I don't do rankings. In fact, coming from a coaching background, I have spent more of my time trying to ignore them. However, the one set of rankings that I do enjoy looking at is the "Top Pound For Pound" wrestlers, because of the obviously speculative nature of the list.

For example, Haji Alyev and Taha Akgul wrestled at 57kg and 125kg, respectively, in Rio, and they are both in the top 10 pound-for-pound rankings. Obviously, these two are never going to wrestle each other, so you don't have to concern yourself with who beat whom, style matchups, who lost to whom -- it simply becomes a matter of who can do more on a wrestling mat six minutes at a time. 

While Flo does not do international women's rankings yet, if we did I would make a case for Helen Maroulis to be in the top five globally for either sex and in any style. Coming off her third straight world or Olympic title win on Wednesday in Paris, Maroulis has elevated herself to a level in the sport that very few have done, and the scariest part (for the rest of the world) is that she is getting better. Here are some criteria to consider about Maroulis when you think about the best P4P wrestlers in the world. 

Neutral Offense

Maroulis' neutral offense is as good as anyone in the world. What makes her so dangerous is her diversity. She has the ability to stay in close, control ties like some of the bigger athletes at the weight class and also stay on the outside, and pick her opponent apart with speed. In case you missed her overtie-slide-by to a foot sweep in the finals, Maroulis can attack both hemispheres of the body too. 

Neutral Defense

Maroulis has always been difficult to score on, but now that feat has become more or less unattainable. Even more impressive, Maroulis is turning most of her opponents' attacks into her own scores. When talking about her defensive prowess we first have to consider her re-attack. It's a thing of beauty. While I admit that Maroulis is one of the faster athletes at the weight, I don't think that the success of her re-attack can solely be put on her speed -- a lot of it has to do with being technically efficient. Most people step straight backward when they down-block. While that makes it slightly more difficult for your opponent to score, it also takes you farther away from the hips, making a re-attack less likely. Maroulis is down-blocking at almost a 90-degree angle, so by the time her opponent realizes that she missed, Maroulis is all over her legs. On the off chance that you do get to Maroulis' legs, good luck scoring. She's scrambling out of positions better then any woman I've ever seen. 

Par Terre Offense

It has become very obvious that par terre offense has been a focal point for the U.S. teams over the last few years, and athletes like Maroulis are leading the charge to make USAW the best mat wrestlers in the world. I counted four different variations of leg laces that Maroulis used to score at the 2017 World Championships. FOUR. I'm still trying to figure out how she did the one that iced her fifth career world or Olympic medal. Good luck stopping all four laces, world. 

Par Terre Defense

I'm told that Maroulis' par terre defense is pretty good, but I wouldn't know. She hasn't been taken down in a while.

So, what does it all mean? Don't be surprised if you see Saori Yoshida start coaching a lot more.