The reigning Asian Games champion Nematpour took a 2-0 lead only for his opponent to came roaring back to score from with a lift and turn from the par terre position to move 3-2 ahead.

As the clock counted down however Nematpour managed a front head lock exposure to move into what was ultimately a winning 5-3 lead.

"Of course I am very pleased with the gold medal," he said afterwards.

"But if I were the silver medallist I still would not have been disappointed as the winner would have been my best friend."

Taleb Nariman Nematpour of Iran battles it out against his friend Saman Ahman Tahmasebi of Azerbaijan on route to a narrow 5-3 victory


The result certainly continued what has already been a fine week for Iran as Nematpour won the nation's third gold medal after earlier freestyle victories for Hassan Rahimi in the 55kg and Reza Yazdani in the 96kg.

Elsewhere on the penultimate day of action, Bulgaria won their first gold medal of the Championships courtesy of Ivo Angelov in the 60kg Greco Roman division.

The 28-year-old added a world title to the European one he won earlier in 2013 with a 3-2 victory over Russia's Ivan Kuylakov.

However, the Russians still had plenty to celebrate after the Universiade gold medallist Nikita Melnikov edged the European champion and Armenian arch-rival Artur Aleksanyan to win 96kg gold.

Russia lead in the overall team rankings with 25 points but only by one point from Hungary who, buoyed on by large and vocal weekend support, kept up the pressure with two bronze medals courtesy of Viktor Lorincz in the 84kg and Balazs Kiss in the 96kg.

The team competition will be concluded on the final day of action tomorrow where three more sets of Greco Roman medals up for grabs in the 66kg, 74kg and 120kg divisions.