2019 International Rankings - Men's Freestyle

65 KG Bajrang Punia (IND)

By Seth Petarra (@SethPetar)

#1(70) Ilyas Bekbulatov (RUS) confirmed that he will be competing at 65 KG for Russian Nationals from July 4th-7th and because of this he has been moved down to #5 behind #4 Haji Aliyev (AZE) who beat him in the 2018 European championships finals and #2 Alejandro Valdes Tobier (CUB) who beat him in November in the DRL. 

Returning world champ #1 Takuto Otoguro (JPN) was teched in the Meiji Cup finals 15-5 by #17 Rei Higuchi (JPN). From this, #2 Bajrang Punia (IND) takes the #1 spot, Otoguro drops two spots to #3 in the rankings, and Higuchi climbs up seven spots in the rankings to #10. 

#13 Zain Retherford (USA) toppled #8 Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) in a controversial two-match series at Final X to get on his second senior world team. Retherford moves up one spot to #12 in the rankings while Diakomihalis drops five spots in the rankings to #13 behind Retherford. The reasoning why Retherford can’t climb higher even after beating the former #8 in the world is because he doesn’t have the power of a recent win like Higuchi over Otoguro nor does he have an international resume that challenges Kuular’s, Khinchegashvili’s, or Shiraev’s. 

#11 Muslim Saidulaev (RUS) drops six spots in the rankings to #17 after losing to 2018 cadet world champ Turan Bayramov (AZE) in the junior European finals. 

Unlock these rankings, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In