#development

Brazil hosts women’s coaching course

Friday, February 10, 2023 - 16:06 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (9 February 2023) - The Brazilian Confederation of Wrestling (CBW) organized a Women’s Coaching Course from 25-28 January in Uberlandia, Brazil. This course brought women coaches from different regions to learn and develop as a wrestling coach.  Many of the coaches came from other backgrounds that included Ji Jitsu and Judo and all had athletes competing nationally. The course was designed to help improve their technical knowledge of wrestling.

The course was led by Jessica Medina (USA Wrestling National Developmental Coach). Jessica has been coaching at USA Wrestling since 2019 and was the coach for the 2021 U17 and U20 world championship teams. “It is great to see other federations provide opportunities for female coaches. President Flavio Neves and the group of coaches were welcoming and excited to bring wrestling to Uberlandia, Brazil," said Medina. "The participants traveled from different regions of the country to focus on their development on and off the mat. They had great enthusiasm, questions, and a hunger to learn. It made me enjoy the experience even more.” 

This course was organized by Flavio Neves (President of CBW) and Aline da Silva (Vice President of CBW). “We expect in a few years to have more female coaches in the national team, more female athletes competing, and therefore more women in leadership positions in Brazil in Wrestling,” said Aline da Silva. 

Aline was a 2014 world silver medalist and competed in the two Olympic Games. She is also a current participant in the WISH (Women in Sport High-Performance) programme. Jessica Medina was a graduate of the WISH (formally known as WSLA-HPC).  The WISH Programme is designed to equip women coaches to succeed in elite coaching and leadership roles within their sports. 

“I am grateful that UWW is a federation that is looking to empower more female athletes and coaches. Because UWW gave me an opportunity to be a part of the WISH program, formerly WSLA, I can apply my leadership skills in mentoring others," said Medina. It was great to travel to another country and collaborate with other female professionals of different cultures. I am confident these women can make an impact in their federation.” 

#UWWAwards

UWW Top Ranked Wrestlers of 2025: Verbina, Komarov, Aoyagi

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 - 19:03 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 17) -- United World Wrestling has announced the three Best Ranked Wrestlers in 2025. The three wrestlers earned the most ranking points in the year 2025.

The most ranking points in the year 2025 were earned by world champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in Greco-Roman as he scored 83,500 points. In Women's Wrestling, world silver medalist Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) was the highest ranked wrestler as she earned 64,200 points.

In Freestyle, world champion Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) earned 76,900 points, the best among all wrestlers.

Verbina: Women's 55kg

Verbina may not have won the gold medal at the World Championships but she had a busy year, wrestling more often than others. That earned her more ranking points than many as she finished at the top of the rankings in Women's Wrestling.

Her first competition was the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in which she finished fifth for just 4,000 points. In the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana, Albania where she finished with a bronze medal that earned her 5,2000 points. She added 10,000 points for her gold medal at the European Championships. Another gold, at the Budapest Ranking Series, added 8,000 points.

Verbina entered the World Championships with 27,200 points. She jumped ahead of many with 37,000 points for her silver medal at 55kg. Her total went up to 64,200 points, taking her past the likes of world champions Sakura ONISHI (JPN) and Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN). Both finished 1,200 points less than Verbina.

Komarov: Greco 87kg

Komarov began his season with the Zagreb Open Ranking Series and finished fifth, giving him 9,000 points. A similar result at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series gave him 9,000 points.

A big boost came at the European Championships in which Komarov won a bronze medal at 87kg to earn 11,500 points. In June, another fifth place finish at the Budapest Ranking Series added 9,000 points to his name to take the total to 38,500 points before the World Championships.

In Zagreb at the Worlds, Komarov won the gold medal and earned a stunning 45,000 points to 83,500 points, the most among all wrestlers and 13,780 points more than second most -- Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB).

Aoyagi: Freestyle 70kg

World champion was the top ranked freestyle wrestler with 76,900 points, 9,600 points more than the second place wrestler.

His first competition was the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in which he bagged the gold medal to earn 11,000 points. He then added a bronze medal at the Asian Championships and earned 9,500 points for the same.

The Budapest Ranking Series gold gave him another 11,000 points, taking his total to 31,500 points before the World Championships. He became a world champion in Zagreb and that gold medal was worth 45,000 points, sending his total to 76,500 points.

Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), with 66,900 points, is the second-best wrestler, 9,600 points less than Aoyagi.