Alec Pantaleo (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)57 KG
#1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) won the Sassari City tournament up at 61 KG. 2019 European Games runner-up Stevan Micic (SRB) won the Ziolkowski in a round-robin bracket, beating #20 Makmudjon Shavkatov (UZB) and Beka Bujiashvili (GEO) to return to the rankings at #20. #17 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) avenged an earlier loss in pool action to #5 Ravi Kumar (IND) with a 5-3 win in the 61 KG finals of the Ziolkowski to move up #9 in the rankings. Abdullaev also notched a big win over #8 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) and #15 Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB) to build momentum going into Tokyo. 2019 Russian Nationals champion #11 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) won the Ali Aliyev with 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Khasanhussein Badrudinov (RUS) and Yarygin runner-up #10 Musa Mekhtikhanov (RUS). Diamentino Fafe (GBS) won the 57 KG Sassari City tournament title.
61 KG
#1 (57) Zavur Uguev won the Sassari City tournament title. #8 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) moves up three spots to #5 for winning the Ali Aliyev title over #20 Eduard Grigorev (POL). This is because Grigorev beat Taras Markovych (UKR) 14-3 in the semis after Markovych had upset #5 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) in his opening round match. The results of the Ali Aliyev see Mekhtikhanov go up three spots, Grigorev goes up fourteen spots to #6 and Markovych debut in the rankings at #7 while Sanayev drops three slots in the rankings to #8. #9 (57) Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) won the Ziolkowski title with impressive victories over #5 (57) Ravi Kumar (IND), #8 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) and #15 Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB).
65 KG
Russian Nationals bronze medalist #9 Abdulmazhid Kudiev (RUS) took gold at the Ali Aliyev with an electrifying 12-9 win over two-time 61 KG Russian Nationals runner-up Ramazan Ferzaliev (RUS) in the finals. Ferzaliev and Kudiev both had impressive runs; Ferzaliev beating 2020 61 KG Russian Nationals bronze Ibragim Abdurakhmanov (RUS) and 2020 61 KG Yarygin bronze medalist Kezhik Chimba (RUS), while Kudiev beat three-time World medalist Bajrang Punia (IND) and Artur Badtiev (RUS). The Ali Aliev was serious redemption for the Indian superstar Punia who returns to the rankings at #12 after making the semis with wins over 2018 Alans champion Muslim Saidulaev (RUS) and 2019 world runner-up Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ). Niyazbekov makes his return to the rankings at #14 for beating Yarygin champion #13 Alik Khadartsev (RUS) in the round of 16 at the Ali Aliev.
Yianni Diakomihalis is back in the rankings for winning the 65 KG Ziolkowski title with victories over US Olympic Trials runner-up #18 Joey McKenna (USA) and Ali Aliyev runner-up #6 (61) Eduard Grigorev (POL). #1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) won the City of Sassari tournament title up at 70 KG over 2016 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Ildous Giniytatullin (RUS), while Michael Bucher (SUI) won the 65 KG City of Sassari tournament title over George Ramm (GBR).
70 KG
Alec Pantaleo (USA) had an absolutely fantastic run to Ziolkowski gold that saw him overcome a pool loss to #11 James Green (USA) to beat three-time world champion #6 (65) Haji Aliyev (AZE) 6-6 to make the finals and avenge his earlier loss to Green with a 5-3 victory. For his efforts, Green was able to beat Pantaleo and 2017 65 KG world champion #16 Zurab Iakobishvili (GEO) to make the finals, where he was silver to Pantaleo. From this, Pantaleo secures his first top ten spot in the rankings at #6 while Green moves up four spots to #7.
Yarygin bronze medalist Rezuan Kazharov (RUS) got the biggest win of his career with a 3-3 victory over veteran Azamat Nurikov (BLR) in the finals of the Ali Aliyev. Nurikov in the semifinals upset #5 Viktor Rassadin (RUS) 8-8. Both men see a significant rise in their stock, with Kazharov skyrocketing from #20 in the rankings to #8 while the veteran Nurikov returns at #9. 2019 U-23 world champion #15 Mirza Skhulukhia (GEO) moved up to 74 KG for the Ali Aliyev, where he failed to place and has been removed from the rankings.
