Tokyo 2020 Qualifiers Bajrang, Kaisanov, Micic Improve Freestyle Rank in January

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 - 08:11 By Eric Olanowski

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 28) -- Bajrang PUNIA (IND), Stevan MICIC (SRB), and Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) moved one step closer to sealing up seeds for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after the trio medaled at this month’s Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series tournament in Rome.

Ranking Series points are important to Olympic-qualified wrestlers because the top four competitors in each Olympic weight category (from qualified nations) will earn a seed in their bracket, thereby delaying matchups with other top wrestlers until the semifinals and finals. The top three point-earners in each style are also awarded prize money at the end of the season.

Indian superstar Bajrang had the most successful outing in Rome -- earning gold and taking home 16 points -- while Kaisanov and Micic each earned 12 points for taking bronze. In the 65kg finals, Bajrang upended Jordan OLIVER (USA) 4-3 to catapult himself from No. 4 to No. 2 in the rankings. He now trails No. 1 Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) by 19 points and sits ahead of No. 3 Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) by one point. All three are expected to compete in their respective continental championships this February and can earn up to an additional 22 points. Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) jumped to No. 5 at 65kg where he now trails No. 4 Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) by a single point.

Stevan MICIC (SRB) moved up to No. 3 after getting a bronze at Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series tournament (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Micic, a surprise place-winner at the 2019 World Championships at 57kg, took bronze at the Ranking Series tournament and pushed himself into a No. 3 ranking, dropping Kumar RAVI (IND) to No. 4 and Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) to No. 5.

Kaisanov jumped to No. 3 with his bronze-medal finish at 74kg. Kaisanov’s medal dropped Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) and Jordan BURROUGH (USA) to No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.

Two-time defending 79kg world champion Kyle DAKE (USA) debuted at No. 9 in the 74kg rankings after defeating Soener DEMIRTAS (TUR) 10-0 to win gold and collect 16 points. The United States has qualified the weight for the Olympic Games with Burroughs’ bronze medal finish at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Two-time world champion and 2016 Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) held onto his No. 3 ranking at 97kg. The American wrestler took bronze worth 15 Ranking Series points and now trails No. 2 Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) by one point. Iran’s Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN, who upset Snyder in the quarterfinals, took gold at 97kg and earned 18 points to enter the rankings at No. 8.

Iran did not earn an Olympic license at 97kg during the world championships and will seek to qualify during the Asian Qualification tournament in March.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) finished in second at 97kg and debuted at No. 10 with 16 points.

James DOWNEY (USA) took bronze at 86kg, nabbing 12 points and climbing six spots to No. 3. The American, who has yet to qualify his weight category for Tokyo 2020, leads Artur NAIFONOV (25 points) by one point and trails Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (60 points) and India’s Deepak PUNIA (40 points).

Amir ZARE (IRI) gets his hand raised after winning gold at the Matteo Pellicone (Photo/Kadir Caliskan)

At 125kg, Amir ZARE (IRI) was the lone change in the top-ten of the rankings. The Iranian youngster defeated Bilial MAKHOV (RUS) for the gold medal at the Matteo Pellicone and entered this month’s rankings at No. 9 with his 16 points.

The next Ranking Series tournaments will be the continental championships held in February and early March. Gold medal winners are eligible for 12 points plus a bonus based on the number of entries in their weight category. Please go to UnitedWorldWrestling.org for the updated competition calendar and guidelines for accumulating points during the Ranking Series.

Top-Ten Freestyle Rankings

57kg
1. Zavur UGUEV (RUS) - 60
2. Suleyman ATLI (TUR) - 40
3. Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) - 32
4. Kumar RAVI (IND) - 25
5. Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ)- 25
6. Reza ATRINAGHARCHI (IRI) - 20
7. Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) - 18
8. Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA) - 16
9. Thomas Patrick GILMAN (USA) - 16
10. Oscar Eduardo TIGREROS URBANO (COL) - 14

61kg
1. Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) - 60
2. Magomedrasul IDRISOV (RUS) - 40
3. Rahul AWARE (IND) - 25
4. Behnam EHSANPOOR (IRI) - 25
5. Tyler Lee GRAFF (USA) - 20
6. Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB) - 20
7. Rassul KALIYEV (KAZ) - 18
8. Kerim HOJAKOV (TKM) - 16
9. Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ) -14
10. Kumar RAVI (IND) - 14

65kg
1. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) - 60
2. Bajrang PUNIA (IND) - 41
3. Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) - 40
4. Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) - 25
5. Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) - 24
6. Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) - 20
7. Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) - 20
8. Haji ALI (BRN) - 18
9. Alexander SEMISOROW (GER) - 16
10. Jong Chol SON (PRK) - 14

