CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (July 13) – Rio 2016 bronze medalist Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) reclaimed the top position at 71kg for July from European champion Balint KORPASI (HUN), following the latter’s semifinal loss to Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) in the Tbilisi Grand Prix.

Chunayev, the 2015 world champion at 71kg, defeated Korpasi in the semifinals at the Nikola Petrov meet in Bulgaria in April. The reigning world champ from Hungary, however, bounced back for the European championship crown in May to hold onto the top spot at super lightweight through June.

But in Tbilisi, Korpasi fell to Bolkvadze, another bronze medal winner at 66kg from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, in the semifinals and was toppled again in the bronze medal final, leaving Chunayev an opening to reclaim the No.1 ranking he last held in August 2016.

With three junior continental championships staged in June, the bulk of the rankings in July were largely unchanged with only minor adjustments in the polls triggered by results from Tbilisi and the Nordic Championships in Panevezys, Lithuania.  

With little over a month to go before the world championships in Paris, four of the 2016 Olympic Games and world champions – Cubans Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (59kg), Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (130kg) along with Russia’s Roman VLASOV (75kg) and Ramazan ABACHARAEV (80kg) -- remain atop their respective weight categories.

Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) made the biggest move of the month within the rankings – going from No.14 to No.10 at 80kg after defeating Rio 2016 silver medalist Mark MADSEN (DEN) in the Nordic championship finals. Teammate and fellow European under-23 titlist Zakarias BERG (SWE) also won in Panavezys to go from 10th to No.8 at 85kg.

Meanwhile, on the flip side of the rankings, former world champion Peter BASCI (HUN) appears to have lost the Midas touch after victories this spring at home and in Bulgaria, slumping from No.3 to eighth at 80kg after early exits at the European championships and in Tbilisi.

Among the wrestlers joining the rankings in July, Poddubny tourney bronze medal winner Narek OGANIAN (RUS) joins the 75kg rankings at No.17 after a triumph at the junior European championships. Ben PROVISOR (USA) rejoins the 85kg rankings at No.17 after taking the Pan American title and a silver medal in Tbilisi.

Wrestlers in the rankings are listed by name, country code, most notable or most recent result over the last 12 months, and their position in the previous rankings.

59kg – Asian runner-up Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) continued his slow but steady ascent through the featherweight ranks, advancing two rungs to No.13 after a triumph in Tbilisi over Rio 2016 bronze medalist Stig Andre BERG (NOR).

1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) – Asia No.1 (3)
4. Kristijan FRIS (SRB) – Europe No.1 (4)
5. Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) – Europe No.2 (5)
6. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (6)
7. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) – Europe No.3 (7)
8. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (8)
9. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) – European U23 No.1 (9)
10. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (10)
11. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (11)
12. Dshambulat LOKYAEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (12)
13. Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (15)
14. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – Rio OG No.5 (13)
15. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – Rio OG No.5 (14)
16. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (16)
17. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (17)
18. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) – Nikola Petrov No.3 (18)
19. Andres MONTANO ARROYO (ECU) – Pan America No.1 (19)
20. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) – European Jrs No.1 (Not Ranked)

66kg – Parviz NASIBOV (UKR), the top individual performer at 66kg at the World Cup in March, won his first international title at the European junior championships in Dortmund and joins the rankings at No.18.

1. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – Europe No.1 (1)
2. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Europe No.2 (2)
3. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – Europe No.3 (3)
4. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (6)
5. OH Sang-Hoon (KOR) – Asia No.1 (4)
6. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (5)
7. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.2 (7)
8. Ali Reizollah ARSALAN (IRI) – Asia No.3 (8)
9. Abdulsamet GUNAL (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (9)
10. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Asia No.5 (10)
11. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Pan American No.1 (11)
12. Kamran MAMMADOV (AZE) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (13)
13. Aleksey KIYANKIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (12)
14. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (14)
15. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – Rio OG No.5 (15)
16. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – Rio OG No.7 (16)
17. Danijel JANECIC (CRO) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (18)
18. Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) – European Jrs No.1 (nr)
19. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – Paris GP No.2 (17)
20. Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) – European U23 No.1 (19)

71kg – Junior world champ Ramaz ZIODZE (GEO) bagged his third silver medal of 2017 at the Tbilisi Grand Prix to advance two steps to No.14 at 71kg.

1. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – Dan Kolov No.1 (2)
2. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – Europe No.1 (1)
3. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – Europe No.3 (3)
4. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) – Poddubny No.1 (5)
5. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – World No.3 (5)
6. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU) – World No.3 (6)
7. Takeshi IZUMI (JPN) – Asia No.1 (7)
8. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.2 (8)
9. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – Dan Kolov No.2 (9)
10. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) – Europe No.2 (11)
11. Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) – World No.2 (10)
12. Yuri DENISOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (12)
13. Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) – World Cup No.1 (13)
14. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (16)
15. Nurgazi ASANGULOV (KGZ) – Asia No.3 (14)
16. Robert FRITSCH (HUN) – Paris GP No.1 (15)
17. Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA) – Europe No.5 (19)
18. Murat DAG (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (18)
19. Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – Ukraine Int’l No.3 (17)
20. Patrick SMITH (USA) – Pan America No.1 (20)

75kg – Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) avenged a quarterfinal loss to Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) in Novi Sad with a semifinal triumph over the European bronze medal winner in Tbilisi. Chalyan went on to his second title of the year and No.9 in the rankings.

1. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL) – Europe No.1 (5)
6. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Europe No.2 (7)
7. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Europe No.3 (6)
8. Kilov KAZBEK (BLR) – Europe No.3 (8)
9. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (12)
10. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (9)
11. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (10)
12. Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (13)
13. YANG Bin (CHN) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.1 (11)
14. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) – European U23 No.2 (13)
15. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Palusalu Memorial No.1 (16)
16. Maksat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (18)
17. Narek OGANIAN (RUS) – European Jrs No.1 (nr)
18. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – European U23 No.1 (14)
19. Yurisandi HERNANDEZ RIOS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (17)
20. Furkan BAYRAK (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (20)

80kg – London 2012 bronze medalist Danyal GAJIEV (KAZ) stepped onto the medals podium for the first time since January 2013 to accept a bronze medal at the Tbilisi Grand Prix. Gajiev, with four fifth-place finishes in a row before Tbilisi, breaks into the rankings at No.18.

1. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
2. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Europe No.1 (2)
3. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – Europe No.3 (4)
4. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Asia No.1 (5)
5. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (6)
6. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) – Europe No.3 (7)
7. Radik KULIEV (BLR) – Europe No.2 (8)
8. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (3)
9. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (9)
10. Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) – Nordic C’ships No.1 (14)
11. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (10)
12. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb GP No.1 (11)
13. Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (16)
14. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) – Polyak Memorial No.2 (12)
15. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (13)
16. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Europe No.5 (15)
17. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (17)
18. Danyal GAJIEV (KAZ) – Tbilisi GP No.3 (nr)
19. Harpreet SINGH (IND) – Asia No.3 (19)
20. Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) – World Cup No.1 (20)

85kg – 2016 European runner-up Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) captured his first tournament title in over 16 months at the Tbilisi Grand Prix, where he posted a 6-2 semifinal win over top-ranked Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), to climb two places to No.10.

1. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Europe No.1 (1)
2. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) – Europe No.3 (2)
3. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (3)
4. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (4)
5. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.3 (5)
6. Javid GAMZATOV (BLR) – Polyak Memorial No.2@98 (6)
7. Metehan BASAR (TUR) – Europe No.2 (8)
8. Zakarias BERG (SWE) – Nordic C’ships No.1 (10)
9. Denis KUDLA (GER) – European U23 No.3 (7)
10. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (12)
11. Eerik APS (EST) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (9)
12. Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (11)
13. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (13)
14. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) – Europe No.3 (14)
15. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (15)
16. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.3 (18)
17. Benjamin PROVISOR (USA) – Pan America No.1 (nr)
18. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – Paris GP No.3 (16)
19. Ruslan YUSUPOV (RUS) – European U23 No.2 (17)
20. Hossein NOURI (IRI) – Asia No.1 (20)

98kg – Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) followed up on a silver medal in the Nordic championships in early June with Finland’s first title since 2009 in the junior European championships three weeks later to earn a toe-hold on the rankings at No.20.

1. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (1)
2. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – Europe No.2 (2)
3. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.3 (3)
4. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (4)
5. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – Europe No.1 (6)
6. Balasz KISS (HUN) – Europe No.3 (7)
7. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (5)
8. Orkhan NURIEV (AZE) – European U23 No.1 (8)
9. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Rio OG No.3 (9)
10. Dmitri TIMCHENKO (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (10)
11. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (13)
12. Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.8 (14)
13. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (11)
14. Fredrik SCHOEN (SWE) – Rio OG No.5 (12)
15. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) – European U23 No.2 (16)
16. G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA) – Pan America No.3 (17)
17. Seyedmostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) – Asia No.1 (19)
18. Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (nr)
19. Villius LAURINAITIS (LTU) – Nordic C’ships No.1 (nr)
20. Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) – European Jrs No.1 (nr)

130kg – Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) won his third junior European crown and eighth major – world and European – age-group title in Dortmund to climb to No.12, while local rival and Rio 2016 Olympian Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) took the Tbilisi Grand Prix to move from 17th to No.15.

1. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – Europe No.1 (2)
3. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Balint LAM (HUN) – Europe No.2 (4)
5. Levan ARABULI (GEO) – Europe No.3 (5)
6. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) – Rio OG No.3 (6)
7. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – Zagreb GP No.3 (7)
8. Vitali SHCHUR (RUS) – Europe No.3 (8)
9. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.3 (9)
10. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (10)
11. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (12)
12. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) – European Jrs No.1 (14)
13. Heiki NABI (EST) – Rio OG No.5 (11)
14. Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) – European U23 No.1 (13)
15. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (17)
16. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (18)
17. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN) – Nordic C’ships No.2 (19)
18. Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) – Nordic C’ships No.1 (20)
19. Nurmakhan TINALNIEV (KAZ) – Tbilisi GP No.3 (nr)
20. Oscar MARVIK (NOR) – Nordic C’ships No.3 (nr)