How the wrestling world ranking works
What is the wrestling ranking for?
Mainly for seeding. The UWW uses it to keep the strongest wrestlers apart in the draw: the top eight in each weight category are seeded at the Olympics and the World Championships, and the top four at continental championships. It also decides the "Athlete of the Year" in each weight.
Wrestlers earn points by where they finish at ranking events, in the weight they wrestled. A world or Olympic title is worth 40,000; a continental title 10,000; a win at a Ranking Series event 8,000. A big field adds a bonus for everyone in it.
The ranking starts again every year. On 1 January the UWW wipes every wrestler's points except those from the last World Championships or Olympic Games, so a new season begins from the last big championship.
The one thing to remember: in wrestling, points stay with the weight category you wrestled in. A wrestler who moves up or down a weight starts that weight with only what they earn there.
The events and their levels
| Level | Events |
|---|---|
| A | Olympic Games, Senior World Championships |
| B | Senior continental championships (for India, the Asian Championships) |
| C | UWW Ranking Series events; continental and regional games with which the UWW has an agreement |
The points
| Place | Level A | Level B | Level C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 40,000 | 10,000 | 8,000 |
| 2nd | 32,000 | 8,000 | 6,400 |
| 3rd (each bronze) | 26,000 | 6,500 | 5,200 |
| 4th (only if there is one bronze) | 23,200 | 5,800 | 4,640 |
| 5th (each) | 20,000 | 5,000 | 4,000 |
| 6th (only if there is one 5th) | 18,800 | 4,700 | 3,760 |
| 7th | 13,200 | 4,400 | 3,520 |
| 8th | 12,000 | 4,000 | 3,200 |
| 9th | 10,500 | 3,500 | 2,800 |
| 10th | 9,300 | 3,100 | 2,480 |
| 11th | 4,000 | 1,000 | 800 |
| 12th | 3,200 | 800 | 100 |
| 13th | 2,400 | 600 | 75 |
| 14th | 1,600 | 400 | 50 |
| 15th | 800 | 200 | 25 |
| 16th | 400 | 100 | 13 |
Wrestling usually gives two bronze medals, so two wrestlers share 3rd and two share 5th. The 4th and 6th rows apply only when a category has a single bronze (a round-robin "Nordic" pool, for example) or a single 5th place. A wrestler who is disqualified or forfeits gets nothing.
Field size changes the points:
| Wrestlers in the category | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | No points |
| 2 to 5 | Half points, and only the first three score |
| 6 to 12 | The table as it is |
| 13 to 16 | 3,000 extra for every wrestler who scores |
| 17 or more | 5,000 extra for every wrestler who scores |
The extra points go to everyone ranked 16th or better; nothing goes to 17th and below.
Olympic bonus. In a year with both the Olympics and the World Championships, Olympic medallists get extra: 8,000 for gold, 6,400 for silver and 5,200 for bronze.
Points belong to the weight
Points go to the wrestler in the weight category they wrestled at that event. A wrestler who changes weight keeps the old points in the old weight and starts the new one from what they earn there.
Seeding
For a seeded event, the UWW counts the points from the last World Championships plus the Ranking Series events held before it that year. Because not every country can enter the regional games, it counts the same number of events for everyone.
The UWW's example: with two Ranking Series events and regional games before the continental championships, seeds come from the last World Championships plus the best two of those three results.
If a year has more or fewer than four Ranking Series events, the UWW sends a circular explaining the adjustment.
Athlete of the Year
The World Championships points plus the five best other results of the year. The top three in each weight win prize money, set at the start of each year.
The yearly reset
On 1 January all points are removed except those from the World Championships and the Olympic Games. The new year starts from the last of those.
Ties
In order: place at the Olympics (if held that year), place at the last World Championships, then, across the year's other ranking events: most events entered, most golds, most silvers, most bronzes, most classification points, most wins by superiority, most technical points scored, fewest technical points conceded.
A wrestler with no points is neither ranked nor seeded.
Entries at Ranking Series events
A country can enter three wrestlers per weight. The organiser may enter five and hold a qualifying round so that only three reach the main bracket; the two extra wrestlers do not score.
A worked example
Made up to show the arithmetic. A 57 kg wrestler wins silver at the Asian Championships (Level B, 14 wrestlers): 8,000 + 3,000 = 11,000. Then a bronze at a Ranking Series event (Level C, 22 wrestlers): 5,200 + 5,000 = 10,200. At the World Championships (Level A, 30 wrestlers) they finish 9th: 10,500 + 5,000 = 15,500.
Where to see it
uww.org, rankings, by style and weight.
Variations
| Ranking | Covered here |
|---|---|
| Senior men's freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's wrestling | Yes |
| Under-23, junior and cadet | No |
| Beach wrestling, grappling, other UWW disciplines | No |