Iran's Freestyle Wrestling Team Disappointed at Budapest World Championships

At the end of the second day of the World Freestyle Wrestling Championships, the Iranian national team has only achieved two bronze medals. Iran did not reach the finals in eight weight categories. The situation in the remaining two weight categories suggests that this team may finish the competition without any gold or silver medals. Meanwhile, the USA has won medals in all four of the first weight categories and has a chance of winning several more gold medals in the remaining categories. Hassan Yazdani and Parviz Hadi were the only medalists for Iran in the first four weight categories. Yazdani, an Olympic champion and defending world champion, lost to David Taylor from the USA after winning the first period but ended up losing 11-6. In the 61 kg category, Baqer Yakhkashi defeated Rahmanov from Uzbekistan but unexpectedly lost 10-8 to Bune Rodriguez from Cuba despite being ahead 8-6 with three seconds left. He later defeated Ivan Goyda from Romania in the repechage but lost 13-2 to Joe Colon from the USA in the bronze medal match. In the 74 kg category, Mostafa Hosseinkhani won against Di Lomaou from Palau but was eliminated by Jordan Burroughs, the world and Olympic champion from the USA. Yazdani managed to defeat Rajabov from Belarus 10-0 and Toure Blanco from Cuba with the same score in the repechage. He secured a bronze medal by defeating Daren Koragliev from Russia. In the 65 kg category, Amir Hossein Maqsoudi lost to Vladimir Khinchigashvili from Georgia and was eliminated. Ezzatollah Akbari will compete for a bronze medal after losing to Jabrayil Hasanov from Azerbaijan. In the 92 kg category, Alireza Karimi, who defeated Batyrbek from Russia 12-1, lost to J'den Cox from the USA for the third time in the semifinals and will also compete for a bronze medal. In the heavyweight category, Parviz Hadi defeated opponents from Poland and Belarus and overcame Taha Akgul, the world and Olympic champion from Turkey in the quarterfinals. Hadi, who has five Asian gold medals, was defeated by Geno Petriashvili, the world champion from Georgia, in the semifinals but secured a bronze medal by defeating Anzor Khezriev from Russia. Individual rankings for the first four weight classes: 61 kg: 1- Bune Rodriguez (Cuba) 2- Qazi Murad Rashidov (Russia) 3- Joe Colon (USA) and Toshin Tulga (Mongolia) 74 kg: 1- Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) 2- Aftandil Kanchadze (Georgia) 3- Behzad Abdulrahmanov (Uzbekistan) and Jordan Burroughs (USA) 86 kg: 1- David Taylor (USA) 2- Fatih Urdin (Turkey) 3- Timoraz Freif (Spain) and Hassan Yazdani (Iran) 125 kg: 1- Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) 2- Zhiyu Deng (China) 3- Parviz Hadi (Iran) and Nicholas Giazdojski (USA). After the freestyle wrestling competitions, women's competitions and men's Greco-Roman wrestling will take place. As always, Iran is absent from women's competitions.