TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani congratulated the country’s freestyle wrestling team on winning the 2016 Freestyle Wrestling World Cup held in the United States.

In a message on Monday, Larijani hailed winning of the title in a tournament with the participation of powerful teams as a source of pride and delight for the Iranian nation.

On Sunday night, the Iranian team defeated Russia 5-3 in the final match held at The Forum, Inglewood, California and won the title.

Iran started the campaign with a 5-3 victory over Azerbaijan and routed India 8-0 in Pool B.

Iran and USA split four matches apiece, but Iran held the edge on classification points, 17-15, giving them the tiebreaker.

Iran then beat Russia 5-3 in the final match and finished in first place.

The Wrestling World Cup has been conducted every year since the 1973 tournament. The World Cup began as a dual-meet competition for the top teams on each continent, but now features the top teams in the rankings of the previous year's world championships.

By Tasnim News Agency