InterMat Staff

The queen is back in her rightful place! Helen Maroulis climbed to the top of the World Championship podium for the fourth time in her illustrious career on Wednesday afternoon. She was one of two American women’s freestyle wrestlers to claim medals today in Zagreb, Croatia. Yesterday, we remarked on Maroulis’ dominant run to the gold medal match. She pinned all three of her opponents, two of which came in the opening period. The 57 kg gold medal bout was different. This contest saw her and North Korea’s Il Sim Son handfight and take little risk for much of the first four minutes of the bout. The North Korean held the lead. Both wrestlers earned points from the activity clock expiring on their opponents; however, Son was the last wrestler to receive a point and held criteria. Son got ahead on the scoreboard with about :90 seconds remaining in the bout when she forced Maroulis to step out. Once the match hit the one-minute mark, Maroulis turned up her attack rate and intensity. Son was still able to deny the American and hold her position for most of those 90 seconds. At the :20 mark, Maroulis nearly got to a single leg off of a reshot. After the pair got back to their feet, with time ticking down, Maroulis resorted to an inside trip, grabbed a leg, and hustled around the back of Son to secure the takedown with less than five seconds on the clock. Maroulis now has five gold medals combined from the Olympic/World Championships and 11 total. Her first world medal was a silver in 2012. Her first Senior world team appearance was in 2008. This is her first world championship since 2021. Win or lose, Maroulis’ status as an all-time great in USA Wrestling was already cemented. The win just continued to build her legacy. At this point, we can have the “Greatest of All-Time” discussion, between her and six-time world champion Adeline Gray. At the other end of the spectrum, someone at the beginning of a promising career is the other medalist on the day, Kylie Welker at 76 kg. Welker was obviously still upset about her quarterfinal loss and took it out on Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva. The American jumped out to a quick lead with a takedown via a single leg and a gut wrench for two exposure points. In the second period, Alpyeyeva got on the board with two step-out points and looked like she might seize control of the match. Those thoughts were quashed as Welker side-stepped an Alpyeyeva leg attack and spun for an insurance takedown. Shortly after the takedown, time expired and Welker was the winner, 6-2. With her win, Welker claimed bronze medals in back-to-back World Championships. In 2024, Welker was a bronze medalist at the non-Olympic World Championships competing at 72 kg. Also wrestling for a bronze medal on Wednesday was Welker’s Iowa teammate, Macey Kilty. Kilty dropped a tight, 4-2 match to Mongolia’s Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal to finish fifth at the 65 kg weight class. One American woman will be in action on Thursday as Kennedy Blades is alive in the 68 kg repechage. Blades was stunned in the quarterfinals by Japan’s Ami Ishii, 12-1. She will need to win two matches tomorrow to come away with a bronze medal. In addition to Blades, the Greco-Roman competition will get underway and four weight classes will be contested. Jayden Raney (55 kg), Kamal Bey (77 kg), Beka Melelashvili (82 kg), and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg) take the mat tomorrow. Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Round of 32: Jin Zhang (China) over Felicity Taylor 10-0 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Helen Maroulis over Il Sim Son (North Korea) 3-2 62 kg Round of 32: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Selvi Ilyasoglu (Turkey) 7-3 Round of 16: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Johanna Lindborg (Sweden) 13-6 Quarterfinals: Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) over Adaugo Nwachukwu 5-2 65 kg Repechage: Macey Kilty over Grace Bullen (Norway) Fall 4:38 Bronze Medal Matchup: Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal (Mongolia) over Macey Kilty 4-2 68 kg Round of 16: Kennedy Blades over Radhika Jaglan (India) 11-0 Quarterfinals: Ami Ishii (Japan) over Kennedy Blades 12-1 72 kg Round of 32: Alex Glaude over Svetlana Oknazarova (Uzbekistan) Fall 3:30 Round of 16: Alex Glaude over Masako Furuichi (Japan) 3-2 Quarterfinals: Nurzat Nurtaeva (Azerbaijan) over Alex Glaude 8-4 76 kg Repechage: Kylie Welker over Elmira Yasin (Turkiye) 10-0 Bronze Medal Matchup: Kylie Welker over Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine) 6-2 Final Results 50 kg Gold Medal Match: Myonggyong Won (North Korea) over Yu Zhang (China) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Elizaveta Smirnova (UWW - Russia) over Remina Yoshimoto (Japan) 3-3 Bronze Medal Match: Evin Demirhan (Turkiye) over Munkhnar Byambasuren (Mongolia) 3-2 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Helen Maroulis (USA) over Il Sim Son (North Korea) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Olga Khoroshavtseva (UWW - Russia) over Himeka Tokuhara (Japan) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Kexin Hong (China) over Iryna Kurachkina (UWW - Belarus) 10-0 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Miwa Morikawa (Japan) over Alina Kasabieva (UWW - Russia) 8-0 Bronze Medal Match: Irina Ringaci (Moldova) over Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) 6-3 Bronze Medal Match: Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal (Mongolia) over Macey Kilty (USA) 4-2 76 kg Gold Medal Match: Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) over Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Kylie Welker (USA) over Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine) 6-2 Bronze Medal Match: Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) over Priya Malik (India) 10-0 Thursday’s Gold Medal Matches 53 kg: Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador) vs. Haruna Okuno (Japan) 62 kg: Sakura Motoki (Japan) vs. Ok Ju Kim (North Korea) 68 kg: Ami Ishii (Japan) vs. Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria) 72 kg: Alla Belinska (Ukraine) vs. Nesrin Bas (Turkiye)

