UWW releases latest freestyle rankings

Monday, March 20, 2023 - 12:47 By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 20) -- With two Ranking Series events done, the United World Wrestling has released the latest ranking in freestyle. While there were a few changes in the first spot, a considerable movement was seen throughout the top ten.

The latest rankings will be crucial to determine the top four seeds of the continental championships which begin with the Asian Championships on April 9 followed by the European Championships in the same month. The Pan-Am Championships and African Championships will be held in May.

The ranking points considered are that of the World Championships and the two Ranking Series events. Here's a breakdown of the rankings:

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57kg
The weight class continues to be headlined by world champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) who has 45000 points, all from the gold medal in Belgrade. He is followed by Thomas GILMAN (USA) with 37000 points for his silver.

Previously number three Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) has been pushed to fourth by Wanhao ZOU (CHN). He has 35555 points over Zandanbud's 31000 points. Zou collected 5480 points in Zagreb and 5075 points in Alexandria to jump to third.

Darian CRUZ (PUR) was the next big jumper who moved from ninth to sixth spot after his eighth-place finish in Zagreb for 6200 points and 5100 points for 12th finish in Egypt.

Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO), who began the year at the 12th spot, has moved up to eighth with 23880 points, thanks to his bronze medal in Zagreb and 10th place finish in Alexandria. Aliabbas RZAZADE also accumulated 18400 points and has moved from 13th to ninth spot in the rankings.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN), red, and Reza ATRI (IRI), blue, are equal at 45000 points but the former in ranked number one. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

61kg
Reza ATRI (IRI), a silver medalist from World Championships, began the year at 37000 points and was second-period world champion Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) who has 45000 points. Atri now has come equal to Higuchu with 45000 points for his gold medal in Zagreb. However, he still remains second to Higuchi.

The third and fourth places, Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL) and Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), have switched places. The latter has 41200 points while the former is at 37400 points from the earlier 31000 points for both.

Harutyunyan won the bronze medal in Alexandria worth 10200 points while Narmandakh was a silver medalist in Zagreb for 6200 points. Harutyunyan got more points since the number of participants in 61kg in Alexandria was much higher.

The only other mover in this weight class is Jahongirmirza TUROBOV (UZB) who is now at the seventh spot with 22500 points, up from 14300 points. He achieved this feat after an eighth-place finish in Alexandria.

Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ) broke into the top 10 after getting 7800 points at the Ibrahim Moustafa, replacing Islam DUDAEV (ALB) from the list.

Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) and Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN) are one and two at 65kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

65kg
The top spot at 65kg remains unchanged as world champion Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) sits first with 45000 points. However, other positions have seen a lot of moving.

Bronze medalist in Belgrade Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN) has jumped to the second spot from third with 9000 points for his fifth-place finish at Zagreb Open. He now has 40000 points to replace John DIAKOMIHALIS (USA).

Sebastian RIVERA (PUR) has also moved from fifth spot to third after getting 14050 points in two tournaments. He finished 14th in Zagreb for 5050 points but managed to reach fifth in Alexandria to claim 9000 points.

These changes have pushed Belgrade silver medalist Diakomihalis to fourth and bronze medalist Bajrang PUNIA (IND) to fifth.

Joseph MCKENNA (USA) has broken into the top 10 with silver medals in Zagreb and Alexandria which were worth 11400 points each. His total of 22800 was enough for him to get the seventh spot.

Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) was 11th with 9000 points at the start of the year but won the gold medal in Alexandria to get 13000 points and push his place to eighth with a total of 22000 points.

Coming at number nine is Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) who is just behind with 21880 points as he finished 10th in Zagreb for 7480 points and improve one spot to ninth in Alexandria for another 7800 points to break into the top-10.

Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB) has slipped from seventh to 10th with 18200 points.

Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN) is the top ranked wrestler at 70kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

70kg
Another world champion who continues to keep the top spot is Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN) who has 45000 points. But the silver medalist, Zain RETHERFORD (USA) has been displaced by bronze medalist Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) who now has 42000 points to Retherford's 37000 points. He got 11000 points for his gold medal in Alexandria.

Coming in at four is the fifth placer in Belgrade Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) with 31520 points as he finished seventh in Alexandria for 6520 points. He has overtaken Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) who has not competed since the World Championships.

No other changes were seen in this weight class.

Kyle DAKE (USA) has 45000 points at the top spot at 74kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

74kg
Kyle DAKE (USA) continues to be at the top spot with 45000 points at 74kg. He won the World Championships for those points and no one has challenged him thus far.