70kg
1. David BAEV (RUS) - 60
2. Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) - 40
3. Yones Aliakbar EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI) - 25
4. Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) - 25
5. Nicolae COJOCARU (GBR) - 20
6. Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) - 20
7. Kojiro SHIGA (JPN) - 18
8. Ikhtiyor NAVRUZOV (UZB) - 16
9. Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL) - 14
10. Elaman DOGDURBEK UULU (KGZ) - 12

74kg
1. Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) - 60
2. Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) - 40
3. Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) - 32
4. Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) - 25
5. Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) - 25
6. Mao OKUI (JPN) - 20
7. Kamil RYBICKI (POL) - 18
8. Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE) - 16
9. Kyle DAKE (USA) - 16
10. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) - 14

79kg
1. Kyle Douglas DAKE (USA) - 60
2. Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) - 40
3. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) - 25
4. Gadzhi NABIEV (RUS ) - 25
5. Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) - 20
6. Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ) - 20
7. Grigor GRIGORYAN (ARM) - 18
8. Jitender JITENDER (IND) - 16
9. Gombodorj DORJVANCHIG (MGL) - 14
10. Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) - 14

86kg
1. Hassan YAZDANICHARATI (IRI) - 60
2. Deepak PUNIA (IND) - 40
3. James DOWNEY III (USA) - 26
4. Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) - 25
5. Stefan REICHMUTH ( SUI) - 25
6. Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR) - 20
7. Carlos IZQUIERDO MENDEZ (COL) - 20
8. Ahmed DUDAROV (GER) - 18
9. Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) - 16
10. Zahid VALENCIA (USA) - 16

92kg
1. J'Den COX (USA) - 58
2. Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) - 38
3. Irakli MTSITURI (GEO) - 23
4. Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RUS) - 23
5. Georgii RUBAEV (MDA) - 18
6. Nurgali NURGAIPULY (KAZ) - 18
7. Parveen PARVEEN (IND) - 16
8. Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) - 14
9. Liubomyr SAGALIUK (UKR) - 12
10. Takuma OTSU (JPN) - 10

97kg
1. Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) - 60
2. Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) - 40
3. Kyle SNYDER (USA) - 39
4. Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) - 25
5. Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) - 20
6. Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) - 20
7. Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB) - 18
8. Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) - 18
9. Nicolai CEBAN (MDA) - 16
10. Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) - 16

125kg
1. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) - 60
2. Taha AKGUL (TUR) - 40
3. Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR) - 25
4. Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) - 25
5. Badzha KHUTABA (SYR) - 20
6. Zhiwei DENG (CHN) - 20
7. Egzon SHALA (KOS) - 18
8. Yadollah MOHEBI (IRI) - 16
9. Amir ZARE (IRI) - 16
10. Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV (AZE) - 14

#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series 2026 Day 1 Results & Highlights

Wednesday, July 15, 2026 - 08:23 By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 15) -- The last stop for the Ranking Series in Budapest will kick off with Freestyle. Wrestlers in 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg will take the mat and aim to win the medals.

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86kg semifinals: Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) moves into the 86kg final after a 10-0 win over Nan CAO (CHN) using leg lace to score his points. He seemed injured at the end and needed medical assistance. He will, if healthy, wrestle Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) for the gold medal after the Georgian defeated compatriot Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO), 12-4.

74kg semifinals: Feng LU (CHN) with a stepout in the final second of the 74kg semifinals against Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) to complete a stunning, 2-2, criteria win and advance to the final. He will now face former 70kg world champion Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) who got the better of Muhammed BESIR (TUR). Besir led 2-2 on criteria but Kaipanov got on the legs and scored exposure for two points, a counter from Besir made it 4-4 criteria lead for Besir. However, Kaipanov did not let go off his hold and exposed Besir again to win 6-4. Besir challenged the scoring but lost it to add one more point to Kaipanov's score.

70kg semifinals: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) stuns world silver medalist Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL), 3-2, in the semifinals. He will face Ridge LOVETT (USA) for the gold medal after the American pinned U23 world champion Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE).

65kg semifinals: Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL) reaches his second straight Ranking Series final after a 10-0 win over Mohit KUMAR (IND). He used a strong gut-wrench and leg lace to complete a 10-0 win over Kumar. He will now try to claim the gold medal when he faces Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI) who got the better of Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND), 5-5 on criteria. Up 2-1, Ebrahimzadeh gave up a takedown and turn but countered the next attempt and scored two points. He also scored a turn to take the criteria lead and the win.

