Numerous World and Olympic medalists were in competition during Week 8 action in the Iranian Professional Wrestling League this past weekend.

In a battle for first place in Pool A, Joybar loleh (Mazandaran) defeated Naft (Tehran), 15-15. Joybar wins the dual meet because the team scored more technical points than Naft, 19-13. Joybar and Naft are now tied with 14 team points for the season, but Joybar moves past Naft into first place because it has scored more points during the season, 165 - 157. Naft won the four lightest weight classes, but Joybar won the four highest weight classes in the dual meet.

A key win for Joybar loleh came at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. , where Olympic and World champion David Musulbes  of Russia, who wrestles for Joybar loleh, defeated Olympic silver medalist Alireza Rezaei of Naft, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0. Musulbes was a 2000 Olympic champion, and won World titles in 2001 and 2002

Another Olympic and World champion for Russia, Khadjiumad Gatsalov, also on the Joybar team, won his match at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. over Asian champion Hamid Seifi of the Naft team, 1-0, 1-0. Gatsalov won the 2004 Olympics and the 2005 World Championships gold medals.

2003 and 2005 World champion Dilshod Mansurov of Uzbekistan, who competes for Naft, won his bout for the week, beating Babak Norzad of Joybar loleh, 1-0, 1-0. Norzad was second in the 2001 World championships

There were three past World champions in action when of Tamin Ejtemayi (Tehran)defeated Javanan (Mazandaran), 17-13.

World champions that won matches for Tamin were Mohamad Talaei at 60 kg/132 lbs. and Georgi Gogshelidze at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Talaei, a 1997 World champion for Iran, defeated Mousa Latifi of Javanan, 5-1, 2-0. Gogshelidze, who won World titles for Russia in 1999 and 2001, beat Ahmad Rasouli of Javanan, 4-1, 4-0.

The other World champion in the dual meet, 2003 World champion Irbek Farniev of Russia, who wrestles for Javanan, beat Hadi Astaneh  of Tamin, 1-0, 2-2.

A pair of World champions from Georgia, who wrestle for Payam Ertebatat, won their matches and led Payam to a 17-15 win over Kargaran.

2005 World Champion Revas Mindorashvili of Georgia, who competes for Payam, defeated Jamal Mirza of Kargaran, 1-0, 2-1 at 84 kg/185 lbs. Two-time World champion Eldar Kurtanidze of Georgia, who competes for Payam, won a three-period match over Salar Ghasemi of Kargaran, 0-1, 3-0, 5-0 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.

Also in that dual meet, 2003 World bronze medalist Taras Danko of Ukraine, who wrestles for Tamin, won a 1-0, 3-3 match over Ali Ghafari of Javanan, at 84 kg/185 lbs.

There were other international wrestling stars in action during the week. In the dual meet which Pas (Tehran) beat Mehregan(Mazandaran), 17-11, four foreign athletes competed, with two winning their bouts and two losing their bout.

Three-time World bronze medalist Oleksandr Zakharuk of Ukraine, who wrestles for Mehregan, beat Babak Khorshidi of Pas, 2-0, 6-0 at 55 kg/121 lbs. 2002 World silver medalist Magomed Isagazhiev of Russia, who wrestles for Pas, beat Mehdi Sadeghnejad of Mehregan, 4-0, 1-0.

Two international stars lost their bouts in the dual meet. At 84 kg/185 lbs., Saeed Ebrahimi of Pas defeated 1999 Junior World champion Vadym Laliev of Russia, who wrestles for Mehregan, 3-0, 0-1, 1-0. At 120 kg/264.5 lbs., Ashkan Azalifard of Mehregan) beat two-time World bronze medalist Vadym Tasoyev of Ukraine, who competes for Pas, 2-1, 2-1.

In the other dual meet for the week, Army Team (Tehran) defeated Isfahan, 23-10, winning six of the eight bouts.

Rah Ahan (Khorasan), which is third in Pool A, did not compete this week.

In Pool A, Joybar Ioleh is in first place with 14 points, with Naft in second, also with 14 points but fewer team points scored. Tamin Ejtemayi  is in third with 12 points, Javanan in fourth with four points, Army in fifth with four points and Isfahan in sixth with no points.

In Pool B, Pas is in first place with 12 poitns, Payam Ertebatat is in second with 10 points, Rah Ahan is in third place with six points, Mehregan noor is in fourth with four points and Kargaran is in fifth with no points.