By Ken Marantz
OCA Media
Nagoya, Japan, October 3, 2026: Yones Emami repeated as Asian Games champion by knocking off the local favorite and Amirali Azarpira joined him on the top of the medal podium, giving Iran two of the three freestyle golds at stake on the final day of the wrestling competition in Nagoya.
Emami overcame an early five-point deficit to deal Japanese dynamo Yoshinosuke Aoyagi a stinging 9-5 defeat in the 74kg final on Saturday at Inae Sports Center.
“I was mentally ready, physically ready,” Emami said. “In spite of injuries I had, I tried to focus on doing my best. Even if I was ahead, even if I was behind, I tried to get the best result.”
Azarpira, whose most significant win of the day came in the semifinals—also over a Japanese opponent—had only to keep marching Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov out of the ring to chalk up a 10-0 victory in the 97kg final.
India’s Paris Olympics bronze medalist Aman seized the other gold with an 11-7 victory over world champion Han Chong Song in a 57kg final between medalists at the previous Asian Games.
Emami, a two-time past world bronze medalist, has been largely absent from the international scene since winning the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou three years ago.
But he put together a solid run to the gold that started with a stunning 7-6 victory over Olympic champion Razambek Jamalov in his opening match, scoring a late takedown for a 7-6 win in a tense encounter.
Emami’s day ended with a come-from-behind victory of his own over the reigning Asian champion.
Aoyagi, the world champion at 70kg, gained an activity point, takedown and 2-point roll to take a 5-0 lead, before Emami converted a throw attempt into a takedown to make it 5-2 at the break.
“When I fell behind I kept telling myself, ‘It’s okay, you can make up for it,’” Emami said. “I managed my mindset so I could get back into the match, and that was a strength. Thankfully, I was able to turn things around in the second period.”
The second period was all Emami, as he reeled off seven unanswered points, going ahead for the first time when he spun behind for a takedown for a 6-5 lead. A 2-point counter exposure and a stepout finished up the scoring.
“I was fully aware of the situation,” Emami said about holding the lead. “When an opponent is trailing, they put everything they have into trying to make up the deficit.”
For Aoyagi, it was a harsh defeat, given he had stormed into the final with three straight technical falls—two that were finished in less than a minute.
“Aoyogi is a good wrestler, a world champion who performed well in previous competitions,” Emami said. “We had been analyzing him since last month, and he is truly a skilled and clever wrestler.”
At 97kg, Azarpira encountered little resistance in the final from Poyonov, an Asian bronze medalist who had two one-point wins in the easier side of the bracket.
Azarpira needed only press ahead and Poyonov was soon out the ring, six times in the first period and twice in the second. A fleeing penalty point was assessed after the fifth and last stepouts, the latter becoming the 10th point to end the match at 3:42.
Azarpira earned his place in the final—and sweet measure of revenge—when he forged a 3-2 victory in the semifinals over Japan’s three-time Asian champion Arash Yoshida, who had defeated him in the Asian Championships final in April.
At 57kg, India’s Aman was a point-scoring machine as he capped his golden run with an 11-7 victory in the final over world champion Han Chong Song of DPR Korea.
Aman, a bronze medalist three years ago in Hangzhou, scored his first takedown just after the activity clock expired on him, then fights off a whizzer to score another and go into the break leading 4-1.
The Indian gains another takedown, but then Han launches a furious comeback. He gains a takedown and gut wrench roll for 4, then adds another takedown to cut the lead to 8-7—all the while taking an injury timeout and favoring his left leg during breaks in the action. Oddly, he would limp back into the circle to restart the match, then swiftly launch an attack with the agility of a mountain goat.
The well-conditioned Aman, however, still had plenty left in the tank and expanded his lead with a takedown with 38 seconds left, adding a 2-point exposure. His opponent’s ill-advised challenge tacked on another point for an 11-7 finish.
Over four matches, Aman amassed an amazing 57 points—including 20 in a 20-9 shootout with Japan’s Yamoto Ogawa in his opening match.
In the bronze-medal matches, Japan’s Ogawa was denied a medal when Aiaal Belolyubskii hung on for a 1-1 victory at 57kg on last-point criteria, with both points coming on the activity clock. China’s Zou Wanhao took the other 57kg bronze.
Viktor Rassadin gave Tajikistan a second bronze with a nail-biting 3-3 victory on last-point criteria over Kyrgyzstan’s Orozobek Toktomambekov at 74kg.
The Russian-born Rassadin, a two-time Asian silver medalist, had conceded a go-ahead takedown in the final seconds when he managed to gain a buzzer-beating 2-point exposure to secure the win.
World bronze medalist and three-time Asian champion Nurkozha Kaipanov captured the other 74kg bronze.
The 97kg bronzes went to Japan’s Yoshida and India’s Deepak Punia.