The fall visit season continues. College coaches are trying to make sure that the new Class of 2027 recruits are able to get on campus and see all that their wrestling program and school have to offer. We’ve also seen some uncommitted seniors who had big summers in Fargo getting the chance to take their visits. However they’ve come about, we’ve been tracking them! One of the things that makes following the recruiting process fun is the cloak-and-dagger secrecy surrounding certain aspects of it. For every Bo Bassett who routinely keeps the public informed on recruiting decisions, there are plenty of others who don’t discuss it as much. Therefore, it can be difficult to follow which recruit is interested in which school and vice versa. I suppose it’s fun, but you’re left wanting more! To help our fan base feel more knowledgeable about the process, we’ll feature a weekly column that recaps the recruiting weekend. Who has visited where? Perhaps some background information on the recruits or the recruitment process from the school would be helpful. Here’s are the previous articles: The weekend of August 23rd The weekend of August 30th Last weekend’s article If we've missed a recruit or you'd like to provide info on future visits, please let me know: earl@matscouts.com Appalachian State #218 Maximus Hay (Brown Deer, WI) - 2026 #155 Brock Weaver (Camden County, GA) - 2026 Appalachian State already has an impressive group from the Class of 2026, but is looking to add more with Big Boarders Maximus Hay and Brock Weaver. Hay is a two-time UWW U17 Trials All-American (both times finishing seventh). Weaver was an NHSCA Junior National fourth-place finisher in the spring. Just this morning, we were notified that App State received a commitment from New Jersey qualifier Luke Scholz (Cranford, NJ). Scholz was in Boone last weekend. Arizona State #26 Tanner Hodgins (Howell, NJ) #19 Gabe Logan (Delbarton, NJ) Arizona State has been showing a lot of interest in prospects from New Jersey over the past few years and, why not, with Frank Molinaro on staff. This weekend, they had two of the best in the junior class with U17 World Team member Tanner Hodgins and Gabe Logan. This is the first visit we’ve noted for Hodgins and the second for Logan. He was at Virginia Tech last weekend. Brown #145 Chris Anguiano (Millikan, CA) #101 Vinnie Gutierrez (Fountain Valley, CA) NR Bailey Holman (Poway, CA) #61 Isaac Novod (Belmont Hill, MA) #117 Matthew Orbeta (Poway, CA) #86 Will Soto (Newburg Free Academy, NY) #150 Ryan Totten (Detroit Central Catholic, MI) Another big recruiting weekend for Brown. Last week, they had three Big Boarders in town and this time they had six - among others. The highest-ranked one of the bunch was a local kid in Isaac Novod. Novod was a National Prep finalist at 120 lbs in 2025. With Jesse Delgado on staff, Brown continues to reach out to California. They had one wrestler from Cali last week and three more this week. With the number of kids that have already visited Providence, I think Brown could put together a special Class of 2027. Bucknell #81 Emilio Albanese (Emmaus, PA) #68 Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley, PA) #40 Justin Farnsworth (Malvern Prep, PA) #55 Blake Hostetter (Oxford, PA) #80 Luke Knox (Perkiomen Valley, PA) #60 Braiden Lotier (Bishop McDevitt, PA) NR Jordan Manyette (Trinity, PA) #20 Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain, PA) What a huge recruiting weekend for Bucknell! Seven top 100 wrestlers in town and all of them from Pennsylvania. This was the first visit we’ve noticed for Albanese, Chunko, Farnsworth, Knox, and Lotier. Maybe that first visit will leave a lasting impression. Hostetter has already taken a look at Penn. Manyette went across the country to visit Utah Valley. Rothermel has been the busiest of the bunch heading to Pittsburgh and Maryland before Bucknell. Clarion NR Blake Boyer (Kennett, PA) - 2026 NR Bryce Boyer (Kennett, PA) NR Jacob Buffum (Skyline, VA) NR Zack Jaffe (Kennett, PA) NR Clay Kimmy (General McLane, PA) - 2026 NR Elijah Scriven (Hickory, PA) NR Brady Slicker (Hickory, PA) Once again, Clarion had a good-sized group in town. They follow a particular pattern you’ll see with Clarion recruiting. For the most part, they are from smaller schools and are prospects that the staff has identified as being ready to break out within the next year or two. Lots of potential, rather than national-level credentials. The Clarion staff has also gone back into Virginia to check out two-time state finalist Jacob Buffum. They seem to be looking at more Virginia kids than in the past. Illinois #48 Bruno Cassioppi (Honanegah, IL) #21 Rocco Cassioppi (Honanegah, IL) #72 Nico DeSalvo (Southeast Polk, IA) #24 Caleb Noble (Warren, IL) Last week, we learned that two-time Iowa state champion, Nico DeSalvo, had reopened the recruiting process after originally committing to Minnesota. Shortly after, DeSalvo hit the road to visit Illinois. He was joined by the Cassioppi twins and Caleb Noble. The Illinois staff has done well thus far, locking up high-profile recruits from their home state in the Class of 2026. Any combination of the three would be huge for 2027. The Cassioppi’s already have a combined nine Fargo