Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Kyle Snyder met in the finals of the World Championships for the second straight year (Photo/Larry Slater)Several of the world's top wrestlers took losses at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, including four of the six Olympic champions from Rio. Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) was the lone wrestler to repeat as a world champion.
Let's examine the world's top 10 pound-for-pound freestyle wrestlers after the World Championships in Budapest.
Note: Only wrestlers who competed at the 2018 World Championships were considered.
1. Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia)
Sadulaev has been on an incredible run since arriving on the senior level in 2014 at the age of 18. After winning world titles in 2014 and 2015, Sadulaev claimed the Olympic gold medal at 86 kilograms in Rio. He moved up a weight class in 2017 to face another Olympic champion, Kyle Snyder, at 97 kilograms. Sadulaev lost narrowly to Snyder, a match he was winning until late. The Russian Tank came back this year and won another world title in dominant fashion. He registered four technical falls to reach the finals, outscoring those opponents 45-3. In the gold-medal match, Sadulaev exacted revenge on Snyder, getting a first-period fall.
2. Kyle Snyder (USA)
Snyder claimed his first world title at the 2015 World Championships, beating the reigning world champion at the time, Russia's Abdusalam Gadisov. The following year, Snyder became the youngest Olympic champion in U.S. wrestling history at age 20. In 2017, he edged Sadulaev 6-5 to win gold. Snyder entered the 2018 World Championships with an undefeated record at world-level events. In Budapest, he took his first loss at a world-level event when he was pinned in the gold-medal match by Sadulaev. Snyder has taken occasional losses during his senior-level career, but always seems to be at his best when wrestling for world and Olympic titles.
Geno Petriashvili won his first world title in 2017 with a win over Turkey's Taha Akgul (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)3. Geno Petriashvili (Georgia)
Petriashvili has established himself as the world's top freestyle heavyweight after winning world titles in each of the past two years, unseating Turkey's Taha Akgul from the No. 1 spot. The 24-year-old Georgian has been consistent at world-level events, taking home medals in four of the past five World Championships or Olympic Games. In 2017, Petriashvili stunned Akgul in the World Championship finals after getting thumped by him earlier in the year at the European Championships.
4. Taha Akgul (Turkey)
The 27-year-old Turkish heavyweight claimed the 2016 Olympic gold medal at 125 kilograms after winning world titles in each of the two previous years. He is a five-time European champion, along with being a European Games gold medalist in 2015. Akgul defeated Petriashvili to win a European title in May. After this year's World Championships draws were released, many expected to Akgul and Petriashvili to meet in the semifinals, but Iran's Parviz Hadibasmanj had other ideas. He upset Akgul in the quarterfinals before losing to Petriashvili, knocking Akgul out of medal contention. It was the first time since the 2012 Olympic Games in London that Akgul left a world-level event without a medal.
Jordan Burroughs battles Russia's Zaurbek Sidakov in the quarterfinals of the World Championships (Photo/Larry Slater)5. Jordan Burroughs (USA)
The 2012 Olympic champion Burroughs has won medals in seven of the past eight world-level events. Of those seven world-level medals, five have been gold and two bronze. At the age of 30, Burroughs is still among the world's best pound-for-pound wrestlers. He only has seven international losses in his seven-year career. This year, Burroughs entered the World Championships looking to repeat as world champion after winning in Paris. But in the World Championship quarterfinals, Russia's Zaurbek Sidakov came from behind to defeat Burroughs, scoring a last-second step out to win 6-5. Burroughs came back to win bronze, beating two-time world champion Frank Chamizo of Italy.
6. David Taylor (USA)
Taylor competed in his first World Championships in 2018 after being behind world champions Jordan Burroughs and J'den Cox. While Taylor has had strong international results over the past two years since moving up to 86 kilograms, he needed to prove himself at the World Championships before being mentioned among the world's best pound-for-pound wrestlers. In Budapest, he did just that, knocking off Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani Cherati of Iran on his way to winning his first world title. Against Yazdani, Taylor trailed 6-2 at the break before storming back to win 11-6. It was his second win over Yazdani since 2017. He then won his next four matches to claim the gold medal. Taylor did not lose a match in 2018
Hassan Yazdani Cherati won a world title in Paris a year after winning Olympic gold in Rio (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)7. Hassan Yazdani Cherati (Iran)
After winning a Junior world title in 2014, Yazdani won a world silver medal in 2015, losing in the finals at 70 kilograms to Russia's Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov. The next year, Yazdani moved up a weight class and became one of wrestling's biggest stars when he won the Olympic gold medal in Rio. It was a weight class that included the reigning Olympic and world champion (at the time), Burroughs. He moved up another weight class in 2017 and shined at the World Championships in Paris, earning four technical falls in five matches. In Budapest, Yazdani came back to win a bronze medal after losing his first match to Taylor.
8. Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia)
Sidakov, a 2015 Junior world bronze medalist, has had strong results over the past few years but had not been able to break into Russia's lineup until this year. He has won medals at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Pix in each of the last four years, including a gold medal in 2016. In Budapest, Sidakov knocked off world champions Burroughs and Chamizo en route to winning the world title. It was his second win over Chamizo in the last 12 months having defeated him last November at the Alany Tournament.
Frank Chamizo gets to the leg of Jordan Burroughs at Beat the Streets' "Rumble on the River" event (Photo/Juan Garcia)9. Frank Chamizo (Italy)
Chamizo may have fallen short of a world medal in Budapest this year, but that doesn't change the fact that he's one of the world's best pound-for-pound wrestlers. He has charisma on and off the mat, which has made him one of the sport's biggest stars. Leading up to the 2018 World Championships, Chamizo had won three straight world medals at 70 kilograms, including two world titles. After moving up to 74 kilograms in 2018, Chamizo dropped a close match to Burroughs at Beat the Streets but came back to avenge the loss at the Yasar Dogu in Turkey. Chamizo reached the semifinals at this year's World Championships before falling to Sidakov. He faced Burroughs in the bronze-medal match and lost on criteria.
10. Kyle Dake (USA)
Dake, like Taylor, won a world title in his World Championship debut. Not only did he win, but he dominated his competition, outscoring his opponents 37-0 at 79 kilograms. His run to the title included a 13-0 technical fall over Russia's Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov in the semifinals, avenging a loss from earlier this year. In the gold-medal match, Dake shut down Olympic bronze medalist Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan, 3-0.
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