Olympic champion Yazdani headlines strong Iran team to face the USA at the Bout at the Ballpark Presented by Kubota, Feb. 12
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) image by United World Wrestling.
USA Wrestling has received the preliminary lineup for Iran, which will compete against the United States in men’s freestyle at Bout at the Ballpark Presented by Kubota on February 12 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Iran team will be led by 2016 Olympic champion and three-time World champion Hassan Yazdani Charati at 86 kg, on a powerful team which includes up to three Olympic medalists, four World champions and nine World medalists.
This unique event will also feature an NCAA Div. I dual meet between the two most successful programs in history, Oklahoma State University and the University of Iowa, plus an international dual meet between the United States and Mongolia in women’s wrestling, plus one Greco-Roman exhibition match.
In addition to his 2016 Olympic title and three World titles (2017, 2019, 2021), Yazdani Charati was also a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, and has also won a World silver medal in 2015 and a World bronze medal in 2018. He is one of the most successful freestyle wrestlers in the world at this time.
He will be joined by a pair of 2021 men’s freestyle World champions, Kamran Ghasempour at 92 kg and Amir Hossein Zare at 125 kg. Zare was also 2020 Olympic bronze medalist.
Three young stars who won 2021 World silver medals are included on the preliminary Iranian roster, Ali Reza Sarlak at 57 kg, Amir Mohammad Yazdani Charati at 70 kg and Mohammad Nokhodilarimi at 79 kg. Amir Yazdani Charati won his World silver medal at 65 kg but is listed at 70 kg for this event.
A pair of World bronze medalists are on Team Iran, 2019 World bronze medalist Yones Emamichoghaei at 74 kg and 2021 World bronze medalist Mojtaba Goleij at 97 kg. Add in a pair of 2021 Junior World champions,
Rahman Amouzakjhalili at 65 kg and Erfan Elahi at 70 kg, and this Iranian men’s freestyle roster is loaded up and down the lineup. Iran has listed two athletes at 61 kg and 65 kg
Iran is also bringing one of its best Greco-Roman stars for a featured match. 2021 World champion and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Mohammadhadi Saravi of Iran will square off with 2021 World bronze medalist G’Angelo Hancock of the USA in a 97 kg match.
With the announcement of the Iranian team, the match ups for the international competition have been released. The projected lineups for Oklahoma State and Iowa for the college showdown will be announced closer to the competition.
The Oklahoma State-Iowa collegiate meet, the United States-Iran men’s freestyle dual meet and the United States-Mongolia women’s freestyle match will take place simultaneously beginning at 6:30 p.m. on February 12 with bouts from the two competitions alternating throughout the event on two different mats. This will mark the first time a senior-level international meet and an NCAA meet will operate in this format.
Tickets for Bout at the Ballpark Presented by Kubota start as $15 and are available at texasrangers.com/wrestling.
The event will be broadcast live by FloWrestling.
EXPECTED IRANIAN LINEUP
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg – Ali Reza Sarlak (Iran)
61 kg – Majid Dastan or Mohammad Ramezanpour (Iran)
65 kg – Rahman Amouzakjhalili (Iran)
70 kg – Amir Mohammad Yazdani Charati or Erfan Elahi (Iran)
74 kg – Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran)
79 kg – Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)
86 kg – Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran)
92 kg – Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)
97 kg – Mojtaba Goleij (Iran)
125 kg – Amir Hossein Zare (Iran)
Greco-Roman
97 kg – Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran)
BOUT AT THE BALLPARK INTERNATIONAL MATCHUPS
USA vs. Iran in men’s freestyle
57 kg – Thomas Gilman (USA) vs. Ali Reza Sarlak (Iran)
61 kg – Daton Fix (USA) vs. Majid Dastan or Mohammad Ramezanpour (Iran)
65 kg – Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) vs. Rahman Amouzakjhalili (Iran)
70 kg – James Green (USA) vs. Amir Mohammad Yazdani Charati or Erfan Elahi (Iran)
74 kg – Jason Nolf (USA) vs. Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran)
79 kg – Jordan Burroughs (USA) vs. Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)
86 kg – Zahid Valencia (USA) vs. Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran)
92 kg – J’den Cox (USA) vs. Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (USA) vs. Mojtaba Goleij (Iran)
125 kg – TBA (USA) vs. Amir Hossein Zare (Iran)
