Women's Wrestling Rankings

Tynybekova and Mensah Inch Closer to Locking up Top Seed at Olympics

Thursday, January 30, 2020 - 11:12 By Eric Olanowski

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*The highest number of potential points a wrestler can earn if he/she wins gold in a bracket with 20+ competitors at the continental championships (22 points) and Poland Open (18 points) is 40 points.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 30) --- Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) inched closer to locking up top seeds at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after medalling at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series tournament this month in Rome. 

Because the highest number of Rankings Series points a wrestler can earn the rest of the year is 40 (22 at continental championships and 18 at the Poland Open) defending world champions Tynybekova (62kg) and Mensah (68kg) are on the cusp of locking in their top seeds in Tokyo. The 2020 Games will be the first time wrestlers are eligible for a top-four seed seeding at an Olympics. 

Tynybekova, who took gold at the Matteo Pellicone, has amassed a comfortable 36-point lead over No. 2 Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) and will earn the No. 1 seed at 62kg in Tokyo if she earns four points at the Asian Championships February 18-23 in Delhi. Tynybekova is the defending Asian champion.

Mensah-Stock finds herself in a similar situation heading into the Pan-American Championships March 6-9 in Ottawa.

Mensah-Stock (74 points) earned 60 with her gold at the world championships last September and added another 14 after taking silver at the Matteo Pellicone. She has a 34-point advantage over Jenny FRANSSON (SWE) and can put her out of striking distance -- and become the No. 1 seeded 68kg woman at the Olympic Games -- if she scores six points at the Pan-American Championships.

Vinesh and Adekuoroye Sneak up to No. 2 Spot 
VINESH Phogat (IND) and Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) claimed gold the Matteo Pellicone and slipped into the second spot of the rankings at 53kg and 57kg, respectively.

Vinesh moved one-point ahead of Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and four points ahead of PANG Qianyu (CHN) with her 4-0 shutout win over Luisa VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) in the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series finals. The Indian star positioned herself to take over the No. 1 spot with a potential 20-point gold-medal finish at the Asian Championships.

Vinesh, Mukaida and Pang are all entered into the 53kg bracket in New Delhi, but the weight will be missing reigning world champion Yong Mi PAK (PRK).

Vinesh is the lone top-four wrestler with enough points to overthrow Pak with a win at the continental championships. She'd control the one-point advantage over Pak heading into the final Ranking Series event.

Adekuoroye jumped RONG Ningning (CHN) and is now the lone woman from Africa in the top two of the rankings. The Nigerian superstar trails three-time world champion and 2016 Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) by 17 points.

Alina VUC (ROU) trails Mariya STADNIK (AZE) by six points heading into the European Championships. (Kadir Caliskan)

Vuc Closes Gap with Matteo Pellicone Silver; Hildebrandt Debuts at 50kg
Alina VUC (ROU) claimed a silver medal at the Matteo Pellicone, closing the gap between her and top-ranked Mariya STADNIK (AZE). Vuc trailed Stadnik by 20 points heading into to the Matteo Pellicone but closed the Azeri’s lead to just six points after taking silver to Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) in a back-and-forth finals.

Hildebrandt, who last year was briefly top-ranked at 53kg, answered a lot of questions about her move to 50kg with her 4-2 victory in the gold medal finals of the Matteo Pellicone. The win moved Hildebrandt into No. 10 slot at 50kg with 16 points.

Epp Mäe (EST) dropped to seventh in the 76kg rankings after three wrestlers moved into the top-five with Matteo Pellicone podium finishes. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Mäe Slips to Seventh after Top-Heavy Changes at 76kg
Epp Mäe (EST) slipped three spots in the rankings after failing to reach the podium in Rome. ZHOU Qian (CHN), Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) and Erica WIEBE (CAN) finished in the top-five to move ahead of Mäe in 76kg rankings.

Mäe's costly loss in the quarterfinals in Rome moved her down to seventh while Zhou, Sydykova and Wiebe moved into the No. 4 to No. 6 spots, respectively. 

