#UWWRankings

Big changes in freestyle rankings after continental championships

By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (May 25) -- After the completion of four continental championships, United World Wrestling has released a new set of rankings. Wrestlers from all three styles around the world got a chance to improve their ranks which will help them attain seeds at the World Championships.

The European Championships kicked off the season in March followed by the Asian Championships in April before Pan-Am and African Championships rounded off in May. The top eight wrestlers who acquired the most points from the four Ranking Series events and the Continental Championships will earn a seed for September's World Championships, held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Here are the top performers in freestyle after the four tournaments. Full rankings can be accessed at uww.org

57kg
Thomas GILMAN (USA) consolidated his position at the top after winning his first Pan-Am title in May. He had taken the lead over Olympic champion Zavur UGUEV (RWF) by winning the '21 World gold. He has 92200 points.

But Uguev has now slipped to third after Ravi KUMAR (IND) won his third straight Asian title. Having competed at 61kg at the Yasar Dogu Ranking event, Kumar dropped down to 57kg for Asian Championships and collected 10000 points. He now has 51400 points while Uguev is at 51000 points.

At the European Championships Vladimir EGOROV (MKD) won the gold to break into the top-10 at ninth position.

Other movers in top-15 were Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU) at 13th and Oscar TIGREROS URBANO (COL) at 15th for his bronze finish at the Pan-Ams.

fixAbasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RWF), red, and Daton FIX (USA) are one and two in 61kg rankings. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

61kg
A close race is ensuing between Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) and Daton FIX (USA) as both won their respective continental titles. The former is second with 44000 points while Fix has jumped to third with 42000 points. World champion Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RWF) holds a slender lead at the top with 45000 points.

Tokyo Olympian Georgi VANGELOV (BUL) won bronze at Euros to climb to the fifth spot with 27700 points. Asian bronze medalist Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ) is close behind at sixth with 25100 points.

Suleyman ATLI (TUR), Eduard GRIGOREV (POL), Akbar KURBANOV (KAZ), and Mangal KADYAN (IND) broke into top-15 after finishing in the top five at their respective continental championships.

Tulga TUMUR-OCHIR (MGL)Tulga TUMUR-OCHIR (MGL) is at number two in the 65kg rankings. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

65kg
Haji ALIYEV (AZE) competed for the first time since winning the silver medal at the Olympics and won a silver at the European Championships. He moved past Olympic champ Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and is back at number three with 52400 points.

But he could not overtake Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) who has 53500 points to sit second in the rankings led by world champion and Yasar Dogu silver Zagir SHAKHIEV (RWF).

Bajrang PUNIA (IND) remained at fifth despite a silver at Asian Championships but Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) closed the gap with him with gold at European Championships. Punia has 42200 points while Muszukajev has 36000 points at seventh position.

Pan-Am champion Joseph MC KENNA (USA) moved to 13th but his opponent in the final Sebastian RIVERA remained a spot ahead of him at 12th.

Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO)Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) is the top ranked wrestlers at 70kg. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

70kg
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) had a chance to overtake topper Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) with gold at Asian Championships but he finished with a silver and remained at second with 53520 points. Iakobishvili won the gold at European Championships to move to the top with 54200 points after winning the bronze Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event.

Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) moved from eighth to fifth with silver at Euros and now has 36000 points.

Other big movers with European bronze Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA) as he broke into the top-10 at ninth and Asian bronze Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ) moving to 12th.

Pan-Am champion Emmanuel OLAPADE (CAN) and African champion Bacar NDUM (GBS) are at 15th and 16th respectively with 10000 points each. Asian champion Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN) is at 17th with the same points.

Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), red, is now second while Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) is back in top-10. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

74kg
World champion Kyle DAKE (USA) moved further clear at the top with Pan-Am gold. He now sits at the top with 92200 points. Silver to him at Worlds Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) won the European Championships to move past Olympic champion Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RWF) and is now second with 52000 points.

Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) returned to top-10 at sixth with his silver at the European Championships but is lagging behind with only 36000 points.

African champion Amr RAMADAN (EGY) jumped to the 10th spot by collecting 13000 points for his gold. He now has 29200 points and is ahead of Asian champion Yones EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI) [27000 points] and European bronze medalist Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) [26500 points].

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) has 63000 points to be ranked top at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Osvaldo Aguilar)

79kg
It will take some doing for any wrestler to catch Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) at 79kg as the five-time world champion has now moved to 63000 points after winning the Pan-Am title. The next best in world silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) who has only 37000 points.

Arman AVAGYAN (ARM) finished fifth at the European Championships to move to third with 33000 points while the champion in the tournament Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) is fourth with 31200 points.

Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA), the seventh placer at Euros, is currently eighth in the rankings with 21475 points while Asian champion Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) is a spot behind at ninth with 20200 points. European silver Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE) finishes off the top-10 with 19200 points.

