Hammer: Hamid Soryan

When you think of international wrestling powerhouses, Iran always enters the conversation close to the top. Historically, they're not exactly known as a Greco-Roman powerhouse, but Hamid Soryan has put Iran on the map permanently--and with an exclamation point.

Hardware:
2005 - World Champion
2006 - World Champion
2007 - World Champion
2009 - World Champion
2010 - World Champion
2012 - Olympic Champion
2014 - World Champion

Pretty impressive, right? And when you take closer look, it gets even more impressive. First, Soryan was Iran's first-ever Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman. Before him, Iran was a thought of as a freestyle country. But now, Iran is perennially in the top three in Greco. He singlehandedly changed the demographic and blazed a trail for his countrymen. There's also the fact that, in 2005, he won a junior and a senior title in the same year. Not many people can boast about that accolade.

Scouting report:

Pros
- Awesome high dive
- One of the best gut wrenches in world

Cons
- Getting along in age
- Injury-prone

A good gut wrench can change a match. If you have an above-average gut and you can get on top, you can recover any point deficit if you fall into the correct lock or if your opponent gets lazy for a second while defending. If you have a great gut--I mean, one that is so tight it makes your opponent reconsider his career choice, especially in the current rule set--you make an opponent change the way they wrestle you in the neutral position out of fear of being put down in a forced par terre. Your opponent might become more aggressive on level changes, which forces you into his short offense. He may try ripping off head locks or arm throws to be awarded a slip throw, but when you do something like that more than once, the refs tend to call it a take down.

Make no mistake about it: Hamid Soryan has a great gut--not good, but great--and everyone in the world knows it.



Hamid Soryan has become one of those pivotal figures in the history of sport. There is Greco in Iran before Soryan, and there is Greco in Iran after him. The sport in that region will never be the same. There is now a level of expectation for medals in both styles--now, all we need is a woman to break through, but that is a much more politically charged conversation.