placements under their belt. Noble was a U17 Greco World Team member in 2025. Working with Bryan Medlin would be great in that aspect. Indiana #104 Peyton Hornsby (Center Grove, IN) NR Torin Kuokkanen (Waukesha West, WI) #89 Evan Stanley (Lowell, IN) #31 Lukas Zalota (Malvern Prep, PA) There’s a familiar name for Hoosier fans in this group with Torin Kuokkanen, the younger brother of current Indiana wrestler Magnus Kuokkanen. The younger Kuokkanen was a Wisconsin state qualifier in 2025. The remainder of the group includes three Big Boarders - two from Indiana. Under Escobedo, Indiana has been better about keeping in-state wrestlers at home and retaining Evan Stanley and Peyton Hornsby would be great in that aspect. Stanley has already taken a visit to Brown. This is the first one we have for Hornsby. Heavyweight Lukas Zalota has been a hot commodity. He traveled to Army and Virginia Tech before Indiana. Little Rock #91 Colin Rutlin (Christian Brothers, MO) Little Rock has recruited well in Missouri and the Trojan staff went back into the Show Me State for 16U freestyle national champion Colin Rutlin. Before visiting Little Rock, Rutlin has been hosted by Oklahoma and Missouri. Michigan State #119 Cason Craft (Coweta, OK) #199 Brennan Warwick (Massillon Perry, OH) - 2026 These are the first visits we’ve received this fall associated with Michigan State. The Spartans hosted six-time Fargo All-American Cason Craft and Ohio state placewinner Brennan Warwick. Michigan State has a long history with Ohio recruits, so Warwick isn’t surprising. Craft has already visited Little Rock and Oklahoma. Warwick has visited Indiana, Kent State, and Little Rock. Navy NR Ryker Cox (Coxsackie-Athens, NY) NR Aiden Kunes (Central Mountain, PA) #74 Jon Smith (Oxford, PA) Head coach Cary Kolat is a legend in Pennsylvania (and everywhere else), so it makes sense for Navy to dive into PA for some recruiting. They typically do that. The two PA recruits they recently had in Annapolis were Aiden Kunes and Jon Smith. Smith is a top 100 recruit who was fourth at PA’s AAA state tournament as a sophomore. Aiden Kunes has yet to place at the Pennsylvania AAA tournament, but has qualified twice. From out of state is Ryder Cox, who was fourth at the New York DII State Championships in 2025. This is the first visit we have on record for all three wrestlers. Northern Illinois NR Caeleb Hutchinson (Manhattan, KS) - 2026 #245 Zaiyahn Ornelas (Creighton Prep, NE) - 2026 Northern Illinois is still working on its Class of 2026 and had a pair of intriguing prospects in town. Zaiyahn Ornelas is a three-time Fargo All-American. His latest honor came over the summer when he finished eighth in Junior freestyle. He would be a great pickup for the Huskies. Caeleb Hutchinson is a three-time Kansas state champion who also won Preseason Nationals in 2024. Northern Iowa #52 Luke Hayden (Hickman, MO) #50 Gavin Landers (Denver, IA) #141 Camden Rugg (Union Grove, WI) #15 Hayden Schwab (Don Bosco, IA) NR Cale Vandermark (Ankeny Centennial, IA) - 2026 #38 Dawson Youngblut (Don Bosco, IA) The Panther Train carried an impressive group of recruits into town, including four top 100 recruits from the Class of 2027. Hayden Schwab, son of UNI head coach Doug, didn’t have to go very far to make the trip. Despite the relationship, the double 16U national champion has taken a trip to Cornell and has others planned. Also from in-state are Gavin Landers, Cale Vandermark, and Dawson Youngblut. Vandermark and Youngblut were both at Iowa State last weekend. Youngblut has also visited Cornell. This is the first visit we have recorded for Landers, though he recently put out his list of top schools, which included UNI, Iowa State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, and Stanford. Ohio State #6 Grey Burnett (Perrysburg, OH) #11 Clinton Shepherd (Crown Point, IN) #4 Landon Sidun (Norwin, PA) True to their recruiting strategy, Ohio State hasn’t had massive groups in for recruiting; they’ve had smaller numbers but lots of talent. That holds true with the most recent list of visitors - three of the top 11 wrestlers in the nation. Grey Burnett recently released his top three schools, with Nebraska and Penn State joining the Buckeyes. Burnett was a 16U freestyle world bronze medalist this year. Sidun was a Pennsylvania state champion as a freshman and recently took a visit to Pittsburgh. Fargo 16U champion Clinton Shepherd is from the same high school as two-time national champion Jesse Mendez. That’s a good sign. He has also visited Nebraska. Princeton #29 Ronan An (North Cobb, GA) #22 Gabe Ballard (Northampton, PA) #37 Mikey Batista (Blair Academy, NJ) #17 Arseni Kikiniou (Poway, CA) #28 Cam Sontz (Delbarton, NJ) What a group for Princeton to bring in! Five top 50 recruits. This is the first one we’ve seen for Fargo 16U double All-American Gabe Ballard. The rest of this crew has already taken at least one visit to an Ivy League rival. The recruiting battles between these Ivy League schools will be fun! Purdue #43 Zach Aquila (Brecksville, OH) #70 Brady Brown (Derry Area, PA) #109 Sam Howard (Boonville, IN) Luke Ricketts (Union County, KY) - 2026 #63 Brody Sendele (Honanegah, IL) The efforts of the Purdue staff in the recruiting game last