Iran’s Greco-Roman lineup, key rivals at 2026 World Championships revealed
Tehran - BORNA - The 2026 World Wrestling Championships will be hosted in Astana, Kazakhstan, with the Greco-Roman events scheduled to kick off on Saturday, October 24.
Ahead of the tournament, UWW announced the roster of participating Greco-Roman wrestlers. Two major absentees are Bulgaria’s Semen Novikov, who defeated Iran's Alireza Mohmadi in the Paris Olympic final, and Armenian veteran Artur Aleksanyan. Aleksanyan is missing the event due to injury but has stated he has no current plans to retire from the sport.
Prominent Greco-Roman wrestlers at the 2026 World Championships in Kazakhstan:
55kg
Payam Ahmadi (Iran): 2025 World silver medalist
Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan): 3-time World gold medalist
Vakhtang Lolua (Georgia): 2025 World champion
Emin Sefershaev (Russia): 2026 European champion
Huoying Shi (China): 2025 World bronze medalist
60kg
Ali Ahmadi Vafa (Iran): U23 World champion and Asian bronze medalist
Abdolmohammad Papi (Germany)
Koto Gomi (Japan): U23 World champion
Alisher Ganiev (Uzbekistan): 2025 World silver medalist
63kg
Mohammad Keshtkar (Iran): 2025 World bronze medalist
Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan): 2024 World champion
67kg
Saeid Esmaeili (Iran): World and Olympic champion
Slavik Galstyan (Armenia): 2025 World bronze medalist
Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan): European champion and 2025 World silver medalist
Luis Orta (Cuba): World gold and Olympic bronze medalist
Aitjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan): 63kg World champion moving up a weight class
72kg
Danial Sohrabi (Iran): 2025 World bronze medalist
Ulvu Ganizade (Azerbaijan): 2025 World champion
Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine): Olympic silver medalist
77kg
Ali Oskou (Iran)
Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia): 2025 World champion
Ibrahim Ghanem (France): 72kg World silver medalist
Róbert Fritsch (Hungary): 2025 World bronze medalist
Ali Arsalan (Serbia): Two-time World bronze medalist
82kg
Gholamreza Farrokhi (Iran): 2025 World champion
Gurban Gurbanov (Azerbaijan): 2025 European champion
Karlo Kodrić (Croatia): 2026 World bronze medalist
Gela Bolkvadze (Georgia): 2026 World silver medalist
Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan): Two-time World gold and Olympic silver and bronze medalist
Shahin Bodaghi (Qatar)
87kg
Alireza Mohmadi (Iran): World and Olympic silver medalist
Aleksandr Komarov (Serbia): 2025 World champion
Milad Alirzaev (Russia): 2025 World bronze medalist
97kg
Mohammad Hadi Saravi (Iran): World and Olympic champion
Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus): 2025 World bronze medalist
Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba): 2023 World champion and Paris Olympic bronze medalist
Artur Sargsian (Russia): 2025 World silver medalist
130kg
Fardin Hedayati (Iran): U23 World champion
Sergey Semenov (Russia): 2018 World champion and Olympic bronze medalist
Rıza Kayaalp (Turkey): 12-time World and Olympic medalist at age 37
The Iranian national Greco-Roman wrestling team decisively won the world championship title in the previous edition in Zagreb, securing four gold, two silver, and two bronze medals to finish with 180 team points. Saeid Esmaeili, Amin Mirzazadeh, Gholamreza Farrokhi, and Mohammad Hadi Saravi claimed Iran's four gold medals last year.
The 2026 World Championships were initially scheduled to be held in Bahrain but were relocated to Kazakhstan due to the prevailing regional conditions.
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