London 2012 bronze medal-winning heavyweight Komeil Ghasemi shot at the legs of US back-up Zach Rey with 21 seconds left in the match, before turning him to the floor for a takedown to establish a 3-1 lead and clinch the title for Iran.

The nation’s World Cup winning streak is the second-longest in the 43-year history of the event, bettered only by the five straight titles for the US from 1999 to 2003, when they last triumphed.

Having thrashed Azerbaijan 7-1 earlier in the day to top Pool B, Iran arrived in the final full of confidence against the Pool A winners.

The US’s top heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev, the 2014 World Championships bronze medallist was unable to wrestle due to a tight back, further boosting Iran’s hopes.

After Coleman Scott let a 7-2 first-period lead slip against 2012 world junior champion Behnam Ehsanpoor to lose 9-7 at 61 kilogram, the US were down 2-0 and in deep trouble.

Brent Metcalf stopped Masoud Esmailpour’s 10-match World Cup winning streak, prevailing 3-1 at 65 kg, to cut the deficit to 2-1, before Hassan Razdani Charati defeated Nick Marable 3-1 to restore Iran’s two point advantage with four weight classes remaining.

Jordan Burroughs dominated Morteza Rezaei Ghaleh at 74 kg, winning 10-0 to take his World Cup winning streak to 18 and his overall record to 102-2, but Iran’s Meisam Mostafa Joukar soon returned the favour, beating Clayton Foster 12-2 at 86 kg, to put his country within one win of another title.

Jake Varner, the London 2012 champion at 97 kg, managed a last-second takedown of 2014 World Championship medallist Mohammad Hossei Askari Mohammadian to win 3-1 and set up the decisive  heavyweight class showdown, where Ghasemi was the hero. 

“We had our chances,” said US coach Bruce Burnett.

“We got beaten in the basic positions.

“We did a great effort but basic mistakes were made.”

The third-place play-off match between Azerbaijan and a young Russian team surged back and forth until Azerbaijani heavyweight Jamaladdin Magomedov claimed a 12-1 win over Tiumur Kotsoev to tie the match at four wins each.

By virtue of his 10-plus point win, Azerbaijan claimed the bronze medal on technical merit, 16-15, marking their best finish since winning the World Cup in 2012.

In the classification matches, Belarus edged Mongolia 5-3 for fifth place, while Cuba replicated the winning scoreline against Turkey for seventh.

The World Cup was a prelude to UWW’s flagship event, the 2015 World Championships, due to be held from September 7 to 12 in Las Vegas.

It will be the first World Wrestling Championships held in the US since 2003, with 108 Olympic qualification positions for Rio 2016 at stake.