Pan-Am silver Samuel BARMISH (CAN) is at the 11th spot with 18300 points followed by Euros bronze Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) [18020 points]. Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ) broke into top-15 with a bronze at Asian Championships and has 16700 points.

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)David TAYLOR (USA), red, and Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) are the top two wrestlers at 86kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

86kg
David TAYLOR (IRI) and Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) both decided to skip their respective continental championships but still remain one and two respectively.

But the two biggest movers were Olympic bronze Myles AMINE (SMR) who won the European title and now has 47200 points at the fourth position. Silver to him at the Euros and world bronze Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) is now fifth with 42000 points.

Boris MAKOEV (SVK) moved to sixth from 10th despite his ninth-place finish at the Europeans. He now has 36100 points, a mere 100 points more than Osman GOCEN (TUR) [36000 points] who won a bronze at the Euros.

Asian Championships finalists Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) and Deepak PUNIA (IND) take the eighth and ninth spots with 35000 points and 31000 points respectively.

10th at the European Championships Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA) has 30600 points to be placed at the 10th spot while Pan-Am bronze Ethan RAMOS (PUR) takes the 11th spot with 24700 points.

African champion Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG), Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP) and the European fifth Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR) all have 17000 points to be in 13th, 14th and 15th position.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) has 45000 points at the top at 92kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

92kg
No wrestler has been able to move past world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) at 92kg despite him skipping the Asian Championships. He has 45000 points at the top.

The closest who came to take his spot was world bronze medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) with 37500 points but he finished with bronze at European Championships. He only got 6500 points for that to be second. But he managed to move ahead of Magomed KURBANOV (RWF) [37000 points] with that performance.

Pan-Am champion and world bronze J'den COX is fourth with 36000 points.

Others have some work to do to catch up with the top four wrestlers. Pan-Am silver medalist Jeremy POIRIER (CAN) is seventh with 21000 points but the eighth, ninth and 10th spots are taken by wrestlers with 18200 points, Erhan YAYLACI 16000 points and Akhmed MAGAMAEV 15500 points and none of them competed at their continental championships.

At 11th, Orgilokh DAGVADORJ (MGL) has 15400 points for his silver medal at the Asian Championships while fifth place at the same tournament Takuma OTSU (JPN) has 14000 points and is at 13th spot.

European fifth Georgii RUBAEV (MDA) has 13200 points at the 14th position while Asian bronze medalist Viky CHAHAR (IND) is 15th with 13020 points.

Sadulaev SnyderAbdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) and Kyle SNYDER (USA) are clear of the rest of the field as top two at 97kg. (Photo: UWW / Tony Rotundo)

97kg
Kyle SNYDER (USA) won the Pan-Am Championships but could not move ahead of Olympic and world champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF). Snyder has 88400 points while Sadulaev has 96000 points.

The rankings are much closer if the top two are removed. World bronze medalist Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) remains at third with 38500 points while European seventh Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) has 36100 points at sixth position.

Batzul ULZIISAIKHAN (MGL) won a silver medal at the Asian Championships to total 36100 points and is now at the seventh position. World bronze medalist Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) is the only other wrestler to remain in the top-10 as he has 31000 points.

Three wrestlers bronze into top-15 as Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) won the Asian title and improved to 12th position with 26400 points.

Radu LEFTER (MDA) survived to move out of the top-15, thanks to the 3100 points he got at the European Championships. He now has 20100 points at the 14th position. Asian bronze medalist Satywart KADIAN (IND) also has 20100 points and is ranked 15th.

akgulTaha AKGUL (TUR) took over the 125kg top rank from Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) after winning the European Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

125kg
Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) once again met in the 125kg European Championships final. It was also a battle for the top spot in rankings and in both, Akgul came out on top. Akgul won the gold and now has 88200 points at the top while Petriashvili has 86400 points.

World champion Amir ZARE (IRI), who skipped the Asian Championships, is third with 79200 points. Another wrestler who skipped the Asian Championships was Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) and with 65400 points, he remains at the fourth spot.

But Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) moved to the sixth spot despite losing the final at Pan-Am Championships. His silver took his tally to 38800 points.

No other substantial change was seen in the rankings apart from Pan-Am champ Amarveer DHESI (CAN) breaking into the top-10. He is now 10th with 22800 points.

African champion Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) also moved up and is now at the 11th spot with 22000 points followed by European bronze medalist Robert BARAN (POL) at 12th with 20800 points.

Daniel LIGETI (HUN) also won a bronze at the European Championships which helped him move from 22nd to 14th. He now has 16700 points.

#WrestleZagreb

Masoumi, Snyder win Zagreb Open golds unscathed

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 6) -- Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) has announced his claim for the 125kg world title.

