In most styles of wrestling, opponents are matched based on weight class.
Since the Olympic Games began in Athens in 1896, wrestling became a focus of the Games, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics when wrestling did not appear on the program. Freestyle wrestling and weight classes both made their first appearance in 1904. The women's competition was introduced in 2004.
The World Wrestling Championships are the Amateur Wrestling World Championships organized by United World Wrestling. The Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling tournament began in 1904, and the Men's Freestyle Wrestling tournament began in 1951. The Women's Freestyle Wrestling tournament was first held in 1987.
Reineris Salas Perez is a male freestyle wrestler from Cuba. He is a two time World Freestyle Wrestling Championships silver medalist.
Bilyal Valerievich Makhov is a Circassian-Kabardian-born Russian mixed martial artist, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestler. He is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, currently competing in the Heavyweight division. He was the Russian champion in 2007 and 2010, European champion in 2010 and World champion in 2007, 2009 and 2010 in Men's Freestyle 120 kg wrestling and bronze medalist in 130 kg Greco-Roman Wrestling at the World Championships in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, he won the Russian National Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships
Taha Akgül is an Olympic, World and European champion Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 125 kg division. He is a graduate of the Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University Physical Education and Sports Academy and completed his master's degree at Sivas Cumhuriyet University.
Komeil Ghasemi is a retired Iranian wrestler who won a gold medal in the men's freestyle 120 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ghasemi was awarded his Olympic gold medal after the two wrestlers ahead of him failed drug tests. Ghasemi is the most successful Iranian heavyweight wrestler at the Olympic Games.
Dániel Ligeti is an amateur Hungarian freestyle wrestler, who competes in the men's super heavyweight category. He won the bronze medal for his division at the 2011 European Wrestling Championships in Dortmund, Germany, and silver at the 2012 European Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Ligeti stands 1.92 metres tall and weighs 115 kilograms (254 lb). He is also currently a member of TuS Adelhausen in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and is coached by Istvan Gulyas from the national wrestling team.
Korey Jarvis is a Canadian wrestler who most notably won a gold medal in the 125 kg category in men’s freestyle wrestling at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He has additionally, competed and won the Canadian National Wrestling Championships for three consecutive years in both freestyle and Greco-Roman styles, the only wrestler to have done so. In July 2016, he was officially named to Canada's 2016 Olympic team. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, he placed 8th in the 125 kg category in men’s freestyle wrestling. Jarvis most recently placed 7th in the 125 kg category in men’s freestyle wrestling at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in Paris, France.
Robert Baran is a Polish freestyle wrestler. He competed in the men's freestyle 125 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in which he was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Tervel Dlagnev.
Deng Zhiwei is a Chinese heavyweight freestyle wrestler who won a Silver medal at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships and a Bronze medal at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships.
Aiaal Petrovich Lazarev Russian, Kyrgyz freestyle wrestler, champion and multiple medalist of the Asian Championships, World Cup medalist, participant in two Olympics. International Master of Sports of Kyrgyzstan. By nationality - Yakut. freestyle wrestler. He is a three-time bronze medalist, silver medalist (2021), and an Asian Champion (2015).
Nickolos Edward Gwiazdowski is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler. A two-time NCAA Division I National Champion for the North Carolina State Wolfpack, Gwiazdowski has won two bronze medals at the World Championships and has captured a Pan American Games title and two Pan American Championships for Team USA.
Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, he was the '19 US National champion and a three–time age–group World Champion, once as a cadet and twice as a junior. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lee has won the James E. Sullivan Award and the Dan Hodge Trophy twice, as well as being a three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and a two-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Iowa. He was also the top-recruit as a high school wrestler at the time of his commitment. Lee is often considered one of the most dominant athletes in college athletics.
Men's Freestyle 125 kilograms competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, took place on 5–6 August 2021 at the Makuhari Messe in Mihama-ku.
Amir Hossein Zare is an Iranian freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the heavyweight division. Zare became World Champion in 2021, and was the 2019 U23 World Champion at age 18. He claimed a Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medal in 2021. In the age-group, he was the 2018 Cadet World Champion and claimed silver medals from the 2019 Junior World Championships and the 2018 Youth Summer Olympics.
Gable Dan Steveson is an American professional wrestler and retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he was appointed to the Raw brand under his real name, but has yet to have his debut match. He is the second Olympic wrestling gold medalist to be signed by the company, after Kurt Angle.
Dzianis Uladzimiravich Khramiankou is a Belarusian freestyle wrestler.
Abraham de Jesús "Abramo" Conyedo Ruano is a Cuban-born freestyle wrestler representing Italy. He is a bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships and the European Wrestling Championships. He represented Italy at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, winning a bronze medal in Men's freestyle 97 kg.
The men's freestyle 125 kg is a competition featured at the 2022 U23 World Wrestling Championships, and was held in Pontevedra, Spain on 22 and 23 October 2022. The qualification rounds were held on 20 October while medal matches were held on the 2nd day of the competition. A total of 16 wrestlers competed in this event, limited to athletes whose body weight was less than 125 kilograms.
