WHERE ARE THEY NOW?


Ghaffari raised the bar for U.S. Greco program


By Gary Abbott In the 1990s, one of the most successful and colorful interna-


tional wrestlers in the world was U.S. Greco-Roman heavy- weight Matt Ghaffari. Combining conditioning, good technical skills and a never-quit attitude, Ghaffari won an Olympic medal and three World medals for the United States. His upbeat attitude and outgoing personality made him a favorite of the sports media. Born in Iran, Ghaffari came to the United States as a teenag-


er, and started wrestling for the first time at Paramus High School in New Jersey. Ghaffari did well enough in his two years there that he decided to pursue the sport at the next level. “Wrestling is the No. 1 sport in Iran. I always watched wrestling as a kid. My first two international medals in sports were in volleyball. In Iran, I had no choice, because my body build was tall and thin. I always wanted to wrestle. When I came to America, my first choice was to play American football and my second choice was to wrestle,” said Ghaffari. His first two years of college wrestling were for Fairleigh Dickinson in New Jersey, where he was successful on a region- al level. He went on to compete for Cleveland State to complete his career, where he was a ranked wrestler on the Div. I level but did not achieve all-American status. “I didn’t win an NCAA title, which was one of my goals. If I


had been successful in high school and college, I might have been satisfied,” said Ghaffari. He started his career as a freestyle wrestler, but decided to


also compete in Greco-Roman in 1989. One of the reasons he wrestled in both styles was the freestyle success of a fellow New Jersey native, World and Olympic champion Bruce Baumgartner. “After Bruce Baumgartner didn’t retire in 1988, I started doing


Greco. In 1990, I won the nationals in Greco and was second in freestyle. I did both styles until 1992, then stayed with Greco- Roman,” said Ghaffari. “Freestyle was my first love, but Greco- Roman was perfect for my body type. I had high goals in freestyle, but in Greco, I was more successful internationally.” Ghaffari competed for the Sunkist Kids, and he trained in Phoenix with Greco-Roman coach Anatoly Petrosyan, who had come to the United States from the former Soviet Union. Petrosyan helped develop Ghaffari’s Greco-Roman skills to a world-class level. Ghaffari later followed him to Colorado Springs when Petrosyan became the first Greco-Roman Resident Coach for USA Wrestling at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in 1993. “Art Martori encouraged me to wrestle Greco-Roman and he brought Anatoly to Sunkist in 1991. Anatoly told me to focus just on Greco-Roman. I love Anatoly like a father. I am indebted to them both. Without Art Martori and Anatoly Petrosyan, there would not have been a Matt Ghaffari,” he said. In 1991, Ghaffari won a silver medal at the World


12 USA Wrestler


Matt Ghaffari won an Olympic medal and three World medals for the United States in Greco-Roman wrestling.


Championships, losing to superstar Alexander Karelin of the Soviet Union in the finals. Ghaffari had high goals for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, but fell short of the medals. Both of his matches ended as double-disqualifications with neither athlete scoring, and he was unable to advance. “I tell people the 1996 Olympics were like a wedding for me,


and the 1992 Olympics were like a funeral,” said Ghaffari. “I hurt my knee a month before the Olympics, and I couldn’t walk in the Opening Ceremonies. I learned a lot there. I was so focused on what I couldn’t do, I forgot about what I could do. I learned from that experience and became a better athlete for it.” Throughout his career, Ghaffari had a rivalry with Karelin, who


was undefeated on the international level and won every World and Olympic gold medal from 1988-1999. Karelin in his prime was one of the most powerful athletes ever, with a devastating


Continued on page 13


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