U.S. falls to Iran on criteria, will wrestle Georgia for bronze at Freestyle World Cup

James Green (USA) doubles Moustafa Hosseinkhani (IRI) at the Freestyle World Cup on Sunday. Photo: John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com.

VIDEO: Freestyle World Cup Interviews


INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The rematch of last year’s Freestyle World Cup finals lived up to the billing as the United States and Iran entertained a raucous crowd at The Forum on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for the American contingent its victory bid fell just short and Iran will wrestle for the nation’s fourth-straight World Cup gold.


The U.S. and Iran split four matches apiece, but Iran held the edge on classification points, 17-15, giving them the tiebreaker.


Iran jumped out in front early with sound victories at 57 kg and 61 kg. Dan Dennis led 2015 World silver medalist and World No. 2 Hassan Rahimi 2-1 at the break, but Rahimi rode three second period takedowns to a 7-2 decision. Tony Ramos found similar struggles against 2014 World silver medalist Masoud Esmaeilpourjouybari, falling 8-2.


2016 U.S. Olympian Frank Molinaro flipped the script at 65 kg when he mounted an electrifying comeback win over 2015 World bronze medalist Sayed Mohammadi. Trailing 3-0 midway through the second period, Molinaro struck with two takedowns to hand the seventh ranked wrestler in the World a 4-3 defeat.


“At that point I’m a little bit nervous. I start feeling those thoughts that I’m too far behind. What am I going to do here? But that’s where it really comes down to what are you fighting for and for me it’s simple. I’m fighting for God. I’m fighting for USA and for my family. It’s a lot easier when you’re not just fighting for yourself out there,” said Molinaro.


2015 World bronze medalist James Green evened the dual at 2-2 with a solid 5-2 victory over 2016 Asian champion Moustafa Hosseinkhani. Green currently sits at No. 5 in the World at 70 kg.


“Just keep going forward,” Green said following the win. “I know he’s just trying to keep position, so as long as I kept pressuring him, doing work. I got him on the shot clock. That made him open up more and I was able to score.”


Iran’s World Silver medalist Hassan Yazdanicharati proved too much for three-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer at 74 kg. Currently ranked No. 9 in the World, Yazdanicharati grinded out a 10-0 second period technical fall over the promising young American.


Wunderkind J’den Cox continued his meteoric rise at 86 kg with an impressive 6-2 victory over 2015 World bronze medalist and World No. 5 Alireza Karimimachiani. Cox surrendered the first takedown but rebounded with three scores of his own including a buzzer beating counter to clinch the win. The victory gave Cox his second win over a top-five World ranked opponent at the World Cup.


“It took belief in what I could do. It took not getting shaken up by getting taken down early. I just thought about it in compartments. I got taken down and the next thing was to not give up four. Next thing after that was get to your shot. Keep going forward and you’ll get there and we did,” said Cox.


In a rematch of the 2015 World Championship semifinals, World champion Kyle Snyder proved his worth once again by besting Abbas Tahan, 8-1.


“He wanted to win, you know. I got good pressure, good head and hands defense. I need to work on coming up after my shots a little bit because he was getting an angle on me, but I felt good that match. I was ready to wrestle,” said Snyder.


The Snyder win set up a winner-take-all bout at 125 kg between 2012 Olympic champion Jake Varner and World No. 4 Parviz Hadi. Bumping up from 97 kg, Varner battled from start to finish but ultimately couldn’t get past the overwhelming size difference and fell to the Asian champion, 3-1.


Molinaro, Green, Cox and Snyder all pushed their World Cup records to 3-0 as the U.S. enters the third place match this evening against Georgia at 4:45 p.m. (PT). Iran and Russia will wrestle for World Cup gold at 6 p.m. (PT) tonight.


The remaining action from the Men’s Freestyle World Cup can be viewed live on Flowrestling.com. NBCSN will air the USA-Iran dual on tape delay at 9:30 p.m. (ET) tonight followed by the USA-Georgia bronze medal dual at midnight (ET).

