#WrestleIstanbul

Thursday's U17 World Championship semifinals set

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkiye (August 3) --- The fourth day of wrestling at the 2023 U17 World Championships continue with women's wrestling action at 40kg, 46kg, 53kg, 61kg and 69kg. 

The morning session, which starts at 11:00 (local time), will run through the quarterfinals before taking our mid-day break. We'll return at 17:00 for the semifinals, then roll directly into the first set of women's wrestling medal bouts at 18:00.

Thursday's opening session will feature 23 medalists from this year's continental champions, including eight wrestlers who reached the top of the podium at the 2023 Asian, European, African or Pan-American Championships.

Everything you need to know:
📍Istanbul, Turkiye 🇹🇷
🗓️: July 31-August 6
Qualification: 11:00
🥇🥈🥉= 18:00
#️⃣#WrestleIstanbul
🖥️: uww.org 
📱: UWW App

Here's a list of the reigning continental champs in action on Thursday:
40kg - Klara WINKLER (GER)
46kg - Dounia ZITOUNI (ALG)
53kg - Fabiana RINELLA (ITA)
61kg - Ekaterina RADYSHEVA (AIN)
61kg - Savita SAVITA (IND)
69kg - Srishti SRISHTI (IND)
69kg - Veronika VILK (CRO)
69kg - Joseth Sasa MAVUNGU (ANG)

Thursday's semifinal matchups:

40kg
Jaclyn Rose BOUZAKIS (USA) vs. Rachana RACHANA (IND)
Koharu AKUTSU (JPN) vs. Klara WINKLER (GER)

46kg
Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) vs. Daniella Tara HOSSEIN BEKY (NOR)
Meiramgul AKHMETZHAN (KAZ) vs. Muskan MUSKAN (IND)

53kg
Olga OVCHINNIKOVA (AIN) vs. Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)
Fabiana RINELLA (ITA) vs. Sakura ONISHI (JPN)

61kg
Konami ONO (JPN) vs. Leah Melina Falkeid SAMSONSEN (NOR)
Haylie Emma JAFFEE (USA) vs. Savita SAVITA (IND)

69kg
Veronika VILK (CRO) vs. Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Srishti SRISHTI (IND) vs. Jasmine Dolores ROBINSON (USA)

13:21: That'll do it for the morning session. I'll update the semifinal matches as soon as the system refreshes. We'll see you back here at 17:00 for the semifinals, then 18:00 for the first set of women's wrestling medal matches. 

13:04: It looks like it'll be a short day. We only have two matches left on each mat before we head into the break.

13:02:  Savita SAVITA (IND) continued her dominance over the field at 61kg. She's scored 29 points in two matches, beating Beyza Nur AKKUS (TUR) and Sofya ZMAZNEVA (KAZ), 13-1 and 16-5, respectively.

12:42: U17 European champion Veronika VILK (CRO) headlocked Karyna FISHCHUK (AIN) in just over a minute and punched her ticket to the semifinal in the most stacked weight class of today, 69kg. She awaits the winner of Evelin UJHELJI (SRB) and Zahra KARIMZADA (AZE).

12:39: Reinging U17 Europaen champion Klara WINKLER (GER) defeated Anel BURKUTBAYEVA (KAZ), 6-1, in the 40kg quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal meeting with the winner of Koharu AKUTSU (JPN) and Shokhista SHONAZAROVA (UZB).

12:14: Despite falling to Olga OVCHINNIKOVA (AIN)Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO) just became the fourth Georgian woman to compete at the U17 World Championships. With all the success Georgia has on the freestyle side of the sport, it's good to see things growing on the women's wrestling side.

11:57: Welcome to the World Championships, Jasmine Dolores ROBINSON (USA). The American just handled Ai SAKAI (JPN), 12-0, in the opening period.

