Iranian freestyle wrestler Kamran Ghasempour on Saturday won gold at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Serbia after defeating his American rival in men’s 92 kg final.
Ghasempour fought for a 2-0 victory over American wrestler Jden COX in Belgrade on Saturday – the eighth day of the World Championships.
Ghasempour provided some cheer for an underachieving Iranian team in Belgrade, the UWW reported.
According to the UWW website, in the final minute, Ghasempour, his head now taped, found himself on his stomach clinging to Cox's leg after a deep single attempt. Cox kneeled over the Iranian and reached back for one of his legs, pulling up for a counter lift. But the referee stopped the action as dangerous, and Cox showed his frustration by throwing down the leg and storming back to the middle of the mat.
"I hope this has lifted the spirits of the Iranian people who have been waiting for a gold medal for a few days since the championships began," said Ghasempour, a two-time Asian and world U23 champion who won his first senior world title in 2021.
Cox said, "I just wanted to put a lot of attacks together, and I was pushing it to try to get something. It's probably the most I have done without getting any points, which is testimony to him and his wrestling ability, his IQ."
"Six-minute battle and we both enjoyed it, pushed to get what we wanted, which was the gold medal, and today he came out on top," Cox said.
The Iranian wrestler qualified for the final after beating rivals from France, Bulgaria and Georgia.
Ghasempour qualified for the quarterfinal after beating Adlan Viskhanov from France 10-0.
In the quarterfinal, the Iranian athlete beat his Bulgarian competitor Akhmed Bataev 7-2 and qualified for the semi-final where he defeated his competitor from Georgia 5-0.
Also on Saturday, Iranian freestyle wrestler Yunes Imami defeated his Indian rival at the 74 kg category and won bronze.
Iran’s wrestling team has grasped one gold, two silver and two bronze medals so far.
In the last day of the competitions, Rahman Amouzad Khalili and Reza Atri are two Iranian finalists who would compete rivals from the US and Japan. Mohammad-Hossein Mohammadian would also contest for bronze medal on Sunday.
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