World Rankings

Chamizo Climbs to No.1 in World Freestyle Rankings, 4 Russians Top Rankings

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (Aug. 1) -- Two-time world champion Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) rose four spots to No.1 at 74kg in the August 2018 Ranking Series for freestyle wrestling. 

Chamizo, a world champion last year at 70kg, recently captured a gold medal at the Yasar Dogu with a criteria victory (10-10) over returning world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA), avenging a loss from May. Chamizo won a European bronze medal in May, with his lone loss coming to Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) in the semifinals. 

Russia leads the pack with four wrestlers ranked No.1 in freestyle. No other country has multiple top-ranked wrestlers in the freestyle rankings. Russia's No.1-ranked wrestlers include Zavur UGUEV (57kg), Ilias BEKBULATOV (65kg), Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (79kg) and Vladislav BAITCAEV (97kg).

Both Uguev and Bekbulatov won gold medals at the Yarygin Grand Prix and Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournaments, and both finished as silver medalists at the European Championships. Gadzhimagomedov won a gold at the European Championships, as well as gold medals at the Yarygin Grand Prix and Kolov-Petrov tournaments. Baitcaev claimed his first European title earlier this year, and was also a World Military champion. 


Fresh off winning a gold medal at the Yasar Dogu, Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI) sits atop the world rankings at 92kg. He won his Yasar Dogu gold by narrowly defeating fellow Iranian Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI on criteria. Earlier this year Ebrahimizivlaei won a gold medal at the Asian Championships. 


Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) holds his No.1 ranking at 125kg after winning a bronze medal at the Yasar Dogu this past weekend. Gwiazdowski, a returning world bronze medalist, won a Pan American gold medal in May and an Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix gold in January. 

Other top-ranked freestyle wrestlers include Asian bronze medalist Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB) at 61kg, Andriy KVYATKOVSKYY (UKR) at 70kg and Fatih ERDIN (TUR) at 86kg.

The final Ranking Series event is the Medved, which takes place Sept. 14-16 in Minsk, Belarus.

For more on the Ranking Series format, be sure to check out this article

View all the rankings on United World Wrestling's homepage.

57kg
1. Zavur UGUEV (RUS) // 42 Points
2. Thomas GILMAN (USA) // 36 Points
3. Suleyman ATLI (TUR) // 32 Points
4. Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL) // 32 Points
5. Khuresh Ool DONDUK OOL (RUS) // 30 Points

61kg
1. Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB) // 49 Points
2. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) // 42 Points
3. Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) // 41 Points
4. Mirjalal HASAN ZADA (AZE) // 31 Points
5. Nurislam (Artas) SANAYEV (SANAA) (KAZ) // 24 Points

65kg
1. Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) // 45 Points
2. Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) // 45 Points
3. Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) // 40 Points
4. Mehran Akbar NASIRIAFRACHALI (IRI) // 39 Points
5. Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) // 39 Points

70kg
1. Andriy KVYATKOVSKYY (UKR) // 51 Points
2. Magomed KURBANALIEV (RUS) // 44 Points
3. Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) // 43 Points
4. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) // 35 Points
5. Mustafa KAYA (TUR) // 31 Points

74kg
1. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) // 44 Points
2. Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) // 37 Points
3. Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) // 37 Points
4. Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL) // 32 Points
5. Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM) // 30 Points

79kg
1. Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) // 42 Points
2. Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) // 36 Points
3. Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) // 31 Points
4. Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA) // 30 Points
5. Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR) // 30 Points

86kg
1. Fatih ERDIN (TUR) // 76 Points
2. David TAYLOR III (USA) // 62 Points
3. Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) // 46 Points
4. Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO) // 41 Points
5. Yurieski TORREBLANCA QUERALTA (CUB) // 37 Points

92kg
1. Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI) // 51 Points
2. Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) // 41 Points
3. Serdar BOKE (TUR) // 40 Points
4. Irakli MTSITURI (GEO) // 32 Points
5. Anzor URISHEV (RUS) // 29 Points

97kg
1. Vladislav BAITCAEV (RUS) // 38 Points
2. Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) // 37 Points
3. Magomed Idrisovitch IBRAGIMOV (UZB) // 36 Points
4. Mojtaba Mohammadshafie GOLEIJ (IRI) // 35 Points
5. Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR) // 31 Points

125kg
1. Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA) // 48 Points
2. Danylo KARTAVYI (UKR) // 40 Points
3. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) // 37 Points
4. Muradin KUSHKHOV (RUS) // 35 Points
5. Zolboo NATSAGSUREN (MGL) // 35 Points

2026 U20 Asian Championships

China's Yang Turns Weight-Loss Plan into Historic U20 Asian Gold

By Vinay Siwach

PATTAYA, Thailand (July 6) -- Even Yuanchong YANG (CHN) could not help but appreciate the irony.

Yang was introduced to wrestling because he was overweight. His parents simply wanted their youngest son to lose a few kilos. Instead, he created history for China, becoming the country's heaviest-ever Asian Freestyle champion.

China won only one Freestyle medal at the 2026 U20 Asian Wrestling Championships in Pattaya, Thailand but Yang made sure it was a historic one.

The 97kg wrestler claimed the gold medal to become China's first-ever U20 Asian champion in Freestyle and only the sixth Chinese to win an Asian Freestyle title at any level. He also surpassed Ying WANG (CHN), who won the 84kg title at the 2008 Senior Asian Championships, as the heaviest Chinese Freestyle wrestler to capture an Asian gold medal.

"I was extremely fat in elementary school, so my parents sent me to a sports school [later] to exercise and become thinner and healthier," Yang told United World Wrestling. "My parents thought wrestling would help me lose weight faster."

Yuanchong YANG (CHN)Yuanchong YANG (CHN) celebrates after winning the gold medal in 97kg at the U20 Asian Championships in Pattaya, Thailand. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

When he first stepped onto the mat as a 12-year-old, Yang never imagined he would one day represent China. Wrestling was simply a way to shed the extra kilos.

"Following my training, I was deeply touched by the passion of my team, the teamwork and the charm of wrestling," he said.

Yang's first major breakthrough came in 2023 when he captured the U17 National Championships title. Later that year, he represented China at the East Asian Youth Games but returned home without a medal.

"I saw my older teammates winning medals consistently, so I set myself the goal of winning my own gold medal," he said. "After five years of training, I finally won the U17 title in 2023."

Yang competed at both the 2025 U20 and U23 World Championships but came up short in both after losing close bouts. When he returned home to Jinan, Shandong Province, he shifted his focus to the 2026 season.

Last week in Pattaya, Yang produced a dominant 11-0 technical superiority win over LACKY (IND) in the semifinals before defeating Samir DURSUNOV (KAZ), 8-2, in the final to complete his historic run.

Yang relied on strong underhooks to force pushouts and controlled the par terre exchanges with an effective gut wrench, leaving little room for his opponents to recover.

Yuanchong YANG (CHN)Yuanchong YANG (CHN) at the podium with the 97kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

As he stood atop the podium, Yang was emotional but he soon realised that this is just the beginning.

"When I received the gold medal, I was really happy," he said. "But while I was walking down from the podium, I realised there are higher goals waiting for me. I can't be satisfied with this. My next target is to win a medal at the Senior Asian Championships."