MFS Worlds Team 2026

[oldschool]

highlighting the guys who i think have a solid shot at gold:

57 kg: Spencer Lee

61 kg: Marcus Blaze

65 kg: TBD

70 kg: Zain Retherford

74 kg: James Green

79 kg: Levi Haines

86 kg: Kyle Dake

92 kg: Trent Hidlay

97 kg: Kyle Snyder

125 kg: Wyatt Hendrickson

[oldschool]

even with russia back in full form and a competitive iran + japan, i think this squad has a really good chance at winning worlds this year.

zain, hendrickson, and maybe bassett could all outperform

green def deserves the spot and happy for him; hoping the extra kilos gives him a shot but 74 is always super competitive..

Edited June 20 by oldschool

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

Marcus Blaze does not beat Uguev, lets be serious.

in what universe does 35 year old Dake have a "solid shot at gold" at 86kg considering he just lost 11-4 to Kadiev and then to Dzhioev back to back a few months ago? That is not even including Ghasempour or Ramazanov. 

I think team USA only has a realistic shot at gold at 57 (20-30% chance), 79 (40-50% chance), and 92 (50-60% chance). 57kg is extremely competitive and unpredictable. 79kg will be tougher this year with Usmanov and Nokhodi back on form, but Haines looks very good. Trent has a good shot at gold, but he has to get through Russia again (some would say he was a bit fortunate last year) and he hasn't wrestled Firouzpour yet.

[SplitTheG]

57 - Spencer Lee - Gold

61 - Marcus Blaze - DNP

65 - Bo Bassett (imo) - Bronze

70 - Zain Retherford - Bronze

74 - James Green - Bronze

79 - Levi Haines - Gold

86 - Kyle Dake - Silver

92 - Trent Hidlay - Bronze

97 - Kyle Snyder - Gold

125 - Wyatt Hendrickson - Silver

 

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

2 hours ago, SplitTheG said:

57 - Spencer Lee - Gold

61 - Marcus Blaze - DNP

65 - Bo Bassett (imo) - Bronze

70 - Zain Retherford - Bronze

74 - James Green - Bronze

79 - Levi Haines - Gold

86 - Kyle Dake - Silver

92 - Trent Hidlay - Bronze

97 - Kyle Snyder - Gold

125 - Wyatt Hendrickson - Silver

 

reasonable picks except for 65 and 97. Snyder to beat Sadulaev? In what universe? 

[BruceyB]

27 minutes ago, Bulldozer Without Brakes said:

reasonable picks except for 65 and 97. Snyder to beat Sadulaev? In what universe? 

How is picking Bassett for bronze unreasonable? I don't think he's beating Amouzad, but I don't know who else in the field he couldn't beat.. Kiyooka and I forget the other notable 65kg guy will both be absent from Worlds this year as well. If Real Woods won a bronze and Bo beats him, it certainly seems within reason to predict a bronze for Basset. I think every rep has a reasonable chance of winning a bronze if they draw the right path.

[bnwtwg]

Snyder is a 100% lock for gold

 

 

 

 

 

 

If Sadulaev grabs the wrong passport again

[oldschool]

will be interesting to see how yazdani does up at 97kg against the field as well

[bnwtwg]

1 hour ago, oldschool said:

will be interesting to see how yazdani does up at 97kg against the field as well

Genuinely can't believe he came back from double shoulder surgery at his age up 50 pounds from his original weight to beat prime Azirpira. Tough as nails.

[SplitTheG]

2 hours ago, Bulldozer Without Brakes said:

reasonable picks except for 65 and 97. Snyder to beat Sadulaev? In what universe? 

Someone mentioned 65 above, I have no further comment on that. As for Snyder, he'll have a preview at RAF in July. And I believe their last match was for Bronze in 2023, which Snyder won.

[JMill]

34 minutes ago, SplitTheG said:

Someone mentioned 65 above, I have no further comment on that. As for Snyder, he'll have a preview at RAF in July. And I believe their last match was for Bronze in 2023, which Snyder won.

They haven’t wrestled since 2021 Worlds where Kyle lost 6-0 in the finals. Sadulaev forfeited the bronze match in 2023.

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

1 hour ago, SplitTheG said:

Someone mentioned 65 above, I have no further comment on that. As for Snyder, he'll have a preview at RAF in July. And I believe their last match was for Bronze in 2023, which Snyder won.

You gotta be trolling, right? You're counting the injury forfeit as a Snyder win? Good luck man.

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

3 hours ago, BruceyB said:

How is picking Bassett for bronze unreasonable? I don't think he's beating Amouzad, but I don't know who else in the field he couldn't beat.. Kiyooka and I forget the other notable 65kg guy will both be absent from Worlds this year as well. If Real Woods won a bronze and Bo beats him, it certainly seems within reason to predict a bronze for Basset. I think every rep has a reasonable chance of winning a bronze if they draw the right path.

You're right, I forgot about Kiyooka. But this is Bo's senior worlds debut, and I think he loses to Amouzad, Mamedov and is 50/50 at best against Sujeet, Jalolov and Ibragimov. So he will need a good draw and some luck to win bronze.

