Iran announces nominative roster for World Championships of Wrestling, set for New York City, Sept.
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
08/21/2001
The Amateur Wrestling Federation from the Islamic Republic of Iran has notified USA Wrestling of its nominative roster for the 2001 World Championships of Wrestling, which will be held in Madison Square Garden in New York City, Sept. 26-29. Amir Reza Khadem, the President of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, sent confirmation of the athletes who may compete for Iran in New York. Iran will enter full teams of eight athletes in both men's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman wrestling. Iran is one of the world's top international powers in freestyle wrestling, and has improved tremendously in Greco-Roman in recent years. The roster for Iran includes more than one possible athlete in many weight classes. The final selection of the entry for each weight class will be made at a later date. The freestyle roster includes six athletes who participated in the 2000 Olympic Games for Iran, including Olympic gold medalist Ali Reza Dabir at 63 kg. Dabir won a World and Olympic gold medal at 58 kg, and has moved up in weight this year. The other 2000 Olympians on the nominative roster are Bahman Tayebi Kermani (58 kg), Mohammed Talaiee (63 kg), Amir Tavakolian Haghighi (68 kg), Ali Reza Heydari (97 kg) and Abbas Jadidi (130 kg). Talaiee, Heydari and Jadidi are former World Champions. Jadidi won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. Talaiee and Jadidi were fourth in the 2000 Olympic Games. The Greco-Roman nominative team roster includes all three athletes who represented the nation at the 2000 Olympic Games: Hassan Rangraz (54 kg), Ali Ashkani Aghbolagh (58 kg) and Parviz Zaidvand (69 kg). Ashkani placed fifth in the 2000 Olympics. Iran comes off a strong performance at the 2001 Asian Greco-Roman Championships, where it won four gold medals and three silver medals. A list of all the nominative rosters received by USA Wrestling are posted on TheMat.com, in its World Championships section. The World Championships of Wrestling will take place at Madison Square Garden, September 26-29, 2001. Tickets for the World Championships are on sale now, with single session ticket prices starting as low as $10. All-session passes are priced as low as $99 for the eight total sessions, with family packages starting as low at $308. Individual session tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster by calling 1-212-307-7171. All-session passes, group ticket packages, VIP Gold Passes and family passes can be purchased by calling 1-866-NYC-2001. IRAN ROSTER FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Freestyle 54 kg/119 lbs - Gholam Reza Mohammadi or Babak Nourzad 58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Bahman Tayebi Kermani or Masoud Mostafa Joukar 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Ali Reza Dabir or Mohammed Talaiee 69 kg/152 lbs. - Amir Tavakolian Haghighi or Jalal Latifi 76 kg/167.5 lbs. - M. Hajizadeh Jouibari or Hadi Habibi 85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Majid Khodaei or R. Alianinejad 97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Ali Reza Heydari or M. Hossein Khaleghifar 130 kg/286 lbs. -Abbas Jadidi, Ali Reza Rezaei or B. Taeigi Valajouzi FS Team Leader/Chef D'Equipe - Mohammad Khadem Azghadi FS Coaches/entrainers - Mohssen Kaveh, Akbar Fallah, Y. Najafi Jouibar Greco-Roman 54 kg/119 lbs - Hassan Rangraz 58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Ali Ashkani Aghbolagh or Bahman Tayebi Kermani 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Mahdi Nassiri, Sh. Khakssar or M. Ghalavand 69 kg/152 lbs. - Parviz Zaidvand 76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Ali Zabohiei, Majid Ramazani or S.H. Marashian 85 kg/187.25 lbs. - B. Jamshidi or Mahdi Rahimi 97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Rasoul Jazini or Masoud Hashemzadeh 130 kg/286 lbs. - Ali Reza Gharibi GR Team Leader/Chef D'Equipe - S.J. Rofougar GR Coaches/entrainers - A. Pazaj, A. Chamangoli, R. Simkhah, Ayoub Behtaj Referees/arbitres -Mehdi Khaledi, M. Ebrahim Emami, A. Ettaati Shalqoun, Asdollah Rezaee, H. Goudarzi