USA vs. Mongolia in women’s freestyle
50 kg – Victoria Anthony (USA) vs. Namuuntsetseg Tsogt-ochir (Mongolia)
53 kg – Jacarra Winchester (USA) vs. Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia)
57 kg – Helen Maroulis (USA) vs. Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia)
62 kg – Kayla Miracle (USA) vs. Narangerel Erdenesukh (Mongolia)
68 kg – Kennedy Blades (USA) vs. Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia)
76 kg – Victoria Francis (USA) vs. Ariunjargal Ganbat (Mongolia)
Featured Greco-Roman match
97 kg – G’Angelo Hancock (USA) vs. Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran)
About REV Entertainment
REV Entertainment is a subsidiary of Rangers Baseball Express, LLC, and was founded in August 2021 as a result of the success of Rangers Events, which had served as the exclusive booking agent for all non-MLB game day events beginning in 2012, first at Globe Life Park in Arlington (now Choctaw Stadium) and since 2020 at Globe Life Field. Since opening in March 2020,
About Globe Life Field
Globe Life Field is not only been the home of the Texas Rangers but has also hosted numerous sports and entertainment events sinces its opening in Match 2020. These include the Major League Baseball NLDS, NLCS, and World Series and Wrangler© National Finals Rodeo in 2020 and the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, over 30 total college and high school baseball games, approximately 50 college and high school graduations, the Hella Mega Tour featuring Green Day, Fallout Boy, and Weezer, and Chris Stapleton in Concert in 2021. This fall, the building hosted ten football games, the Lockheed Martin Commanders’ Classic presented by USAA between the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy and nine high school regular season and playoff contests.
About FloSports
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a venture-backed subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ vision is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. FloWrestling is one of FloSports’ highest performing vertical sport categories and is the industry-leader for dedicated youth, collegiate and professional live event programming, news, analysis and original content. In 2020, FloWrestling saw over 73 million minutes of original content watched and over 16 million minutes of FloWrestling’s owned & operated live event programming watched. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.
USA Wrestling has received the preliminary lineup for Iran, which will compete against the United States in men’s freestyle at Bout at the Ballpark Presented by Kubota on February 12 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Iran team will be led by 2016 Olympic champion and three-time World champion Hassan Yazdani Charati at 86 kg, on a powerful team which includes up to three Olympic medalists, four World champions and nine World medalists.
This unique event will also feature an NCAA Div. I dual meet between the two most successful programs in history, Oklahoma State University and the University of Iowa, plus an international dual meet between the United States and Mongolia in women’s wrestling, plus one Greco-Roman exhibition match.
In addition to his 2016 Olympic title and three World titles (2017, 2019, 2021), Yazdani Charati was also a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, and has also won a World silver medal in 2015 and a World bronze medal in 2018. He is one of the most successful freestyle wrestlers in the world at this time.
He will be joined by a pair of 2021 men’s freestyle World champions, Kamran Ghasempour at 92 kg and Amir Hossein Zare at 125 kg. Zare was also 2020 Olympic bronze medalist.
Three young stars who won 2021 World silver medals are included on the preliminary Iranian roster, Ali Reza Sarlak at 57 kg, Amir Mohammad Yazdani Charati at 70 kg and Mohammad Nokhodilarimi at 79 kg. Amir Yazdani Charati won his World silver medal at 65 kg but is listed at 70 kg for this event.
A pair of World bronze medalists are on Team Iran, 2019 World bronze medalist Yones Emamichoghaei at 74 kg and 2021 World bronze medalist Mojtaba Goleij at 97 kg. Add in a pair of 2021 Junior World champions,
Rahman Amouzakjhalili at 65 kg and Erfan Elahi at 70 kg, and this Iranian men’s freestyle roster is loaded up and down the lineup. Iran has listed two athletes at 61 kg and 65 kg
Iran is also bringing one of its best Greco-Roman stars for a featured match. 2021 World champion and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Mohammadhadi Saravi of Iran will square off with 2021 World bronze medalist G’Angelo Hancock of the USA in a 97 kg match.
