Iran Greco-Roman Cadets Finish Third at World U17 Championships as Title Defense Falls ShortThe Iran

Iran Greco-Roman Cadets Finish Third at World U17 Championships as Title Defense Falls ShortThe Iranian U17 Greco-Roman wrestling team, the reigning world champions, dropped two spots to finish third overall at the 2026 World U17 Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, securing four medals.The competitions took place from July 27 to 29 in Baku. Iran finished in third place with 96 points, earning two gold and two bronze medals.Amirreza Tahmasebpour in the 60 kg weight class and Alireza Rezaei in the 80 kg category claimed gold medals, while Amirreza Mehri (92 kg) and Ali Akbar Ako (110 kg) earned bronze medals for the Iranian squad.Russia won the team title with 127 points, followed by host country Azerbaijan in second place with 107 points, Iran in third with 96 points, Uzbekistan in fourth with 85 points, Ukraine and the United States tied for fifth with 79 points, Kazakhstan and Armenia tied for seventh with 77 points, Hungary in ninth with 70 points, and Bulgaria in tenth with 43 points.In the 45 kg class, Armin Esmaeili opened with a 9–1 victory over Kerem Derman of Turkey and defeated Kazakhstan's Pakitzhan 6–4 in the second round to reach the semifinals. However, due to his absence in the semifinal match, he was eliminated from the tournament. Rylan Bazer Vaks of the United States won gold, Ali Javadli of Azerbaijan took silver, and Ognyan Svetoslavov Borgazov of Bulgaria alongside Ersan Aliev of Russia secured bronze.In the 48 kg division, Ali Esmaeili received a first-round bye before defeating Algeria's Bouha 11–1. He was subsequently defeated by fall (6–1) by Azerbaijan's Salmanov and was eliminated following Salmanov's loss in the semifinals to a Russian wrestler. Sultan Yusupov of Russia claimed gold, Ali Almas of Kazakhstan took silver, while Ararat Avetisyan of Armenia and Omar Salmanov of Azerbaijan earned bronze.In the 51 kg category, Bunyod Hasanov of Uzbekistan captured gold, Abdulrahman Huseynli of Azerbaijan won silver, and Artem Tkachenko of Russia and Gevorg Harutyunyan of Armenia took bronze.In the 55 kg bracket, Vahid Ashiri lost by fall (5–3) in his opening match to Giorgi Kedelidze of Georgia and was eliminated when Kedelidze lost in the quarterfinals to a wrestler from Kazakhstan. Diar Amanali of Kazakhstan won gold, Koh Vezul Kovacs of Hungary took silver, and Vlad Ivan Trip of Romania alongside Adem Paziev of Russia claimed bronze.In the 60 kg division, Amirreza Tahmasebpour stormed through the bracket, shutting out Greece's Pavlos Tsentidis 8–0, defeating India's Choudhary 7–1, and earning a 10–0 technical superiority victory over Japan's Hanamori to reach the semifinals. He then defeated Elmir Charkazov of Azerbaijan 5–4 in the semifinals before securing the gold medal with an 8–6 victory over Mahdi Barotov of Tajikistan in the final. Elmir Charkazov of Azerbaijan and Sadriddin Tulkinboyev of Uzbekistan earned bronze medals. In the 65 kg bracket, Armin Gholi-Galeh lost 7–4 in the first round to Mnatsakanyan of Armenia and was eliminated after the Armenian wrestler lost his semifinal bout to a Russian opponent. Shamil Labazanov of Russia took gold, Ihor Nasyf of Ukraine won silver, while Orkhan Habibli of Azerbaijan and Imre Juhasz of Hungary took bronze.In the 71 kg class, Esmaeil Zaherdoust defeated Luka Zelic of Serbia 13–4, Greece's Dimitrios Sarapis 11–1, and Uzbekistan's Kodirjon Fozilov 13–4 to advance to the semifinals. He lost 10–1 to Russia's Aslan Dzoyev and was moved to the bronze medal match, where he was defeated 11–3 by Kazakhstan's Tulyugali to place fifth. Zhans Nazaryan of Armenia won gold, Aslan Dzoyev of Russia took silver, and Ervin Chozur of Hungary alongside Alinor Tulyugali of Kazakhstan took bronze.In the 80 kg weight category, Alireza Rezaei launched a dominant run with consecutive 8–0 victories over Ivanov of the U.S. and Kubatov of Kyrgyzstan. He defeated Russia's Iliyas Gadaborshev 5–0 in the quarterfinals, outpointed Uzbekistan's Abdulaziz Kholmirzaev 5–1 in the semifinals, and edged host wrestler Isfahan Hasanov of Azerbaijan 2–1 in the final