ZAGREB, Croatia (February 8) -- The first Ranking Series event of the season, the Zagreb Open, just wrapped up in the Croatian capital. Wrestlers used the point-based competition to earn points towards their seeds at the five Continental Championships and Belgrade World Championships.
The United States topped the team standings with 174 points, while Iran and Azerbaijan rounded out the top three.
The Stars and Stripes had wrestlers win medals in seven of ten weight classes--including gold-medal performances from Alec William PANTALEO (USA), Jason Michael NOLF (USA), Kollin Raymond MOORE (USA) and Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) at 70kg, 74kg, 92kg and 97kg, respectively.
Iran finished in second place with 140 points, 34 points behind the United States, thanks to bracket winners Reza Ahmadali ATRINAGHARCHI (IRI), Ali Bakhtiar SAVADKOUHI (IRI), Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) and Amir Hossein Abbas ZARE (IRI).
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) won gold at 57kg and helped Azerbaijan close out the competition in the third position. They had seven medalists--one gold, two silver and four bronze medals--and finished with 135 points.
Here are the 10 freestyle finals from Zagreb.
57kg Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) df. Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN), 2-0
61kg: Reza Ahmadali ATRINAGHARCHI (IRI) df. Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL), via fall
65kg: Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) df. Joseph Christopher MC KENNA (USA), 4-1
70kg Alec William PANTALEO (USA) df. Haji ALIYEV (AZE), 5-2
74kg: Jason Michael NOLF (USA) df. Yones Aliakbar EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI), 3-3
79kg: Ali Bakhtiar SAVADKOUHI (IRI) df. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), 2-1
86kg: Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) df. Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN), 13-2
92kg: Kollin Raymond MOORE (USA) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 4-3
97kg: Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA) df. Amirali Hamid AZARPIRA (IRI), 3-0
125kg: Amir Hossein Abbas ZARE (IRI) df. Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE), via injury default
