Adding a system for seeding at the World Championships and Olympic Games was a step in the right direction. Now United World Wrestling has made some tweaks to make it even better. 

Wrestlers will receive points based on the prior year's World Championship/Olympic results and be able to gain them at four rankings tournaments and at Continental Championships.

Additionally, two major changes were made apparent in the Technical Commission Meeting notes. First, rankings tournaments will be flat weight; there is no longer a +2kg allowance. The second piece of news is one that will allow competitors, coaches and media to better prepare for an event in that entry lists will be made available 30 days prior to an event with a cutoff date 10 days out.

The full release is below.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) – The United World Wrestling Bureau has approved new regulations for the 2019 Ranking Series. The recommendations were brought forward by the Technical Commission at a meeting last week in Belgrade.

The most important changes to the 2019 Ranking Series centered around allocation of points at world championships, continental championships, and Ranking Series events. The points were rebalanced to emphasize participation, and success, at the world and continental championships.

“I’m very pleased with the work of our Sport department and the Technical Commission,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “The Ranking Series and seeding process has taken considerable work, but if you look now we are rewarding the best wrestlers for their efforts and their successes.”

New worldwide rankings will be updated on the United World Wrestling website. The 2018 World Championships results are the basis of the rankings, as each year the world championships results will be the first points for the following year. 

“The continuity from year-to-year, was important for our national federations,” said Lalovic. “We needed to ensure that should they compete; our very best athletes will meet in the semifinals or the finals.” 

The seeding process for the World Championships and Olympic Games will now also include a field of the top four wrestlers in each weight category with lower seeded athletes bumping up should one of the top four not participate in the world championships. The previous version of the world championships did not replace top seeds when they were absent of the competition.

Greco Roman Ranking Events

Zagreb Open - Zagreb, Croatia

Hungarian Grand Prix - Gyor, Hungary

Sassari City - Sassari, Italy

Oleg Karavaev - Minsk, Belarus

Men's & Women's Freestyle Rankings

Ivan Yarygin - Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Dan Kolov - Ruse, Bulgaria

Sassari City - Sassari, Italy

Yasar Dogu - Istanbul, Turkey

The Ranking Series will kick off with the Ivan Yariguin in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, a competition long hailed as the “Toughest Wrestling Tournament in the World.” The 2019 edition is already creating a response, with top-level wrestlers from around the world committed to the competition, including 97kg rivals Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) and Kyle SNYDER (USA).

The Yariguin will begin January 24^th with coverage on UnitedWorldWrestling.org 

The Technical Commission also discussed the location and format for the 2019 World Cups, with more information available in the coming weeks.

For additional information and details on the Ranking Series, please review the full circular, HERE.