With the announcement of the Iranian team, the match ups for the international competition have been released. The projected lineups for Oklahoma State and Iowa for the college showdown will be announced closer to the competition.
The Oklahoma State-Iowa collegiate meet, the United States-Iran men’s freestyle dual meet and the United States-Mongolia women’s freestyle match will take place simultaneously beginning at 6:30 p.m. on February 12 with bouts from the two competitions alternating throughout the event on two different mats. This will mark the first time a senior-level international meet and an NCAA meet will operate in this format.
Tickets for Bout at the Ballpark Presented by Kubota start as $15 and are available at texasrangers.com/wrestling.
The event will be broadcast live by FloWrestling.
EXPECTED IRANIAN LINEUP
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg – Ali Reza Sarlak (Iran)
61 kg – Majid Dastan or Mohammad Ramezanpour (Iran)
65 kg – Rahman Amouzakjhalili (Iran)
70 kg – Amir Mohammad Yazdani Charati or Erfan Elahi (Iran)
74 kg – Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran)
79 kg – Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)
86 kg – Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran)
92 kg – Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)
97 kg – Mojtaba Goleij (Iran)
125 kg – Amir Hossein Zare (Iran)
Greco-Roman
97 kg – Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran)
BOUT AT THE BALLPARK INTERNATIONAL MATCHUPS
USA vs. Iran in men’s freestyle
57 kg – Thomas Gilman (USA) vs. Ali Reza Sarlak (Iran)
61 kg – Daton Fix (USA) vs. Majid Dastan or Mohammad Ramezanpour (Iran)
65 kg – Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) vs. Rahman Amouzakjhalili (Iran)
70 kg – James Green (USA) vs. Amir Mohammad Yazdani Charati or Erfan Elahi (Iran)
74 kg – Jason Nolf (USA) vs. Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran)
79 kg – Jordan Burroughs (USA) vs. Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)
86 kg – Zahid Valencia (USA) vs. Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran)
92 kg – J’den Cox (USA) vs. Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (USA) vs. Mojtaba Goleij (Iran)
125 kg – TBA (USA) vs. Amir Hossein Zare (Iran)
USA vs. Mongolia in women’s freestyle
50 kg – Victoria Anthony (USA) vs. Namuuntsetseg Tsogt-ochir (Mongolia)
53 kg – Jacarra Winchester (USA) vs. Khulan Batkhuyag (Mongolia)
57 kg – Helen Maroulis (USA) vs. Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia)
62 kg – Kayla Miracle (USA) vs. Narangerel Erdenesukh (Mongolia)
68 kg – Kennedy Blades (USA) vs. Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia)
76 kg – Victoria Francis (USA) vs. Ariunjargal Ganbat (Mongolia)
Featured Greco-Roman match
97 kg – G’Angelo Hancock (USA) vs. Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran)
About REV Entertainment
REV Entertainment is a subsidiary of Rangers Baseball Express, LLC, and was founded in August 2021 as a result of the success of Rangers Events, which had served as the exclusive booking agent for all non-MLB game day events beginning in 2012, first at Globe Life Park in Arlington (now Choctaw Stadium) and since 2020 at Globe Life Field. Since opening in March 2020,
About Globe Life Field
Globe Life Field is not only been the home of the Texas Rangers but has also hosted numerous sports and entertainment events sinces its opening in Match 2020. These include the Major League Baseball NLDS, NLCS, and World Series and Wrangler© National Finals Rodeo in 2020 and the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, over 30 total college and high school baseball games, approximately 50 college and high school graduations, the Hella Mega Tour featuring Green Day, Fallout Boy, and Weezer, and Chris Stapleton in Concert in 2021. This fall, the building hosted ten football games, the Lockheed Martin Commanders’ Classic presented by USAA between the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy and nine high school regular season and playoff contests.
About FloSports
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a venture-backed subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ vision is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. FloWrestling is one of FloSports’ highest performing vertical sport categories and is the industry-leader for dedicated youth, collegiate and professional live event programming, news, analysis and original content. In 2020, FloWrestling saw over 73 million minutes of original content watched and over 16 million minutes of FloWrestling’s owned & operated live event programming watched. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.