#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

World Champs Morikawa, Ishii Set Up Clash in 68kg Final

Friday, May 22, 2026 - 12:40 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (May 22) -- The first of what could be several clashes of Japanese women titans was set up when reigning world champions Miwa MORIKAWA and Ami ISHII advanced to the 68kg final at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Championships in Tokyo on Friday.

Morikawa, the world champion at 65kg, had her hands full in grinding out a 3-2 win over world U20 champion Rey HOSHINO in their semifinal, scoring the decisive takedown off a counter in the final minute.

Ishii, the current 68kg world champ, had little trouble piling up the takedowns in a 10-0 victory over former world champion Masako FURUICHI.

Morikawa got the best of Ishii at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December, winning 5-3 to earn a trip to the Asian Championships, where she had to settle for the silver medal.

This time there is more at stake in the final on Saturday, as the Meiji Cup is serving as the final qualifier for this year's Asian Games, to be hosted by Japan, and the World Championships.

Winners of both the Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup automatically earn places on the national team; if they are different, a playoff is held between the two at the end of the day.

Given the stakes, Morikawa knows Ishii will be coming at her with all guns blazing, knowing she need to beat Morikawa twice to earn a national team berth.

"That [Emperor's Cup win] doesn't matter," Morikawa said. "In that match, I went all out to the end and came up with the victory. I think that tomorrow, she will really be coming after me. I have to show the willpower and guts to not give in. I will do my utmost to secure the national team place in one fell swoop."

Morikawa naturally would not reveal what strategy she has for Ishii, but says she will rely on what her coach, four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO, comes up with.

"She's really good with her attacks, and my strong point is defense," Morikawa said. "Kaori will devise a plan, and I'll just go along with that."

Yuka KAGAMI (JPN)Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) reached the 76kg final at the Meiji Cup. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Takeo Yabuki)

In other semifinals on the second day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym, Paris Olympic champion Yuka KAGAMI moved a step closer to returning to the global stage by making the 76kg final.

Kagami posted a slim 2-1 victory over Ayana MORO, with all of the points scored on the activity clock, to set up a meeting with Yasuha MATSUYUKI, who dealt her a stunning loss in the final of the Emperor's Cup, which was her first competition since Paris.

"I came to realize that last time, the fighting spirit that I had at the Olympics was taking a nap," Kagami said. "For these five months, I have prepared to come here and definitely win the title, then the playoff."

At 53kg, world champion Haruna MURAYAMA outlasted longtime rival and former Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI 2-1 -- with all points scored on the activity clock -- to set up a final against Moe KIYOOKA for the second straight year.

Murayama defeated Kiyooka, the world 55kg champion in 2024, twice last year -- 3-1 in the final, then again 4-1 in the playoff -- to make the team to the World Championships in Zagreb, where she claimed her fourth career gold.

Kiyooka came back to win the Emperor's Cup title in Murayama's absence, and will be looking to avenge last year's losses as she attempts to fill the void left when Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI moved up to 57kg.

In a tragic incident, Taishi NARIKUNI's bid to repeat the Freestyle-Greco double that he accomplished at the Emperor's Cup ended when he suffered a serious eye injury in his Greco 70kg quarterfinal -- which he won nonetheless, but then was easily beaten in the semifinals.

Facing Takara FUKUZAWA in the last eight, Narikuni took a hard shoulder to the eye, which knocked him woozy for awhile. He managed to continue on, finishing up a 5-0 victory. But, wearing a patch over his right eye in the semifinals against Hajime KIKUTA, he went down 8-0 in 28 seconds.

Narikuni was scheduled to also take the mat later in the day in the Freestyle 72kg final, but would end up defaulting that match. Family members said he was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with a broke cheek bone below his eye and would undergo surgery on Saturday.

As defending Freestyle 97kg champion Arash YOSHIDA awaited his final, it was a tough day for rest of his family, whose Iranian father runs the kids wrestling club where the siblings got their start in the sport.

Keivan YOSHIDA, Arash's older brother who preceded him as 97kg champion in 2024, was ousted in the semifinals at 125kg, losing 11-1 to Hosei FUJITA.

Just moments later on an adjacent mat, younger brother Ariya YOSHIDA was dealt a tough 10-9 loss at 79kg to Kanata YAMAGUCHI.

In the final, Yamaguchi will face another wrestler with Iranian heritage, newly crowned Asian champion Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI, a 10-0 winner over Kohei KITAMURA in the other semifinal.