Iran’s Wrestling Prodigy Strikes Gold

WANA (Sep 21) – The Greco-Roman World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb continued with strong performances from the Iranian team,  as Saeid Esmaeili, Iran’s Greco-Roman national wrestler in the 67kg category claimed the world championship gold medal.

The World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships continued in Zagreb with the repechage and final bouts of the last three weight classes.

In the 63kg class, Mohammad-Mehdi Keshtkar, after receiving a bye in the opening round, faced Buxing Huang of China in the second round and advanced with a 2–1 victory. In the quarterfinals, he met Murad Mammadov of Azerbaijan, a world silver and bronze medalist, and dominated with an 8–0 win in just three minutes, moving into the semifinals. There, he lost 5–3 to Chang of South Korea and was pushed into the bronze-medal match. Keshtkar defeated Sergey Emelin 6–4 to secure the bronze medal.

Mohammad mehdi keshtkar. Social media / WANA News Agency

In the 67kg division, Saeid Esmaeili received a bye in the first round and then faced reigning world champion Sebastian Nad of Serbia in the second round, where he claimed an emphatic 9–0 win. In the next bout, he overpowered his Uzbek opponent 8–0 to reach the quarterfinals. Esmaeili then met Jorgensen of Norway, defeating him in just two minutes with two moves for another 8–0 victory and a spot in the semifinals. There, he crushed Daniil Ogiev of Russia 10–0 in only two minutes, advancing to the final.

In the championship bout, Esmaeili went head-to-head with Hasrat Jafarov of Azerbaijan, a world and Olympic medalist. With a hard-fought 2–1 victory, he captured Iran’s fourth gold medal of the tournament.

United World Wrestling poster released on the occasion of Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team winning the World Championships. Social media / WANA News Agency

In the 87kg class, Alireza Mohammadi opened with a 5–1 win over Hans Wagner of Germany. In the second round, he delivered a dazzling performance against Daniel Aleksandrov, winning 11–3 and advancing to the quarterfinals. Mohammadi then overcame Zhanyshov of Kyrgyzstan 4–1 to book a place in the semifinals, where he defeated Lőszönci of Hungary 6–3 and reached the final.

Alireza Mohammadi fell short in the final of the 87kg category at the Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships, losing 4–3 to Aleksandr Komarov of Serbia and claiming the silver medal.

Earlier, Gholamreza Farkhi (82kg), Mohammad-Hadi Saravi (97kg), and Amin Mirzazadeh (130kg) had all won gold medals for Iran. Peyman Ahmadi (55kg) secured silver, while Danial Sohrabi (72kg) earned a bronze medal.

Team Standings – Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships (One Day Before the End of the Competition), Iran secures the title early and tops the standings. Social media / WANA News Agency