Greco-Roman Rankings

"Wrestler of the Year" Lorincz in Pursuit of Top Seed at Tokyo 2020

Friday, January 31, 2020 - 14:53 By Eric Olanowski

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*The highest number of potential points a wrestler can earn if he/she wins gold in a bracket with 20+ competitors at the continental championships (22 points) and Poland Open (18 points) is 40 points.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 31) -- Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), United World Wrestling’s reigning “Wrestler of the Year” in Greco-Roman, made it clear this month that he’s out to defend his well-earned title and win Olympic gold.

Lorincz improved his Ranking Series tournament record to a perfect 23-0 this month with a one-point victory over 2019 Asian silver medalist Kumar SUNIL (IND) in the finals of the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event in Rome. With the win, the Hungarian added 16 points to his second ranking leaving him just four points shy of world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) heading into next month’s continental championships. 

But Lorincz is poised to shake up the top spot of the 87kg ranking and gain control of the world's No. 1 spot. Beleniuk elected to sit out of the European Championships, so Lorincz only needs to finish top-eight in Rome to reach the summit of the 87kg rankings.

"I want to win the [European Championships and Poland Open] because it will help my seed for the Olympic Games," said Lorincz, the defending world silver medalist at 87kg. “I will also be in the lead for the Ranking Series again.”

Germany's Denis KUDLA, who is ranked fourth at 87kg, is also expected to miss the European Championships. Without Beleniuk and Kudla, Lorincz needs nine points at the European Championships to ensure a top-four seed in Tokyo.

Mohamed and Muminjon Move into Top-Five at 130kg
Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) and Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) soared into the top-five of the 130kg rankings and will receive an extra boost as Cuba replaces world silver medalist Oscar PINO HINDS with three-time Olympic champion Mijian LOPEZ (CUB). Mohamed and Abdullaev will benefit because Pino Hinds points aren’t transferable to Lopez and would thus bump the Cubans from the rankings at 130kg.

Mohamed pinned Moises PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN) in the Matteo Pellicone finals and moved up five spots to No. 3 heading into the African Championships. He’ll collect 18 points in Alger if he's able to win the five-man 130kg bracket. Those additional points would propel him into the No. 2 spot by at least 10 points.

The Egyptian big man will then travel to El Jadida, Morocco, for the African and Oceania OG Qualifier (March 13-15) to try to qualify Egypt for the Olympic Games. 

Abdullaev edged Oskar MARVIK (NOR), 3-3, in the bronze-medal bout at the Matteo Pellicone and is ranked No. 4 with 26 points. Abdullaev is expected to wrestle at the Asian OG Qualifier but will sit out of the Asian Championships. Instead, Daler RAKHMATOV will be Uzbekistan's representative at 130kg.

Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA), at 37-years-old, is looking to make his fourth appearance at the Olympic Games. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Noumonvi Chasing Fourth Olympic Games Appearance
At 37, Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA) has already competed at the Olympic Games in Athens, Beijing and London. If he can put together a good season, Tokyo might be an opportunity for the French great to wrestle in yet another Games.. 

The 2014 world champion is gearing up to compete in his 14th European Championship in less than two weeks. A month later (March 19-22) he’s scheduled to compete in Budapest at the European OG Qualifier where he'll have to finish in the top two to earn a spot in Tokyo.

If Noumonvi qualifies, he'll be in a position for a top-four seed. He currently sits in the No. 3 spot after earning bronze at the Matteo Pellicone.

Noumonvi's lone loss in Italy came to eventual champion Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), who appeared in this month's rankings at No. 9 with 18 points. 

Sailike WALIHAN (CHN), the 60kg Matteo Pellicone gold medalist, will wrestle at 63kg the Asian Championships. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

China Inserted No. 13 Tuo at 60kg and bumped Walihan to 63kg
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) pummeled his biggest in-country rival Erbatu TUO (CHN), 13-4, at the Matteo Pellicone and left no question whether or not he's China's top guy at 60kg. But the entries for the Asian Championships seem to tell a different story.  

Now, the question heading into the Asian Championships is how much of a looming factor in China's decision was Walihan's eleventh place finish in Nur-Sultan? Especially after he collected solid wins over Tuo, Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) and Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and debuted in the latest ranking at No. 9.

Either way, the good news for China is Walihan and Tuo are both ranked in the Top 20 and are within distance of earning a top-four seed. That is, of course, if they perform well in New Delhi then qualify the weight at the Asian OG Qualifier.