Soon after win the gold medal at 125kg at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series on Thursday in the Arena Zagreb, Masoumi announced that he 'win the World Championships gold medal at the same hall."

"I hope that this year I can have a good match to become a national champion, and in the same hall, I will also win the gold medal in the 2025 World Championships," he said after winning gold medal at 125kg at the Zagreb Open.

Last year, Masoumi finished with a silver medal after suffering a loss to Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) in the final. But before that he had a close match with Paris Olympian Mason PARRIS (USA).

Thursday was different. He gave no chance to Parris and rolled to a 10-0 win inside first period, a rare phenomenon in the super heavyweight class.

"The match I had last year with Parris and to this year, I was able to have an easy and good match by following a few points that my coaches told me," he said.

Though he is certain of winning the gold medal at the September World Championships, Masoumi has to go through Olympic silver medalist and world champion Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) at 125kg domestically.

"Zare and I are two of the top heavyweights in Iran," he said. "We're scheduled to wrestle each other in two months. I hope that whoever wins that match will represent Iran's heavyweight division at the competition."

Zare defeated Masoumi in the Zagreb Open final last year to confirm his ticket to Paris Olympics. This is was the third meeting between the two and Masoumi is yet to record a win against Zare.

"I chose to come to Zagreb because last year I wrestled Zare in the final, and I came in second place," Masoumi said. "This year, by using the advice I've received, I was able to win gold in this tournament."

Another silver medalist from last year, Kyle SNYDER (USA), returned to the top of the podium. Snyder had lost to Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) in the 97kg final in 2023 but defeated Abofazl BABALOO (IRI) 12-1 in the final on Thursday to pocket the gold medal.

In his earlier bouts, Snyder blanked Richard VEGH (HUN), 10-0, and Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK), 11-0.

In other results, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) must have the memories of the 2021 U23 World Championships semifinals flashing before him as he took on Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the final at 92kg. Firouzpour was caught in a leg lace in that semifinal and trailed 8-0, a deficit he failed to cover and lost 10-7.

But on Thursday, it was Firouzpour who got the better of Nurmagomedov, beating him 11-4 for the gold medal. Firouzpour got an 8-2 lead after launching a gut wrench and despite a few strokes of brilliance from Nurmagomedov, he kept the Azerbaijan wrestler quiet and won his second Ranking Series gold medal and third overall.

Nurmagomedov had earlier defeated Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) 6-5 in the semifinal for a come-from-behind win and also grabbed the spot at 92kg for the European Championships.

Veteran Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) used his experience to beat 18-year-old U20 world champion Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) 5-3 in the 79kg final, frustrating Yousefi with his defense.

Khadjiev also became the first male wrestler from France to win gold medal at a Ranking Series. Only Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) has won gold before at a Ranking Series (Zagreb Open 2023 and 2021 Poland Open).

Khadjiev raced to a 4-0 lead at the break with a takedown and gut wrench as Yousefi failed to find an opening in the first period. But he managed to get Khadjiev tired and scored an arm-bar exposure for two points to cut the lead to 4-2. Khadjiev stopped another such attempt and snapped Yousefi on the edge and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 5-2.

A stepout gave one point to Yousefi with 17 seconds left on the clock but he failed to score a takedown needed for a win and settled for the second place.

Women's Wrestling

Three months after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships, 34-year-old Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA) added a Ranking Series gold medal to her name as she defeated another veteran Samantha STEWART (CAN), 6-2, in 55kg final.

At 50kg, Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN) remained unbeaten in the three bouts of the round-robin bracket to emerge as the gold medal. Lithuania's first-ever Olympian in Women's Wrestling Gabija DILYTE (LTU) won silver while Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) won bronze.

Photo

RESULTS

Freestyle

79kg
GOLD: Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) df. Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI), 5-3

BRONZE: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK), 7-0
BRONZE: Rocco WELSH (USA) df. Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO), 9-3

92kg
GOLD: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) df. Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), 11-4

BRONZE: Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Boris MAKOEV (SVK), 9-2 
BRONZE: Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA) df. Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA), 9-1

97kg
GOLD: Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI), 12-1

BRONZE: Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) df. Richard VEGH (HUN), 10-0
BRONZE: Jonathan AIELLO (USA) df. Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO), via inj. def.

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Mason PARRIS (USA), 10-0
 
BRONZE: Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) df. Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL), 6-1
BRONZE: Hayden ZILLMER (USA) df.Trent HILLGER (USA), 10-3

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
SILVER: Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
BRONZE: Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)

55kg
GOLD: Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA) df. Samantha STEWART (CAN), 6-2

BRONZE: Roza SZENTTAMASI (USA) df. Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE), via fall
BRONZE: Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA) df. Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN), 13-2