CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (March 3) – Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) and Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) muscled their way to big wins at the Hungarian Grand Prix in February and the No.3 and No.5 position at their respective weights in the United World Wrestling rankings for February.

Janikowski’s return to form in recent months has lifted him from a seventh place at the world championships in September to the third spot in the 85kg poll behind world champion Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) and European Games gold medalist David CHAKVETADZE (RUS).

Lorincz, meanwhile, has climbed from ninth place in Las Vegas to fifth at 66kg after back-to-back victories at the Zagreb Open and the Hungarian Grand Prix – the latter featuring a win over 2014 world champion Davor STEFANEK (SRB).

World champions Belenyuk and Selcuk CEBI (TUR) were the only Las Vegas winners on the mats in February as the top spots in the United World Wrestling rankings for Greco-Roman remain unchanged for a fifth month in a row.

Cebi returned to action at 80kg with a win at the Ljubomir Ivanonic Gedza International in Belgrade, while 85kg champ Belenyuk prevailed at the Ukraine International – his third tournament since winning the world title last September.

Heading into March, world champions Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB), Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) and Riza KAYAALP (TUR) have yet to slip on the competitive singlet – although Kayaalp is slated to wrestle in the upcoming European championships and Chunayev is listed as an alternative.

One of the biggest leaps in February was turned in by Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA) who went from unranked to No.9 at 130kg with the help of silver medals in Paris and the Pan American championships and a bronze in Ukraine.

Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) returned to 98kg after a stint at 130kg and claimed No.10 in the rankings after victories at the Takhti Cup in January and the Asian championships in Bangkok in February.

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 – Takhti Cup winner Saman ABDVALI (IRI) fell in the finals to 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) as both wrestlers break into the rankings at No.12 and No.13, respectively.

1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – World No.1 (1)
2. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – World No.2 (2)
3. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – GGP Final No.1 (3)
4. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Ivan Poddubny No.2 (4)
5. YUN Won-Chol (PRK) – World No.3 (5)
6. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – European Games No.2 (6)
7. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – World No.5 (7)
8. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.3 (8)
9. Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (9)
10. Ibragim LABAZANOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (10)
11. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.3 (11)
12. Saman ABDVALI (IRI) – Asia No.2 (Not Ranked)
13. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – Asia No.1 (nr)
14. Mohammad Reza GERAEI (IRI) – Nikola Petrov No.3 (14)
15. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Hungarian GP No.2 (18)
16. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Vantaa Cup No.2 (12)
17. Aleksandar KOSTADINOV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (13)
18. Kristijan FRIS (SRB) – Ljubomir Ivanovic Gedza Int’l No.1 (nr)
19. Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (nr)
20. WANG Lumin (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)

66kg – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) won a semifinal match-up with 2014 world champion Davor STEFANEK (SRB) at the Hungarian Grand Prix to climb to No.5. David KARECINSKI (POL) forged four technical falls on his way to a runner-up showing in Szombathely to join the rankings at No.14.
 
1. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – World No.1 (1)
2. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – World No.2 (2)
3. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – World No.3 (4)
4. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (5)
5. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (7)
6. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Hungarian GP No.3 (3)
7. Tarek Aziz BENAISSA (ALG) – All-African Games No.1 (6)
8. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (9)
9. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – GGP Final No.3 (8)
10. Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) – Asia No.3 (13)
11. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) - Ivan Poddubny No.1 (12)
12. Istvan LEVAI (SVK) – Zagreb GP No.2 (10)
13. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (11)
14. David KARECINSKI (POL) – Hungarian GP No.2 (nr)
15. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (nr)
16. Wuilleixis RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN) – Pan Am Games No.1 (16)
17. Denys DEMYANKOV (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (20)
18. Mate NEMES (SRB) – LIG Int’l No.1 (nr)
19. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)
20. Alejandro SANCHO (USA) – Pan America No.2 (nr)

71kg – Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) pipped 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Darkhan BAYAKMETOV (KAZ), 1-0, in the opening round of the Asian championships, then rolled over the rest of the field for his first continental crown and No.3 in the rankings.

1. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – World No.1 (1)
2. Armen VARDANYAN (UKR) – World No.2 (2)
3. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.1 (6)
4. Adam KURAK (RUS) – World No.3 (3)
5. Zackarias TALLROTH (SWE) – World No.3 (4)
6. Mathias MAASCH (GER) – Paris GP No.1 (5)
7. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (8)
8. Justin LESTER (USA) – Farrell Memorial No.2 (7)
9. Timur BERDIEV (BLR) – World No.5 (6)
10. Danijel JANECIC (CRO) – LIG Int’l No.1 (11)
11. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – GGP Final No.3 (10)
12. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.1 (12)
13. Darkhan BAYAKMETOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (13)
14. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (14)
15. Mindia TSULUKIDZE (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (15)
16. JIANG Jincheng (CHN) – Paris GP No.1 (16)
17. ZHANG Ridong (CHN) – Asia No.3 (18)
18. Patrick SMITH (USA) – Pan America No.1 (nr)
19. Akram BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) – All-African Games No.3 (19)
20. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – Asia No.3 (20)

75kg – YANG Bin (CHN) edged 2014 world silver medalist Neven ZUGAJ (CRO), 4-3, in the semifinals and went on to add a gold medal to his silver medal won in Paris one week earlier to join the rankings at No.14 – one step ahead of Pan American champ Geordan SPEILLER (USA).

1. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
2. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (2)
3. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) – GGP Final No.1 (3)
4. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – World No.2 (4)
5. Andrew BISEK (USA) – World No.3 (5)
6. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – European Games No.1 (6)
7. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (7)
8. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – Takhti Cup No.1 (8)
9. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (9)
10. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – Zagreb GP No.1 (10)
11. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Thor Masters No.1 (11)
12. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb GP No.1 (12)
13. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (13)
14. YANG Bin (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (nr)
15. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)
16. Payam BOUYERI PAYANI (IRI) – Asia No.3 (14)
17. Dmitri PYSHKOV (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (16)
18. Robert ROSENGREN (SWE) – Thor Masters No.1 (nr)
19. Pascal EISELE (GER) – Thor Masters No.2 (nr)
20. Neven ZUGAJ (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)

80kg – Raibek BISULTANOV (DEN) won silver medals at the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Thor Masters event in Denmark to break into the rankings at No.13, while Patrick SZABO (HUN) won bronze medals in the same events as well as a third at the Ljubomir Ivanovic Gedza International to come in a step behind.

1. Selcuk CEBI (TUR) – World No.1 (1)
2. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (2)
3. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (3)
4. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – World No.2 (4)
5. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.2 (6)
6. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.2 (7)
7. Aleksander SHYSHMAN (UKR) – Takhti Cup No.3 (8)
8. Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) – World No.3 (5)
9. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Asia No.1 (nr)
10. AISHAN Aishan (CHN) – Asia No.2 (13)
11. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (11)
12. Pavel POMINCHUK (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.1 (nr)
13. Raibek BISULTANOV (DEN) – Hungarian GP No.2 (nr)
14. Patrik SZABO (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr
15. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (9)
16. Atem ASLAN (TUR) – LIG Int’l No.2 (nr)
17. Rafik MANUKYAN (ARM) – Takhti Cup No.1 (17)
18. Mahdi FALLAHHAMIDABADI (IRI) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (nr)
19. Petar BALO (SRB) – Zagreb GP No.2 (15)
20. Cheney HAIGHT (USA) – Pan America No.1 (nr)

85kg – Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) won his fourth event in a row at the Hungarian Grand Prix to climb to No.3 in the rankings, while Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR) won bronze medals in Szombathely and Kiev to break into the rankings at No.17.

1. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – World No.1 (1)
2. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – European Games No.1 (3)
3. Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) – Hungarian GP No.1 (7)
4. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) – World No.2 (4)
5. Hasan Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE) – World No.3 (2)
6. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) – World No.3 (5)
7. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Pytlasinski No.2 (6)
8. Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (9)
9. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) – European Games No.3 (10)
10. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (11)
11. Rami HIETANIEMI (FIN) – World No.5 (8)
12. Bekhan OZDOEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.2 (12)
13. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.3 (13)
14. Mojtaba KARIMFAR (IRI) – GGP Final No.3 (14)
15. Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)
16. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.2 (nr)
17. Alan VERA GARCIA (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (nr)
18. Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) – Paris GP No.2 (17)
19. Denis KUDLA (GER) – Thor Masters No.1 (nr)
20. Aleksander KIKINOV (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)

98kg – Asian Games silver medalist XIAO Di (CHN) won his second title of the Chinese squad’s winter tour of Europe at the Hungarian Grand Prix to move up to No.5.  Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) won his sixth Pan American title to leap seven places to No.13.
 
1. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – World No.1 (1)
2. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – World No.2 (2)
3. Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) – World No.3 (3)
4. Dimitri TIMCHENKO (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (4)
5. XIAO Di (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (6)
6. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – LIG Int’l No.1 (7)
7. Elis GURI (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (6)
8. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (9)
9. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.2 (10)
10. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – Asia No.1 (8@130)
11. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – World No.5 (8)
12. Marthin Hamlet NIELSEN (NOR) – LIG Int’l No.2 (12)
13. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (20)
14. Kevin MEJIA CASTILLO (HON) – Pan America No.3 (14)
15. Villius LAURINAITIS (LTU) – World Military Games No.2 (11)
16. Peter OEHLER (GER) – Pytlasinski No.2 (13)
17. Fredrik SCHOEN (SWE) – Thor Masters No.1 (nr)
18. Adam VARGA (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)
19. Shalva GADABADZE (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (16)
20. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (17)

130kg – Asian Games bronze medalist MENG Qiang (CHN) also doubled up on the gold medals on China’s winter tour of Europe with wins in Paris and at the Hungarian Grand Prix to move up to No.8. 

1. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – World No.1 (1)
2. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – World No.2 (2)
3. Beylal MAKHOV (RUS) – World No.3 (3)
4. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) – European Games No.2 (4)
5. Heiki NABI (EST) – European Games No.3 (5)
6. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – World No.3 (6)
7. Iosif CHUGOSHVILI (BLR) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (7)
8. MENG Qiang (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (10)
9. Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA) – Pan America No.2 (nr)
10. Stjepan LAVRIC (CRO) – LIG Int’l (nr)
11. Balint LAM (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.1 (9)
12. Robert SMITH (USA) – Pan Am Games No.3 (11)
13. Nurmakhan TINALIEV (KAZ) – GGP Final No.2 (12)
14. Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI) – Asia No.1 (nr)
15. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.3 (13)
16. Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) – Asia No.2 (nr)
17. Behnam MEHDIZADEH (IRI) – Takhti Cup No.3 (14)
18. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (nr)
19. Bashir Asgari BABAJANZADEH (IRI) – Hungarian GP No.2 (19)
20. Toby ERICKSON (USA) – Pan America No.3 (20)