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We’re less than a week away from the 2025 Senior World Championships. The World Championships are where wrestlers can immortalize themselves in USA Wrestling lore. The Olympics are more prestigious from a general sports fan's perspective; however, the World Championship brackets are much bigger and feature many more threats, and most are wrestling at their ideal weights. Typically, the year after an Olympic Games is a transition year for the World Championships. Wrestlers might highlight the Olympics as a retirement date, win or lose. With ten weights, opposed to six at the Olympics, we might see wrestlers move up or down in weight to compete at a non-Olympic weight that suits their bodies more appropriately. Some are beaten down by the pursuit of the Olympics and take a year off. All of these situations open the door for new faces to shine. New faces are prevalent on the US men’s freestyle team. Only two of the ten world teamers have competed at a Senior World Championship event (and a third was in the Olympics). That isn’t to say it will be a down year. We just have a lot of wrestlers that haven’t gotten the opportunity to shine yet at the Senior World level. Most have earned international medals at the age-group level. Now, it’s their time to take the next step. In our preview, we feature the eight seeded wrestlers at each weight, along with past world/Olympic medalists, as well as other notable threats at the weight. Along with some analysis about our representatives, the medal prospects, and potential hazards. For part one of our men’s freestyle preview: Click Here 79 kg - Levi Haines Seeds #1 Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK) #2 Suldkhuu Olonbayar (MGL) #3 Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (GEO) #4 Magomet Evloev (TJK) #5 Mohammad Nokhodi (IRI) #6 Daulet Yergesh (KAZ) #7 Khidir Saipudinov (BRN) #8 Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Gualev: 2024 World bronze Gamkrelidze: 2023 World silver Khadjiev: 2019 World bronze Vasil Mikhailov (UKR): 2022 World bronze Nokhodi: 4x World medalist Akhmed Usmanov (UWW - Russia): 2023 World champion Others Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (AZE): 2024 U23 World bronze Georgios Kougioumtsidis (GRE): 2022 European champion Saipudinov: 2025 Asian silver With Kyle Dake up at 86 kg and Jordan Burroughs foregoing the Trials process in 2025, we knew that there would be a new representative at 79 kg. That turned out to be Levi Haines, who swept Evan Wick in two straight matches at Final X. Haines doesn’t have extensive international experience. He was a Cadet World Team member back in 2021. Earlier this year, he won a U23 Pan-American title. After securing his spot on the team, Haines went to the Hungarian Ranking Series event and took ninth, losing to Greece’s former European champion Kougioumtsidis. Can Haines make the necessary adjustments to reverse a match like that or beat someone of even higher caliber? With the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and USAW behind him, you have to like his chances. This weight is one of the more balanced ones on the men’s freestyle side. I don’t see anyone as a huge favorite, yet there are a lot of viable contenders. Russian Akhmed Usmanov is the only world champion in the bunch and is probably a slight favorite. Usmanov has won the European title in each of the last two years, following a world championship in 2023. Before we get brackets, the top half looks a bit tougher than the bottom. The fifth seed, Nokhodi, has the most world hardware of anyone in this bracket. He’s the opponent that Burroughs beat in the 2021 and 2021 gold medal match. Like many on the men’s freestyle team, it’s hard to quantify specific expectations for Haines. A lot will come down to the draw, as he is unseeded. 