#WrestleFaenza

Makaranka Ends Khachidze's Hopes of Repeating as European Champion

Monday, June 17, 2019 - 18:00 By Eric Olanowski

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FAENZA, Italy (June 17) – Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR) came into Faenz, Italy, for the 2019 Cadet European Championships relatively unknown, but established himself as a huge threat to win the 55kg title when he upset defending European champion Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO) in arguably the biggest match of his career. Now, Makaranka will have an even bigger test when he meets cadet world runner-up Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) in Tuesday’s 55kg Greco-Roman gold-medal bout. 

Makaranka opened up his day with a blistering 10-0 win over Nordic bronze medalist Kasper Nikolai OEVERBY (NOR). Then, Makaranka picked up one of the most impressive wins of his young career in the second round when he stopped Georgia’s Dimitri Khachidze from winning his second consecutive European title. The Belarusian used a left-sided gut wrench after an inactivity point to carry the three-point lead into the second period. After surrendering an inactivity point himself, Makaranka moved into the quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory. 

Makaranka easily handled Germany’s Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER), 8-0 in the quarterfinals. Makaranka's shutout win against the German top-ten finisher from the 2018 Cadet World Championships set up a semifinals match against Ukraine’s four-time European representative, Eduard STRILCHUK (UKR)

Makaranka scored his second 3-1 victory of the day and inserted himself into the continental finals. In the 55kg finals, Makaranka will square off with one of the few cadet world medalists in this year’s competition, Nihat Mammadli.

Mammadli, the 2017 cadet world silver medalist, scored three wins on his road to his first European finals. He started his day with a 3-1 win against Artem KOLESNIK (RUS). Then, Mammadli ended two-time Balkin champion Seyitcan BEYTEKIN’S (TUR) run to a European title with an 8-0 shutout win. Finally, in the semifinals, the Azeri grabbed his second straight shutout with a 4-0 win over Varuzhan ANTONYAN (ARM). 

The Day 2 finals begin at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

RESULTS 

48kg 
GOLD - Damir KALAKUTOK (RUS) vs. Malik ALIYEV (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Damir KALAKUTOK (RUS) df. Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM), 9-7
SEMIFINAL - Malik ALIYEV (AZE) df. Maksim STUPAKEVICH (BLR), 4-1 

55kg 
GOLD - Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR) vs. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR) df. Eduard STRILCHUK (UKR), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Varuzhan ANTONYAN (ARM), 4-0 

65kg
GOLD - Imran BABOCHIEV (RUS) vs. Muslim BARGA (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Muslim BARGA (TUR) df. Dzmitry BONKA (BLR), 4-2 
SEMIFINAL - Imran BABOCHIEV (RUS) df. Khasay HASANLI (AZE), 5-0 

80kg
GOLD – Vasile Daniel COJOC (ROU) vs. Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
SEMIFINAL - Vasile COJOC (ROU) df. Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE), 4
1 
SEMIFINAL - Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) df. Umut CELEM (TUR), 2-1 

110kg
GOLD - Said MUSAEV (RUS) vs. Mate GOKADZE (GEO) 
SEMIFINAL - Said MUSAEV (RUS) df. Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR), 13-4 
SEMIFINAL - Mate GOKADZE (GEO) df. Omer AYGUL (TUR), 4-2 

#UWWAwards

UWW Top Ranked Wrestlers of 2025: Verbina, Komarov, Aoyagi

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 - 19:03 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 17) -- United World Wrestling has announced the three Best Ranked Wrestlers in 2025. The three wrestlers earned the most ranking points in the year 2025.

The most ranking points in the year 2025 were earned by world champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in Greco-Roman as he scored 83,500 points. In Women's Wrestling, world silver medalist Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) was the highest ranked wrestler as she earned 64,200 points.

In Freestyle, world champion Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) earned 76,900 points, the best among all wrestlers.

Verbina: Women's 55kg

Verbina may not have won the gold medal at the World Championships but she had a busy year, wrestling more often than others. That earned her more ranking points than many as she finished at the top of the rankings in Women's Wrestling.

Her first competition was the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in which she finished fifth for just 4,000 points. In the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana, Albania where she finished with a bronze medal that earned her 5,2000 points. She added 10,000 points for her gold medal at the European Championships. Another gold, at the Budapest Ranking Series, added 8,000 points.

Verbina entered the World Championships with 27,200 points. She jumped ahead of many with 37,000 points for her silver medal at 55kg. Her total went up to 64,200 points, taking her past the likes of world champions Sakura ONISHI (JPN) and Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN). Both finished 1,200 points less than Verbina.

Komarov: Greco 87kg

Komarov began his season with the Zagreb Open Ranking Series and finished fifth, giving him 9,000 points. A similar result at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series gave him 9,000 points.

A big boost came at the European Championships in which Komarov won a bronze medal at 87kg to earn 11,500 points. In June, another fifth place finish at the Budapest Ranking Series added 9,000 points to his name to take the total to 38,500 points before the World Championships.

In Zagreb at the Worlds, Komarov won the gold medal and earned a stunning 45,000 points to 83,500 points, the most among all wrestlers and 13,780 points more than second most -- Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB).

Aoyagi: Freestyle 70kg

World champion was the top ranked freestyle wrestler with 76,900 points, 9,600 points more than the second place wrestler.

His first competition was the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in which he bagged the gold medal to earn 11,000 points. He then added a bronze medal at the Asian Championships and earned 9,500 points for the same.

The Budapest Ranking Series gold gave him another 11,000 points, taking his total to 31,500 points before the World Championships. He became a world champion in Zagreb and that gold medal was worth 45,000 points, sending his total to 76,500 points.

Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), with 66,900 points, is the second-best wrestler, 9,600 points less than Aoyagi.