In freestyle wrestling, heavyweight champion Amirhossein Zare delivered the team’s fourth and final gold medal. Zare, a three-time world champion and Olympic silver and bronze medalist, dominated Bahrain’s Shamil Sharifov, a Russian-born world bronze medalist, with a commanding 10-0 victory in the 125kg final.
Zare’s path to gold was marked by decisive wins: he opened with an 11–0 technical superiority against Kyrgyzstan’s Arslanbek Turdubekov, then defeated Turkey’s Hakan Buyukcengil 7–0 in the semifinals before shutting out Sharifov in the final.
Iran’s freestyle squad concluded the Games with four gold medals: Rahman Amouzad (65kg), Younes Emami (74kg), Amirali Azarpira (97kg), and Amirhossein Zare (125kg). Ali Momeni (57kg) and Kamran Ghasempour (86kg) added bronze medals to the tally.
With Zare’s emphatic finish, Iran secured third place overall in Riyadh, reaffirming its depth and strength in freestyle wrestling on the international stage.
Hossein Amiri - Mojtaba Darabi