86 kg - Zahid Valencia Seeds #1 Osman Gocen (TUR) #2 Arsenii Dzhioev (AZE) #3 Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (UWW - Belarus) #4 Zahid Valencia (USA) #5 Rakhim Magamadov (FRA) #6 Hayato Ishiguro (JPN) #7 Batbilguun Naadambat (MGL) #8 Gyeongyeon Lee (KOR) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ):2x World bronze Kamran Ghasempour (IRI): 2x World champion Kadzimahamedau: 2021 Olympic silver Avtandil Kentchadze: 2024 World champion, 2x World medalist Boris Makoev (SVK): 2x World medalist Valencia: 2023 World bronze Others Dzhioev: 2024 U23 World silver Gocen: 3x European bronze Ibragim Kadiev: 2x U20 World champion Magamadov: 2x U20 World champion Throughout the previews thus far, I’ve felt a bit wishy-washy and unsure of what to predict from our representatives. At 86 kg, we have more of a known commodity in Zahid Valencia. Since losing in the 2024 World Team Trials to David Taylor, Valencia joined forces with Taylor at the Cowboy RTC and is thriving. He downed Kyle Dake at the US Open and in two consecutive matches at Final X. Internationally, Valencia has three tournament titles on the year. Simply put, he seems to be at his peak and in the perfect weight class. Valencia earned a world medal in 2023 at 92 kg, but 86 kg looks like a much better fit. This weight class is pretty loaded, but you have to like Valencia’s chances based on his recent form. So who does Valencia have to look out for in this bracket? Well, there are a pair of past world champions (Ghasempour and Kentchadze). Kadzimahamedau is the opponent who beat Dake at the 2021 Olympic Games and is always a threat. Russian Kadiev is the next superstar. In 2024, Kadiev downed Josh Barr in the U20 finals to capture his second gold medal at that event. Ghasempour is the opponent that Taylor beat for the bronze medal last year at 92 kg. He’ll be massive at 86 kg. Valencia starts his tournament as the fourth seed. I like that position in the bracket - on the opposite side of Kadzimahamedau. In the quarters, he would possibly have to contend with two-time U20 champion Magamadov of France. But, without a draw, it’s difficult to say exactly how good of a draw it is for Valencia. Either way, he’ll be tough to beat in Zagreb. 92 kg - Trent Hidlay Seeded #1 Miriani Maisuradze (GEO) #2 Benjamin Honis (ITA) #3 Batyrbek Tsakulov (SVK) #4 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) #5 Dauren Kurugliev (GRE) #6 Amirhossein Firouzpour (IRI) #7 Lars Schaefle (GER) #8 Trent Hidlay (USA) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Kurugliev: 2024 Olympic bronze Maisuradze: 2x World medalist Nurmagomedov: 3x World medalist Deepak Punia (IND): 2019 World silver Tsakulov: 2x World medalist Others Firouzpour: 2x U23 World Champion, 3x Asian Champion Magomed Sharipov (BRN): 2x Asian bronze Even though he’s a first-time Senior World Team member, I feel better about forecasting Trent Hidlay’s tournament than the other new faces. At the 2024 non-Olympic World Championships, it was David Taylor in this spot. Obviously, he’s gone and Hidlay fills the void. He earned his slot on the team by downing young upstarts Aeoden Sinclair in the US Open finals and Josh Barr in Final X. Hidlay has world level experience under his belt as he medaled in 2019 at the Junior level and in 2022 at U23’s. Additionally, he competed at the Hungarian Ranking Series event earlier this year and got the gold medal. While his eighth seed might not look great, he dropped the current #1 seed in the gold medal match and beat the #5 seed by injury default in the semis. Hidlay’s style is also one that is successful on the international stage. Controlling the exchanges with his underhook, along with the center of the mat, is a recipe for favorable calls from the officials. The young star to watch out for is on the other half of the bracket in #6 Firouzpour. He’s a two-time U23 world champion. In both instances, 2024 being the most recent, he defeated Jacob Cardenas in the gold medal matchup. 