Day 3 of the 2026 World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships: Two Golds for Iran, Maskevich's Victory and Aslanyan's Final Berth
- Author: Vahe Hakobyan
- Sportaran
On October 26, the third competition day of the 2026 World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships concluded in Astana, Kazakhstan. Three sets of medals were awarded in the 72 kg, 97 kg and 130 kg weight categories, while the finalists were determined in the three remaining divisions.
Two Iranian wrestlers were crowned world champions — Seyed Sohrabi (72 kg) and Fardin Hedayati (130 kg) — along with Belarusian Kirill Maskevich (97 kg), who defeated Russia's Artur Sargsyan in the final.
Armenia has yet to win a medal at the tournament, but the third day proved to be the team's most successful so far. Karen Aslanyan (63 kg) reached a World Championship final for the first time in his career, while Slavik Galstyan (67 kg) and Gevorg Tadevosyan (87 kg) will compete for bronze medals on October 27.
Three Armenian Wrestlers Advance to Medal Bouts
Karen Aslanyan (63 kg) was Armenia's standout performer of the day. In the semifinals, he secured an impressive victory by technical superiority over Bulgaria's Edmond Nazaryan, winning 12–4.
In the gold-medal match, the Armenian wrestler will face Azerbaijan's Nihat Mammadli, who defeated Russia's Sergey Emelin on criteria after their semifinal ended with the score tied at 2–2.
In the 67 kg category, Slavik Galstyan suffered a 0–4 semifinal defeat to Uzbekistan's Aitzhan Khalmakhanov. The Armenian wrestler will now compete for a bronze medal.
A similar situation unfolded for Gevorg Tadevosyan (87 kg), who lost 1–10 to Iran's Alireza Mohmadipiani. Tadevosyan still has an opportunity to finish the World Championships on the podium.
As a result, Armenia will be represented in three medal bouts on October 27 — one gold-medal final and two bronze-medal matches.
Results of the Medal Bouts on Day 3 of the 2026 World Championships
72 kg: Seyed Sohrabi Wins Gold for Iran
In the final, Iranian wrestler Seyed Sohrabi claimed a convincing 4–0 victory over Hungary's Krisztian Vancza to become world champion.
The bronze medals went to Georgia's Iuri Lomadze and Kyrgyzstan's Amantur Ismailov.
Medal bouts:
-
Final: Krisztian Vancza (Hungary) — Seyed Sohrabi (Iran) — 0–4.
-
Bronze medal: Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine) — Iuri Lomadze (Georgia) — 4–7.
-
Bronze medal: Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan) — Mingiyan Goryaev (Russia) — 10–0.
Final standings:
-
Seyed Sohrabi (Iran)
-
Krisztian Vancza (Hungary)
-
Iuri Lomadze (Georgia) and Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan)
97 kg: Kirill Maskevich Defeats Artur Sargsyan
One of the day's main highlights was the 97 kg final between Belarusian wrestler Kirill Maskevich and Armenian-born Artur Sargsyan, who represents Russia.
Maskevich claimed a convincing 7–1 victory to become world champion. Sargsyan finished the World Championships with a silver medal for the second consecutive year. He had previously won bronze at the 2021 World Championships.
The bronze medals were awarded to Bulgaria's Kiril Milov and Iranian Olympic champion Mohammad Hadi Saravi.
Medal bouts:
-
Final: Kirill Maskevich (Belarus) — Artur Sargsyan (Russia) — 7–1.
-
Bronze medal: Markus Ragginger (Austria) — Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) — 0–10.
-
Bronze medal: Alex Kessidis (Sweden) — Mohammad Hadi Saravi (Iran) — 0–3.
Final standings:
-
Kirill Maskevich (Belarus)
-
Artur Sargsyan (Russia)
-
Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) and Mohammad Hadi Saravi (Iran)
130 kg: Fardin Hedayati Dominates the Final
In the heaviest weight category, Iran's Fardin Hedayati was crowned world champion. In the final, he gave Hungary's Darius Vitek no chance, securing a dominant 8–0 victory by technical superiority.
It was Iran's second gold medal of the third competition day.
The bronze medals went to Belarusian Pavel Glinchuk and China's Wenhao Jiang.
Medal bouts:
-
Final: Darius Vitek (Hungary) — Fardin Hedayati (Iran) — 0–8.
-
Bronze medal: Rafael Tsitsuashvili (Uzbekistan) — Pavel Glinchuk (Belarus) — 1–3.
-
Bronze medal: Wenhao Jiang (China) — Elias Kuosmanen (Finland) — 9–4.
Final standings:
-
Fardin Hedayati (Iran)
-
Darius Vitek (Hungary)
-
Pavel Glinchuk (Belarus) and Wenhao Jiang (China)
All Semifinal Results from Day 3 of the 2026 World Championships
On the evening of October 26, the finalists were also determined in the 63 kg, 67 kg and 87 kg weight categories.
63 kg
-
Sergey Emelin (Russia) — Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan) — 2–2 (Mammadli won on criteria).
-
Karen Aslanyan (Armenia) — Edmond Nazaryan (Bulgaria) — 12–4.
Final on October 27: Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan) vs. Karen Aslanyan (Armenia).
67 kg
-
Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) — Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran) — 1–1 (the Iranian won on criteria).
-
Aitzhan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) — Slavik Galstyan (Armenia) — 4–0.
Final on October 27: Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran) vs. Aitzhan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan).
87 kg
-
Muhammadqodir Rasulov (Uzbekistan) — Semen Novikov (Bulgaria) — 0–2.
-
Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) — Gevorg Tadevosyan (Armenia) — 10–1.
Final on October 27: Semen Novikov (Bulgaria) vs. Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran).
What Awaits Armenia on October 27?
October 27 will mark the final day of Greco-Roman wrestling competition at the World Championships in Astana. Medals will be awarded in the 63 kg, 67 kg and 87 kg categories.
Armenia's biggest gold-medal hope is Karen Aslanyan, who will face Nihat Mammadli in the final. It will be the Armenian wrestler's first World Championship final of his career.
Slavik Galstyan and Gevorg Tadevosyan will compete for bronze medals.
After two disappointing opening days, Armenia now has three opportunities to secure its first medals of the World Championships.