Iran men’s national wrestling team claimed the Freestyle Wrestling World Cup for the fifth time in a row on Monday, (June 13), in the US.
The Iranians defeated world power Russia 5-3 in the final match held in California, to win the title, Varzesh3.com reported.
Ranked No. 2 in the world, Hassan Rahimi (in 57kg weight class), a four-time world medalist and 2013 world champion, and the world No. 6 Komeil Ghasemi (125kg), 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, were among the top wrestlers for Iran.
Other winners included Masoud Esmaeilpur (61kg), two-time world medalist, as well as Mostafa Hosseinkhani (70kg) and Hassan Yazdani (74kg).
The victory over Russia came hours after Iran edged the host on criteria. Iran and the US split four matches apiece, but Iran held the edge on classification points, 17-15, giving them the tiebreaker.
Top eight nation’s from last year’s World Championships were divided into two pools, with Pool A comprising Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Mongolia and Pool B including Iran, the US, Azerbaijan and India.
Iran started the two-day competitions with a 5-3 victory over Azerbaijan and then crushed India 8-0 in Pool B. Defeating the host in their last group match, Iran went to face Russia and successfully defended their world title.
Although not playing at home, The Forum arena in Inglewood, California, felt like home for Iranian wrestlers as they competed in front of a large crowd with Persian chants echoing, flags waving, drums beating and horns blowing.
Iran, which has been a dominant force at the Freestyle World Cup in recent years, has many world and Olympic medalists who proved superior against the rivals.
For the bronze medal, Georgia beat the US 5-3 to clinch third place.
The former Soviet Union is the most decorated team in the Wrestling World Cup with 15 titles, followed by the US and Iran with 13 and 7 triumphs respectively.