61kg semifinals: Tolga OZBEK (TUR) gives Turkiye a finalist in Budapest after beating Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ), 15-7, in a high-scoring semifinal. Ozbek with constant takedowns that rattled Almukhanmedov. Ozbek will now try to beat another Kazakhstan wrestler for the gold medal when he takes on Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ) in the final. Aitakyn reached the final after beating DEEPAK (IND), 2-1, in the other semifinal. Deepak, who won gold at the Ulaanbaatar Open, failed to find any opening in the second period in which Aitakyn scored a takedown for two points.

57kg semifinals: An 11-0 victory for AMAN (IND) over European champion Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) in the 57kg semifinals. Aman works stepouts in the first period and Bazaganov is called passive as well. A takedown and turn make it 7-0 for Aman at the break. He comes back to score a takedown and one turn using Figure 4 to win

For the gold medal, Aman will take on Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO) who blanks Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ), 4-0, in the others semifinal. He scored two points in each period for the win.

Semifinals will start soon after the last quarterfinals.

13:30: Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) scores eight points in the second period and beats Sagar JAGLAN (IND), 8-1, at 74kg. He scored a stepout before getting a point for Jaglan's passivity to add to the takedown he scored. He then comes out with big throw for four points to make it 8-1 and secure the win.

13:15: Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL) blanks Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ), 10-0, at 65kg. No trouble for Mamedov as he scored five different takedowns for an easy win advance to the semifinals

12:52: Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ) scored the opening takedown on AMAN (IND) in their 57kg bout he could not sustain the pressure and counter Aman's relentless attacks. Aman eventually wins 10-3

12:43: At 70kg, Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) and Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) traded four pointers but it was Tumur Ochir who did it in the last minute and pinned Muszukajev. Tumur Ochir led 2-0 after two activity clock points but Muszukajev hit a four-pointer soon after to make it 4-2. He challenged asking for more points but there were none in that sequence, losing the challenge. Tumur Ochir, lead 4-3 now, scored a stepout but Muszukajev still had a 4-4 criteria lead. Then both went in a bear hug position and Tumur Ochir hit the throw for four and the fall.

12:38: A huge win for Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) as he takes out European champion Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 5-0, at 74kg. Kuramagomedov blocked out Salkazanov who failed to find any scoring moves.

12:30: European champion Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) with scores off two counters to beat RAHUL (IND), 5-3, at 57kg. Both were called passive but it was Bazarganov who scored a stepout and takedown to maintain a lead.

12:25: Sagar JAGLAN (IND), who won gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Open, produces the leg lace and rolls to a 10-0 win over Sangho HAN (KOR) at 74kg.

12:22: Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) and his conditioning gave up against Tornike SAMKHARADZE (GEO). Leading 5-0 in the 86kg bout, Savadkouhi dropped the match 15-5 and 15 seconds remaining.

12:15: Peiman BIABANI (CAN) got two points for Quentin STICKER (FRA) passivity and then stuck to that lead despite giving up a point. Sticker, down 2-1, tried a few moves late in the bout but Biabani managed to counter it and score four points and win 6-1 at 65kg.

12:10: Farhad NOURI (UWW), a refugee wrestlers and European bronze medalist, starts his 74kg campaign with a technical superiority 10-1 win over Jorge GATICA (CHI). Here's Nouri's story.

12:05: Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ) manages to secure a fall over U23 European champion Magomedkhan MAGAMEDKHANOV (BLR) using a cradle and advance at 65kg.

12:00: Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) moves into the next round at 86kg after Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) abandons the bout due to injury. It seemed that Sakayev hit head first on the mat that caused the bleeding. Magamdov was leading 4-0 when the stoppage occured.

11:50: Stunning result for Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) as he pins Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) at 61kg. Abakarov had a comfortable 6-0 lead but Goniashvili used a head pinch for four points and then pinned Abakarov who tried find a foul in the move but there was none.

11:30: Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI) stuns Asian champion ABHIMANYOU (IND) at 70kg. Elahi scores a takedown and then rolls Abhimanyou four times for a technical superiority win.

10:45: Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL) begins with a technical superiority win over Adil OSPANOV (KAZ) at 65kg. Mamedov competed at the Ulaanbaatar Open and reached the final. He was on the verge of upsetting Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) in the final as he led 8-0. But Amouzad mounted a comeback and won 17-10.

10:45: Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ) controls the first match against Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) throughout and wins 13-2 at 65kg. Khorramdel opened a few attacks but Kuular never looked in trouble. He even had a solid cardio

Tokyo 2020 Qualifiers Bajrang, Kaisanov, Micic Improve Freestyle Rank in January

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Budapest Ranking Series 2026 Day 1 Results & Highlights