CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (March 9) – A rematch between Rio 2016 silver medalist Shinobu OTA and Japanese rival Kenichiro FUMITA highlighted a quiet month for the classic style as most of the changes in the United World Wrestling rankings for March were in the lower quarter of each category.
Wrestling in the 59kg final of the Cerro Pelado International in Cuba, Ota held on for 8-7 win over Fumita to avenge a loss to the Golden Grand Prix Final titlist in the Japanese national championships in late December.
With Rio gold medalist Ismael BORRERO (CUB) on the sidelines, Ota held onto his No.2 ranking at 59kg for March, while Fumita, who won the prestigious Pytlasinski tourney last June, climbed from seventh to No.5 on the featherweight roster.
Meanwhile, London 2012 silver medalist Heiki NABI (EST) was the only other wrestler ranked in the top 10 who was in action in February. Nabi, also a bronze medal finalist in Rio de Janeiro and ranked No.5 at 130kg, took a bronze medal at the Cerro Pelado International in Cuba.
YANG Bin (CHN), winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix last year, won at 75kg in Cuba to climb two rungs at welterweight to No.10, while world student champion and Paris Grand Prix runner-up Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) stepped up to No.12 after a third place at 85kg in the Sirakov-Iliev International in Varna, Bulgaria.
Paris Grand Prix titlist Robert FRITSCH (HUN) also got a small bump at 71kg with a win in Varna, advancing two places to No.14 after a runner-up showing at the Sirakov-Iliev tourney.
The Dave Schultz Memorial in Colorado Springs also saw some its medal winners secure positions in the lower quarter of rankings this month.
Kamal BEY (USA) earned a No.18 at 75kg after adding the Schultz title with a win at the Farrell Memorial in November, while Pan American champion at 75kg Geordan SPEILLER (USA) comes in at No.19 with the Schultz and Cerro Pelado crowns at 80kg.
Two-time Olympian Ben PROVISOR got his foot in the door at 85kg while Schultz finalists at 98kg, junior world bronze medalist G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA) and Hayden ZILLMER (USA) are No.18 and No.19 after the Colorado Springs showdown.
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.
59kg – Former junior world bronze medalist Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) notched a fall and a pair of technical falls to win the Petko Sirakov-Ivan Iliev International in Varna, Bulgaria and take a toehold on the featherweight rankings at No.19.
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. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) – GGP Final No.1 (7)
6. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (8)
7. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
8. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
9. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.1 (9)
10. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – GGP Final No.3 (10)
11. WANG Lumin (CHN) – Rio 2016 OG No.8 (11)
12. Zhanbolat LOKAEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (13)
13. Mohsen HAJIPOUR (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (14)
14. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (15)
15. YUN Won-Chol (PRK) – Asia No.5 (12)
16. Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.2 (16)
17. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (17)
18. Haitham Mahmoud FAHMY (EGY) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (18)
19. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) – Sirakov-Iliev Int’l No.1 (Not Ranked)
20. Javier DUMENIGO (CUB) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.3 (nr)
66kg – Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN) bagged silver medals back-to-back at the Schultz Memorial and the Cerro Pelado International to join the rankings at No.19 – one step ahead of DONG Jinxin (CHN), making his international debut with a win in Cuba.
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. Tomohiro INOUE (JPN) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
7. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – German GP No.1 (7)
8. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – GGP Final No.1 (8)
9. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) - Europe No.1 (9)
10. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Spanish GP No.1 (10)
11. Aleksey KIYANKIN (RUS) – Poddobny GP No.1 (11)
12. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Spanish GP No.1 (13)
13. Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (14)
14. Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (12)
15. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (15)
16. CHOI Gi-Uk (KOR) – GGP Final No.3 (16)
17. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.2@71 (17)
18. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – Paris GP No.2 (18)
19. Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.2 (nr)
20. DONG Jinxin (CHN) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.1 (nr)
71kg – Yosvani PENA FLORES (CUB) repeated as Cerro Pelado titlist and Jefrin MEJIA SAMBULA (HON) improved to third place in Cuba after a fourth-place finish at the Schultz Memorial two weeks earlier.
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. Adam KURAK (RUS) – World No.5 (5)
6. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – World No.5 (6)
7. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.1 (7)
8. Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.1 (8)
9. Yuri DENISOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (9)
10. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) – Poddubny No.1 (13)
11. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – World No.7 (9)
12. Dawid KARECINSKI (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (11)
13. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) – World University No.1 (12)
14. Robert FRITSCH (HUN) – Paris GP No.1 (16)
15. ZHANG Ridong (CHN) – GGP Final No.3 (13)
16. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – GGP Final No.3 (15)
17. Timo BADUSCH (GER) – German GP No.2 (17)
18. Askhat ZHANBIROV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (19)
19. Jefrin MEJIA SAMBULA (HON) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.3 (nr)
20. Yosvani PENA FLORES (CUB) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.1 (nr)
75kg – Junior world team member Kamal BEY (USA) won titles at the Farrell and Schultz Memorials to climb into the rankings at No.18, while Geordan SPEILLER (USA) grabbed back-to-back titles at 80kg at the Schultz Memorial and Cerro Pelado to fall in behind his compatriot.