weekend have already paid off as Brady Brown has given the Boilermakers a verbal commitment. Brown was fifth at the PA AA state tournament at 189 lbs as a sophomore. Another upperweight in West Lafayette was Sam Howard, an Indiana state qualifier, who finished fifth at the UWW U17 Trials earlier this year. Zach Aquila is a two-time 16U freestyle All-American in freestyle. He visited Little Rock last weekend. Brody Sendele was third in 16U freestyle in Fargo in 2024. He’s already taken a visit to Big Ten rival Wisconsin. Purdue also had one of the better, available seniors in town in Luke Ricketts. Though he wasn't on the last Big Board update, Ricketts will be soon. He was a double Junior finalist in Fargo and won the 190 lb bracket in freestyle. SIU Edwardsville #224 Jason Hampton Jr. (Joliet Catholic, IL) - 2026 #151 Judah Heeg (Lemont, IL) - 2026 NR Royce Lopez (Warren, IL) - 2026 NR Kameron Luif (Montini Catholic, IL) - 2026 The SIU Edwardsville staff is still working hard to land some in-state prospects from the Class of 2026. They had two in over the weekend in Jason Hampton Jr. and Judah Heeg. Heeg was an Illinois 2A state champion as a junior. Hampton Jr. was third in the state at the 3A classification. Kameron Luif was also a 2A champ, while Royce Lopez was fifth in 3A. With one 2026 Big Boarder already committed, SIUE could have an excellent class if they can land some or all of this group. South Dakota State NR Cole Caniglia (Creighton Prep, NE) NR Cavin Carlson (Willmar, MN) - 2026 #42 Mac Crosson (Indianola, IA) South Dakota State is another school that has already received a verbal commitment from one of its weekend visitors. Cavin Carlson didn’t need much time to think about it after his visit. Carlson is a two-time Minnesota state third-place finisher. He’s the latest in a line of Carlson’s from Willmar to wrestle for SDSU. The Jackrabbit staff has been able to dip into Iowa time and time again and pick up some quality recruits. That might be the case again with #24 Mac Crosson. Crosson was a 2025 Iowa 3A state champion and won a Fargo 16U title a few years ago at 88 lbs. Crosson also visited Oklahoma earlier this fall. Also from the Class of 2027 is Nebraska state champion lightweight Cole Caniglia. Virginia Tech #47 Michael Boyle (Bishop Watterson, OH) #41 Dale Corbin (Wyoming Seminary, PA) Blake Jacobson (Washington, WV) #54 Steel Meyers (Allen, TX) #29 Jayden Williams (Roseville, MI) - 2026 Virginia Tech already has an excellent Class of 2026 waiting to sign, but it could get a boost as they had one of the top uncommitted prospects in Blacksburg in Jayden Williams. Williams was a double Junior All-American this summer in Fargo, taking sixth in freestyle and second in Greco. They also had Blake Jacobson in town. He’s a West Virginia state champion who is originally from Virginia and was a Round of 12 finisher in Fargo. Moving on to the Class of 2027, the Hokie staff had four of the top 54 prospects in for a visit. This is the second visit we’ve seen from double Fargo Junior AA and freestyle finalist Michael Boyle - he's also travled to Purdue. Dale Corbin was also a double AA this summer, placing top five in both styles. He spent some time living in Virginia prior to high school. Corbin has already taken a visit to Wisconsin. Finally, we have Steel Meyers. The NHSCA Sophomore runner-up obviously has the ACC on his mind. He visited NC State and Virginia before coming to Virginia Tech. West Virginia #34 Maximus Fortier (Fairmont, WV) #32 Stephen Myers (Parkersburg, WV) #35 Greyson Music (Bishop McDevitt, PA) #117 Kai Vielma (Connellsville, PA) It was a big Saturday for WVU as the football team hosted Pittsburgh for the “Backyard Brawl.” Four Big Boarders - three in the top four were on hand for the festivities. Two of which are homegrown talents in Maximus Fortier and Stephen Myers. As a state, West Virginia doesn’t typically produce recruits of that caliber, so the Mountaineers should take advantage, if possible. Coming in from PA are Greyson Music and Kai Vielma. Vielma has an older brother, Lonzy, who is a freshman at WVU. Music was third in 16U freestyle this summer in Fargo. Fortier has already taken a visit to the Naval Academy. Music has gone to Pitt and Bucknell. Vielma has traveled to North Carolina and Cornell. This is the first visit we’ve seen for Myers. Wyoming #86 Derrek Barrows (Pomona, CO) -2026 #93 Ladd Holman (Juab, UT) NR Kyler Walters (Shakopee, MN) - 2026 #95 Kalob Ybarra (Pomona, CO) - 2026 Wyoming appears to be trying to put the finishing touches on the Class of 2026, while keeping an eye on 2027. Pomona, Colorado has a pair of teammates who are top 100 recruits and still uncommitted. The Cowboys staff had both in town. Maybe they’ll stay together at the next level? Derrek Barrows has already taken a visit to Oregon State over the summer. Kalob Ybarra went to Utah Valley last fall, North Carolina during the spring, and Oregon State this summer. Also from the Class of 2026 is Minnesota AAA runner-up Kyler Walters. Wyoming has done well recruiting in Minnesota, so this isn’t a big surprise. Looking at the Class of 2027, they hosted Junior Fargo double AA, Ladd Holman. Holman made the Fargo finals in Greco, along with the UWW U17 Trials.