Please go to UnitedWorldWrestling.org for the updated competition calendar and guidelines for accumulating points during the Ranking Series.

Top-Ten Greco-Roman Rankings

55kg
1. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) - 58
2. Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ) - 38
3. Max Emiliano NOWRY (USA) - 30
4. Shota OGAWA (JPN) - 23
5. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) - 23
6. Liguo CAO (CHN) - 18
7. Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) - 16
8. Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL) - 14
9. Dogus AYAZCI (TUR) - 14
10. Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB) - 12

60kg
1. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) - 60
2. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) - 40
3. Ali Reza Ayat Ollah NEJATI (IRI) - 25
4. Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) - 25
5. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) - 20
6. Lenur TEMIROV (UKR) - 20
7. Ivo Serafimov ANGELOV (BUL) - 18
8. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) - 16
9. Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) - 16
10. Victor CIOBANU (MDA) - 14

63kg
1. Shinobu OTA (JPN) - 58
2. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) - 38
3. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) - 23
4. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) - 23
5. Tynar SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) - 18
6. Meysam Karamali DALKHANI (IRI) - 18
7. Ryan Robert MANGO (USA) - 16
8. Jinwoong JUNG (KOR) - 14
9. Andres Roberto MONTANO ARROYO (ECU) - 14
10. Rahman BILICI (TUR) - 12

67kg
1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) - 60
2. Artem SURKOV (RUS) - 40
3. Frank STAEBLER (GER) - 25
4. Mate NEMES (SRB) - 25
5. Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) - 20
6. Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN) - 20
7. Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) - 18
8. Hansu RYU (KOR) - 16
9. Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) - 16
10. Deyvid Tihomirov DIMITROV (BUL) - 14

72kg
1. Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) - 60
2. Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) - 40
3. Balint KORPASI (HUN) - 25
4. Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) - 25
5. Michael Felix WIDMAYER (GER) - 20
6. Jiyeon LEE (KOR) - 20
7. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) - 18
8. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) - 16
9. Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) - 14
10. Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) - 14

77kg
1. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) - 60
2. Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE) - 40
3. Mohammadali Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) - 25
4. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) - 25
5. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) - 20
6. Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) - 20
7. Paulius GALKINAS (LTU) - 18
8. Roman VLASOV (RUS) - 16
9. Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) - 16
10. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) - 14

82kg
1. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) - 60
2. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) - 40
3. Haitao QIAN (CHN) - 25
4. Saeid Morad ABDVALI (IRI) - 25
5. Iurii SHKRIUBA (UKR) - 20
6. Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB) - 20
7. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) - 18
8. Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) - 16
9. Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) - 14
10. Singh GURPREET (IND) - 14
 
87kg
1. Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) - 60
2. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) - 56
3. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) - 25
4. Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER) - 25
5. Mikalai STADUB (BLR) - 20
6. Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) - 20
7. Daniel GREGORICH HECHAVARRIA (CUB) - 18
8. Ivan HUKLEK (CRO) - 16
9. Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ) - 14
10. Kumar SUNIL (IND) - 14

97kg
1. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) - 60
2. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) - 40
3. Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA) - 26
4. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB) - 25
5. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) - 25
6. Giorgi MELIA (GEO) - 20
7. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) - 20
8. Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI) - 18
9. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) - 18
10. Artur OMAROV (CZE) - 16

130kg
1. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) - 60
2. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) - 40
3. Abdellatif mohamed ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) - 32
4. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) - 26
5. Heiki NABI (EST) - 25
6. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) - 25
7. Eduard POPP (GER) - 20
8. Amir Mohammadali GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI) - 20
9. Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) - 18
10. Moises Salvador PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN) - 14

#WrestleNoviSad

Eriomenco, Farokhi run through U23 Worlds field to reach finals

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 00:57 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 20) -- Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) has already won the gold medal at the U23 World Championships. The Moldovan won gold in the 63kg weight class in Tirana, Albania last year.

In a bid to repeat, Eriomenco entered the 2025 edition as well, making it his fifth appearance the season-ending World Championships. Now, Eriomenco is one win away from defending his world title.

The recent bronze medalist in Zagreb, Eriomenco made it to the 63kg final at the U23 Worlds in Novi Sad, Serbia on Monday and will face a familiar opponent in the final in Ziya BABASHOV (AZE).