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. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – GGP Final No.1 (6)
7. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – GGP Final No.2 (7)
8. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Poddubny GP No.1@80 (8)
9. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (9)
10. YANG Bin (CHN) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.1 (12)
11. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Rio OG No.5 (10)
12. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (14)
13. Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (14)
14. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (11)
15. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Trophee Milone No.1 (13)
16. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – Paris GP No.3 (18)
17. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) – Poddubny GP No.3 (17)
18. Kamal BEY (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (nr)
19. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) – Cerro Pelado No.1@80 (nr)
20. Mahmoud SEBIE (EGY) – Schultz Memorial No.2@80 (nr)
80kg – Asian junior bronze medal winner Jalgasby BERDIMURATOV (UZB) rolled up a pair of technical falls in Varna and joins the rankings at No.20 after winning the Sirakov-Iliev tourney.
1. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
2. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – World No.2 (2)
3. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – World No.3 (3)
4. Jonibek OTABEKOV (UZB) – World No.3 (4)
5. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – World No.5 (5)
6. Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO) – World No.5 (6)
7. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (7)
8. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (8)
9. Pascal EISELE (GER) – World Military No.1 (11)
10. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Europe No.2 (12)
11. Selcuk CEBI (TUR) – German GP No.1 (9)
12. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (10)
13. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (14)
14. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – World University No.3 (13)
15. Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) – Paris GP No.3 (16)
16. Pavel POMINCHUK (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (15)
17. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Europe No.3 (18)
18. Peter NAGY (HUN) – Paris GP No.2 (19)
19. Daulet ZHAKSYLYKOV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.3 (20)
20. Jalgasby BERDIMURATOV (UZB) – Sirakov-Iliev Int’l No.1 (nr)
85kg – Daniel GREGORICH HECHVARRIA (CUB) and Benjamin PROVISOR (USA) won Cerro Pelado and the Schultz Memorial, respectively, to earn a perch on the final places at middleweight.
1. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Denis KUDLA (GER) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
7. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (8)
8. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – GGP Final No.2 (9)
9. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (10)
10. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) – Rio OG No.7 (7)
11. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Poddubny GP No.2 (11)
12. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) – Sirakov-Iliev Int’l No.3 (13)
13. Nikolai STADUB (BLR) – World University No.2 (14)
14. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (14)
15. Alexej MISHIN (RUS) – European OG Qualifier No.1 (15)
16. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.8 (16)
17. Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (17)
18. Zakarias BERG (SWE) – Haparanda Cup No.1 (19)
19. Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB) – Cerro Pelado No.1 (nr)
20. Benjamin PROVISOR (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (nr)
98kg – Hungarian Grand Prix winner one year ago XIAO Di (CHN) returns to the heavyweight roster at No.17 with a bronze medal in Cuba while European under-23 bronze medalist Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN) comes in at No.20 after winning in Bulgaria.
1. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (5)
6. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (8)
7. Fredrik SCHOEN (SWE) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
8. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – Rio OG No.5 (7)
9. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – GGP Final No.2 (11)
10. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (9)
11. Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.8 (10)
12. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – Paris GP No.1 (14)
13. Maksim SAFARYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (15)
14. Elis GURI (BUL) – Rio OG No.7 (12)
15. Balasz KISS (HUN) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (13)
16. Timofej DZEYNICHENKO (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (18)
17. XIAO Di (CHN) – Cerro Pelado No.3 (nr)
18. G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (nr)
19. Hayden ZILLMER (USA) – Schultz Memorial No.2 (20)
20. Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN) – Sirakov-Iliev Int’l No.1 (nr)
130kg – Pan American champion Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) edged Rio 2016 Olympian Heiki NABI (EST), 2-1, in their opening bout at Cerro Pelado for No.18 in the rankings.
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. Heiki NABI (EST) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
6. Eduard POPP (GER) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
7. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – GGP Final No.3 (8)
8. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (7)
9. Iosif CHUGOSHVILI (BLR) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.2 (9)
10. Balint LAM (HUN) – World University No.1 (12)
11. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) – GGP Final No.2 (13)
12. Johan Magnus EUREN (SWE) – Europe No.3 (10)
13. MENG Qiang (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (11)
14. Vitali SHCHUR (RUS) – German GP No.2 (14)
15. Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) – Asia No.2 (15)
16. Aleksey GRISHIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (16)
17. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.1 (17)
18. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) – Cerro Pelado Int’l No.1 (nr)
19. Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (18)
20. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN) – Herman Kare Int’l No.2 (19)
