2026 Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships Results: Iran Dominates, Aslanyan Wins Gold, Armenia Finishes 10th

The 2026 Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships concluded on October 27 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Ten sets of medals were awarded at the tournament, with Iran emerging as the dominant nation after winning four gold medals and comfortably topping the team standings.

Armenia finished the World Championships with two medals — gold for Karen Aslanyan (63 kg) and bronze for Gevorg Tadevosyan (87 kg). Although the Armenian team matched last year's medal tally, its overall performance in the team standings declined significantly, dropping from fifth to tenth place.

Iran Claims Four Gold Medals, Armenia Wins One

Iranian wrestlers dominated the World Championships in Astana, claiming four world titles in the 67 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg and 130 kg weight categories. Azerbaijan won two gold medals, with its representatives taking first place in the 55 kg and 77 kg divisions.

The remaining four world titles went to Armenia, Belarus, Japan and Bulgaria.

On the final day of competition, October 27, the world champions were crowned in the three remaining weight categories — 63 kg, 67 kg and 87 kg.

The highlight for Armenian fans was Karen Aslanyan's victory. In the 63 kg final, the 31-year-old Armenian wrestler defeated Azerbaijan's Nihat Mammadli 8–4 to claim his first career world championship title.

In the 87 kg division, Gevorg Tadevosyan defeated Ukrainian wrestler Yaroslav Filchakov 4–1 to secure the bronze medal. It was the Armenian wrestler's first medal at senior-level competitions organized under the auspices of UWW.

Another Armenian representative, Slavik Galstyan (67 kg), narrowly missed out on the podium. In the bronze-medal match, he lost 6–10 to Cuban Olympic champion Luis Orta Sanchez and finished fifth.

Results of the Medal Matches on the Final Day of the 2026 World Championships

63 kg

Bronze-medal matches:

• Aref Mohammadi (Qatar) vs. Sergey Emelin (Russia) — 0–9

• Ozodbek Khalimboev (Uzbekistan) vs. Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria) — 7–3

Final:

- Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan) vs. Karen Aslanyan (Armenia) — 4–8

67 kg

Bronze-medal matches:

• Bagdat Sabaz (Kazakhstan) vs. Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) — 8–5

• Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) vs. Slavik Galstyan (Armenia) — 10–6

Final:

- Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran) vs. Aitjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) — 8–0, victory by fall

87 kg

Bronze-medal matches:

• Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) vs. Mukhammadkodir Rasulov (Uzbekistan) — 5–1

• Yaroslav Filchakov (Ukraine) vs. Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia) — 1–4

Final:

- Semen Novikov (Bulgaria) vs. Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) — 4–0

Armenia: Two Medals but a Significant Drop in the Team Standings

Armenia's performance at the 2026 World Championships was a mixed one.

On the positive side, the team once again won two medals, including a gold. However, most Armenian wrestlers were eliminated in the early rounds, which significantly affected the overall team result.

In 2025, Armenia earned 63 points and finished fifth, while in 2026 the team managed only 50 points and placed tenth.

One of the biggest disappointments was the performance of Malkhas Amoyan (77 kg). One of the national team's leading wrestlers, Amoyan was eliminated in the round of 16 and finished the World Championships in 17th place.

Several other Armenian wrestlers also failed to meet expectations. Suren Aghajanyan (60 kg) finished 11th, Hayk Khloyan (97 kg) also placed 11th, while Razmik Kurdyan (130 kg) ended the tournament in 19th position.

Meanwhile, Karen Aslanyan and Gevorg Tadevosyan emerged as Armenia's standout performers at the championships.

Aslanyan delivered one of the best tournaments of his career, recording five victories, four of them by technical superiority. In the decisive match against Nihat Mammadli, he managed to turn the contest around after trailing 0–4 early on.

Tadevosyan also exceeded expectations, reaching the podium at a senior World Championships for the first time. Last year's bronze medalist Slavik Galstyan also produced a strong performance, advancing to the semifinals but ultimately missing out on a medal.

As a result, Armenia's two medals allowed the team to match last year's medal tally, but its overall team performance at the 2026 World Championships was considerably less successful.

All Champions and Medalists at the 2026 Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships

55 kg

1. Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan)

2. Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (Iran)

3. Vakhtang Lolua (Georgia) and Ishkhar Kurbaev (Kazakhstan)

Armenia: Norayr Akhoyan — 17th place.

60 kg

1. Koto Gomi (Japan)

2. Ali Ahmadi Vafa (Iran)

3. Alisher Ganiev (Uzbekistan) and Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan)

Armenia: Suren Aghajanyan — 11th place.

63 kg

1. Karen Aslanyan (Armenia)

2. Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan)

3. Sergey Emelin (Russia) and Ozodbek Khalimboev (Uzbekistan)

67 kg

1. Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran)

2. Aitjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan)

3. Bagdat Sabaz (Kazakhstan) and Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba)

Armenia: Slavik Galstyan — 5th place.

72 kg

1. Seyed Sohrabi (Iran)

2. Krisztian Vancza (Hungary)

3. Iuri Lomadze (Georgia) and Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan)

Armenia: Ashot Khachatryan — 16th place.

77 kg

1. Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan)

2. Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova)

3. Ali Oskou (Iran) and Shuay Mamedov (Belarus)

Armenia: Malkhas Amoyan — 17th place.

82 kg

1. Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (Iran)

2. Yuksel Saricicek (Turkey)

3. Mihail Bradu (Moldova) and Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan)

Armenia: Samvel Grigoryan — 20th place.

87 kg

1. Semen Novikov (Bulgaria)

2. Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran)

3. Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) and Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia)

97 kg

1. Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus)

2. Artur Sargsyan (Russia)

3. Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) and Mohammad Hadi Saravi (Iran)

Armenia: Hayk Khloyan — 11th place.

130 kg

1. Fardin Hedayati (Iran)

2. Darius Vitek (Hungary)

3. Pavel Glinchuk (Belarus) and Wenhao Jiang (China)

Armenia: Razmik Kurdyan — 19th place.

2026 World Championships Team Standings

Rank	Country	Points
1	Iran	192
2	Azerbaijan	104
3	Uzbekistan	80
4	Belarus	63
5	Kazakhstan	63
6	Russia	61
7	Bulgaria	60
8	Georgia	53
9	China	51
10	Armenia	50

Iran was the undisputed winner of the team standings, collecting 192 points — almost twice as many as second-placed Azerbaijan (104). Uzbekistan completed the top three with 80 points.

Armenia finished the World Championships in tenth place with 50 points, just one point behind ninth-placed China.

For the Armenian team, the main highlights of the tournament were Karen Aslanyan's first world championship title and Gevorg Tadevosyan's breakthrough performance. However, the results of the other team members demonstrated that considerable work lies ahead if Armenia hopes to return to the world's top five nations.

The 2026 World Championships do not affect Olympic qualification. Ranking and qualification tournaments will begin in 2027.

The freestyle wrestling tournament will begin in Astana on November 29. Armenia will be represented by six wrestlers.