The two met in the U23 European Championships final earlier this year which Eriomenco won 3-1. However, Babashov had defeated the Moldovan in the final of the same tournament in 2024.

With the head-to-head locked at 1-1, Eriomenco and Babashov will clash Tuesday, the second day of the U23 Worlds which kicked off in Serbia on Monday with four Greco-Roman weight classes.

Iran and Ukraine had two finalists each while Georgia and Armenia also managed to get one each on the first day. Iran was led by world 82kg champion Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) who has moved up to 87kg but unbothered by the weight change. Defending champion at 130kg Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) returned to the final as well.

Eriomenco was heads above the field at 63kg as he won his four bouts via technical superiority. In the semifinals, he faced Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ) but had no trouble beating the Kyrgyzstan wrestler 10-1, scoring four turns from par terre.

Babashov on the other hand had to work hard for his 2-1 victory over Servet ANGI (TUR) in the other semifinal. He got on the scoreboard first as he scored a stepout using a two-on-one to lead 1-0. He was given the par terre position soon after but he failed to score. He still had a 2-0 lead going into the break.

Angi got his chance in the par terre in the second period but he failed to score any points over Babashov who defended his 2-1 lead to enter the final. He would now hope to repeat the performance from 2024 U23 Euro final which he won against Eriomenco 3-2.

At 87kg, Farokhi was also in top form, winning all his four bouts via technical superiority. He faced Payton JACOBSON (USA) in the semifinals but took no time as he rolled him four times from par terre to win 9-0 and advance to the final.

He will face Ivan CHMYR (UKR) for the gold medal bout after the Ukrainian defeated a surprise semifinalist in Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 2-1. Chmyr, who finished fifth at the U23 European Championships this year, held his own to beat Ben Labed.

Chmyr began with a win over Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB) before beating Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), 1-1. He then handed U23 Euro silver medalist Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA) a 3-1 defeat.

In the semifinals against Ben Labed, who had beaten Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM), Deni NAKAEV (GER) and Brian RUIZ (VEN) to reach last four, Chmyr threw Ben Labed out of bounds from par terre to lead 2-0.

But when Ben Labed got a chance in par terre, there were no points scored and Chmyr booked a place in the final against world champion Farokhi.

Hedayati, the multiple-time age-group world champion, is closer to another title at 130kg after he reached the final. He defeated Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-0, in the semifinals using a stepout and a takedown on either side of the par terre position.

He will face Ramzik KURDYAN (ARM) in the final after the Armenian defeated Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW), 5-1, in the final. Kurdyan, who has a silver from U17 Worlds in 2019, rolled Melekhanov twice from par terre after defending his par terre position to win 5-1.

At 77kg, Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) upset European 72kg champion Levente LEVAI (HUN), 2-2, to reach the final as he looks to better his silver medal from 2022. Levai had a clear 2-1 lead in the semifinals when he scored takedown on the edge.

Levai increased his lead to 4-1 but Ukraine challenged and a foul was confirmed by Levai and he docked a point for stepping out which made the score 2-2 with Mirzoiev lead on last-point scored criteria. He defended that lead to reach the final for the second time in his career.

Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) will try to stop him from winning the gold medal on Tuesday after he got the better of U23 Asian champion Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 6-2.

Nakibov got the first par terre position but was blocked by Orjonikidze who scored a reversal and turn to lead 3-1. Georgia challenged asking for four points and on review it was confirmed that Nakibov fell in danger for four points.

With a 5-1 lead, Orjonikidze went into the passive mode and was put down in par terre in the second period. Nakibov tried to score with a turn but Orjonikidze never came in danger.

Uzbekistan challenged asking for two points but it was lost, giving one more point to Orjonikidze who won 6-2 and reach the final. 

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) vs. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)

SF 1: Ziya BABASHOV (AZE) df. Servet ANGI (TUR), 2-1
SF 2: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Kuttubek ABDURAZAKOV (KGZ), 10-1

77kg
GOLD: Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) vs. Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)

SF 1: Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO) df. Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), 6-2
SF 2: Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 2-2

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) vs. Ivan CHMYR (UKR)

SF 1: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Payton JACOBSON (USA), 9-0
SF 2: Ivan CHMYR (UKR) df. Yassine BEN LABED (POL), 2-1

130kg
GOLD: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) vs. Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) df. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 4-0
SF 2: Razmik KURDYAN (ARM) df. Aleksandr MELEKHOV (UWW), 5-1