TEHRAN – Mohammad Nokhodi claimed a gold medal at the 2023 Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial in Budapest, Hungary on Friday.

The Iranian 79kg freestyler started the competition with a 11-0 win over Austrian Simon Marchl and then defeated American Chandler shane Marsteller 10-0 and Georgian Avtandil Kentchadze 6-2 in his way to the final.

Nokhodi beat Georgian Vladimeri Gamkrelidze 3-0 in the final bout.   

The ranking points play a significant role in setting the wrestlers’ seeding at major tournaments, such as the World Championships.

The World Wrestling Championships 2023, which will take place 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia from Sept. 16 to 24, will serve as a qualifying event for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Hungarian Greco-Roman wrestler Imre Polyak won medals at four consecutive Olympic Games (1952-64), making him only the second wrestler after Finland’s Eino Leino to achieve the success.