rankings

Vuc Ascends to No.1 in Women's World Rankings, 9 Retain No.1 Ranking

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (July 2) -- Alina VUC (ROU) ascends to No.1 at 50kg in the July 2018 Ranking Series for women's wrestling after winning gold at the China Open.

Vuc, a European silver medalist and Klippan Lady Open bronze medalist, won her China Open gold medal with a 1-0 victory over China's ZHU Jiang.

Vuc is the lone new No. 1 in this month's rankings for women's wrestling. 

Other No.1-ranked wrestlers include Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) at 53kg, Bediha GUN (TUR) at 55kg, Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS) at 57kg, Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR) at 59kg, Kayla MIRACLE (USA) at 62kg, Petra OLLI (FIN) at 65kg, Laura SKUJINA (LAT) at 68kg, Jenny FRANSSON (SWE) at 72kg and Adeline GRAY (USA) at 76kg. 

USA has the most top-ranked women's wrestlers with three. Hildebrandt and Gray won gold medals at the Pan American Championships, while Miracle claimed a bronze. 

Bediha GUN (55kg) and Elif YESILIRMAK (59kg) give Turkey a pair of No.1-ranked wrestlers. 

Gun, a 2016 Olympian, was a silver medalist at the Klippan Lady Open and a bronze medalist at the European Championships. 


Yesilirmak, a multiple-time world medalist, won a gold medal at the European Championships and a bronze medal at the Klippan Lady Open.

The 2018 season is the first in which United World Wrestling is utilizing an objective ranking system. The points acquired at continental championships and select rankings series will determine the top four seeded athletes at the 2018 World Championships in October held in Budapest.
 
For more on the Ranking Series format, be sure to check out this article

View all the rankings on United World Wrestling's homepage.

50kg
1. Alina VUC (ROU) // 51 Points
2. Mariya STADNIK (AZE) // 43 Points
3. Chun LEI (CHN) // 29 Points
4. Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB) // 26 Points
5. Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS) // 24 Points

53kg
1. Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) // 38 Points
2. Yu MIYAHARA (JPN) // 34 Points
3. Aysun ERGE (TUR) // 33 Points
4. Sumiya ERDENECHIMEG (MGL) // 31 Points
5. Mercedesz DENES (HUN) // 30 Points

55kg
1. Bediha GUN (TUR) // 33 Points
2. Hyemin OH (KOR) // 27 Points
3. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) // 23 Points
4. Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN) // 22 Points
5. Nazgul NURAKHAN (KAZ) // 21 Points

57kg
1. Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS) // 41 Points
2. Laura MERTENS (GER) // 31 Points
3. Xingru PEI (CHN) // 30 Points
4. Battsetseg ALTANTSETSEG (MGL) // 27 Points
5. Tetyana KIT (UKR) // 27 Points

59kg
1. Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR) // 33 Points
2. Shoovdor BAATARJAV (MGL) // 29 Points
3. Yuzuru KUMANO (JPN) // 28 Points
4. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) // 25 Points
5. Ningning RONG (CHN) // 22 Points

62kg
1. Kayla MIRACLE (USA) // 35 Points
2. Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) // 33 Points
3. Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) // 28 Points
4. Luzie MANZKE (GER) // 28 Points
5. Taybe Mustafa YUSEIN (BUL) // 23 Points

65kg
1. Petra OLLI (FIN) // 41 Points
2. Henna JOHANSSON (SWE) // 33 Points
3. Forrest MOLINARI (USA) // 26 Points
4. Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) // 25 Points
5. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) // 23 Points

68kg
1. Laura SKUJINA (LAT) // 31 Points
2. Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) // 30 Points
3. Tumentsetseg SHARKHUU (MGL) // 30 Points
4. Anastasia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS) // 25 Points
5. Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) // 23 Points

72kg
1. Jenny FRANSSON (SWE) // 36 Points
2. Alexandra nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) // 26 Points
3. Tatiana KOLESNIKOVA MOROZOVA (RUS) // 24 Points
4. Masako FURUICHI (JPN) // 23 Points
5. Yue HAN (CHN) // 18 Points

76kg
1. Adeline GRAY (USA) // 40 Points
2. Yasemin ADAR (TUR) // 38 Points
3. Epp MAE (EST) // 30 Points
4. Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) // 28 Points
5. Eunju HWANG (KOR) // 25 Points

#WrestleZagreb

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

By Vinay Siwach

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:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

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.