2023 International Wrestling Rankings - Men's Freestyle

125 Taha Akgul

Gable Steveson was the story of the 125kg bracket (and maybe all of Olympic wrestling). Steveson defeated two all-time great heavyweight wrestlers in Taha Akgul and Geno Petriashvili to win the gold. On top of that, Steveson’s buzzer beating takedown to win over Petriashvili in the Olympic final will go down in Olympic wrestling history. Gable has taken over the heavyweight crown and, at 21 years old, should hold the title as long as he wants to continue wrestling. 

While Akgul did finish behind Petriashvili on the medal stand, they did not wrestle in Tokyo and Akgul holds the last head-to-head win over Petriashvili - a 6-1 victory at the European Championships in April. Because of that win, Akgul continues to remain above Petriashvili in the rankings.

Amir Zare was also impressive in his Olympic debut and took home bronze from Tokyo. The young Iranian was out to a lead in the first period over Petriashvili but could not hold up to the steady offensive attacks and ultimately lost, 6-3. Zare bounced back in his bronze medal match and took out two-time world medalist Zhiwei Deng (CHN).

Questions or comments? Contact our ranker Jon Kozak on Twitter @KozakJon or through email at Jonathan.Kozak@flosports.tv.