title: Physiological determinants of wrestling success in elite Iranian senior and junior Greco-Roman wrestlers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fitness profile and the physiological determinants of wrestling success in Greco-Roman wrestlers were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The wrestlers from the Iranian National Greco-Roman Team (14 junior wrestlers and 12 senior wrestlers) participated in this study. The junior and senior wrestlers were divided into two groups of successful and less successful athletes based on their performance during the previous wrestling season. The wrestlers were evaluated for anthropometric measurements, flexibility, muscular endurance, explosive power, peak and mean power of upper and lower limbs, cardiovascular endurance, running speed, agility, and muscular strength.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In senior wrestler, significant differences in favor of the successful wrestlers were found for relative grip strength (P<0.01), pull-ups (P<0.01), peak and mean anaerobic power of upper limbs (P<0.05), and oxygen consumption (O2) corresponding to ventilatory threshold (VT). The results of discriminant analysis revealed that the relative grip strength, pull-ups, and mean anaerobic power were the most important variables separating the groups. In junior wrestlers, the successful wrestlers had significantly more relative grip strength (P<0.01), pull-ups (P<0.01), peak and mean anaerobic power of upper limbs (P<0.05), and peak anaerobic power of lower limbs (P<0.05). However, the results of discriminant analysis showed that the model could not successfully determine group membership.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and anaerobic capacity are the most important variables in Greco-Roman wrestling and athletes must pay particular attention to improving these variables to be a successful wrestler.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Rohollah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nikooie
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Biomechanics, National Olympic and Paralympic Academy of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cheraghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran - mp_fariborz@uk.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Fariborz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mohamadipour
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015308:Anaerobic Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D018583:Pliability; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D014952:Wrestling / Q000502:physiology*