Ranking Series calendar finalized, UWW approves 2kg weight tolerance

Tuesday, December 20, 2022 - 07:10 By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 20) -- The United World Wrestling has defined the host for the Ranking Series in 2023 and allow a two-kilogram weight tolerance for wrestlers at each Ranking Series event starting next year.

The change was approved as the UWW Bureau met Monday to finalize the calendar for 2023 among other agendas.

Apart from confirming the four stops for the Ranking Series events, the continental championships for 2023 were also approved with New Delhi, India and Sydney, Australia confirmed as the host of respective continental championships.

Furthermore, setting up an Athletes' Entourage sub-Commission was also approved by the Bureau.

The two-kilogram weight tolerance was also put forward to the Bureau and it was readily accepted. The move will promote wrestler to compete in their preferred weight class instead of an upper weight classes in future Ranking Series events.

The opportunity for the same will be the season opener in Zagreb, Croatia with the traditional Zagreb Open accepting the status of Ranking Series. This is not the first time that the tournament will be a ranking event. The tournament has been a Greco-Roman Ranking Series in the past.

For 2023, all three styles will be conducted in the Croatian capital from February 1-5.

Like last year, the Bureau wanted to provide equal opportunities to smaller National Federations and for that it kept one Ranking Series stop in Africa. The Ibrahim Moustafa tournament will be the second Ranking Series event from February 23-26 in Alexandria, Egypt.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan was also approved as the third stop for the Ranking Series. The tournament will be held from June 1 to 4 before the Series travels to Budapest, Hungary for the last stop from July 13-16.

Ranking Series Calendar 2023:

1st Ranking Series: February 1-5, Zagreb, (CRO)
2nd Ranking Series: February 23-26, Alexandria (EGY)
3rd Ranking Series: June 1-4, Bishkek (KGZ)
4th Ranking Series: July 13-16, Budapest (HUN)

In addition to the four Ranking Series stops, the Bureau also added the Asian Games and Pan-American Games as tournaments that will offer ranking points to the wrestlers.

Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8 while the Pan-Games will be in Santiago, Chile from November 1-4.

The two Games will hold the same ranking points as the continental championships.

Despite the addition of Regional Games in the Ranking Series, only the best six performances of a wrestler will be considered for the end-of-the-year rankings.

For each wrestler, only the points obtained at the World Championships, plus his/her other five best results at the ranking events (including the continental championships and two Games) of the year are counted towards the determination of the Best Athletes of the Year title.

The following competitions will determine the ranking of a wrestler:

Four Ranking Series
Senior Continental Championships
Senior World Championships or Olympic Games
2023 Asian Games (eligible wrestlers)
XIX Pan-American Games (eligible wrestlers)

Continental Championships, Entourage sub-Commission confirmed

The Asian Championships will return to New Delhi, India for the second time in three years as it was approved as the host of the 2023 edition of the tournament. The Indian capital previously hosted the tournament in February 2020.

Sydney, Australia was awarded the Oceania Championships for 2023 as the wrestlers from the region prepare for the 2023 World Championships and earn a quota to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

In line with the International Olympic Committee, UWW will also set up an Entourage sub-commission within the Athletes’ Commission. Made of four members of other existing commissions, this group will be responsible for advising and providing details to UWW for the improvement of wrestlers in relation to their parents, coaches, managers, technical officials, sponsors, media and all other stakeholders that support and work directly with and for them.

The Bureau also agreed to hold an Extraordinary Congress in 2023 to introduce constitutional changes. It is yet to be determined whether the Congress will be virtual or hybrid.

Note: The second Ranking Series was originally awarded to Cairo but has been updated to Alexandria.

#WrestleCoralville

U.S. Completes Pan-American Team Title Sweep

Monday, May 11, 2026 - 06:24 By Vinay Siwach

CORALVILLE, IOWA, United States (May 10) -- The United States captured six out of seven gold medals in Freestyle to close out the Pan-American Championships in Coralville, Iowa.

After winning the Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling team title, the U.S. also won the Freestyle title with 240 points and Puerto Rico finished second with 150 points. Canada was third with 129 points.

The three 2025 world medalists in action on Sunday for the U.S., all came back with gold medals. World champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) won gold medal at 92kg, defending his Pan-Am title, world silver medalist Levi HAINES (USA) won gold at 70kg while world bronze medalist Real WOODS (USA) prevailed at 65kg to win the title.

Other three champions were Liam CRONIN (USA) at 57kg, improving from his bronze medal last year, Ridge LOVETT (USA) at 70kg and Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) who defended his 125kg title.

Arturo SILOT (CUB) was the only wrestler to deny the U.S. gold medal as he defeated Stephen BUCHANAN (USA), 15-4, in the 97kg final. This was his first-ever Pan-Am gold after being denied for four straight years in the finals.

In the marquee match of the night, Woods faced Peiman BIABANI (CAN) in the 65kg final, a rematch of the World Championships bronze-medal bout which Woods won 3-1.

On Sunday, Woods dictated the pace of the final, getting the first point for Biabani's passivity in the first period. Woods opened the second period with a quick leg-attack before elevating Biabani's leg as the Canadian tried to defend on one leg. Woods did not let go and scored a takedown to lead 3-0 with 2:33 left.