Bronze medalist Yones EMAMI (IRI) has jumped to second with his gold medal in Zagreb as he got 11400 points for that effort. He now has 42400 points, 325 more than Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) who finished 13th in Zagreb.

The lower half has seen many changes as Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) is out of the top 10 and the fourth spot it taken by Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) while Sagar JAGLAN (IND) comes in at fifth with 30800 points.

At number seven, Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR) has accumulated 18720 points with his bronze in Alexandria and seventh place finish in Zagreb. Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL) remains at eighth despite him improving from 17000 points to 18200 points.

The only other change is the number 10 spot which is now taken over by Lawrence LAVALLEE (USA) with 16800 points, replacing Daichi TAKATANI (JPN).

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) continues to be the top ranked wrestler at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

79kg
The top two at 79kg have remained changed for the second year running as Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) sits at the number one spot and Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) is second.

At the start of the year, Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) was fifth but he has got 10200 points in the new year to jump to number three with 35200 points. He has pushed world bronze medalists Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ) and Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) to number four and five.

Arman AVAGYAN (ARM) has changed his position from 10th to seventh with a fifth place finish in Alexandria. He got 9000 points for that performance.

The other entrant into the top 10 is Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) who is at number nine with 19400 points, thanks to his silver in Zagreb and gold in Alexandria. Since those were his first two competitions at 79kg, he did not have any previous points.

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) replaced David TAYLOR (USA) at the top in 86kg. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

86kg
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) won the gold medal at Zagreb Open and that was enough for him to overtake world champion David TAYLOR (USA) for the top spot with 48000 points. Taylor has 45000 points. Taylor slipped to third when Boris MAKOEV (SVK) jumped from 31000 points to 46200 points with eighth place in Zagreb and fifth at Alexandria.

Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL) improved two ranks to fourth with 38275 points. He finished 13th in Zagreb but managed to win a bronze medal in Alexandria which gave him 10200 points.

Ethan RAMOS (PUR) remains fifth but has 9000 points more than he began the year with 25000 points. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) has not competed since the World Championships and is in the sixth spot.

Myles AMINE (SMR) has improved one spot to seventh while Zahid VALENCIA (USA) has broken into the top 10 after the two Ranking Series events. He began at 15th with a bronze medal in Zagreb but added a silver in Alexandria to move to the eighth spot with 19600 points.

Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO) is in the ninth spot while Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) is tenth with 16000 points.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) is clear on the top in the 92kg rankings. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

92kg
The four World Championships medalists continue to occupy the top four spots in the rankings at 92kg but the order has changed. World champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) has 45000 points at the top.

Earlier in the fourth spot, Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) is now second with 42600 points. He won a silver medal in Zagreb for 6400 points and a bronze in Alexandria for 5200 points.

He replaced Jden COX (USA) who has now slipped to third while fellow world bronze medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) remains fourth with 36200 points, 5200 points more than at the start of the year.

Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) moves from ninth to seventh with 20700 points as he got 5200 points for his bronze medal in Zagreb. He managed to keep Illia ARCHAIA (UKR) at eighth who got 2480 points more than his 17000 points at the start of the year. Simone IANNATTONI (ITA) moves down to ninth with 18200 points.

Kollin MOORE (USA) is the newcomer in the rankings and he is at number 10 with 16000 points. He got 8000 points each for his gold medals in Zagreb and Alexandria.

Kyle SNYDER (USA) and Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) are the number one and two at 97kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostandin Andonov)

97kg
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) managed to trim the gap between him and number one ranked Kyle SNYDER (USA) to 6000 points from 8000 points but he still remains at the second spot. Snyder has 56000 points while Tsakulov has 50000 points.

He was replaced by Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) after Zagreb Open but Tsakulov managed to retake that position from Magomedov by winning the gold medal in Alexandria. Magomedov has now been pushed to number four as Vladislav BATISAEV (HUN) improved from fifth to third after a ninth-place finish in Zagreb and a bronze medal in Alexandria. Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), who was third, is now fifth despite improving his points from 31000 points to 36013 points.

Benjamin HONIS (ITA) and Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) 17920 are the new entrants in the top 10. Honis has 20280 points for his appearances in Zagreb and Alexandria in which he finished 10th and fifth respectively. Honis began his year at the 15th spot with 5800 points but got 5480 points in Zagreb to jump to 11th and 9000 points more in Alexandria to improve to seventh.

Baranowski began his rankings from Zagreb as he got 6520 points to be placed 20th. However, he won silver in Alexandria and moved to the ninth spot with 17920 points.

