Iran’s Saeid Esmaeili won the 72-kilogram gold medal at the 69th Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial in Warsaw on Wednesday, defeating Ukraine’s Parviz Nasibov in a rematch of their 2024 Paris Olympics final.
Esmaeili, the reigning Olympic and world champion, dominated his four bouts at the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament without conceding a point.
The 22-year-old opened his campaign with an 8-0 victory over Sweden’s Henrik Dahlen. He then beat Bulgaria’s Stoyan Kubatov 10-0 before recording a 9-0 win over Armenia’s Gaspar Terteryan.
In the final, Esmaeili faced Nasibov, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and secured another 8-0 victory to claim the title.
🇮🇷🤼♂️Saeid Esmaeili named world’s ‘Most Dominant’ Greco-Roman wrestler
According to United World Wrestling, Iran’s 67kg Olympic and world champion has been named the most dominant Greco-Roman wrestler in the world.@presstvsports pic.twitter.com/zyrganq4of
— Press TV Sports (@presstvsports) December 22, 2025
The final was a repeat of the 67kg gold-medal bout at the Paris Olympics in August 2024. Esmaeili won that encounter 6-5 to capture his first Olympic title.
Nasibov, who represents Ukraine, had also won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. They competed in Warsaw at 72kg, five kilograms above the weight class in which the two met in Paris.
The Pytlasinski Memorial is one of Poland’s longest-running international wrestling tournaments. The 69th edition is being held in Warsaw from Aug. 26-27 as part of a five-day wrestling program that also includes the Poland Open in women’s wrestling and the Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial in men’s freestyle.
Esmaeili has established himself among the leading wrestlers in Greco-Roman wrestling. After winning Olympic gold in Paris, he added the senior world title at 67kg in Zagreb in 2025. He also finished that year ranked No. 1 in the world at his weight class.
