Iran crowned U23 Greco-Roman wrestling world champion on US soil

Tehran - BORNA - At the conclusion of the 2026 U23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Iran clinched the world title for the third time in the past four years with gold medals from Erfan Jarkani in the 63 kg, Abolfazl Mohmedi in the 82 kg, and Yasin Yazdi in the 87 kg categories, alongside bronze medals won by Mohammad Kamali in the 67 kg and Mohammadhadi Seidi in the 97 kg weight classes.

Iran stood atop the world podium with 119 points, finishing ahead of runner-up Kazakhstan and third-placed Russia. The Iranian U23 Greco-Roman team had previously won the world championship titles in 2022, 2024, and 2025, having not participated in the 2023 edition.

Armin Shamsipour in the 55 kg, Mohammad Ashiri in the 60 kg, Ahmadreza Mohsennejad in the 72 kg, Ahoura Bouyeri in the 77 kg, and Abolfazl Fathi Tazangi in the 130 kg categories were Iran's other five representatives at the tournament who were eliminated from the competition.

In the final team standings of the 2026 U23 World Wrestling Championships, Iran finished first with 119 points, followed by Kazakhstan in second place with 114 points and Russia in third with 105 points. Georgia placed fourth with 97 points, Azerbaijan fifth with 77 points, Armenia sixth with 74 points, Turkey seventh with 73 points, Ukraine eighth with 56 points, Kyrgyzstan ninth with 56 points, and Japan tenth with 50 points.

In the individual standings for the lightweight categories, Koba Karumidze of Georgia won gold in the 55 kg, followed by India's Vishvajit Ramchandra More with silver, while Kazakhstan's Arsen Zhuma and Russia's Malik Gigiev shared the bronze. In the 60 kg, Aitbek Aitbekov of Kazakhstan claimed first place, Elmir Aliyev of Azerbaijan finished second, and Kubanych Arinov of Kyrgyzstanalong with Seima Tokuhara of Japan took third. In the 63 kg, Iran's Erfan Jarkani won gold, Manato Nakamura of Japan took silver, and Russia's Igor Panchenko alongside Turkey's Servet Angi earned bronze. In the 67 kg, Russia's Erzu Zakriev finished first, Turkey's Azat Sariyar placed second, and Iran's Mohammad Kamali along with Japan's Takaku Suzuki claimed third place.

In the middleweight divisions, Yussuf Ashrapov of Kazakhstan won the 72 kg title, Armenia's Gaspar Terteryan finished second, and Turkey's Ibrahim Ozdemir along with Colombia's Nilson Sinisterra placed third. In the 77 kg, Moustafa Hussein Fathy Alameldin of Egypt took gold, Hungary's Levente Levai won silver, and Azerbaijan's Ruslan Nurullayev along with Georgia's Anri Putkaradze earned bronze. In the 82 kg, Iran's Abolfazl Mohmedi stood atop the podium, followed by Armenia's Martik Petrosyan in second place, while Georgia's Tornike Mikeladze and Kyrgyzstan's Erlan Mars Uulu finished third.

In the upper weight classes, Iran's Yasin Yazdi won the 87 kg gold medal, Kazakhstan's Temirlan Turdakyn took silver, and Norway's Martin Ljosak alongside Turkey's Alperen Berber won bronze. In the 97 kg, Abubakar Khaslakhanau of Belarus claimed first place, Ukraine's Yehor Yakushenko finished second, and Iran's Mohammadhadi Seidi along with Germany's Darius Kiefer took third. Finally, in the 130 kg heavyweight category, China's Wenhao Jiang won gold, Russia's Ali Ilyasov took silver, and Kazakhstan's Jokhar Uzarov along with Estonia's Kevin Uspenski secured the bronze medals.

Regarding the individual performance of the Iranian wrestlers, in the 55 kg category, Armin Shamsipour defeated Maxim Sarmanov of Moldova 13-4 in the opening round and beat China's Zhao 8-0 in the next round. He lost 8-1 to India's More in the quarterfinals, and although he moved into the repechage group after his Indian opponent reached the final, Shamsipour was unable to continue his bouts due to injury and exited the tournament.

In the 60 kg category, Mohammad Ashiri lost 8-6 to Poland's Skrzypczak in the first round and was eliminated from the competition after the Polish wrestler lost to an opponent from Azerbaijan in the next stage.

In the 63 kg category, Erfan Jarkani defeated Georgia's Khozrevanidze 4-2 in the first round, before routing Albania's Troplini 9-0 in the next stage. He then edged Vitalie Eriomenco of Moldova 2-1 to advance to the semifinals, where he overcame Turkey's Angi 5-1 to reach the final. In the gold medal bout, Jarkani defeated Japan's Manato Nakamura 2-1 to claim the title.

In the 67 kg category, Mohammad Kamali defeated Chile's Bustamante 9-0 in the opening round and followed up with another 9-0 victory over Bulgaria's Manov to reach the quarterfinals, where he beat Poland's Arslanbek Salimov 8-0. After losing 13-2 to Russia's Zakriev in the semifinals, Kamali moved to the bronze medal match, where he defeated Armenia's Yurik Hoveyan 6-0 to secure the bronze.

In the 72 kg category, Ahmadreza Mohsennejad lost 3-1 to Uzbekistan's Kochkarov in the first round and was eliminated following his opponent's defeat against an Azerbaijani wrestler in the next stage.

In the 77 kg category, Ahoura Bouyeri defeated Estonia's Jeremejev 9-0 in the first round, but lost 5-1 to Egypt's Alameldin in the second round. With his opponent advancing to the final, Bouyeri returned to the repechage table, where he lost 10-1 to Azerbaijan's Ruslan Nurullayev and exited the competition.

In the 82 kg category, following a first-round bye, Abolfazl Mohmedi defeated Georgia's Mikeladze 4-1 in the second round to reach the quarterfinals. In that stage, Mohmedi routed Croatia's Mihael Lukac 9-0 to advance to the semifinals, where he defeated Russia's Arapkhanov 5-0 to become the Iranian Greco-Roman team's first finalist. He then edged Armenia's Martik Petrosyan 2-1 in the final to win the Iranian delegation's first gold medal.

In the 87 kg category, after a first-round bye, Yasin Yazdi defeated Serbia's Vamos 11-0 in the second round and went on to beat Azerbaijan's Hajiyev 6-2 to reach the semifinals. Yazdi then overcame Norway's Martin Ljosak 3-1 to advance to the final, where he defeated Kazakhstan's Temirlan Turdakyn 4-0 to capture the gold medal.

In the 97 kg category, Mohammadhadi Seidi beat Ecuador's Zambrano 8-0 in the first round, overcame Greece's Chatsatourov 6-1 in the second round, and defeated Poland's Wojciech Iwanowski 5-3 in the quarterfinals. Following a 4-1 semifinal loss to Ukraine's Yehor Yakushenko, Seidi advanced to the third-place bout, where he defeated Kazakhstan's Nurasyl Amanaly 8-0 to win the bronze medal.

In the 130 kg category, following a first-round bye, Abolfazl Fathi Tazangi lost on criteria (1-1) to Hungary's Darabos in the second round and was eliminated from the competition after the Hungarian wrestler lost in the subsequent stage.

End Article