TEHRAN – Iranian freestyle wrestler Hassan Yazdani won a silver medal at the Zagreb Open 2026 on Thursday.

Yazdani, who injured his shoulder in the Paris Olympics final, was returning 18 months and another surgery later. The Olympic champion at 74kg in 2016 and silver medalist at 86kg in 2020 and 2024, is now up at 97kg.

Over the past decade, Yazdani has enjoyed stardom with fans not just in Iran but across the globe, uww.org reported.

So, when a bulkier Yazdani walked out to the mat in Zagreb, his silhouette under the spotlights looked different. The 13-kilogram jump was clearly visible. There was no traditional jump from him before coming to the center of the mat.

Yazdani’s decision to switch Olympic weight classes was a move born out of necessity, especially after two shoulder surgeries.

In the early rounds of the Zagreb Open, the experiment seemed to be working. The signature underhooks were there, the gas tank seemed fine and his movement, despite the bulk, did not seem unnatural.

Before reaching the final, Yazdani had seen off his opponents with rather ease. He scored points via stepouts, takedowns and go-behind in typical Yazdani fashion. He gave up only four points in his three bouts and reached the final without much trouble.

In the second period of the final, Yazdani's underhooks stopped working and his gas tank showed a leak. His movement became slower although his mind wanted him to be quick against Stephen Buchanan (USA).

Buchanan matched Yazdani for position and let Yazdani take only a 2-1 lead at the break. But he caught Yazdani in the second period and launched the Iranian for a suplex for four. It's rare for Yazdani to be thrown around like that.

And with him falling behind 5-2, Yazdani tried to attack more and that's when opportunities for Buchanan opened up as he scored three takedowns and two steps, beating Yazdani 13-3 and capturing the gold medal in Zagreb.

This was Yazdani's only tenth loss at the senior level and first to a U.S. wrestler other than David Taylor (USA). It was also the first a wrestler defeated Yazdani via technical superiority.

With Buchanan's gold, the United States finished the tournament with five gold medals in Freestyle.

World champion at 92kg Trent Hidlay (USA) forfeited his final against Mobin Azimi (IRI). But Hidlay had defeated the Iranian 5-5 in their round robin bout.

Freestyle

79kg

GOLD: Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA) df. Dean Hamiti (USA), 4-4

BRONZE: Evan Wick (USA) df. Daniel Braunagel (USA), 8-6

BRONZE: Adel Panaeian (IRI) df. Otari Adeishvili (GEO), via fall

92kg

GOLD: Mobin Azimi (IRI) df. Trent HIDLAY (USA), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Dustin PLOTT (USA) df. Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA), 6-1

97kg

GOLD: Stephen Buchanan (USA) df. Hassan Yazdani (IRI), 13-3

BRONZE: Andro Margishvili (GEO) df. Richard Vegh (HUN), 12-2

BRONZE: Vicky (IND) df. Adlan Viskhanov (FRA), 8-2

125kg

GOLD: Shamil Sharipov (BRN) df. Wyatt Hendrickson (USA), via fall

BRONZE: Mortaza Janmohammadzadeh (IRI) df. Robert Baran (POL), 8-4

BRONZE: Dinesh (IND) df. Kamil Kosciolek (POL), via fall