CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (April 6) – Rio 2016 and world medalists emerged from hibernation for a busy slate of Greco-Roman events in March, resulting in some significant changes in this month’s United World Wrestling rankings for the classic style.

Russia’s three rankings leaders -- Rio 2016 gold medalists Roman VLASOV (75kg) and Davit CHAKVETADZE (85kg) along with world champion Ramazan ABACHARAEV (80kg) -- all contributed to Russia’s winning effort at the Greco-Roman World Cup meet in Iran.

And, even though Chakvetadze opened 2017 with a victory at the Ivan Poddubny meet in January, all three wrestlers look ahead to next month’s European Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, from a perch atop the rankings.

Meanwhile, world champion Balint KORPASI (HUN) and Rio 2016 silver medalist Riza KAYAALP (TUR) each won in March to signal their readiness for the continental meet.

Korpasi won the Polyak Imre Memorial in Szombathely, Hungary, to ensure his No.1 ranking at 71kg, while Kayaalp won the Vehbi Emre tourney in Istanbul as the No.2 ranked wrestler at 130kg.

Meanwhile, other Rio and world medalists have been met with mixed success, with some of the wrestlers slipping in the rankings. Some of the movement in the rankings was also the result of wrestlers changing weight categories.

At 80kg, 2014 world champion Peter BACSI (HUN) and 2016 European champion Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO), both wrestling at 75kg last year, muscled their way into the 80kg rankings at No.2 and No.3, respectively.

Geordan SPEILLER (USA), meanwhile, made the second biggest leap of the month in the rankings – while also going sideways – from No.19 at 75kg to No.9 at 80kg with four wins, including a 1-1 decision over 2015 world silver medalist Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) at the Polyak Memorial.

Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), a two-time Olympian at 66kg who has dominated much of the last couple of years at 71kg, made the jump to 75kg over the winter break and rolled to victory at the Polyak Memorial for No.5 in the welterweight rankings.

Younger brother Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), meanwhile, won at 85kg in Zagreb and Szombathely in March to move ahead of the two Rio 2016 bronze medalists for No.3 in the rankings.

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. (Note: Individual rankings from the World Cup competition are unofficial, determined by classification and technical points.)

59kg – Two-time junior world champion Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) won the European U23 title after a third place at the Vehbi Emre tourney and joins the rankings at No.12.

1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (5)
5. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (6)
6. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
7. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (10)
8. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – Rio OG No.5 (7)
9. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
10. Dshambulat LOKYAEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (12)
11. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.1 (9)
12. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) – European U23 No.1 (Not Ranked)
13. Mohsen HAJIPOUR (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (13)
14. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (14)
15. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (nr)
16. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (nr)
17. Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO) – European U23 No.3 (nr)
18. Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.2 (16)
19. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (17)
20. Kristijan FRIS (SRB) – Polyak Memorial No.2 (nr)

66kg – Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) completed a set of medals for 2017 with the gold medal at the U23 championships after Paris (bronze) in January and the Thor Masters (silver) in early March.

1. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – GGP Final No.1 (8)
7. Aleksey KIYANKIN (RUS) – Poddobny GP No.1 (11)
8. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – German GP No.1 (7)
9. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) - Europe No.1 (9)
10. Tomohiro INOUE (JPN) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
11. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (15)
12. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Granma Cup No.3 (12)
13. Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (13)
14. Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (14)
15. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – Paris GP No.2 (18)
16. Danijel JANECIC (CRO) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (nr)
17. Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) – European U23 No.1 (nr)
18. Aslan VISAITOV (RUS) – European U23 No.2 (nr)
19. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (nr)
20. Mate NEMES (SRB) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (nr)

71kg – Former Asian silver medalist Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) notched three wins at the World Cup, including a 4-0 triumph over Poddubny titlist Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS), for the top individual honors and No.9 in the rankings.

1. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – World No.1 (1)
2. Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) – World No.2 (2)
3. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – World No.3 (3)
4. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU) – World No.3 (4)
5. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – Polyak Memorial No.2 (6)
6. Adam KURAK (RUS) – World No.5 (5)
7. Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.1 (8)
8. Yuri DENISOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (9)
9. Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) – World Cup No.1 (nr)
10. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) – Poddubny No.1 (10)
11. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.1 (7)
12. Robert FRITSCH (HUN) – Paris GP No.1 (14)
13. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) – European U23 No.2 (nr)
14. Takeshi IZUMI (JPN) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (nr)
15. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) – World University No.1 (13)
16. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – World No.7 (11)
17. Dawid KARECINSKI (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (12)
18. Artur POLITAEV (UKR) – European U23 No.3 (nr)
19. Islambek DADOV (AZE) – European U23 No.1 (nr)
20. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) – Zagreb Open No.1 (nr)