Here are the results from the first session of day five at the 2025 Senior World Championships. We'll have a more thorough recap after the medal matches this afternoon. Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Round of 32: Jin Zhang (China) over Felicity Taylor 10-0 62 kg Round of 32: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Selvi Ilyasoglu (Turkey) 7-3 Round of 16: Adaugo Nwachukwu over Johanna Lindborg (Sweden) 13-6 Quarterfinals: Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) over Adaugo Nwachukwu 5-2 65 kg Repechage: Macey Kilty over Grace Bullen (Norway) Fall 4:38 Bronze Medal Matchup: Macey Kilty vs. Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal (Mongolia) 68 kg Round of 16: Kennedy Blades over Radhika Jaglan (India) 11-0 Quarterfinals: Ami Ishii (Japan) over Kennedy Blades 12-1 72 kg Round of 32: Alex Glaude over Svetlana Oknazarova (Uzbekistan) Fall 3:30 Round of 16: Alex Glaude over Masako Furuichi (Japan) 3-2 Quarterfinals: Nurzat Nurtaeva (Azerbaijan) over Alex Glaude 8-4 76 kg Repechage: Kylie Welker over Elmira Yasin (Turkiye) 10-0 Bronze Medal Matchup: Kylie Welker vs. Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine)

Cranford

Poquoson

Two of the most decorated athletes in American wrestling history were on the mat on Tuesday at the 2025 Senior World Championships and each seemed to turn back the clock with their impressive performances. Kyle Snyder capped the men’s freestyle competition with his fourth world championship and his tenth world/Olympic medal. A couple of hours earlier, Helen Maroulis used a semifinal fall to put her into tomorrow’s gold medal match and locked up her 12th(!) world/Olympic medal. Like Snyder, she’ll seek her fourth world championship. Snyder's opponent in the 97 kg gold medal finals was a familiar one in Amirali Azarpira. The Iranian had defeated Snyder in a bronze medal match at the 2024 Olympic Games. Azarpira also defeated Snyder earlier in 2024 - at the Zagreb Open. The familiarity between the two led to a largely uneventful first period. Snyder earned the only point of the period after Azarpira was put on the activity clock and failed to score. Action picked up early in the second period as Azarpira used Snyder’s forward pressure against him and side-stepped the American for a takedown. Leading Snyder 2-1, with under a minute remaining in the bout, Azarpira was cautioned for passivity and Snyder was given a point. Even so, Azarpira led on criteria due to his takedown. For the final minute of the bout, Snyder increased his pace and handfighting and it paid off late as he got to Azarpira’s leg near the edge of the mat. Instead of wasting time working for the takedown, Snyder wisely chose to escort the Iranian out of bounds for a step out point and a 3-2 lead. In the closing seconds of the bout, Azarpira got in on Snyder’s legs near the edge, but was not able to convert a takedown or even get a step out. His corner challenged the sequence, but the call on the mat stood. With the point for the lost challenge, Snyder was victorious, 4-2. With the win, Snyder continues to cement his status as one of the all-time great American men’s freestyle wrestlers. His latest world title comes three years after his most recent championship. His first came in 2015. Snyder has represented the United States at 97 kg at every world/Olympic tournament since 2015. Snyder’s win capped off a men’s freestyle tournament that saw the United States finish second behind Iran. The American squad finished with five medals, three of which were gold. Iran took the team title 145-134. The other men’s freestyle wrestler in action today was Real Woods. He won a pair of repechage matches, which put him into a bronze medal bout. In that contest, Woods prevailed 2-1 on the strength of two activity clock violations on his opponent, Peiman Biabani of Canada. The win capped an incredible five months for Woods. He took fourth at the US Open and then won the World Team Trials and swept Joey McKenna at Final X. Just a few weeks before the World Championships, he was a central figure in RAF 01 and captured their featherweight title. Woods is truly a success story in a 65 kg weight class that has had its share of international struggles over the last two decades. Earlier this week, we noted how Zahid Valencia was the fourth American over the last 20 years to win a world title and not surrender a single point. J’den Cox, Kyle Dake, and Helen Maroulis were the others. Perhaps Maroulis felt the need to add her name to that conversation again. At least her performance on Tuesday makes one thing about it. Maroulis had three matches today and all three ended with her opponents flat on their backs for a fall. In this afternoon’s 57 kg semifinals, Maroulis squared off with past world medalist Olga Khoroshavtseva, representing the UWW/Russia team. In the opening period, Khoroshavtseva didn’t open up much or attempt any offensive maneuvers. The result was a point for Maroulis due to a passivity clock violation. In the second period, Khoroshavtseva attempted a shot in the opening seconds and was greeted with a reattack from Maroulis that put her straight to her back for a fall. It was the only one of Maroulis’ three matches that made it to the second period. Maroulis will be in action tomorrow in search of her fourth world title. Her last came in 2021. Standing between Maroulis and more American history is Il Sim Son (North Korea). The North Korean team has had quite the women’s tournament already. They’ve crowned one champion and have two women in gold medal matches tomorrow. Three other women started their tournaments today - Audrey Jimenez (50 kg), Macey Kilty (65 kg), and Kylie Welker (76 kg). Jimenez and Kilty were beaten in their first matches of the day. Welker managed a win, but was stunned late in the second period in the semifinals. Kilty and Welker have been pulled back into repechage and are eligible to wrestle for bronze medals. On Wednesday, the final four members of the women’s freestyle tournament will get their tournaments underway - Felicity Taylor (53 kg), Adaugo Nwachukwo (62 kg), Kennedy Blades (68 kg), and Alex Glaude (72 kg). Tuesday's American Results Men’s Freestyle 65 kg Repechage: Real Woods over Ikromzhon Khadzhimurodov (Kyrgyzstan) 10-0 Repechage: Real Woods over Sujeet Kalkal (India) 7-5 Bronze Medal Match: Real Woods over Peiman Biabani (Canada) 3-1 97 kg Gold Medal Match: Kyle Snyder over Amirali Azarpira (Iran) 4-2 Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Round of 16: Emanuela Liuzzi (Italy) over Audrey Jimenez (USA) 6-3 57 kg Round of 16: Helen Maroulis over Emine Cakmak (Turkiye) Fall :59 Quarterfinals: Helen Maroulis over Himeka Tokuhara (Japan) Fall 2:18 Semifinals: Helen Maroulis over Olga Khoroshavtseva (UWW - Russia) Fall 3:11 65 kg Round of 16: Alina Kasabieva (UWW - Russia) over Macey Kilty 6-6 76 kg Round of 16: Kylie Welker over Vanesa Georgieva (Bulgaria) Fall 4:01 Quarterfinals: Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Kylie Welker 8-3 Final Results Men’s Freestyle 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Rahman Amouzad (Iran) over Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Real Woods (USA) over Peiman Biabani (Canada) 3-1 Bronze Medal Match: Umidjon Jalolov (Uzbekistan) over Ibragim Ibragimov (UWW - Russia) 7-3 97 kg Gold Medal Match: Kyle Snyder (USA) over Amirali Azarpira (Iran) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) over Akhmed Magamaev (Bulgaria) 13-10 Bronze Medal Match: Arash Yoshida (Japan) over Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) 6-0 Women’s Freestyle 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Kyong Ryong Oh (North Korea) over Ekaterina Verbina (UWW/Russia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Sowaka Uchida (Japan) over Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkiye) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Andreea Ana (Romania) over Yaynelis Sanz Verdecia (Cuba) 6-3 59 kg Gold Medal Match: Sakura Onishi (Japan) Mariia Vynnyk (Ukraine) Fall 5:50 Bronze Medal Match: Altjin Togtokh (Mongolia) over Anastasiia Sidelnikova (UWW/Russia) 8-4 Bronze Medal Match: Laurence Beauregard (Canada) over Othelie Hoeie (Norway) Fall 4:29 Wednesday’s Gold Medal Matches 50 kg: Myonggyong Won (North Korea) vs. Yu Zhang (China) 57 kg: Helen Maroulis (USA) vs. Il Sim Son (North Korea) 65 kg: Miwa Morikawa (Japan) vs. Alina Kasabieva (UWW - Russia) 76 kg: Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador)