Under pressure to score, Biabani got rewarded when Woods was put on the activity clock and when the American did not score, Biabani got a point. But Biabani could find a takedown which would have given him the win and the gold medal. He only managed a stepout as the clock expired.

Hidlay was in a five-wrestler round-robin bracket at 92kg and the world champion was clearly the best among all. He opened with an 11-0 win over Lucas BORDEAUX (BRA) in Round 1 before scoring a similar 11-0 win over Pool AMBROCIO (PER) in Round 2. Andrew JOHNSON (CAN) wasn't spared either as Hidlay added another 11-0 win in Round 3.

Shane JONES (PUR) managed to score two points on Hidlay who remained unfazed and worked on a 13-2 win but secured the victory fall in Round 4, thus outscoring his opponents 46-2 in four bouts.

Haines was also in a round-robin bracket with five wrestlers at 79kg and followed a similar path like Hidlay to the gold medal. He scored an 11-0 victory over Michael LABRIOLA (PUR) before beating Sergio ESPINOZA (MEX), 10-0, in Round 2.

Patrick LEDER (CAN) almost pinned Haines when the Canadian blocked his head between the legs lace using his legs but Hains quickly escaped before winning 13-2. In Round 4, Haines picked an easy 10-0 win over Jhoan SERNA (VEN) to claim gold.

The 125kg final between Hendrickson and Jorawar DHINSA (CAN) was all fireworks as both wrestlers went for the throws. Dhinsa managed an arm throw for four points against Hendrickson who countered two other lateral drop attempts to score his points. When Dhinsa tried another lateral drop, Hendrickson landed on top and kept the Canadian's back on the mat to win the final via fall.

Cronin upgraded his bronze to gold after a close 5-4 win over Darian CRUZ (PUR) in the 57kg final. In an actionless first period, Cronin went up 1-0 at the break as Cruz was put on the activity clock in which he failed to score.

Cronin was put on the activity clock in the second period but eight seconds in, he countered Cruz to score a stepout and lead 2-0. Cruz fired a takedown with a minute left and took a 2-2 criteria lead. However, that was short lived as he hit a deep attack and Cronin caught him in a tangle with his legs and scored two points. Cruz challenged the decision but lost as the reviews showed that Cronin was the only one with control in the exchange.

Down 5-2 with 22 seconds left, Cruz managed a stepout and a point for Cronin's fleeing as the clock expired.

Ridge LOVETT (USA) earned a gold medal at 70kg with a win over Victor SOTO (PUR) in the final. He secured the fall over Soto after building an 11-0 lead. Lovett did not give up a single point in the tournament.

Silot Wins 97kg Gold

Kyle SNYDER (USA) denied him for three years and then Justin RADEMACHER (USA) stopped him last year. But Silot made sure that Zagreb Open champion Stephen BUCHANAN (USA) did not stop him from winning his first Pan-Am gold after four disappointments.

In the 97kg final, Silot came out firing and hit an arm throw for four points before Buchanan scored a takedown and lace to make it 4-4. However, Silot continued the exchange and used double armlock to throw Buchanan again for four points and then turned him to lead 10-4 at the break.

Silot needed 25 seconds in the second period to once again throw Buchanan using double arm locks and score four points. The U.S. challenged the four-point call but it was upheld, the lost challenge adding one more point to Silot's score to make it 15-4.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Liam CRONIN (USA) df. Darian CRUZ (PUR), 5-4

BRONZE: Edwin SEGURA (GUA) df. Justin ROSALES (NCA), 8-6
BRONZE: Pedro MEJIAS (VEN) df. Juan RAMIREZ (DOM), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Real WOODS (USA) df. Peiman BIABANI (CAN), 3-2

BRONZE: Joseph SILVA (PUR) df. Joshua KRAMER (ECU), 5-4
BRONZE: Shannon HANNA (BAH) df. Tommy GARCIA (DOM), 7-3

70kg
GOLD: Ridge LOVETT (USA) df. Victor SOTO (PUR), via fall (11-0)

BRONZE: Michael ZALE (CAN) df. Mauricio LOVERA (ARG), via inj. def.

79kg
GOLD: Levi HAINES (USA)
SILVER: Michael LABRIOLA (PUR)
BRONZE: Patrik LEDER (CAN)

92kg
GOLD: Trent HIDLAY (USA)
SILVER: Shane JONES (PUR)
BRONZE: Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)

97kg
GOLD: Arturo SILOT (CUB) df. Stephen BUCHANAN (USA), 15-4

BRONZE: Cristian SARCO (VEN) df. Steven BURRELL (JAM), 6-5
BRONZE: Luis PEREZ (DOM) df. Edwin MORALES (PUR), 4-3

125kg
GOLD: Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) df. Jorawar DHINSA (CAN), via fall (12-4)

BRONZE: Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA) df. Brandon ANGUIANO (MEX), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Jose DIAZ (VEN) df. Jonovan SMITH (PUR), 2-1

Ranking Series calendar finalized, UWW approves 2kg weight tolerance

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U.S. Completes Pan-American Team Title Sweep