Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! January 29th, 2018

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 - 19:18 By Eric Olanowski

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Reviewing results from the Ivan Yarygin in Krasnoyarsk and the Takhti Cup in Iran. Also reviewing the worldwide rankings being released this week, a look revamped women’s team from China, and much more ....

1. Russia Heats Up a Frigid Krasnoyarsk, Taylor and Snyder Lead USA
Russian entries at the Ivan Yarygin, United World Wrestling’s first first ranking event of the season took home eight out of a possible ten gold medals. If that wasn’t impressive enough, seven of those eight gold medals came from Dagestan, Russia, a region located on the Caspian Sea, 2000km south of Moscow.

The only Russian gold medalist that did not hail from from Dagestan was 74kg winner, Khetik TSABOLOV (RUS), who is from North Ossetia-Alania, Russia, which is located just north of the Georgian border.

David TAYLOR (USA) and Kyle SNYDER (USA) rounded out the gold medal finalists. Snyder's win made him the first American wrestler to win back-to-back Yarygin titles, while Taylor won his first tournament since finishing with gold at the 2017 Freestyle World Cup in Iran.

Team Table: http://uww.io/qcP84
Results Table: http://uww.io/AyVo2

​2. Iran Takes Takhti, Kazakhstan + Kyrgyzstan Score Big
Five different nations took home gold medals at the Takhti Cup with emerging powers Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan each winning a pair of gold medals. Turkey also won a pair of gold medals while a depleted Azerbaijani squad limped away with onyl one gold medal.

Team Table: https://goo.gl/WTbPfF
Results Table: https://goo.gl/hwN8Dr

3. New-Look China Women’s Team Wins FIVE at Yarygin
After three days of action in Krasnoyarsk, China's women made their way to the finals in seven out of ten weight classes -- winning five. Team China wrestled for a medal in all ten weight classes, winning at least a bronze in eight.

This was the first individual events that the Chinese women have competed under the tutelage of their new coaching staff. Taking the helm is former Azerbaijan head women's coach Semen SHTEREV origninally of Bulgaria. Joingin him on the sidelines is 2006 world champion, Radislov VELIKOV (BUL).

China will host a Ranking Series event in women's wrestling in late June.

Team Table: http://uww.io/qcP84
Results Table: http://uww.io/AyVo2

4. Worldwide Rankings to be Released on February 1
United World Wrestling will be releasing the first set of world rankings on February 1. These rankings will be based on points earned during the new ranking series events. All points will be automatically updated post-event, with a recap of the action and rankings posted on the first Monday of each month.

Ranking Series points are a calculation of the number of total entries at a weight plus placement: 8 points for gold, 6 points for silver, 4 for bronze and 2 for fifth place.

5. Klippan and Cerro Pelado in Two Weeks
The Klippan Lady Open begins February 16 and is the first women’s wrestling ranking event of the season. 

The Granma y Cerro Pelado kicks off February 15 in Havana and is the second Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year 

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UWW Comebacks of the Year 2025: Uguev, Maroulis, Amoyan

Friday, December 19, 2025 - 10:30 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 18) -- United World Wrestling’s 2025 Comeback Wrestlers of the Year are three wrestlers who refused to let their careers be defined by defeat and setbacks.

Freestyle Comeback Wrestler: Zaur UGUEV (UWW)

There was a time not too long ago where Uguev career trajectory was pointing him in the direction of becoming the greatest lightweight of this generation, but he hit a slump in 2023 and 2024, finishing fifth at the World Championships.

This year, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist returned to top form. He went from an afterthought to one of the sport's most dominant wrestlers -- reclaiming world gold for a third time in his career and first time since the 2019 World Championships with a 11-2 win over Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) in the 61kg finals.

"This is a very joyful event in my life -- I am once again on the top of the podium," Uguev said. "I am very happy and grateful to my team, my coach, my sparring partners, our national team -- thanks to everyone who played a part in my victory."

Women’s Wrestling Comeback Wrestler: Helen MAROULIS (USA)

For most, 2021 seems like yesterday. But for Maroulis, it’s been a grueling four years of waiting and working to reclaim her spot a top the world ranks. Despite having to completely change her style of wrestling due to lack of conditioning that stemmed from an allergic reaction to antibiotics before the World Championships, Maroulis found a way to bolster her resume with a fourth world title -- adding to her career wins 2015, 2018, and 2021, not to mention her three Olympic medals.

She did so with three quick pins in Zagreb before inside tripping Il-Sim SON (PRK) in dramatic fashion, stealing the world title as the clock expired.

After the match, the 11-time world and Olympic medalist said, "I had to really, really dig deep for that and, I don't know, before the last exchange started, I just had to dig deep and find it. It was just some scramble flurry and just that it came out my way. I'm grateful."

Greco-Roman Comeback Wrestler: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

Like Maroulis’ four-year battle to get back to the top, Amoyan found himself fighting an uphill battle to regain world gold since his last title-winning run in Oslo in 2021. But after moving up from 72kg to 77kg, he struggled. He fell one match short of his goal at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, and again at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where he settled for a bronze medal.

But 2025 was different as the 26-year-old put on arguably the greatest Greco-Roman performance of the Zagreb World Championships, capping off his run to a second world title with an unexpected 9-1 thumping of reigning Olympic gold medalist Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

"I became a world champion back in 2021 [at 72kg], but I really wanted to become world champion at 77kg. For two years, I struggled with injuries, and nothing was going as it should. Thankfully, at this World Championships I was prepared -- mentally, physically, and functionally -- and by God's grace I managed to triumph and become a two-time world champion."