2016 MEN’S FREESTYLE WORLD CUP

At The Forum, Inglewood, Calif., June 11-12

Placement Matches

1st: Iran vs. Russia

3rd: United States vs. Georgia

5th: Mongolia vs. Azerbaijan

7th: Turkey vs. India

U.S. Results

United States 4 (15) – Iran 4 (17)

57 kg: Hassan Rahimi (Iran) dec. Daniel Dennis (United States), 7-2

61 kg: Masoud Esmaeilpourjouybari (Iran) dec. Tony Ramos (United States), 8-2

65 kg: Frank Molinaro (United States) dec. Sayed Mohammadi (Iran), 4-3

70 kg: James Green (United States) dec. Moustafa Hosseinkhani (Iran), 5-2

74 kg: Hassan Yazdanicharati (Iran) tech. fall Alex Dieringer (United States), 10-0

86 kg: J’den Cox (United States) dec. Alireza Karimimachiani (Iran), 6-2

97 kg: Kyle Snyder (United States) dec. Abbas Tahan (Iran), 8-1

125 kg: Parviz Hadi (Iran) dec. Jake Varner (United States), 3-1

Group A Results

Georgia 4 (18) – Mongolia 4 (14)

57 kg: Vladimir Khinchegashvili (Georgia) dec. Bekhbayar Erdenebat (Mongolia), 4-1

61 kg: Tuvshintulga Tumenbileg (Mongolia) dec. Beka Lomtadze (Georgia), 4-4

65 kg: Mandakhnaran Ganzorig (Mongolia) dec. Zurab Iakobishvili (Georgia), 3-2

70 kg: David Tlashadze (Georgia) dec. Altangerel Dorjtsegmed (Mongolia), 6-2

74 kg: Unurbat Purevjav (Mongolia) dec. Yakob Makarashvili (Georgia), 5-4

86 kg: Uitumen Orgodol (Mongolia) dec. Sandro Aminashvili (Georgia), 12-12

97 kg: Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) tech. fall Khunderbulga Dorjkhand (Mongolia), 11-0

125 kg: Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) tech fall Chuluunbat Jargalsaikhan (Mongolia), 11-0

Russia 6 – Turkey 2
57 kg: Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) dec. Suleyman Atli (Turkey), 7-4
61 kg: Imam Adzhiev (Russia) tech. fall Soyler Mehmet (Turkey), 10-0
65 kg: Ilyas Bekbulatov (Russia) dec. Dogan Burak (Turkey), 9-2
70 kg: Radik Valiev (Russia) tech. fall Selahattin Kilicsallayan (Turkey), 13-1
74 kg: Khetik Tsabolov (Russia) forfeit (Turkey)
86 kg: Selim Yasar (Turkey) dec. Aleksandr Zelenkov (Russia), 4-1
97 kg: Mutlu Muren (Turkey) dec. Aldan Ibragimov (Russia), 6-5
125 kg: Pavel Krivtsov (Russia) forfeit (Turkey)
Group B Results

Azerbaijan 7 – India 1
57 kg: Makhmud Magomedov (Azerbaijan) forfeit (India)
61 kg: Bajrang (India) dec. Jahid Hasan-zada (Azerbaijan), 9-3
65 kg: Magomed Muslimov (Azerbaijan) dec. Rajneesh (India), 4-0
70 kg: Gadzhimurad Omarov (Azerbaijan) tech. fall Vinod Kumar, 12-1
74 kg: Ashraf Aliyev (Azerbaijan) tech. fall Parveen Rana (India), 10-0
86 kg: Magomedgadzhi Khatiyev (Azerbaijan) dec. Pawan Kumar (India), 6-1
97 kg: Aslanbek Alborov (Azerbaijan) forfeit (India)
125 kg: Said Gamidov (Azerbaijan) forfeit (India)