LOS ANGELES -- On the first day of the World Cup, most of the people in the Forum in Los Angeles were talking about two dual meets: Russia vs. Ukraine and Iran vs. United States. There was much talk about politics, and although the wrestlers and coaches were willing to espouse the merits of international sport and promoting good will between nations, for them, politics were a non-issue.
Russian team leader Christakis Alexandridis said, "This is a special moment. But the wrestlers here shake hands. We embrace each other. There is politics everywhere, every day. For us this is about wrestling. This is about our sport. We are a family. We are friends."
The quality of the wrestling was exceptional throughout the day as the top ten teams in the world faced each other in dual meets. USA started the day with matches against Armenia and India and dominated both, winning 7-1 and 6-2.
Iran was stellar in its morning session against Armenia and again against Turkey in the evening, winning 8-0 and 7-1.
Russia looked flat in its opening meet against Mongolia, winning on criteria 4-4. The rust came off quickly as they dominated Ukraine in the highly-anticipated matchup. Ukraine lost matches at weights they were they were favored. World and Olympic medalist Vasyl Fedoryshyn lost to Aleksandr Bogomoev 6-1 at 61 kilos and two-time World champ Ibragim Aldatov was shut out by Anzor Urishev, 7-0.
The much anticipated Iran-USA dual meet delivered much excitement, with Iran coming out on top five matches to three. The standing World champion Iran came out on top thanks to two, nail-biting 1-0 matches -- Mostafa Hosseinkani over Nick Marable at 70 kilos and Komeil Ghasemi over Tervel Dlagnev at 125 kilos. The dual meet saw each country gain a victory via a remarkable comeback. In almost a replay of the quarterfinals at last year's world championships, Reece Humphrey built a strong lead in the first period against Masoud Esmailpoor Jouybari only to lose late in the match, 10-8.
Jouybari was certainly buoyed by the large contingent of fans that were cheering loudly throughout the evening.
"I really didn't anticipate so many Iranians here," he said through a translator. "It was like being in Iran."
Brent Metcalf gets instructions from coach Zeke Jones (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"I'm not happy about giving up the big points early," Metcalf said. "I gave up a couple cheap, easy ones and he just dived in, but I got where I needed to be to win."
Down three matches to two, Clayton Foster electrified the American fans by upsetting 2013 World bronze medalist Ehsan Lashgari, 7-5. Seemingly dead to rights on a takedown, Foster stubbornly held position to avoid giving up the points and turned it into three points for himself. With only a few seconds left, he then broke a 5-5 tie to win the bout, knowing that he would lose on criteria.
Iran's standing World champs Hassan Rahimi and Reza Yazdani were both outstanding on the day, both going 2-0, including wins of 8-0 over their American opponents.
Yazdani was quite happy to not only win, but come to Los Angeles after Iran was unable to after a scheduled event last year. "The United States is one of our main competitors. We're happy we were able to win for our countryman who came out today."
In a rematch of the 2013 world finals, team USA's golden boy, Jordan Burroughs again defeated Ezzatollah Akbari Zarinkolaei.
"The Iranians are here to win and I'm here to stop them," Burroughs said. "It's their job to come here from the Middle East and get their job done and it's my job to come here from Lincoln, Nebraska and get my job done."
On Sunday team USA has a final pool match with Turkey at 11 a.m. PT and their placement match after that.
United States 7 Armenia 1
57 kilos: Angel Escobedo (United States) dec. Artak Hovhannisyan (Armenia), 11-4
61 kilos: Reece Humphrey (United States) dec. Valodya Frangulyan (Armenia), 5-4
65 kilos: Brent Metcalf (United States) tech. fall Artur Arakelyan (Armenia), 11-1
70 kilos: Davit Apoyan (Armenia) dec. Nick Marable (United States), 10-7
74 kilos: Jordan Burroughs (United States) tech. fall Varuzhan Kajoyan (Armenia), 16-6
86 kilos: Keith Gavin (United States) dec. Vahe Tamrazyan (Armenia), 6-1
97 kilos: Dustin Kilgore (United States) tech. fall Viktor Kazishvili (Armenia), 10-0
125 kilos: Tervel Dlagnev (United States) tech. fall Andranik Galstyan (Armenia), 11-0
USA 6, India 2
57 kilos: Amit Kumar (India) dec. Andrew Hochstrasser (United States), 4-3
61 kilos: Bajrang (India) dec. Jimmy Kennedy (United States), 10-6
65 kilos: Brent Metcalf (United States) dec. Rajneesh (India), 7-6
70 kilos: Moza Fay (United States) tech. fall Amit Kumar Dhankhar (India), 11-0
74 kilos: Jordan Burroughs (United States) pin Parveen Rana (India), 2:44
86 kilos: Clayton Foster (United States) tech fall Pawan Kumar (India), 10-0
97 kilos: JD Bergman (United States) tech fall Saywart Kadian (India), 11-0
125 kilos: Tervel Dlagnev (United States) won by forfeit
Iran 5, USA 3
57 kg: Hassan Rahimi (Iran) dec. Angel Escobedo (USA), 8-0
61 kg: Masoud Esmailpoor Jouybari (Iran) dec. Reece Humphrey (USA), 10-8
65 kg: Brent Metcalf (USA) dec. Meisam Nasiri (Iran), 11-8
70 kg: Mostafa Hosseinkhani (Iran) dec. Nick Marable (USA), 1-0
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (USA) dec. Ezzatollah Akbari Zarinkolaei (Iran), 7-1
86 kg: Clayton Foster (USA) dec. Ehsan Lashgari (Iran), 7-5
97 kg: Reza Yazdani (Iran) dec. J.D. Bergman (USA), 8-0
125 kg: Komeil Ghasemi (Iran) dec. Tervel Dlagnev (USA), 1-0
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