Willmar

Oconomowoc

Derry Area

Chino

Watertown

Here are the results from the first session of day four at the 2025 Senior World Championships. We'll have a more thorough recap after the medal matches this afternoon. Men’s Freestyle 65 kg Repechage: Real Woods over Ikromzhon Khadzhimurodov (Kyrgyzstan) 10-0 Repechage: Real Woods over Sujeet Kalkal (India) 7-5 Bronze Medal Matchup: Real Woods vs. Peiman Biabani (Canada) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Round of 16: Emanuela Liuzzi (Italy) over Audrey Jimenez (USA) 6-3 57 kg Round of 16: Helen Maroulis over Emine Cakmak (Turkiye) Fall :59 Quarterfinals: Helen Maroulis over Himeka Tokuhara (Japan) Fall 2:18 Semifinal Matchup: Helen Maroulis vs. Olga Khoroshavtseva (UWW - Russia) 65 kg Round of 16: Alina Kasabieva (UWW - Russia) over Macey Kilty 6-6 76 kg Round of 16: Kylie Welker over Vanesa Georgieva (Bulgaria) Fall 4:01 Quarterfinals: Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Kylie Welker 8-3

An otherwise rough day for the US men’s and women’s freestyle team at the 2025 World Championships ended on a spectacularly high note as Trent Hidlay staged a remarkable comeback to win the world title at 92 kg. In addition, veteran Kyle Snyder locked up his 10th world/Olympic medal and will wrestle for the gold medal at 97 kg in Tuesday’s set of gold medal matches. Snyder is a story for another day as Monday belonged to the NC State alum, Hidlay. Wrestling in his first Senior World Championship event, Hidlay was rarely challenged on his way to the finals. Standing between him and a gold medal was Amanula Gadzhimagomedov, representing the UWW/Russian team. Gadzhimagomedov was also making his Senior world debut. The overarching theme of the finals contest was Hidlay’s aggressiveness and his control of the action. As he’s been known to do, early in the first period, Hidlay used an underhook to get to a leg attack. He wasn’t able to finish cleanly and Gadzhimagomedov chest wrapped him for four points, plus two more later in the same sequence. Less than :30 into the bout, Hidlay trailed 6-0. A half minute later, Hidlay got on the scoreboard by blasting through Gadzhimagomedov after setting the hold up with his signature underhook. In the final minute of the opening stanza, Hidlay went for a double leg and was exposed again for four points with a chest wrap. Initially, Hidlay was given two points for exposure himself, making the score 10-4. After Hidlay’s corner challenged the exchange, the score was adjusted to 10-2 in the Russian wrestler’s favor. Facing match termination with another takedown for the Russian, Hidlay stayed aggressive and struck with an ankle pick. Once again, Gadzhimagomedov tried a chest wrap. This time, Hidlay was given two points for the takedown. This sequence was challenged by the Russian corner. Ultimately, the original decision was upheld and Hidlay was awarded a point for the lost challenge, making the score 10-5 heading into the break. One of the hallmarks of Hidlay’s run to the finals was his incredible pace. That proved to be the difference-maker in the second period as he never wore down. With about 75 seconds remaining in the contest, Hidlay was able to finish a double leg without any questions about back exposure. The hold cut his deficit to 10-7. As the clock moved under a minute remaining in the match, Hidlay powered his way through the Russian with an underhook to a knee pick. The pair went out of bounds and Hidlay found himself trailing 10-9. Right the :30 second mark of the match, Hidlay executed a duckunder to a double. Once again, as he was working to finish the takedown, Gadzhimagomedov tried a chest wrap. This time it was scored four points for Hidlay. For the first time, he was ahead, 13-10. The Russian corner was unable to challenge since their first period challenge was lost. Hidlay was able to avoid Gadzhimagomedov during the final seconds of the bout and became a world champion. It’s an incredible achievement for any wrestler, but even more unique because Hidlay never was able to make it to the top of the podium during his storied career at NC State. He also earned a pair of age group world medals, but neither were gold. Hidlay’s passion and his never-say-die attitude are a personification of the positive stereotypes we have about American wrestling. Those traits have also made him one of the fan favorites for USA wrestling. In other news, Penn State senior Levi Haines also wrestled in the gold medal match on Monday. Unfortunately, Haines was not able to solve the hand fighting of his opponent, Greece’s Georgios Kougioumtsidis. Typically, Haines is able to wear down his opponents with his hands and it leads to other openings. This time, Kougioumtsidis controlled the Penn State star. The final score reads 3-2, but Kougioumtsidis stopped wrestling in the final few seconds and Haines got a takedown. This was the first world championship in men’s freestyle for Greece. Haines comes away from his first Senior World Championship event with a silver medal. He was a member of the 2021 Cadet World team and did not earn any hardware at that tournament. As mentioned above, Kyle Snyder will be