Ranking Series

Wrestling to Debut Ranking Series in 2018

Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - 20:24 By Tim Foley

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (December 6) -- United World Wrestling, the international governing body for the sport of wrestling, has announced details behind the launch of an annual ranking series.

The 2018 series will be a soft launch with full implementation expected in 2019.

“The wrestling community deserves a clear ranking system for the sport’s top athletes,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “Rankings makes it easier for our fans, athletes and coaches to understand the impact of each tournament and match. That’s brand new for our sport.”

In addition to the continental and world championships, the 2018 series will feature four specialty ranking tournaments for each of the three Olympic styles: Greco-Roman, women’s wrestling and freestyle. Points in all tournaments will be awarded based on finish plus the number of competitors present in each weight category. Nations may only enter three athletes in any single weight class.

For example, if at the 2018 world championships at 70 kg, sees 40 participants the world champion will receive 25 + 40 pts = 65 points.

Points are only retained by individual athletes, not nations. Also, points can NOT be carried across weight categories. The rankings will be used to determine seeding at the Senior World Championships in Budapest.

The first rankings will be posted March 1, 2018 on the United World Wrestling homepage

*If a weight category only has one bronze medal (by example Nordic System), the athlete ranked in the fourth place will get 12 points in the Senior World Championships or Olympic Games, 7 points in the Continental Championships and 3 points in the UWW Select Ranking Events.

**If a weight category only has one fifth place (by example after a doping case), the athlete ranked in the sixth place will get 9 points in the Senior World Championships or Olympic Games, 5 points in the Continental Championships and 1 point in the UWW Select Ranking Event.

Ranking Events

Freestyle Wrestling

Ivan Yariguin (RUS), January
Tbilisi GP (GEO), June                          
South Africa Open (RSA), July            
Medved (BLR), September                            

Women’s Wrestling

Klippan Lady Open (SWE), February             
Mongolia Open (MGL), June           
China Open (CHN), June                  
Poland Open (POL), September                 

Greco-Roman Wrestling

Takhti Cup (IRI), January                             
Granma y Cerro Pelado (CUB), February        
Hungarian GP (HUN), June                    
Vehbi Emre (TUR), July                           

#UWWAwards

UWW Most Dominant Wrestlers 2025: Amouzad, Motoki, Esmaeili

Thursday, December 25, 2025 - 11:08 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) -- There were several dominant performances in 2025 on the wrestling mat. But it was three wrestlers who remained at the top of their weight classes and racked up dominant wins one after another. Two were Olympic champions while one was an Olympic silver medalist. All three became world champions in Zagreb.

Freestyle Most Dominant Wrester: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)

- 14–0
- Rank 1 at 65kg 
- 58,000 RS points 
- Outscored world and Olympic medalists 42–4
- World Championships, Tirana RS and ISG golds

Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) was about as perfect as you could be in a season, returning to prominence with title-winning efforts at the World Championships, Islamic Solidarity Games and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and finishing the season as the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg with 58,000 Ranking Series points.

The Paris silver medalist, collected an unblemished 14-0 record in 2025 -- with five of those wins coming against top-level opponents who have world or Olympic medals on their resumes in Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and Real WOODS (USA). The craziest part about those five matches against the world’s best, Amouzad outscored 42-4.

But without a doubt, the highlight of Amouzad’s season came in Zagreb when he finally got his long awaited rematch, beating Kotaro KIYOOKA in a revenge match from the Paris 2024 Olympic finals.

The scariest part about Amouzad’s dominance -- he’s only 23 years old and he’s still getting better.

Women's Wrestling Dominant Wrestler: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)

- 9-0
- Five pins, two technical superiorities
- 45,000 RS points 
- 8/9 bouts finished before regulation
- Completed Golden Grand Slam (U17, U20, U23, Senior World and Olympic gold)

Coming into the 2025 season, Motoki made her goals crystal clear -- become the third wrestler in history of the sport to win wrestling’s Golden Grand Slam -- and for those who don’t know, that is gold medals at the U17, U20, U23, Senior World Championships and the Olympic Games.

The only two missing from the Olympic champ's resume were the U23 and Senior World golds.

At the 2025 U23 and senior World Championships, Motoki showed that she’s in a league of her own, as she went 9-0, with eight  matches finishing before time expired. She scored five falls and two technical superiority wins.

Her win in the final of the World Championships will be one that will be talked about for ages as the most dramatic win of the season. Motoki scored a buzzer-beating takedown against Ok Ju KIM (PRK) with a 10-second flurry that consisted of a head outside single, arm throw, over-under knee pick, before head locking Kim with four tenths of a second left to keep her history making hopes alive.

In the end, Motoki’s heart and courage under fire helped her close out the year as the third wrestler to complete the Golden Grand Slam and she did it with a level of dominance we may not see again for a very long time.

Greco-Roman Dominant Wrestler: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)

- Rank 1 at 67kg 
- 58,000 RS points  
- 11–0 Record
- World Championships, Asian Championships and  ISG golds

In a 2025 campaign that saw him become a world champion, Esmaeili's season was immaculate, as he cemented his place among the sport’s top pound-for-pound wrestler with a season full of titles, stacking gold-medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships and Islamic Solidarity Games, rounding out the season ranked No. 1 in the world at 67kg.

The Paris Olympic champion remained unbeaten in 2025, winning all 11 bouts of his bouts in dominant fashion -- scoring eight shutout wins, with seven technical falls -- including a pair of 9-0 win against world champions Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) and Sebastian NAD (SRB). The reigning Olympic gold medalist also collected two victories over Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), one in the world final and one in the Islamic Game gold-medal match, where he tossed his Azeri opponent for four as time expired to rob his rival of the title.

His opponents should not ease up because at just 22 years old, Esmaeili is still sharpening his tool set and leveling up his skills.