Taha AKGUL (TUR), blue, is number one at 125kg and Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) is number two. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

125kg
Taha AKGUL (TUR) wrestled in Alexandria and won gold to consolidate his top rank at 125kg with 56000 points, up from the 45000 points he got for winning the World Championships.

Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) replaced Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) from the second spot by winning the Zagreb Open for 11000 points. He was earlier at the fourth spot. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) has also been pushed to the fourth spot.

Daniel LIGETI (HUN) moved from ninth spot to fifth after an increase of 11275 points for his bronze in Zagreb and 13th place finish in Alexandria. He also pushed Amarveer DHESI (CAN), Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ) and Hayden ZILLMER (USA) down one spot each. DINESH (IND) moved from the 10th spot to the ninth with a seventh-place finish in Alexandria which gave him 6520 points.

Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) moved from 11th to 10th in the latest rankings as he won a bronze medal in Alexandria which was worth 8200 points.

#WrestleTirana

Ghasempour buries ghosts of past to win Tirana gold; Yoshida stuns Snyder

Thursday, February 27, 2025 - 20:14 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 27) -- "Today when I was standing on the podium, I remembered it."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) replays the match in his mind as he speaks. He remembers the move and the loss clearly. At the World Championships in October last year, Ghasempour was four seconds away from upsetting Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) but the latter pulled off an incredible move to beat Ghasempour in the semifinal. While Sadulaev won the gold, Ghasempour returned empty-handed after losing his bronze-medal bout to David TAYLOR (USA).

Ghasempour may not be able to completely erase the memories of that loss with the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series gold medal he won on Thursday, but he says it will help him move on.

"Last year, in this very hall, it was a very bad scene for me," Ghasempour said. "Even today when I was standing on the podium, I remembered it. I should have gone to the Championship podium [at the World Championships]. The regret remained. But well, it's wrestling, and that's part of the events in sports. I tried to forget it and continue on my path."

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On Thursday, Ghasempour returned to Tirana at 92kg and showed once again why he is one of the best at 92kg in the world. Wrestling in three bouts, he did not give up a single point [28-0], and scored two technical superiority wins including the final.

"The competition went well," he said. "I was able to wrestle with three good opponents in this tournament and fortunately, I managed to achieve first place. The wrestler [in the final] was a good competitor. I had watched his matches beforehand and planned well. My goal was to put on a good performance, and thankfully, I succeeded."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) sees off Alan BAGAEV (UWW) in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In his first bout against world silver medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), Ghasempour ran to an 8-0 lead before moving to defense. He then gut-wrenched Feyzulla AKTURK (TUR) and in the final, he broke Alan BAGAEV (UWW) with ease to win with two minutes remaining.

"I've been wrestling in the 92 kg weight class for several years," he said. "Despite that unfortunate result [last year], this arena was a good field for me. I'm trying to increase my readiness and participate in the next competitions."

Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) defeated Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (UWW) 10-0 in the 125kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Paris Olympic silver medalist Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) added a second gold medal to Iran's tally on Thursday as he defeated Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (UWW) in the 125kg final.

Leading up to the final Zare, who had his elbow tapped, looked shaky in his movements on the mat but come the final, he made sure Khizriev wasn't much of a problem.

Zare scored a step out to open the final and then got a point for Khizriev's passivity. A takedown and turn later, Zare was up 6-0 and by the break, Zare had Khizriev struggling with conditioning. As soon as the second period began, Zare was not having any of Khizriev's flamboyance and scored a takedown and a gut to finish it in no time.

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) blocks an attack from Erfan ALIZADEH (IRI) in the 97kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostandin Andonov)

A third Iranian wrestler could have won gold medal but Arash YOSHIDA (JPN), who had perhaps his biggest day in international wrestling, denied Erfan ALIZADEH (IRI) in the 97kg final.

Yoshida led 1-1 on criteria at the break in the final after he scored the stepout after Alizadeh's stepout. In the second period, Yoshida got the point for Alizadeh's passivity and then scored a stepout to lead 3-1 with 90 seconds left on the clock.

Alizadeh managed to score a stepout with seven seconds on the clock but Yoshida closed it out to win 3-2 to cap off a remarkable day of wrestling for him.

"I can say that it was a great day because I won at 97kg category," Yoshida said.

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) scores a takedown against Kyle SNYDER (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

This final, however, was not Yoshida's biggest win of the day. Earlier in the semifinals, he defeated former world and Olympic champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) 5-5, his biggest win of the career.

Yoshida, however, dismissed that.

