Amir Hossein Zare

Amir Hossein Zare
Personal information
Full nameAmir Hossein Zare
Nickname(s)Heavyweight King
Rostam of Iran
The Iranian Giant
Iranian Warrior
NationalityIranian
Born (2001-01-16) 16 January 2001
Amol, Mazandaran, Iran[1]
Alma materIslamic Azad University Ayatollah Amoli
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight125 kg (276 lb)
Sport
Country
SportWrestling
EventFreestyle
ClubShahr Bank
Iran Mall
Fooladin Zob Amol
Petro Palayesh Bilish
Turned pro2018
Coached byHamid Aghajani
Ebrahim Mehraban
Gholamreza Mohammadi
Pejman Dorostkar
Medal record
Representing  Iran
Men's Freestyle Wrestling
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 1 1
World Championships 2 0 1
Youth Olympic Games 0 1 0
Asian Championships 1 0 0
Asian Games 1 0 0
World U23 Championships 1 0 0
Other 10 1 1
Total 15 3 3
Representing  Iran
Olympic Games
2024 Paris 125 kg
2020 Tokyo 125 kg
World Championships
2021 Oslo 125 kg
2023 Belgrade 125 kg
2022 Belgrade 125 kg
Asian Championships
2024 Bishkek 125 kg
Asian Games
2022 Hangzhou 125 kg
Grand Prix
2020 Rome 125 kg
2021 Warsaw 125 kg
2022 Almaty 125 kg
2023 Zagreb 125 kg
2024 Zagreb 125 kg
2023 Urmia 125 kg
2019 Vladikavkaz 125 kg
World Club Championship
2019 Bojnord 125 kg
World U23 Championships
2019 Budapest 125 kg
World Junior Championships
2019 Tallinn 125 kg
Asian Junior Championships
2019 Beirut 125 kg
Youth Olympic Games
2018 Buenos Aires 110 kg
World Cadet Championships
2018 Zagreb 110 kg
Asian Cadet Championships
2018 Tashkent 110 kg

Amir Hossein Zare (Persian: امیرحسین زارع; born 16 January 2001) is an Iranian freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the heavyweight division.[2] Zare became World Champion in 2021, and 2023. He was the 2019 U23 World Champion at age 18.[3][4] He claimed a Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medal in 2021.[5] In the age-group, he was the 2018 Cadet World Champion and claimed silver medals from the 2019 Junior World Championships and the 2018 Youth Summer Olympics.[6]

Early life

Zare started Pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals from elementary school, then entered wrestling during middle school. He studied at Governmental leading high school.

Career

2019

The 2018 Cadet World Champion, Zare made his senior level debut in October 2019 at the age of 18, going 4–0 at the Iranian Premier League with a notable victory over two–time and reigning Asian Continental champion Yadollah Mohebbi.[7] He followed up with his international debut, claiming the 2019 U23 World Championship after cleaning out the bracket with technical falls.[3] Next, he took out reigning World Champion Geno Petriashvili in the final match of the Premier League, claiming gold for the team. He won against Geno Petriashvili in the Iranian Premier League and was a surprise, the result of this match was 15–11.[7] His first loss came at the Alans International, where he placed third with notable and dominant technical falls over the accomplished Khasanboy Rakhimov and Nick Gwiazdowski.[8] To close out the year, he helped Iran reach the gold medal at the World Clubs Cup.[9]

2020–2021

In 2020, Zare only competed twice, claiming the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series crown with notable wins over 2012 Olympic champion Bilyal Makhov and Nick Matuhin, and placing second at the Team Trials for the Individual World Cup.[10][11] In 2021, Zare claimed the 2021 Poland Open by beating Nick Gwiazdowski via disqualification after the later refused to engage due to Zare's pressure.[12] In the 2020 Summer Olympics, Zare won a Bronze Medal by defeating Deng Zhiwei in the Bronze Medal match.[13] After 32 years, Zare won Iran's freestyle wrestling gold medal in the heavyweight division of the World Championships in Norway by defeating Geno Petriashvili.[13]

2022

He won one of the bronze medals in the men's 125 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.[14][15] Zare faced the Canadian Amar Dhesi who has the Pan American gold and silver medals, and beat him wisely 8-0 to win the bronze medal.[16] Zare continued in the tournament 2022 Bolat Turlykhanov Cup held in Almaty, Kazakhstan won the gold medal by defeating Yusup Batirmurzaev.

