Hasan Yazdani Wins Gold and Five Medals for Iran in Budapest Rankings

On June 6th and 7th, the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial were held in Budapest as the second and final ranking tournament of the United World Wrestling in 2024. The Iranian team participated with 8 wrestlers.

Initially, Amirhossein Firoozpour in the 92 kg category and Amirreza Masoumi in the 130 kg category were also on the dispatch list, but visas were not issued for these two, causing them to miss the trip to Hungary. For Masoumi, the reason given for the visa denial was the delayed action and late addition of his name to the dispatch list.

In the absence of these two wrestlers, who were likely to win the championship if dispatched, Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia and Mason Parris of the USA became the champions in the 92 kg and 125 kg weight categories, respectively. Prior to this competition, Maisuradze was narrowly ranked second behind Feyzullah Akturk of Turkey in the 92 kg weight category. With this championship, he will return to the top rank, ensuring a favorable seeding in the non-Olympic weight categories at the World Championships in Albania.

Reza Bek Aytemukhan, who secured the gold in the 92 kg category at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade in the absence of Kamran Ghasempour, immediately moved to the Olympic weight category of 97 kg after his championship in Serbia. He competed in the same weight category in Budapest and secured third place.

American Mason Parris, who was defeated by Amirreza Masoumi in the previous ranking tournament in Zagreb, won the championship here by defeating the Kazakh opponent who had defeated Geno Petriashvili of Georgia.

Rei Higuchi of Japan in the 57 kg category, Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia in the 61 kg category, Kotaro Kyokai of Japan in the 65 kg category, Armen Andreasyan of Armenia in the 70 kg category, Razambek Zhamalov of Uzbekistan in the 74 kg category, Otari Bagauri of Georgia in the 79 kg category, Hassan Yazdani of Iran in the 86 kg category, Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia in the 92 kg category, Alisher Yergali of Kazakhstan in the 97 kg category, and Mason Parris of the USA in the 125 kg category won the titles in the United World Wrestling ranking tournament.

In addition to Yazdani, the Iranian team had two other finalists in this competition, both of whom were defeated by their opponents. Mohsen Kaveh's students concluded the tournament with one gold by Hassan Yazdani, two silvers by Abbas Ebrahimzadeh and Adel Panahian, and two bronzes by Shahdad Khosravi and Ali Rezaei.

The names of the top performers in the ten weight categories are as follows:

57 kg Category:

1. Rei Higuchi (Japan)

2. Aman (India)

3. Almaz Smanbekov (Kyrgyzstan) and Aryan Tsitotrin (Belarus) ... 8. Reza Momeni (Iran)

61 kg Category:

1. Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia)

2. Tayirbek Zhumashbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)

3. Shahdad Khosravi (Iran) and Nahshon Garrett (USA)

65 kg Category:

1. Kotaro Kyokai (Japan)

2. Abbas Ebrahimzadeh (Iran)

3. Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan)

70 kg Category:

1. Armen Andreasyan (Armenia)

2. Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia)

3. Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia) and Alibek Osmonov (Kyrgyzstan) ... 8. Mohammadali Amoozad (Iran)

74 kg Category:

1. Razambek Zhamalov (Uzbekistan)

2. Murad Kuramagomedov (Hungary)

3. Ali Rezaei (Iran) and Uzoorbek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan)

79 kg Category:

1. Otari Bagauri (Georgia)

2. Adel Panahian (Iran)

3. Asgharbek Gulayev (Slovakia)

86 kg Category:

1. Hassan Yazdani (Iran)

2. Trent Hidlay (USA)

3. Usman Shilidze (Georgia) and Hayato Ishiguro (Japan)

92 kg Category:

1. Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia)

2. Yuza Tsirtsvadze (Georgia)

3. Balazs Uhac (Hungary)

97 kg Category:

1. Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan)

2. Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan)

3. Ibrahim Ciftci (Turkey) and Reza Bek Aytemukhan (Kazakhstan)

125 kg Category:

1. Mason Parris (USA)

2. Yusup Batirmurzaev (Kazakhstan)

3. Givi Macharashvili (Georgia) and Geno Petriashvili (Georgia)