seeking his third world title and first since 2022 on Tuesday. Snyder put together a methodical 9-1 victory over Japan’s rising star Arash Yoshida. Earlier this year, Yoshida defeated Snyder at the Albanian Ranking Series event. In order to win his fourth gold, Snyder will have to defeat Iran’s Amirali Azarpira. Azarpira has two wins over Snyder, the most important coming in 2024 in the bronze medal match at the Olympic Games. The Iranian pulled one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he knocked off World/Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) in the semifinals, 5-2. The other American to wrestle for a medal on Monday was David Carr at 74 kg. He became the latest American to fall victim to the late match exploits of Russian superstar Zaurbek Sidakov. With Carr lead 2-1 with under :10 remaining in the bout, Sidakov drug out of a front head lock and pushed Carr out of bounds for a step out point. That point tied the match at two, but Sidakov held criteria. That’s the way the match would end and Carr came up a match shy of a medal in his Senior debut. Finally, on the men’s freestyle side, Real Woods will be in tomorrow’s repechage. He’ll need to win three matches to claim a bronze medal. His journey through repechage will start with a match against Kyrgyzstan’s Ikromzhon Khadzhimuradov. Also on Monday, the first two women’s weights got underway. Unfortunately, both Cristelle Rodriguez (55 kg) and Jacarra Winchester (59 kg), were beaten in the first matches of the day. Rodriguez fell 6-3 to U23 world champion Andreea Ana (Romania) and Winchester was pinned by China’s Hong Liang. Unfortunately, neither wrestler made the gold medal match at their respective weights, so both Americans have been eliminated. Men’s freestyle 65 kg Round of 32: Real Woods over Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) 14-2 Round of 16: Rahman Amouzad (Iran) over Real Woods 12-1 74 kg Repechage: David Carr over Tugsjargal Erdenbat (Mongolia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Zaurbek Sidakov (UWW - Russia) over David Carr 2-2 79 kg Gold Medal Match: Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece) over Levi Haines 3-2 92 kg Gold Medal Match: Trent Hidlay over Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (UWW - Russia) 13-10 97 kg Round of 16: Kyle Snyder over Cristian Sarco (Venezuela) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Kyle Snyder over Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) 5-0 Semifinal Matchup: Kyle Snyder vs. Arash Yoshida (Japan) Women’s Freestyle 55 kg Andreea Ana (Romania) over Cristelle Rodriguez 6-3 59 kg Hong Liang (China) over Jacarra Winchester Fall 2:05 Final Results Men’s Freestyle 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Chongsong Han (North Korea) over Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 12-9 Bronze Medal Match: Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) over Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) 7-4 Bronze Medal Match: Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) over Vladimir Egorov (North Macedonia) 3-1 74 kg Gold Medal Match: Kota Takahashi (Japan) over Chermen Valiev (Albania) Injury Default Bronze Medal Match: Zaurbek Sidakov (UWW - Russia) over David Carr (USA) 2-2 Bronze Medal Match: Taimurax Salkazanov (Slovakia) over Yones Emami (Iran) 3-1 79 kg Gold Medal Match: Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece) over Levi Haines (USA) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) over Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Khidir Saipudinov (Bahrain) over Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia) 9-2 92 kg Gold Medal Match: Trent Hidlay (USA) over Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (UWW - Russia) 13-10 Bronze Medal Match: Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) over Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (Iran) over Kamil Kurguliyev (Ukraine) Fall 1:51 Tuesday's Gold Medal Matches Men's Freestyle 65 kg: Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) vs. Rahman Amouzad (Iran) 97 kg: Kyle Snyder (USA) vs. Amirali Azarpira (Iran) Women's Freestyle 55 kg: Kyong Ryong Oh (North Korea) vs. Ekaterina Verbina (UWW - Russia) 59 kg: Sakura Onishi (Japan) vs. Mariia Vynnyk (Ukraine)

Here are the results from the first session of day three at the 2025 Senior World Championships. We'll have a more thorough recap after the medal matches this afternoon. Men’s freestyle 65 kg Round of 32: Real Woods over Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) 14-2 Round of 16: Rahman Amouzad (Iran) over Real Woods 12-1 74 kg Repechage: David Carr over Tugsjargal Erdenbat (Mongolia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Matchup: David Carr vs. Zaurbek Sidakov (UWW - Russia) 97 kg Round of 16: Kyle Snyder over Cristian Sarco (Venezuela) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Kyle Snyder over Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) 5-0 Semifinal Matchup: Kyle Snyder vs. Arash Yoshida (Japan) Women’s Freestyle 55 kg Andreea Ana (Romania) over Cristelle Rodriguez 6-3 59 kg Hong Liang (China) over Jacarra Winchester Fall 2:05

