TEHRAN – Iranian freestyle wrestlers Muhammadreza Shakeri and Abolfazl Babaloo have won two gold medals at the U-20 World Championships.
Shakeri claimed a gold in the final bout of 65kg after defeating Jesse Mendez from the U.S. 5-2. He had already improved on his ninth-place finish from last year by reaching the final.
Babaloo also won a gold in the 97kg, overcoming Ivan Prymachenko from Ukraine 5-0 in the final.
A month ago, Babaloo lost two bouts in Amman to finish fifth at the U-20 Asian Championships. However, he avenged his loss to Kamil Kurugliyevk (KAZ) 6-1 before beating Camden Mc Danel (U.S.) 5-1 in the semifinals.
Iran’s Ali Rezaei also won a silver medal after being defeated by American wrestler Meyer Shapiro 11-6 in the final match of 70kg.
The 2023 U-20 World Championships started in Amman, Jordan on Aug.14 and will run until Aug. 20.
The event was originally scheduled to be held in Warsaw, Poland from August 14-20. Due to Poland’s refusal to issue visas to Russian and Belarusian wrestlers, United World Wrestling moved the tournament from Poland to Jordan.