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 Women's Wrestling Rankings

50kg 
1. Mariya STADNIK (AZE) - 60
2. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU) - 54
3. Oksana LIVACH (UKR) - 32
4. Valentina Ivanovna ISLAMOVA BRIK (KAZ) - 25
5. Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) - 25
6. Yanan SUN (CHN) - 20
7. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) - 18
8. Yuki IRIE (JPN) - 16
9. Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) - 16
10. Ellen RIESTERER (GER) - 14

53kg 
1. Yong Mi PAK (PRK) - 60
2. Vinesh VINESH (IND) - 41
3. Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) - 40
4. Qianyu PANG (CHN) - 37
5. Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) - 32
6. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) - 20
7. Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL) - 20
8. Lianna de la Caridad MONTERO HERRERA (CUB) - 16
9. Sarah Ann HILDEBRANDT (USA) - 14
10. Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) - 12

55kg
1. Jacarra Gwenisha WINCHESTER (USA) - 58
2. Nanami IRIE  (JPN) - 38
3. Iryna HUSYAK (UKR) - 28
4. Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) - 23
5. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) - 23
6. Bediha GUN TUR) - 18
7. Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ) - 18
8. Anna LUKASIAK (POL) - 14
9. Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) - 14
10. Annika WENDLE (GER) - 12

57kg
1. Risako KAWAI (JPN) - 60
2. Odunayo folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR) - 43
3. Ningning RONG (CHN) - 40
4. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) - 25
5. Jowita Maria WRZESIEN (POL) - 20
6. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) - 20
7. Marina SIMONYAN (RUS) - 18
8. Giullia RODRIGUES PENALBER DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) - 16
9. Anshu ANSHU (IND) - 16
10. In Sun JONG (PRK) - 14

59kg
1. Linda MORAIS (CAN) - 58
2. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) - 38
3. Anhelina LYSAK (UKR) - 32
4. Shoovdor BAATARJAV (MGL) - 23
5. Xingru PEI (CHN) - 23
6. Pooja DHANDA (IND) - 18
7. Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE) - 16
8. Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) - 14
9. Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER) - 12
10. Yuliya PISARENKA (BLR) - 12

62kg
1. Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) - 76
2. Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL) - 40
3. Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) - 30|
4. Kayla Colleen Kiyoko MIRACLE (USA) - 26
5. Henna Katarina JOHANSSON (SWE) - 25
6. Yukako KAWAI (JPN) - 25
7. Marianna SASTIN (HUN) - 20
8. Jong Sim RIM (PRK) - 20
9. Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU) - 14
10. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) - 14

65kg
1. Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) - 72
2. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) - 38
3. Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) - 23
4. Xiaoqian WANG (CHN) - 23
5. Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL) - 18
6. Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA) - 18
7. Aina TEMIRTASSOVA (KAZ) - 16
8. Kadriye AKSOY (TUR) - 14
9. Malin Johanna MATTSSON (SWE) - 12
10. Oksana KUKHTA HERHEL  (UKR) - 12

68kg
1. Tamyra Mariama MENSAH (USA) - 74
2. Anna Jenny Eva Maria FRANSSON  (SWE) - 40
3. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) - 30
4. Danielle Suzanne LAPPAGE (CAN) - 26
5. Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER) - 25
6. Battsetseg SORONZONBOLD (MGL) - 25
7. Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) - 20
8. Sara DOSHO (JPN) - 20
9. Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK KORDUS (POL) - 16
10. Feng ZHOU (CHN) - 16

 72kg
1. Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) - 58
2. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR) - 38
3. Paliha PALIHA (CHN) - 23
4. Masako FURUICHI (JPN) - 23
5. Victoria Christine FRANCIS (USA) - 18
6. Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) - 18
7. Beste ALTUG (TUR) - 16
8. Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) - 14
9. Maria SELMAIER (GER) - 14
10. Komal Bhagwan GOLE (IND) - 12

 76kg
1. Adeline Maria GRAY (USA) - 60
2. Hiroe MINAGAWA SUZUKI (JPN) - 40
3. Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) - 37
4. Qian ZHOU (CHN) - 34
5. Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) - 30
6. Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) - 30
7. Epp Mäe (EST) - 25
8. Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE) - 18
9. Alla BELINSKA (UKR) - 16
10. Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU) - 12

#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series Report: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.