| World Cup competition is underway in Tehran, Iran |
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 By USA Wrestling
02/19/2013
TEHRAN, Iran – The 2013 World Cup, a four-day international dual-meet event featuring some of the best wrestlers on the planet, is underway at the Azadi Sports Complex.
The Greco-Roman competition started today and will conclude on Wednesday. The U.S. is not in the field for that event.
The World Cup freestyle tournament is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The U.S. is one of the top teams set to compete in freestyle. The Americans are seeking their first World Cup title since 2003.
Qualified countries in freestyle are Russia, Iran, the United States, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Belarus, Bulgaria and Turkey. These 10 countries, which were the top teams at the 2012 London Olympic Games, will compete in two pools of five nations on Thursday. The pairings for the pools have not yet been announced. On Saturday, the medal matches will be held, to determine the top 10 teams in the world.
The United States is bringing a large group of athletes to Iran, and will select the competitors for the World Cup matches from this group.
Included on the U.S. will be Olympic gold medalists Jordan Burroughs at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Jake Varner at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Also on the roster are 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott at 60 kg/132 lbs. and 2009 World bronze medalist Tervel Dlagnev at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Wrestling is a national sport in Iran, and huge sellout crowds are expected to fill the Azadi Sports Complex all week long.
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