11:53: This crowd has been incredible for the last four days--especially for the Turkish athletes. Elif Sevval KURT (TUR) just brought them to their feet, pinning Ingkar YERGALI (KAZ) in the opening round match at 69kg. She'll wrestle Srishti in the quarterfinals.

11:48: Srishti picked up the easy 10-0 win in 45 seconds, punching her ticket to the 69kg quarterfinals.

11:31: The first of the eight continental champions--Srishti SRISHTI (IND)--is coming up in two matches on Mat A. The reigning U17 Asian champion will wrestle U15 and U17 fifth-place finisher Viktorija IRKLE (LAT).

11:05: The first three matches on each mat are repechage bouts to determine who will compete in tonight's bronze-medal matches. 

10:40: We're 20 minutes away from the first whistles. We'll see you back here shortly.

#UWWAwards

UWW's top ranked wrestlers in 30 weight classes

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 15) -- United World Wrestling has announced the top ranked wrestlers for 2025 in all 30 weight classes. The ranks of these wrestlers are defined by the ranking points achieved at the 2025 World Championships, Continental Championships and the four Ranking Series.

Here's the list of top wrestlers, according to UWW rankings, in all the weight classes:

Freestyle

The United States has three wrestlers who finished as the top ranked wrestlers in the weight classes. World champs Zahid VALENCIA (USA) at 86kg, Trent HIDLAY (USA) at 92kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg are ranked one.

Bahrain has two wrestlers finishing as ranked one -- Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN) at 79kg and Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) at 125kg.

World champion at 57kg Chongsong HAN (PRK) finished first and so did 61kg world champion Zavur UGUEV (UWW).

Iran, Japan and Slovakia also had one highest ranked wrestler as well with world champion Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) at 65kg and Yoshinosuke AOYAG (JPN) at 70kg. World bronze medalist Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) finished top at 79kg.

57kg - Chongsong HAN (PRK)
61kg - Zavur UGUEV (UWW)
65kg - Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
70kg - Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
74kg - Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
79kg - Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
86kg - Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
92kg - Trent HIDLAY (USA)
97kg - Kyle SNYDER (USA)
125kg - Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)

Women's Wrestling

Best women's wrestling country, Japan, finished with three number one ranked wrestlers. Sakura ONISHI (JPN) at 59kg, Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg and Ami ISHII (JPN) at 68kg, all world champs, are all ranked number one.

Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) is at the top at 57kg for Turkiye, ANTIM (IND) ranked topped at 53kg, Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) finished best at 55kg, Helen MAROULIS (USA) at 57kg and Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) at 62kg.

Ukraine's got on the list as well with world champion Alla BELINSKA (UKR) ranked number one at 72kg. World silver medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) finished as best wrestler at 76kg. 

50kg - Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
53kg - ANTIM (IND)
55kg - Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)
57kg - Helen MAROULIS (USA)
59kg - Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
62kg - Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
65kg - Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
68kg - Ami ISHII (JPN)
72kg - Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
76kg - Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)

Greco-Roman

Uzbekistan emerged as the best country in Greco-Roman with three top ranked wrestlers. World champion Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) at 63kg, Alisher GANIEV (UZB) at 60kg and Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) at 72kg were best.

Georgia and Hungary got two wrestlers each at the top. World champion Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) earned himself the top rank at 55kg while Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) is at 82kg. For Hungary, Alex SZOKE (HUN) at 97kg and Darius VITEK (HUN) at 130kg earned the top rank.

Iran, Turkiye and Serbia earned one spots each at the top of the ranking. Olympic and world champion Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) became the top ranked wrestler at 67kg, Ahmed YILMAZ (TUR) at 72kg and world champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) at 87kg.

55kg - Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
60kg - Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
63kg - Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
67kg - Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
72kg - Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
77kg - Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
82kg - Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
87kg - Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
97kg - Alex SZOKE (HUN)
130kg - Darius VITEK (HUN)

Each of the top ranked wrestlers in their respective weight classes will receive Swiss Francs (CHF) 5,000.