2023

He won the Gold medal in the men's 125 kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.[17] This was Zare's second gold medal in the world championship.,[18] triumphing over Geno Petriashvili from Georgia with a decisive score of 11-0. Referring to this fight, the World Wrestling Federation wrote: Petriashvili had no answer for the tremendous pressure that Zare applied. Zare, who won bronze last year and gold in 2021, added another gold medal to his record.[19][20] Zare won 4-0 against Taha Akgül in the semifinals.Zare scored a total of 43 points by the end of the tournament.[21] Amir Hossein Zare at the end of the tournament, have secured their spots in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[22] Zare In the continuation of this year's competitions, won the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games. He first defeated Zaman Anwar from Pakistan 10-0 and then beat China Buheeerdun 10-0. Zare defeated Yusup Batirmurzaev 11-0 to secure his place in the final. He defeated Mongolia’s Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel 7-0 in the men's 125Kg final bout. His gold medal was Iran's 12th gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games.[23][24]

2024

He started the year by winning a gold medal in Zagreb Open. Zare competed with Amir Reza Masoumi in the final. The bout was a playoff for the Olympic spot as Masoumi had won the national championships. Like their previous encounters, Zare was in control of the bout which he won 5-0.[25][26]

He won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 125 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[27]

2025

Zare started the new year by winning gold medal in 2025 Takhti Cup, where he defeated Amir Reza Masoumi 8-2 for the fourth consecutive time.[28][29]

Freestyle record

References

  1. ^ A.Zare Eurosport
  2. ^ "ایران قهرمان کشتی آزاد جوانان آسیا شد". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Iran's heavyweight wrestler Zare wins U23 Senior World Championships in Hungary". 31 October 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Iran's freestyle wrestling team finishes second at U23 World Championships". www.payvand.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  5. ^ "ZARE Amir Hossein Abbas profile page". uww.org. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Iranian Wrestlers Earn Two Silver Medals at Youth Olympics". tsnimnews.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b کشتی, روابط عمومی فدراسیون. "فدراسیون کشتی". فدراسیون کشتی (in Persian). Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Iran's freestyle wrestler grabs bronze medal in Alans int'l tournament". IRNA English. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  9. ^ "FarsNews Agency Iranian Team Claims World Wrestling Clubs Cup". www.farsnews.ir. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Iran freestylers grab two gold medals in Rome Championship". IRNA English. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  11. ^ tim. "Updated Nov. 6: News from Around the World". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  12. ^ Miller, Christopher (9 June 2021). "Final Results from Day Two of Poland Open as Men's Freestyle Concludes". The Open Mat. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  13. ^ a b Tokyo Olympics: Wrestling - Freestyle Men's 125kg results - BBC
  14. ^ Shefferd, Neil (16 September 2022). "Olympic champions help US claim double freestyle gold at World Wrestling Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  15. ^ "2022 World Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  16. ^ Iran's heavyweight wrestler Zare wins freestyle bronze
  17. ^ Exclusive interview with Amir Zare: Iran's world champion shares how wrestling unites nations - 'Sport is more than politics'
  18. ^ Iran's freestyle wrestler Zare wins gold at 2023 Belgrade
  19. ^ Zare ready to win gold at 2023 World Wrestling Championships - Tehran Times
  20. ^ The Iranian Freestyle Wrestling Team Became the Runner-Up of The World
  21. ^ Zare wins gold at 2023 Belgrade
  22. ^ Iranian freestyle wrestlers qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics
  23. ^ 2022 Asian Games: Zare Wins Gold in Wrestling
  24. ^ Wrestler Zare collects Iran’s 12th gold at Hangzhou
  25. ^ Zagreb Open: Azarpira beats Snyder; Zare, Susaki dominate
  26. ^ 2024 Grand Prix Zagreb Open; Iranian wrestlers ascending
  27. ^ "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). 2024 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  28. ^ Takhti Cup 2025 in Freestyle Wrestling
  29. ^ Iran wins freestyle wrestling Takhti Cup title