Edited June 20 by Bulldozer Without Brakes

[LJB]

Not to be the stickler here, but…

Bassett has not made the team yet…

[ionel]

5 minutes ago, LJB said:

Not to be the stickler here, but…

Bassett has not made the team yet…

... maths again?  Paging nhs.  

[de4856]

I hope that our team(s) do well, and the best of luck to all of them. 

[SplitTheG]

2 hours ago, JMill said:

They haven’t wrestled since 2021 Worlds where Kyle lost 6-0 in the finals. Sadulaev forfeited the bronze match in 2023.

Yeah, my bad, was just checking match history without diving deeper.  Point being, it has been a while and Snyder is one of the few that has gotten a win against him, and this sport has shown thousands of times that anything can happen. Snyder over Sadulaev is not in the realm of minute possibility as is being discussed. Sadulaev is favorite, but I would not put this as 10-1 odds Snyder wins.

[JMill]

2 minutes ago, SplitTheG said:

Yeah, my bad, was just checking match history without diving deeper.  Point being, it has been a while and Snyder is one of the few that has gotten a win against him, and this sport has shown thousands of times that anything can happen. Snyder over Sadulaev is not in the realm of minute possibility as is being discussed. Sadulaev is favorite, but I would not put this as 10-1 odds Snyder wins.

I was just throwing it out there before you got your head ripped off… 

Snyder vs Taz at RAF 07 opened at +150/-200. I wouldn’t expect the odds to be much different vs Sadulaev.

[BruceyB]

6 hours ago, Bulldozer Without Brakes said:

You're right, I forgot about Kiyooka. But this is Bo's senior worlds debut, and I think he loses to Amouzad, Mamedov and is 50/50 at best against Sujeet, Jalolov and Ibragimov. So he will need a good draw and some luck to win bronze.

I'd say that sounds about right. I haven't actually seen Mamedov wrestle but I know he's tough. IMO winning a bronze at world's is often more about the draw than who is necessarily the best, especially with the repechage/double bronze system. Most of the time you only need one solid win and repechage going your way for a bronze. Outside of the Aden Valencia match, and I think very highly of Valencia in freestyle, Bo has looked phenomenal this spring. I thought he had more of an outside chance of making Final X going into the U.S. Open, and he far exceeded my expectations. I'm excited for the match-up with Woods, but I think Bo wins convincingly in 2 matches and I think Real only wins if he can get an early takedown and end the match in par terre. Bo's finishes have improved tremendously in the last year and I don't think Real can keep up in a shootout.

[Bulldozer Without Brakes]

10 hours ago, JMill said:

I was just throwing it out there before you got your head ripped off… 

Snyder vs Taz at RAF 07 opened at +150/-200. I wouldn’t expect the odds to be much different vs Sadulaev.

Tazhudinov has fallen off massively and lost to several wrestlers before he faced Snyder at RAF. Sadulaev would be a MUCH bigger favourite against Snyder than Tazhudinov. Snyder beat Azarpira with a late caution point and suddenly you guys think he has a shot against Sadulaev... In for a rude awakening once you remember who Sadulaev is. 

[Dark Energy]

Was honestly expecting and kinda hoping for greater rotation to younger guys ahead of the Olympics.  Give them some reps at the World Championships.

I’m a bit nervous about this team.  Getting long in the tooth at several weights.  Wondering if Zain, Green, Dake, Snyder have that fire in their belly … that hunger.  Both can support crazy training. Not sure their bodies can do it even if had the fire and hunger.  
 

I will root for being pleasantly surprised!!!

[Tyler Perry]

On 6/20/2026 at 9:16 AM, oldschool said:

highlighting the guys who i think have a solid shot at gold:

57 kg: Spencer Lee

61 kg: Marcus Blaze

65 kg: TBD

70 kg: Zain Retherford

74 kg: James Green

79 kg: Levi Haines

86 kg: Kyle Dake

92 kg: Trent Hidlay

97 kg: Kyle Snyder

125 kg: Wyatt Hendrickson

I think it’ll be very hard for Blaze to beat Uguev. 

[Tyler Perry]

[oldschool]

13 hours ago, Tyler Perry said:

I think it’ll be very hard for Blaze to beat Uguev. 

agreed, but with uguev at 31, it would be a helluva changing of the guard

[Truzzcat]

On 6/21/2026 at 11:45 PM, Tyler Perry said:

Love the pics, Could see Uguev having a really hard time getting to that high C on Marcus with how far he keeps his hips back but he could win a pushout battle because I in turn have a hard time seeing marcus getting to more than 3-4 points against him. I feel like if Bo makes the team he could have some growing pains, A guy like Kiyooka feels like a horrid matchup in my brain for him. I am optimistic that Hidlay can beat azimi again and would love to see the Yaz vs Snyder match now that Yaz seems more comfortable at 97. 

Side note did anyone notice in the Marcus interview (that was fantastic I may add) that he was doing a match simulation with Ono and mentioned that he was winning late until getting head pinched? Its a match simulation so not trying to get overly excited but if Ono was in this field he would be far and away the pick so thought it was an interesting side note.