#RankingSeries

Matteo Pellicone Postponed, 2022 Calendar Finalized

Thursday, January 20, 2022 - 10:05 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 20) – The United World Wrestling postponed the Matteo Pellicone and announced Almaty and Tunis as the host sites for the remaining pair of '22 Ranking Series events Thursday.

Despite the efforts of the Italian Wrestling Federation to host Rome's Matteo Pellicone on the previously scheduled dates of February 4-7, the latest restrictions due to the Omicron variant proved to be a roadblock in hosting the event.

The tournament will now be held June 22-25 in Rome, Italy preceding the U20 European Championships, which begin June 27 at the Pala Pellicone.

In the same meeting, the Bureau finalized the '22 Ranking Series calendar. In their continued efforts to spread the Ranking Series events worldwide, United World Wrestling selected Africa and Asia as host continents for the remaining pair of 2022 events.

Apart from the season opener Ranking event – the Yasar Dogu – in Istanbul, Turkey (February 24-27), the second event will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan (June 2-5). The Matteo Pellicone will be the third event (June 22-25), with Tunis, Tunisia being the final Ranking Series stop of the season (July 14-17).

Matteo PelliconeThe Matteo Pellicone Ranking event will now be held on June 22-25 in Rome, Italy. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Ranking Series Calendar 2022:

1st Ranking Series: February 24-27, Istanbul (TUR)
2nd Ranking Series: June 2-5, Almaty (KAZ)
3rd Ranking Series: June 22-25, Rome (ITA)
4th Ranking Series: July 14-17, Tunis (TUN)

"We really think that these adjustments will benefit the sport and for the competitions organized every year," UWW President Nenad LALOVIC said while announcing the changes. "Points will be allocated to the wrestlers, depending on their rank at these events. At the end of the year, the athletes who will have the highest number of points will become the best wrestlers of the year."

Updated Ranking System

Throughout '21, UWW has worked tirelessly to find improvements in the competition system. As a result, the Technical Commission and Bureau Members analyzed the current system and several other topics.

One of the most significant changes made by the Bureau was the approval of the updates to the current competition's ranking and seeding system.

UWW decided to add the XIX Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria (June 27-30) as a trial event to award ranking points to wrestlers participating in the Games. Other Regional Games could potentially be added to the Ranking system on a case-by-case basis. However, the final ranking points will only be awarded based on results in four out of the five events for the athletes who compete in Regional Games. The Olympics, Senior World and Continental Championships points remain unaffected.

The following competitions will determine the ranking of a wrestler:

Ranking Series (international tournaments selected by UWW)
Senior Continental Championships
Senior World Championships or Olympic Games
XIX Mediterranean Games (eligible wrestlers)

"We encourage all your athletes to compete during these events," Lalovic said. "The [ranking] points will serve them when we establish the seeds for the Senior Continental and World Championships."

The new rankings have been updated on uww.org, with wrestlers holding points from the Tokyo Olympic Games and Oslo World Championships.

Another significant decision was changing the number of seeds at different competitions. As a result, the Bureau approved to have eight seeds for the Senior World Championships and the Olympic Games instead of the previous four.

Similarly, the number of seeded wrestlers at the '22 Senior Continental Championships will now be four instead of two. The seeds will be determined by the Ranking Series events organized before the aforementioned competitions but also by taking into account the points earned at the 2021 Senior World Championships and the Tokyo Olympic Games.

World CupThe 2018 freestyle World Cup was hosted by the USA in Iowa City. (Photo: UWW / Tony Rotundo)

USA, Azerbaijan to host '22 World Cups

In a first, UWW will host a combined Freestyle and Women's Wrestling World Cup in Iowa, USA.

Iowa will host the combined World Cup for two consecutive years – 2022 and 2023 – marking a new beginning in the wrestling calendar. This will also be the second time Iowa has hosted the Freestyle World Cup. The legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the campus of the University of Iowa hosted the '18 World Cup.

After a four-year absence, wrestling will return to Baku, as the Bureau provisionally approved the Azerbaijan capital to host the Greco-Roman World Cup pending a venue inspection visit. The tournament will be held on November 5-6.

