Haines and Lee Lead Men's Freestyle Team to World Title
Just like that, the 2026 Senior World Championships have come to a conclusion. The US men’s freestyle team came into the day needing one of its three finalists to win or both Russian finalists to lose for them to claim a team title. The team race drama ended quickly as Levi Haines grinded out a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Iran’s Mohammad Nokhodilarimi for the 79 kg gold medal.
Haines scored takedowns in each period and never appeared seriously threatened during his bout with the now-six-time world medalist from Iran.
With the win, Haines now has world medals in each of his two Senior world appearances, a silver last year and gold on Sunday.
The win gives the men’s freestyle team their fourth world title in the last ten years (2017, 2022, 2023).
In the 57 kg weight class, it was a classic Big Ten showdown as Iowa grad Spencer Lee squared off with Penn State grad Roman Bravo-Young, who represents Mexico internationally. Lee got a quick takedown and then transitioned into a series of leg laces which ended the match after only :26 seconds.
During his post-tournament interview, Lee mentioned how he’d torn his ACL for the fourth time, a couple of months ago.
This is Lee’s first medal at the World Championships; however, he does have a silver medal from the 2024 Olympic Games.
Bravo-Young became the first wrestler to win a medal for Mexico in men’s freestyle.
The final American to take the mat on Sunday was Trent Hidlay in the 92 kg gold medal match. Hidlay’s title bout was a rematch of the 2025 92 kg world final against Russia’s Amanula Gadzhimagomedov. In that meeting, Hidlay stormed back to win 13-10 after getting down early. That match featured a handful of exchanges that stemmed from a Hidlay attack and a chest wrap from Gadzhimagomedov.
That situation proved to be the difference-maker in Sunday’s bout, as well. Holding a 2-1 lead, Hidlay attempted a leg attack at the edge of the mat and Gadzhimagomedov used the counter well off the mat. The initial ruling was a takedown for the American, giving Hidlay a comfortable 4-1 lead with :19 remaining. The Russian corner challenged the sequence and it was overturned and ruling two points for Gadzhimagomedov, making the score 3-2 in his favor.
The call was stunning as Gadzhimagomedov appeared to be completely out of bound before he changed movements from Hidlay. It’s also possible that Hidlay could have been give just a point for a step out, rather than allowing for continuation.
Trailing 3-2, Hidlay frantically worked for a score during the final 19 seconds - at one point he did elevate Gadzhimagomedov’s leg, but couldn’t convert and will have to settle for the silver medal.
The Hidlay ruling put a slight damper on an otherwise excellent day and tournament for the Americans.
Nine of the ten team members finished with a medal. Five of the ten won world championships and six appeared in the finals.
American Results
57 kg
Gold Medal Match: Spencer Lee over Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) 10-0
74 kg
Repechage: James Green over Narek Harutyunyan (Armenia) 15-2
Repechage: Amir Mohammad Yazdani (Iran) over James Green 8-2
79 kg
Gold Medal Match: Levi Haines over Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) 4-3
92 kg
Gold Medal Match: Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia) over Trent Hidlay 3-2
Final Results
57 kg
Gold Medal Match: Spencer Lee (USA) over Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) 10-0
Bronze Medal Match: Chong-Song Han (North Korea) over Munkh Erdene Batkhuyag (Mongolia) 3-1
Bronze Medal Match: Abubakar Mutaliev (Russia) over Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan) 6-2
74 kg
Gold Medal Match: Inalbek Sheriev (Russia) over Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan) 10-4
Bronze Medal Match: Amir Mohammad Yazdani (Iran) over Tajmuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) 5-4
Bronze Medal Match: Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) over Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) 11-0
79 kg
Gold Medal Match: Levi Haines (USA) over Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) 4-3
Bronze Medal Match: Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus) over Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 3-0
Bronze Medal Match: Ismail Kaniev (Russia) over Suldkhuu Olonbayaryn (Mongolia) 6-0
92 kg
Gold Medal Match: Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia) over Trent Hidlay (USA) 3-2
Bronze Medal Match: Ali Tcokaev (Azerbaijan) over Amir Hossein Firouzpour (Iran) 6-0
Bronze Medal Match: Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia) over Samuel Scherrer (Switzerland) 6-3
