DOHA (May 7) – The Iranian men’s freestyle team won a pair of gold medals Thursday night at the Aspire Dome in Doha to finish atop the team rankings stand with four gold medalists, two runner-ups and 68 team points.

Japan, who earned three silver medals over two days, finished in second with 60 points. Kyrgyzstan placed third with one champion, two silver medalists and 54 points.

The Iranians were led on day two by Peyman YARAHMADI (IRI) who sprinted past Daisuke SHIMADA (JPN), 8-2 in the 74kg finals. The No.9 ranked wrestler in the world, Yarahmadi was at ease in the finals securing back-to-back takedowns in the second period to pull away from Shimada.

Iran’s other gold medal came from Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) who dominated No.11 Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ) for the 97kg gold medal, 10-3. Mohammadian found his attacks early and never relented, scoring a series of takedowns on the edge of the mat. Musaev was also the Asian Championship runner-up in 2014.

The night’s finals started at 61kg with No.11 Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) battling Iran’s No.13 Behnam EHSANPOOR into the final seconds to secure a 3-3 criteria victory. Niyazbekov earned the win after Ehsanpoor gave up a caution in the first period and was unable to score after a flurry of activity in the final seconds.

Asian Games champion and 2014 world bronze medalist Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) upended Zelimkhan YUSUPOV (TJK), 6-4 in a thrilling back-and-forth match. Yusupov who is ranked No. 4 in the world, used twisting defense and creative finishes to frustrate No.9 Abdurakhmanov. However, the Uzbeki wrestler stayed aggressive on the outside single to find his finish with less than thirty seconds remaining on the clock and secured his first Asian Championships.

Medal Results

Men's Freestyle -- 61kg
GOLD: Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) df. Behnam Eshagh EHSANPOOR (IRI) via criteria, 3-3
BRONZE: Batbold NOMIN (MGL) df. Adilet MAMATAEV (KGZ) by FALL
BRONZE: Masakazu KAMOI (JPN) df. Zhenguang TIAN (CHN) by TF, 12-2

Men's Freestyle -- 70kg
GOLD: Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) df. Zelimkhan YUSUPOV (TJK), 6-4
BRONZE: Elaman DOGDURBEK UULU (KGZ) df. Gantulga IDERKHUU (MGL) by TF, 12-2
BRONZE: Takafumi KOJIMA (JPN) df. Parveen RANA (IND) via criteria, 2-2

Men's Freestyle -- 74kg
GOLD: Peyman Morteza YARAHMADI (IRI) df. Daisuke SHIMADA (JPN), 8-2
BRONZE: Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) df. Muslim EVLOEV (KGZ), 3-0
BRONZE: Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND) df. Zhiger ZAKIROV (KAZ) by criteria, 8-8

Men's Freestyle -- 97kg
GOLD: Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) df. Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ), 10-3
BRONZE: Takeshi YAMAGUCHI (JPN) df. Alikhan JUMAYEV (KAZ), 3-1
BRONZE: Jaegang KIM (KOR) v. Mohammed AL OBAIDI (IRQ) by TF, 10-0



Men's Freestyle -- 57kg
GOLD: No.4 Erdenebat BEKHBAYAR (MGL) df. No.11 Samat NADYRBEK UULU (KGZ), 4-1
BRONZE: No.10 Fumitaka MORISHITA (JPN) df. No.1 Hak Jin JONG (PRK), 6-3
BRONZE: No.18 Younes Firouz SARMASTIDIZAJI (IRI) df. Nodirjon SAFAROV (UZB) by FALL

Men's Freestyle -- 65kg
GOLD: No.2 (@61kg) Masoud ESMAEILPOOR (IRI) df. No.20 Tomotsugu ISHIDA (JPN) via criteria, 1-1
BRONZE: No.6 Ganzorig MANDAKHNARAN (MGL) df. Azat MIRAKHIMOV (KGZ), 6-0
BRONZE: Ruslan PLIEV (UZB) df. Ryong Hak HWANG (PRK) by TF,13-2

Men's Freestyle -- 86kg
GOLD:  No.11 Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) df. No.14 Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN) , 6-3
BRONZE: Umidjon ISMANOV (UZB) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 8-6
BRONZE: Purevee USUKHBAATAR (MGL) df. Muhammad INAM (PAK), 10-8

Men's Freestyle -- 125kg
GOLD: No.17 Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) df. No.2 Komeil GHASEMI (IRI) by FALL
BRONZE: Zhiwei DENG (CHN) df. Mohammed Sabah Abdulmalek SAKLAWE (IRQ) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE: Farkhod ANAKULOV (TJK) df. Hitender HITENDER (IND) by criteria, 2-2