Rounding off the calendar was the selection of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as the host city for the Senior Asian Championships (April 19 to 24).

#JapanWrestling

Another Ono rises: Konami follows brother's footsteps

Friday, August 29, 2025 - 02:52 By Ikuo Higuchi

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TOKYO (August 27) -- When you think of the name Ono from Shimane Prefecture, many will recall Masanosuke ONO (JPN), a world champion who is quickly becoming a global star, who now primarily competes in the United States.

Ono's younger sister Konami, who was undefeated in the national tournament during her elementary school years, is just like her brother. She went on to attend Nippon Sport Science University Ohka High School in Tokyo, where she grew up steadily, winning the Inter-High School Championships in 2023 and also winning silver at the U17 World Championships the same year.

A shoulder injury caused her to slow down, but through repeated practice at Nippon Sport Science University she regained her former strength and won the East Japan Student Championships and the All Japan Amateur Championships [women's competition is open to university students as well] last week.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN), left, won a silver medal at the 2023 U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Being coached by 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medalist Chikara TANABE and Kaori ICHO, she described herself as being in "the best environment."

Ono had been suffering from pain in the right shoulder and had to undergo a surgery in June last year. She had initially aimed for a comeback last year at the All Japan Championships [Emperor's Cup] in December, but was forced to withdraw. She returned to competition in April of this year at the Junior Queen's Cup U20, where she won one match, but lost the next match to a junior from high school by technical superiority.

"There were times when my shoulder would dislocate just by walking. It was a frustrating year," said Ono with her voice becoming teary, as if the pain had returned. "I'm happy because I was injured and couldn't wrestle for a while," she said but added, "I realized I need to practice more and get stronger."

Inspiration from brother Ono

While she was off the mat, Konami watched her brother Masanosuke win the gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 2024 and later become the world champion at 61kg at the Non-Olympic World Championships.

"It's not something I could ever imitate," she says, and although he is someone she should "admire" rather than "target," he is also someone close to her, having competed alongside since childhood. "I want to study hard and catch up," she says.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN) with world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA). (Photo courtesy: Masaharu Ono) 

Earlier in spring, Konami accompanied her older brother to the United States, where he trains at Pennsylvania State University. She was still recovering and was unable to train, but she watched her brother's win against 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA).

"I thought American wrestling was really amazing. It was inspiring," she said.

What made the biggest impression on Konami was how much fun her brother seemed to be having wrestling, even though he was in a foreign country.

"He really enjoys wrestling," she said. "I was amazed that there are people who love wrestling that much [laughs].

"My brother is my role model," she said. "I often watch his techniques and aspire to be like him."

What she finds particularly impressive is his speed, and the way he unconsciously develops his techniques. She herself sometimes has trouble deciding what to do next during a match, but her brother's body moves without a second thought. "I need to be able to come out with techniques one after the other," she said.

Training with Fujinami, Onishi

While Ono found his path in the United States, Konami is thinking of firmly establishing herself in Japan.

"I think that if I stay at Nippon Sport Science University, I will become really strong," she says, believing that his current environment is the place where she can develop the skills to compete on the world stage.

Not only is there an impressive coaching staff, but there are also world-class athletes such as 2024 Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) and Asian champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) in the 57kg and 59kg weight class, respectively. Fujinami won gold at the Olympics in 53kg.

"I practice with Akari every day. She's really strong..." she said, admiringly, and when she's not sparring, she's always following Fujinami's movements to study them.

Since they are both in the 57kg weight class, could she challenge Fujinami as early as the All Japan Championships in December? To that question, she gave no clear answer, saying, "I'm not at the level where I can fight yet..." and said that she might move up a weight class as her body grows, so it's still up in the air, but perhaps the day is approaching when the middleweight trio, including Onishi, will take to the world stage.

Rather than setting big goals, her current goal is to "compete in many matches and enjoy wrestling." She says that she is actually enjoying it, so perhaps she is getting closer to her brother's level. Her next concrete goal is the All Japan Women's Open Championships in October.

She vowed to make a leap forward, saying, "I want to train both my body and mind and become even stronger. I want to become a star from Shimane Prefecture!"