74 KG
#1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) teched Jevon Balfour (CAN) for the City of Sassari tournament title. The Ziolkowski was used as the final decider for the Olympic spot for Iran between 70 KG world bronze medalist Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI) and Younes Emami (IRI). Hosseinkhani would win the Ziolkowski by way of forfeit over #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA) and beat 2019 European Games bronze medalist #20 Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev (AZE) in the semifinals after Gadzhiev had upended Emami 4-2 in the quarterfinals. For this, Hosseinkhani returns to the rankings at #20. Another qualifier took place at the Ziolkowski, this time for Kazakhstan between two-time Asian champion Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ) and 2019 70 KG world runner-up Nurkhoza Kaipanov (KAZ). Kaipanov was upset in the first round by Amr Hussen (EGY), while Kaisanov locked up the spot by finishing bronze with wins over Jason Nolf (USA) and Semen Radulov (UKR).
Two-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist #15 Nikita Suchkov (RUS) moved up three spots in the rankings to #12 after winning the Ali Aliev title over Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS). Alibulatov (RUS) makes his debut in the rankings at #15 for wins at the Ali Aliev over #9 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) and Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ). #9 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) falls seven spots in the rankings to #17 after his Ali Aliyev semifinals loss to Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS). Kurbanaliev rebounded for bronze over Kaisanov and confirmed by Instagram he was battling a rib injury going into the tournament.
79 KG
#1 Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK) won the Ziolkowski with victories over #20 Rashid Kurbanov (UZB) and Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR) to maintain his top spot in the rankings. #13 Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS) reclaims a top-ten spot in the rankings at #4 with a victory over 2020 Individual World Cup champion #4 Akhmed Usmanov (RUS) in the finals of the Ali Aliyev. Usmanov (RUS) won his second Ali Aliyev title by way of 3-3 criteria victory over 2019 Russian Nationals runner-up #13 Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS). Sanakoev moves up four spots in the rankings to #9 after making the Ali Aliyev finals with wins over Magomedmurad Dadaev (RUS) and Asret Ulimbashev (RUS). Dadaev and Ulimbashev debut in the rankings at #11 and #12 as Ulimbashaev upset 2020 Russian Nationals runner-up #12 Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev (RUS) in the quarterfinals of the Ali Aliyev, and Dadaev pinned Ulimbashev for bronze.
#4 Gadzhi Nabiev (RUS) moved up to 86 KG, where he lost in his opening round match to Hadi Vafaeipour (IRI) and failed to place.
86 KG
#20 Javrail Shapiev (UZB) put together an exceptional run for Ali Aliev gold beating the likes of Tazhidin Akaev (RUS), 2017 world bronze medalist #8 Vladislav Valiev (RUS) and Yarygin champion #7 Magomedsharif Biyakaev (RUS) for gold and to retake his spot in the top 10 at #7. Shapiev has been improving leaps and bounds this year and put together a killer resume with wins over world medalists Piotr Ianulov (MDA), #9 Vladislav Valiev (RUS), Fatih Erdin (TUR) and Osman Gocen (TUR), plus Russian hammers #8 Magomedsharif Biyakaev (RUS) and Tazhidin Akaev (RUS). Shapiev is very much on the shortlist to contend for a medal in Tokyo and I'm excited to see how he does in a loaded field. U-23 European champion Amanulla Rasulov (RUS) got the first big win of his career over three-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist #11 Arsenali Musalaliev (RUS) to debut in the rankings at #16 while Musalaliev fell 6 spots to #17.
#11 Zahid Valencia (USA) looked impressive, winning gold at The Ziolkowski with a win over 2020 European runner-up #12 Myles Amine (SMR), #19 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO) and #20 Sebastian Jezierzanski (POL). #5 Magomed Ramazanov (RUS) won the City of Sassari tournament title.