"That was kind a win by luck," he said. "Good technique at good timing but it was by chance I think."

Yoshida, who seems small for 97kg, was in all sorts of trouble for five minutes and 30 seconds of the match. Snyder clearly overpowered Yoshida and scored a takedown on the edge and as Yoshida was trying to sneak out of the hold, Snyder scored a pushout, all while Yoshida was on activity time.

Snyder led 4-0 before giving up a stepout and as both wrestlers maintained the intensity in the second period, Snyder's strength and positioning didn't let Yoshida get his on his attacks.

However, Yoshida managed to get a cut-back and a turn to lead 5-5 on criteria with 30 seconds on the clock. Despite Snyder's efforts, Yoshida managed to remain in contact and not get scored on to complete a top-class win.

"I compete in Bulgaria. I tried my best to prepare perfectly for this tournament also, but yeah I can say I still have tiredness from that," he said.

Despite the win over Snyder, Yoshida will continue training in his usual style to remain calm for big tournaments.

"I train like I always do," he said. "When I’m preparing for tournaments I become nervous but I think it’s important to do usual things to keep calm"

At 79kg, Gadzhimurad ALIKHMAEV (UWW) managed a perfect final to beat Paris Olympian Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 4-1, and claim the gold medal.

Alikhmaev as wrestling only at the his second Ranking Series event of the career, having wrestling last at the Yasar Dogu in 2022. Since, he has been out of action for three years.

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Japan dominated Women's Wrestling as usual winning two golds on offer on Thursday.

Umi ITO (JPN), who suffered her first international loss at the U23 World Championships in Tirana last year, made sure she took home better memories, winning the gold medal at 50kg.

Wrestling Paris Olympian Oksana LIVACH (UKR) in the final, Ito needed just 33 seconds to get a 10-0 technical superiority win, her fourth of the day.

Barring the quarterfinal against Nadezha SOKOLOVA (UWW) who threw Ito for a four-pointer using a headlock, the Japanese was in complete control of her bouts.

"In October, I lost at the U23 World Championships in Tirana and I felt extremely frustrated," Ito said. "But I'm very happy to be able to talk about that frustration on the same stage. After the U23s ended, I learned that I make small mistakes and give chances to my opponents, and that those kind of mistakes can affect the outcome of a match."

Despite her impeccable record internationally, Ito has not representated Japan at the senior World Championships as she is stuck behind Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN).

"Both Sasaki and Yoshimoto are opponents I have to defeat in order to participate in the Olympics," she said. "I believe that if I don't win at home first, we won't be able to win at the World Championships. So even after I return to Japan, I'll continue to practice and overcome the challenges so that I can win the Meiji Cup next June."

Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) defeated Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW) in the 55kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Japan won its second gold medal in Women's Wrestling through three-time world champion Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO (JPN) defeated Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW) 5-0 in the 55kg final.

She opened the day on a slow note, winning only 2-0 against Karla GODINEZ (CAN) but blanked former world silver medalist Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) 10-0.

In the final, Khoroshavtseva was cautioned when Maruyama scored a stepout. With a 2-0 lead, Maruyama was content to keep the lead but Khoroshavtseva used open hands on the face and was cautioned again which gave one more point to the Japanese. A takedown late in the bout made it 5-0 for Maruyama.

RESULTS

Freestyle

79kg
GOLD: Gadzhimurad ALIKHMAEV (UWW) df. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 4-1

BRONZE: Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD) df. Evan WICK (USA), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN) df. Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM), 5-2

92kg
GOLD: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) df. Alan BAGAEV (UWW), 11-0

BRONZE: Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA) df. Ahmed BATAEV (BUL), 3-1
BRONZE: Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), via inj. def.

97kg
GOLD: Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) df. Erfan ALIZADEH (IRI), 3-2

BRONZE: Kyle SNYDER (USA) df. Dato PIRUZASHVILI (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) df. Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK), 4-0

125kg
GOLD: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) df. Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (UWW), 10-0

BRONZE: Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) df. Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), 4-0
BRONZE: Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), via inj. (8-6)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Umi ITO (JPN) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 10-0

BRONZE: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW) df. Katie DUTCHAK (CAN), 10-0
BRONZE: Erin GOLSTON (USA) df. MEIDUOLAJI (CHN), 4-2

55kg
GOLD: Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) df. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW), 5-0

BRONZE: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 10-0
BRONZE: Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) df. Karla GODINEZ (CAN), 3-1

UWW releases latest freestyle rankings

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Ghasempour buries ghosts of past to win Tirana gold; Yoshida stuns Snyder