Snyder takes No. 1 spot, five other Americans ranked in top-10 of UWW rankings
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
| Kyle Snyder celebrating an Olympic gold medal Photo: Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com |
Seven Americans earned top-20 spots in the September-edition of the United World Wrestling rankings, which were released today as a post-Olympic ranking.
Phenom Kyle Snyder (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) rises to the No. 1-spot at 97 kg/213 lbs. after being crowned the 2016 Olympic champion. He made history, becoming the youngest American to win an Olympic gold, when he defeated eight-time World and Olympic medalist Khetag Goziumov of Azerbaijan in the finals, 2-1. The 20-year-old wraps up an incredible 12 months with a 2016 Olympic championship, 2016 NCAA title and a 2015 World gold medal.
Rising international star J’den Cox (Titan Mercury WC/MWF) shocked the world with a bronze-medal performance, defeating three-time World medalist and then-No. 3 Reineris Salas Perez of Cuba. Cox earned wins over Amarhajy Mahamedau of Belarus and Alireza Mohammed Karimimachiani of Iran before falling in the semifinals. Without giving up a single takedown in his Olympic tournament, he moves up to No. 4 in the rankings after entering the 2016 Olympics ranked No. 9.
Finishing fifth at the Olympic Games, Frank Molinaro (Nittany Lion WC) broke through the top 10, moving up to No. 6 at 65 kg/143 lbs. Molinaro earned his spot in the bronze-medal bout by way of wins over European champion Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland and two-time Olympian Andriy Kvyatkovskyy of Ukraine. There he faced reigning World champion Frank Chamizo of Italy, who took the match in a 5-3 thriller.
Three-time World champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs falls to No. 7 after finishing ninth at the Rio Games. Burroughs was edged out in the quarterfinals by No. 2 Aniuar Geduev of Russia, 2-1, before falling to 2014 World bronze medalist Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan in the repechage.
Heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev (Sunkist Kids/Ohio RTC) made the biggest jump in the rankings bumping up to No. 6 from No. 14 after he finished fifth at the Olympics. The two-time Olympian made it to the bronze-medal match of every World Championships or Olympics he competed in.
Two Americans continued to scale up the rankings at the non-Olympic weights.
2015 World bronze medalist James Green (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC) is No. 2 at 70 kg/154 lbs., while 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott (Sunkist Kids) moves up to No. 17 at 61 kg/134 lbs.
There will be a non-Olympic weights World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 10-11.
U.S. men's freestyle wrestlers ranked in the UWW rankings
No. 1 at 97 kg – Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
No. 2 at 70 kg – James Green, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC)
No. 4 at 86 kg – J’den Cox, Columbia, Mo. (Titan Mercury WC/MWF)
No. 6 at 65 kg – Frank Molinaro, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
No. 6 at 125 kg – Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids/Ohio RTC)
No. 7 at 74 kg – Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska RTC)
No. 17 at 61 kg – Coleman Scott, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids)
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