92 KG
2020 Asian champion Javad Ebrahimi (IRI) made his return to competition by winning the Ali Aliev 6-3 over #16 (86) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL). 92 went through a lot of shakeups with returns from contenders at 86 and 97 KG. First, it started at the Ziolkowski where two-time 92 KG world champion #4 (97) J'den Cox (USA) made his return and dropped a shocking 2-1 semifinal loss to Illia Archaia (UKR). Archaia loses 12-3 in the finals to #16 (86) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL). Fast forward to the Ali Aliyev and Archaia loses to Belarusian Nationals bronze medalist #19 Amarhadzi Magomedov (BLR) and is eliminated from the competition when Magomedov is pinned in the semis by eventual champion Javad Ebrahimi (IRI). So with Cox, Ebrahimi, and Baranowski back, what does that mean for the weight? Then throw in three-time 86 KG World/Olympic medalist #11 Selim Yasar (TUR), upsetting #5 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) in the Yasar Dogu finals and it's hard to make sense of things, but here's how it all shakes out.
Ebrahimi returns to the rankings the highest #3 for winning the Ali Aliyev over Baranowski, who takes the #7 spot for his runner-up finish at the Ali Aliyev and title at the Ziolkowski and victories over Archaia, #17 Guram Chertkoev (RUS) and Alan Bagaev (RUS). Yasar takes the #5 for his win over #5 Yaylaci, who falls one spot to #6. Amarhadzhi Magomedov (BLR) moves up ten places to #9 for his victory over Archaia. Finally, J'den Cox's return to 92 KG sees the two-time world champion fall from #4 at 97 KG to #11 at 92 KG for his Ziolkowski semifinals loss to Archaia. #4 Aslanbek Alborov (AZE) was removed due to inactivity as he hasn't competed since February 2020, where he took bronze at the European championships over #13 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO).
***edit***
Russian Nationals runner-up Anzor Urishev (RUS) was returned to the rankings at #5 after I had mistakenly removed him.
97 KG
#1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) made the finals of the Ali Aliev with wins over Vladislav Baitsaev (RUS), Magomedkhan Magomedov (RUS) and #20 Mojitaba Goleij (IRI) but forfeited to 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #18 Magomed Ibragimov (UZB) to prevent aggravating a knee injury he had going into the competition. 2018 European champion Vladislav Baitsaev's made his return to 97 KG and takes the #4 spot for past wins over #6 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO), #11 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR), #12 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) and #13 Sharif Sharifov (AZE). #8 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) ran through a loaded Ziolkowski bracket to take gold and lock up his spot for the Tokyo Olympics and move up six spots in the rankings to #2. Mohammadian tech falled Matteo Pellicone champion #9 Kollin Moore (USA) in his opening round match, three-time world medalist #10 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and avenged his two losses from Iranian World Team Trials to #7 Ali Khalil Shahbaninbengar (IRI) in the finals.
Other significant results from the Sassari were #10 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) avenging his Matteo Pellicone finals loss to #9 Kollin Moore (USA) 2-2 for bronze and #14 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) upsetting 2019 world runner-up #13 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) 2-2 in the qualifying round before being tech falled in the quarters 11-1 by #10 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI). What these results do is bump Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) up to #9 and #11, respectively, while dropping #9 Kollin Moore (USA) five spots to #14. The reason for this is that Moore's Senior-level resume (and top 10 status) were heavily dependent on his win over Karimi at the Matteo Pellicone and when Karimi avenged that loss Moore's resume doesn't really hold up to Hushtyn, Sharifov, Conyedo Ruano, or Matcharashvili (GEO). 2019 world runner-up Sharifov had an impressive run to gold at the Yasar Dogu, beating 2019 U-23 European champion Ibragim Ciftci (TUR) and 2018 U-23 world champion #13 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO).
