Amir Hossein Zare (Persian: امیرحسین زارع; born 16 January 2001) is an Iranian freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the heavyweight division.[2] Zare became World Champion in 2021, and 2023. He was the 2019 U23 World Champion at age 18.[3][4] He claimed a Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medal in 2021.[5] In the age-group, he was the 2018 Cadet World Champion and claimed silver medals from the 2019 Junior World Championships and the 2018 Youth Summer Olympics.[6]
The 2018 Cadet World Champion, Zare made his senior level debut in October 2019 at the age of 18, going 4–0 at the Iranian Premier League with a notable victory over two–time and reigning Asian Continental champion Yadollah Mohebbi.[7] He followed up with his international debut, claiming the 2019 U23 World Championship after cleaning out the bracket with technical falls.[3] Next, he took out reigning World Champion Geno Petriashvili in the final match of the Premier League, claiming gold for the team. He won against Geno Petriashvili in the Iranian Premier League and was a surprise, the result of this match was 15–11.[7] His first loss came at the Alans International, where he placed third with notable and dominant technical falls over the accomplished Khasanboy Rakhimov and Nick Gwiazdowski.[8] To close out the year, he helped Iran reach the gold medal at the World Clubs Cup.[9]
In 2020, Zare only competed twice, claiming the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series crown with notable wins over 2012 Olympic champion Bilyal Makhov and Nick Matuhin, and placing second at the Team Trials for the Individual World Cup.[10][11] In 2021, Zare claimed the 2021 Poland Open by beating Nick Gwiazdowski via disqualification after the later refused to engage due to Zare's pressure.[12] In the 2020 Summer Olympics, Zare won a Bronze Medal by defeating Deng Zhiwei in the Bronze Medal match.[13] After 32 years, Zare won Iran's freestyle wrestling gold medal in the heavyweight division of the World Championships in Norway by defeating Geno Petriashvili.[13]
He won one of the bronze medals in the men's 125 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.[14][15] Zare faced the Canadian Amar Dhesi who has the Pan American gold and silver medals, and beat him wisely 8-0 to win the bronze medal.[16]Zare continued in the tournament 2022 Bolat Turlykhanov Cup held in Almaty, Kazakhstan won the gold medal by defeating Yusup Batirmurzaev.
He won the Gold medal in the men's 125 kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.[17] This was Zare's second gold medal in the world championship.,[18] triumphing over Geno Petriashvili from Georgia with a decisive score of 11-0. Referring to this fight, the World Wrestling Federation wrote: Petriashvili had no answer for the tremendous pressure that Zare applied. Zare, who won bronze last year and gold in 2021, added another gold medal to his record.[19][20] Zare won 4-0 against Taha Akgül in the semifinals.Zare scored a total of 43 points by the end of the tournament.[21] Amir Hossein Zare at the end of the tournament, have secured their spots in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[22] Zare In the continuation of this year's competitions, won the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games. He first defeated Zaman Anwar from Pakistan 10-0 and then beat China Buheeerdun 10-0. Zare defeated Yusup Batirmurzaev 11-0 to secure his place in the final. He defeated Mongolia’s Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel 7-0 in the men's 125Kg final bout. His gold medal was Iran's 12th gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games.[23][24]
He started the year by winning a gold medal in Zagreb Open. Zare competed with Amir Reza Masoumi in the final. The bout was a playoff for the Olympic spot as Masoumi had won the national championships. Like their previous encounters, Zare was in control of the bout which he won 5-0.[25][26]
He won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 125 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[27]