Ranking Series

United World Wrestling and FloSports Announce Global Broadcast Agreement

Thursday, January 17, 2019 - 21:19 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (January 17) – United World Wrestling has signed a two-year livestreaming agreement with FloSports for all 2019 and 2020 Ranking Series and Beach Wrestling events.

The two-year agreement will include 12 Ranking Series events in 2019 and four Beach Wrestling championships. All events will be available in the United States on FloWrestling.org.

“United World Wrestling is excited to partner with FloSports in providing promotion and coverage of our Ranking Series events," said Gordon Templeman, Director of Commercial Operations for United World Wrestling. “Our sport is fortunate to have a passionate fanbase and we believe FloSports will excel in connecting these Ranking Series and Beach Wrestling Championships to our core audience.”

Launched in 2018 the Ranking Series is part of United World Wrestling’s ongoing effort to create a season-long event structure that incentivizes participation by the sport’s top athletes. In addition to a year-end cash prize for the highest point gatherer in each style, ranking points determine a wrestler’s seed at the world championships and Olympic Games.
 

Olympic and two-time world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) will represent Team USA at next week's Ivan Yariguin in Krasnoyarsk (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

“United World Wrestling organizes the highest-caliber international competitions in the World,” FloSports SVP of Global Rights Acquisition & Strategy Adam Fenn said. “We’re thrilled to combine our efforts with UWW to grow the coverage and popularity of wrestling. As the world’s leading wrestling media company, we aim to increase exposure for the world’s top athletes leading into the World Championships, and we’re thrilled to introduce beach wrestling to U.S. fans.”

In addition to the Ranking Series, FloSports has also agreed to purchase the exclusive, worldwide rights for the Beach Wrestling Championships. The popular international style will include four United World Wrestling branded tournaments in 2019, starting with a championship in Lisbon, Portugal April 4-7 and concluding in September with the world championships in Croatia.

“Beach Wrestling is an exciting new style aimed at increasing participation and interaction with fans and young athletes,” said Templeman. “These tournaments won't just include a display of high-level wrestling action, but also a sun-drenched, fan-friendly atmosphere.”

The partnership kicks off later this month with the Ivan Yariguin Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The Yaryguin, once known as the “toughest tournament in the world” will include ranking tournaments in both women’s wrestling and freestyle. The action begins Thursday, January 24th and concludes Sunday, January 27th.

Full coverage of the Ivan Yaryguin and all Ranking Series events can be found on the United World Wrestling homepage and social media accounts.

Upcoming Ranking Series and World Beach Championships include:

 

  • Ivan Yariguin: Jan. 24-27
  • Grand Prix Zagreb Open: Feb. 8-10
  • Hungarian Grand Prix - Polyak Imre Memorial: Feb. 23-24
  • Dan Kolov: Feb. 28- Mar. 3
  • UWW Beach Wrestling Qualifier (Lisbon): Apr. 6-7
  • UWW Beach Wrestling Qualifier (Buzios): Apr. 27-28
  • Sassari City: May 26
  • Hungarian GP: June 7-9
  • UWW Beach Wrestling Qualifier (TBD): June 21-23
  • Yasar Dogu: July 12-14
  • Oleg Karavaev: July 26-28
  • UWW World Beach Wrestling Championship: Sept. 28-30

 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a drip down the memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.