured a first-ever double of freestyle and Greco-Roman team titles at the competition.
With Iran and Russia locked in a tight freestyle team title race ahead of the final day, Ahoura Khateri and Mahdi Yousefi claimed gold medals in their respective weight classes on Sunday to help the Iranian squad finish atop the standings with 180 points – nine clear of runner-up Russia, which was eligible to score team points for the first time since 2021.
The United States, competing on home soil as the defending champion, endured an underwhelming campaign to finish third with 104 points.
Ebrahim Elahi settled for silver in the 70kg class, while Mohammad-Mobin Azimi won a consolation bronze in the 97kg category on the final day as Iran collected nine medals, including four golds, across the 10 freestyle weight classes.
Remarkable fightback
If his comeback victory over Russia’s Eldar Akhmadudinov in the semifinals was not epic enough, teenage prodigy Khateri pulled off another remarkable turnaround in the final against Japan’s Kaiji Ogino to win the 65kg gold.
A silver medalist in 2024, Ogino held a 6-1 lead over Khateri with 40 seconds remaining before the Iranian used an arm drag to go behind the Japanese wrestler, then scored a takedown and a turn. The additional two points were awarded only after a challenge by Iran.
With 10 seconds remaining and trailing 6-5, Khateri snapped Ogino down and attempted to go behind. Ogino managed to break free of the grip, but Khateri pulled him down to the mat and eventually scored a decisive takedown to win 7-6.
Khateri burst into celebration as he captured his first world title since winning the 45kg gold in the under-17 category in 2023. Sunday’s triumph also provided relief after he settled for bronze at the U20 World Championships in August.
“I entered the tournament with a positive mindset,” Khateri said. “I’ve changed weight classes, moving up from 60kg to 65kg. Even though I found myself trailing in every match, I managed to turn things around during the second period.”
Khateri began his campaign with a thrilling 15-14 win over Kazakhstan’s Shattyk Alaidar before cruising to an 8-1 victory against Uzbekistan’s Sanjarbek Rustambekov in the quarterfinals.
The semifinal clash against Akhmadudinov provided further evidence of Khateri’s never-say-die attitude in Las Vegas, as he recovered from an 8-4 deficit with a minute remaining to win 9-8.
“Since I had just returned from the U20 World Championships, I was able to wrestle well,” he said. “Solely because my spirits were high. Physically, though, I was only at a six or seven, but mentally I was at 10. I had the self-assurance that I would win. Through all the circumstances, whether difficult or favorable, and throughout every moment I was wrestling, I could truly see God. You might think I’m lying, but God really did help me. I’ll fight until the end and I’ll win.”
In the final, Khateri opened the scoring with a stepout before Ogino took the criteria lead with a stepout of his own. The Japanese wrestler then frustrated Khateri with some impressive defense near the edge of the mat and countered his attacks to score takedowns.
Khateri, however, said he was not worried by Ogino’s lead and considered Russian opponent Akhmadudinov a tougher challenge.
“The Russian wrestler was tougher for me,” Khateri said. “With the Japanese wrestler, it was easier to handle him from a distance. As for the Russian wrestler, he got tired, and I was able to take advantage of his fatigue.”
Later in the day, Magomed Eltermirov gave Russia hope in the title race by defeating Elahi 5-3 in the 70kg final. Yousefi, however, had other ideas, producing a composed performance to beat Said Saidulov 3-1 in another final between Iranian and Russian wrestlers and ensure there would be no late slip in Iran’s pursuit of the historic achievement.
Yousefi scored a takedown in the second period of the 79kg final to take a 3-1 lead. Saidulov got hold of Yousefi’s leg in the final 20 seconds, but the Iranian defended the position until the end to improve on the bronze medal he won in Novi Sad, Serbia, last year.
Meanwhile, Azimi, the 92kg champion at last year’s edition and the Senior Asian Championships in April, ended his 97kg campaign on a positive note. After suffering a 14-9 semifinal defeat to Russia’s Mukhamed Takhir Khaniev, whom he had beaten in the 92kg final in 2025, Azimi overpowered Armenia’s Gurgen Simonyan by technical superiority (10-0) in the bronze-medal bout.
Sunday’s results followed Iran’s two gold medals through Abolfazl Rahmani and Abolfazl Mohammadnejad, as well as three bronze medals, on the preceding day.
Mohammadnejad maintained Iran’s traditional dominance in the superheavyweight category by defending his 125kg title in style, defeating Georgia’s Aleksandre Abramishvili 10-0. He combined stepouts and takedowns to complete the victory and claim his third world age-group title without conceding a single point throughout his dominant campaign in Las Vegas, which included three wins by technical superiority.
The 19-year-old Iranian has remained unbeaten since losing the final at last year’s U20 World Championships to Kazakhstan’s Yedige Kassimbek.
Rahmani, who suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final seconds of the U20 World Championships final in August, finally secured his first age-group title on his seventh attempt, defeating Russia’s Arslan Bagaev 5-2 in the 92kg final.
Ebrahim Khari (61kg), Ali Karampour (74kg) and Reza Afshar (86kg) added three bronzes to Iran’s medal haul on Saturday, while Ali Yahyapour was the only Iranian to finish his freestyle campaign without a medal, exiting in the round of 16.
Iran’s impressive freestyle campaign followed the success of head coach Hassan Rangraz’s 10-man Greco-Roman squad earlier in Las Vegas. Erfan Jarkani (63kg), Abolfazl Mohmedi (82kg) and Yasin Yazdi (87kg) won three golds, while Mohammad Kamali (67kg) and Mohammad-Hadi Seydi (97kg) added two bronze medals to lead the country to a third successive Greco-Roman team title at the competition.