97 kg - Kyle Snyder Seeded #1 Akhmed Tazhudinov (BRN) #2 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO) #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) #4 Magomedkhan Magomedov (AZE) #5 Amirali Azarpira (IRI) #6 Zbigniew Baranowski (POL) #7 Arash Yoshida (JPN) #8 Richard Vegh (HUN) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Rizabek Aitmukhan (KAZ): 2023 World champion Azarpira: 2024 Olympic bronze Magomedov: 2024 Olympic bronze, 2x World medalist Matcharashvili: 2024 Olympic silver, 2x World medalist Snyder: 2016 Olympic champion, 3x World champion, 7x World medalist Tazhudinov: 2024 Olympic champion, 2023 World champion Others Radu Lefter (MDA): 2023 U23 World silver Arash Yoshida (JPN): 2x Asian champion The big storyline on the men’s freestyle side has been the status of seven-time world and Olympic champion, Abdulrashid Sadulaev. As we were wrapping up writing this preview, UWW modified their entries and removed Sadulaev from the 97 kg weight class. He was having difficulties with his visa and was not permitted to travel to Croatia. It’s unfortunate, as he’s one of the all-time greats and a frequent opponent of American Kyle Snyder. Speaking of Snyder, he’ll make his 11th straight World/Olympic appearance. Last year, at the Olympic Games, was the first time that Snyder has left a Senior world event empty handed. He’ll look to get back on the medal stand this year and earn his eighth world medal. In 2025, Snyder traveled internationally twice and won the Zagreb Open and finished with a bronze medal at the Albanian Ranking Series event. In Albania, he suffered a loss to Japan’s Yoshida, an opponent that had not previously beaten him. Yoshida is on Snyder’s half of the bracket; however, he’d have to get through a tough Matcharashvili to find Snyder again. Matcharashvili was the Olympic silver medalist last year, but he and Snyder did not square off in Paris. Though Sadulaev isn’t in this field, the new version of him is Akhmed Tazhudinov. Tazhudinov burst on the scene in 2023 when he beat Snyder and Sadulaev for his first world title. A year later, he dominated Matcharashvili with a fall in the Olympic finals (In the semis, he beat Snyder 6-4). Tazhudinov sits atop this bracket as the one seed and his half of the bracket is quite brutal with two Olympic bronze medalists. This is the only weight where all four of the 2024 Olympic medalists are back. Even though Kyle Snyder is Kyle Snyder, he’ll have a handful of tough matches to get back on the podium. I’m sure most would like to see a finals bout with Tazhidunov and Snyder, but he’ll have to work to make it that far. Matcharishivli and Yoshida are excellent and others could be drawn into the bottom half. 125 kg - Wyatt Hendrickson Seeds #1 Giorgi Meshvildishvili (AZE) #2 Amir Zare (IRI) #3 Dzianis Khramiankou (UWW - Belarus) #4 Robert Baran (POL) #5 Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL) #6 Shamil Sharipov (BRN) #7 Solomon Manashvili (GEO) #8 Jonovan Smith (PUR) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Meshvildishvili: 2024 Olympic bronze Munkhtur: 2x World medalist Khasanboy Rakhimov: 2019 World bronze Zare: 2x Olympic medalist, 2x World champion, 3x World medalist Others Hakan Buyukcingil (TUR): 2x U20 World bronze Abdulla Kurbanov (UWW - Russia): 2024 U23 World bronze Manashvili: 2025 European silver Alisher Yergali (KAZ): 2022 U23 World bronze 2025 has been the year of Wyatt Hendrickson. The iconic upset of Gable Steveson, a wild Final X win, dominance at RAF….now a World title? Hendrickson already has a gold medal from the 2023 U23 World Championships and he’s improved significantly since then. The United States is in the middle of an excellent run of heavyweights and Hendrickson is currently our best. He’s seeking to become the fourth different American big man to medal at the World/Olympics since 2017. This weight is a bit unique. It’s very top-heavy, but doesn’t have quite as much depth as others. Only two of the medalists from the 2024 Olympic Games return. Both Zare and Meshvildishvili should be considered favorites. Prior to Paris, Zare may have been seen as the “guy” at this weight; however, Geno Petriashvili wasn’t ready to pass the crown just yet. Even so, Zare still has a pair of world titles under his belt and is the favorite here. The question for Hendrickson is how his aggressiveness will translate against the massive upper-echelon heavyweights. At times, that was an issue for Mason Parris against opponents like Mongolia’s Munkhtur. Hendrickson will need to balance his offensive skills that make him a crowd favorite with savvy match tactics and not putting himself in dangerous positions.

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