Yarygin champion Magomedkhan Magomedov (RUS) returns to the rankings at #20. #4 J'den Cox (USA) was removed from the rankings as he cut back down to 92 KG, where he won world gold in 2018 and 2019 and is currently ranked 11th after a semifinal loss to #10 (92) Illia Archaia (UKR) at the Ziolkowski. 2019 world bronze medalist Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD) won the City of Sassari tournament.
125 KG
Heavyweight saw the most movement it has out of the whole year, with a plethora of new and old faces returning and established top ten guys plummeting in the rankings. Starting off the month at the Ziolkowski, #7 Amir Zare (IRI) cautioned out US Olympic Trials runner-up, two-time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) for gold. Gwiazdowski made the finals with impressive wins over #4 Yusup Batimurzaev (KAZ) and Youssif Hemida (EGY). Now Hemida had beaten 2020 Iranian World Team Trials champion #8 Amin Taheri (IRI), who had taken bronze at the Asian championships after being upset by #13 Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ). Taheri beat Asian champion #3 Oleg Boltin (KAZ) in his opening round match. Now the Ziolkowski was the qualifier for Iran to decide who they would send to Tokyo and Zare got the spot.
Now let's fast forward to the Ali Aliev semifinals, where #4 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) is taking on 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #16 Zelimkhan Khizriev (RUS). Zelimkhan beat him 7-4 to make the finals, where he beat the brakes off 2018 U-23 European champion Kamil Kosciolek (POL) 18-8 for gold. Now having tied in the results for the USA, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Iran, let's break down how this caused the huge heavyweight shakeup.
Zelimkhan Khizriev moved up eleven spots in the rankings to #11 for winning the Ali Aliyev and beating #4 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ), who now sits at #9 behind Gwiazdowski and #8 Alan Khugaev (RUS). The reason Khizriev sits ahead of #6 Gable Steveson (USA), who tech falled Gwiazdowski in the Olympic Trials finals, is because Khizriev has a deeper international resume than Steveson with wins over Zhiwei Deng, Khamzat Khizriev, Yusup Batimurzaev, and Vitali Goloev to outdo Steveson's sole big international win over Gwiazdowski. Now having just talked about Steveson's big win over Gwiazdowski at Trials does put Steveson in the rankings at #6. And for the final part of the Gwiazdowski supply chain, Zare gets a bump based on his dominating win over Gwiazdowski plus his wins over #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) and #2 Geno Petriashvili (GEO).
Now let's cover the other action at heavyweight. #8 Amin Taheri (IRI) falls twelve spots in the rankings to #20 for his loss to Youssif Hemida (EGY), who slots in at #19 for beating Taheri. Asian champion #3 Oleg Boltin (KAZ) plummets out of the rankings after losing in the opening round of the Ziolkowski to #19 Amin Taheri (IRI). Boltin also lost at the Ali Aliyev to runner-up Kamil Kosciolek (POL) and finished bronze. In other action, 2x Age group world champion Abbas Foroutanrami (IRI) won the Yasar Dogu title over U-23 European champion #14 Anil Killicsallyan (TUR) to take the #14 spot. and 2020 97 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist Erik Dzhioev (RUS) won the Sassari City tournament title.
Pound for Pound
#1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) won the 74 KG Sassari City tournament title. #2 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) forfeited in the 97 KG Ali Aliev finals to 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #18 (97) Magomed Ibragimov (UZB). #3 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) won the 70 KG City of Sassari tournament title over 2016 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Ildous Giniyatullin (RUS). #15 J'den Cox (USA) was dropped from the pound-for-pound rankings for his upset loss to #10 (92) Illia Archaia (UKR) at the 92 KG Ziolkowski. Cox is currently ranked 11th at 92 kilograms. #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) was removed from the pound for pound rankings after a semifinal upset loss to #15 (74) Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS). In the absence of Cox and Kurbanaliev, 2018 65 KG world champion Takuto Otoguro (JPN) and 2019 57 KG world runner-up Suleyman Atli (TUR) take the #24 and #25 spots.
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