Hidlay, Farokhi and Onishi named wrestling’s breakout stars

The United World Wrestling (UWW) have picked American Trent Hidlay, Gholamreza Farokhi of Iran and Japanese starlet Sakura Onishi as their breakout stars of the year.

UWW also named 30 wrestlers across three categories – Freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s – as their best wrestlers in each division.

Freestyle Breakout Performer of the Year: Trent Hidlay (USA)

Before 2025, Hidlay had never climbed to the top of a podium at an international event. His  2025 season even began with more doubt than promise, dropping his second match of the year to rising Azeri phenom Arsenii Dzhioev at the Zagreb Open. But that loss lit a fuse. From that moment on, the 26-year-old didn’t just improve — he transformed.

Hidlay unleashed a stunning 13-match win streak and collected gold medals at the Pan-American Championships, the Budapest Ranking Series and the World Championships. Along the way, he knocked off giants — Dauren Kurugliev of Greece, Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia, and Osman Nurmagomedov of Acerbaijan, just to name a few.

Then came the finale – a world finals comeback for the ages. Down and all but finished, Hidlay stormed back to defeat neutral athlete Amanula Gadzhimagomedov. In one year, Hidlay didn’t just win — he arrived.

Greco-Roman Breakout Performer of the Year: Gholemreza Farokhi (Iri)

When opportunity knocked, Farokhi wasn’t just there to answer it, he was there to kick the door off its hinges. The 23-year-old stepped into Iran’s senior lineup for the first time in his career and tore through anyone in front of him — whether it was at 82kg or 87kg.

Farokhi bulldozed his way to gold medals at the two World Championships he participated in. He racked up a perfect 17-0 record, including 11 technical superiority wins and six decisions, sweeping gold at the World Championships, U23 World Championships, the Islamic Solidarity Games, and the Zagreb Open Ranking Series.

Women’s Wrestling Breakout Performer of the Year: Sakura Onishi (Jpn)

At 19 years old, Onishi entered the senior circuit with massive goals but had zero experience and zero fear. In mere months, she became a problem no one had an answer for.

Onishi tore through the season with a flawless 15-0 record, capturing titles at the Senior and U20 World Championships, the Asian Championships, and the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series. Her dominance wasn’t subtle — it was exactly what you’d expect from a Japanese women’s wrestler — 11 tech falls, three pins, and a decision, outscoring opponents 158-17.

Meanwhile, the top ranked wrestlers for 2025 in all 30 weight classes were picked by the ranking points achieved at the 2025 World Championships, Continental Championships and the four Ranking Series.

Freestyle

The United States saw three wrestlers who finished as the top ranked wrestlers in the weight classes. World champs Zahid Valencia at 86kg, Hidlay at 92kg and Kyle Snyder at 97kg are ranked one.

Bahrain had two wrestlers finishing as ranked one — Khidir Saipudinov at 79kg and Shamil Sharipov at 125kg. World champion at 57kg Han Chongsong of North Korea finished first and so did 61kg world champion Zavur Uguev, representing UWW.

Iran, Japan and Slovakia also had one highest ranked wrestler as well with world champion Rahman Amouzad at 65kg and Yoshinosuke Aoyag of Japan at 70kg. World bronze medalist Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia finished top at 79kg.

Women’s Wrestling

The best women’s wrestling country, Japan, finished with three number one ranked wrestlers. Onishi at 59kg, Miwa Morikawa at 65kg and Ami Ishii at 68kg, all world champs and all ranked number one.

Turkey’s Evin Demirhan is at the top at 57kg for Turkiye, India’s Antim ranked topped at 53kg, neutral athlete Ekaterina Verbina finished best at 55kg, American Helen Maroulis at 57kg and Bulgarian Bilyana Dudova at 62kg.

Ukraine’s got on the list as well with world champion Alla Belinska ranked number one at 72kg. World silver medalist Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan finished as best wrestler at 76kg. 

Greco-Roman

Uzbekistan emerged as the best country in Greco-Roman with three top ranked wrestlers. World champion Aytjan Khalmakhanov at 63kg, Alisher Ganiev at 60kg and Abdullo Aliev at 72kg were best.

Georgia and Hungary got two wrestlers each at the top. World champion Vakhtang Lolua earned himself the top rank at 55kg while Georgian teammate Gela Bolkvasze is at 82kg. For Hungary, Alex Szoke at 97kg and Darius Vitek at 130kg earned the top rank.

Iran, Turkiye and Serbia earned one spots each at the top of the ranking. Iranian Olympic and world champion Saeid Esmaeili became the top ranked wrestler at 67kg, while Turkiye’s Ahmed Yilmazat topped 72kg and world champion Aleksandr Komarov of Serbia was the best at 87kg.

Each of the top ranked wrestlers in their respective weight classes receive Swiss Francs (CHF) 5,000.