75kg – After four consecutive bronze medals over the winter, Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) earned a silver medal at his second straight U23 championships and climbed to No.14 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. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (10@66)
6. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – GGP Final No.1 (6)
7. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (7)
8. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (9)
9. YANG Bin (CHN) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.1 (10)
10. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb Open No.1@80 (11)
11. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (12)
12. Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (13)
13. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – European U23 No.1 (16)
14. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) – European U23 No.2 (17)
15. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (14)
16. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Trophee Milone No.1 (15)
17. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
18. Kamal BEY (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (18))
19. Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL) – Thor Masters No.1 (nr)
20. George-Vlad MARIEA (ROU) – Zagreb Open No.1 (nr)

80kg – Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) upset world silver medalist Aslan ATEM (TUR), 2-1, in the semifinals of Vehbi Emre on his way to the title and No.16 in the rankings.

1. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
2. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (5@75)
3. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (8@75)
4. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – World No.2 (2)
5. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (7)
6. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (8)
7. Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO) – Polyak Memorial No.5 (6)
8. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – World No.3 (3)
9. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) – Polyak Memorial No.2 (19@75)
10. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (14)
11. Jonibek OTABEKOV (UZB) – World No.3 (4)
12. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – World No.5 (5)
13. Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) – European U23 No.1 (15)
14. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Europe No.2 (12)
15. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.3@85 (12)
16. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
17. Pascal EISELE (GER) – World Military No.1 (9)
18. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (13)
19. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Europe No.3 (17)
20. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.2 (nr)

85kg – Zakarias BERG (SWE) reversed a loss at the Thor Masters to Denis KUDLA (GER) with a 2-1 victory over the Rio 2016 bronze medalist at the U23 championships to claim the title and vault from 18th to No.11 in the rankings.

1. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
4. Denis KUDLA (GER) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
5. Javid GAMZATOV (BLR) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
6. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (7)
7. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (6)
8. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – GGP Final No.2 (8)
9. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (9)
10. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Poddubny GP No.2 (11)
11. Zakarias BERG (SWE) – European U23 No.1 (18)
12. Ruslan YUSUPOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (nr)
13. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (14)
14. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) – Rio OG No.7 (10)
15. Metehan BASAR (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
16. Eerik APS (EST) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (nr)
17. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) – Paris GP No.2 (13)
18. Nikolai STADUB (BLR) – World University No.2 (13)
19. Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (nr)
20. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.8 (16)

98kg – Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) posted victories at Vehbi Emre and the Polyak Memorial for No.5 in the rankings behind former world champion Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) and Golden Grand Prix Final winner Musa EVLOEV (RUS).

1. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (5)
4. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (6)
5. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – Polyak Memorial No.1 (9)
6. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
7. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
8. Fredrik SCHOEN (SWE) – Rio OG No.5 (7)
9. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (10)
10. Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.8 (11)
11. Orkhan NURIEV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (nr)
12. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – Paris GP No.1 (12)
13. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) – European U23 No.2 (nr)
14. Maksim SAFARYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (13)
15. Balasz KISS (HUN) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (15)
16. Dmitri TIMCHENKO (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (nr)
17. Mikhail KAJAIA (SRB) – Zagreb GP No.1 (nr)
18. G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (18)
19. Hayden ZILLMER (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.2 (19)
20. Fatih BASKOY (TUR) – European U23 No.3 (nr)

130kg – Balint LAM (HUN) wins the Zagreb Grand Prix and takes a bronze medal at the Polyak Memorial to climb to No.6, while former heavyweight Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) collects bronze medals in Kiev and Zagreb at 130kg earn No.8 at super heavyweight. 

1. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.3 (7)
6. Balint LAM (HUN) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (10)
7. Heiki NABI (EST) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
8. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – Zagreb GP No.3 (8@98)
9. Eduard POPP (GER) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
10. Iosif CHUGOSHVILI (BLR) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.2 (9)
11. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) – Rio OG No.7 (8)
12. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) – GGP Final No.2 (11)
13. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
14. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (17)
15. Johan Magnus EUREN (SWE) – Europe No.3 (12)
16. Oscar MARVIK (NOR) – Paris GP No.2 (nr)
17. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN) – Polyak Memorial No.2 (20)
18. Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) – European U23 No.1 (nr)
19. Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (19)
20. Robert SMITH (USA) – Thor Masters No.1 (nr)