Sunday at the 2025 Senior World Championships marked the first day that medals were awarded. The American squad came away with only one medal, but it was of the gold variety. Additionally, two wrestlers who started their tournaments this morning clinched medals and will wrestle for world titles tomorrow. The latest American world champion is Zahid Valencia, who capped off an incredible run through the 86 kg bracket with a 12-0 tech fall over Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro. Valencia put together one of the most remarkable world championship runs in recent American wrestling history as he did not surrender a point in any of his five victories. Just over two and a half years ago, Ishiguro blanked Valencia by an 11-0 score at the Zagreb Open. In his post-semis interview, Valencia said he was told about the result but didn’t remember the match. It was evident that Valencia wasn’t worried about the matchup, as he turned the tables on his Japanese foe. The pair fought for position for almost the first two minutes of the bout to no avail. With Ishiguro on the activity clock, Valencia finished a sweep single for a takedown. A few seconds later, he added a point for Ishiguro’s inability to score within the allotted :30 seconds. Early in the second period, Valencia continued to attack and scored off a high C to double and a 7-0 lead. Valencia put the finishing touches on his world title with two takedowns at the edge. In both instances, he navigated the boundary line and, not only stayed in bounds, but also secured takedowns. With his 11-0 win, Valencia went through the tournament and outscored his opponents by a 49-0 margin. The only other Americans within the last 20 years to finish unscored upon at the world championships are J’den Cox (2019), Kyle Dake (2018), and Helen Maroulis (2017). The other American wrestling for a medal on Sunday was Jax Forrest at 61 kg. The high school senior was at the center of one of the most controversial matches of the tournament thus far. With his opponent, Assylzhan Yessengeldi, leading by a point and three seconds remaining in the bout, Yessengeldi was called for a singlet grab, which knotted the match at nine, but Forrest had the lead via criteria. The Kazakh corner challenged and the call was overturned. Yessengeldi would go on to win 10-8. The American delegation has filed a protest regarding the end of the bout. Before the above incident, the official warned Yessengeldi for a defensive singlet grab but didn’t penalize him a point. Among the four wrestlers who started their respective tournaments on Sunday, Levi Haines (79 kg) and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) advanced to the finals. David Carr lost a heartbreaker in the quarterfinals to Albania’s Cherman Valiev. Valiev would go on to pull a huge upset in the semis as he beat Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov, pulling Carr into repechage. Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee was stunned in the quarterfinals and got teched by Armenia’s Arsen Harutunyan, 14-3. Harutuyan lost in the semifinals, which knocked Lee out of medal contention. Haines’ biggest win came in the quarterfinals as he knocked off returning world champion Akhmed Usmanov (UWW - Russia), 3-2. For a berth in the gold medal match, Haines posted a 4-1 win over Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia). Haines was boosted by a pair of second-period takedowns for the win. The first-time world teamer, Hidlay, was never seriously threatened during his four wins on Sunday. He repeatedly wore down his opponents with a high pace and the ability to control the center of the mat. In the quarterfinals, Hidlay downed the top seed, Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia), 6-1. To make the championship bout, Hidlay teched three-time world medalist Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan), 15-4. The final two men’s freestyle weight classes (65/97 kg) will get underway tomorrow, as will two women’s weights (55, 59). 57 kg Round of 16: Spencer Lee over Yusuf Demir (Turkiye) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Arsen Harutuyan (Armenia) over Spencer Lee 14-3 61 kg Bronze Medal Match: Jax Forrest Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan) 74 kg Round of 32: David Carr over Rasul Shapiev (North Macedonia) 9-5 Round of 16: David Carr over Ramazan Ramazanov (Bulgaria) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Cherman Valiev (Albania) over David Carr 7-5 79 kg Round of 32: Levi Haines over Khidir Saipudinov (Bahrain) 5-2 Round of 16: Levi Haines over Bumgue Seo (South Korea) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Levi Haines over Akhmed Usmanov (UWW - Russia) 3-2 Semifinal: Levi Haines over Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia) 4-1 86 kg Gold Medal Match: Zahid Valencia over Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) 12-0 92 kg Round of 32: Trent Hidlay over Redjep Hajdari (North Macedonia) 11-1 Round of 16: Trent Hidlay over Samuel Scherrer (Switzerland) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Trent Hidlay over Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia) 6-1 Semifinals: Trent Hidlay dec Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan) 15-4 Final Results 61 kg Gold Medal Match: Zavur Uguev (Albania) over Ahmad Mohammadnezhad Javan (Iran) 11-2 Bronze Medal Match: Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan) over Jax Forrest (USA) 10-8 Bronze Medal Match: Nuraddin Novruzov (Azerbaijan) over Kum Hyok Kim (North Korea) Fall 2:18 70 kg Gold Medal Match: Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) over Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) over Arman Andresyan (Armenia) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan) over Vasile Diacon (Moldova) 13-2 86 kg Gold Medal Match: Zahid Valencia (USA) over Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) 12-0 Bronze Medal Match: Kamran Ghasempour (Iran) over Mukul Dahiya (India) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Arsenii Dzhioev (Azerbaijan) over Rakhim Magamedov (France) 7-0 125 kg Gold Medal Match: Amir Zare (Iran) over Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) 5-0 Bronze Medal Match: Robert Baran (Poland) over Vlagyiszlav Bajcajev (Hungary) 5-0 Bronze Medal Match: Shamil Sharipov (Bahrain) over Jonovan Smith (Puerto Rico) Fall 4:08 Monday’s Gold Medal Matches 57 kg: Chongsong Han (North Korea) vs. Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 70 kg: Chermen Valiev (Albania) vs. Kota Takahashi (Japan) 79 kg: Levi Haines (USA) vs. Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece) 92 kg: Trent Hidlay (USA) vs. Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (UWW - Russia)

Here are the results from the first session of day two at the 2025 Senior World Championships. We'll have a more thorough recap after the medal matches this afternoon. 57 kg Round of 16: Spencer Lee over Yusuf Demir (Turkiye) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Arsen Harutuyan (Armenia) over Spencer Lee 14-3 74 kg Round of 32: David Carr over Rasul Shapiev (North Macedonia) 9-5 Round of 16: David Carr over Ramazan Ramazanov (Bulgaria) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Cherman Valiev (Albania) over David Carr 7-5 79 kg Round of 32: Levi Haines over Khidir Saipudinov (Bahrain) 5-2 Round of 16: Levi Haines over Bumgue Seo (South Korea) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Levi Haines over Akhmed Usmanov (UWW - Russia) 3-2 Semifinal Matchup: Levi Haines vs. Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia) 92 kg Round of 32: Trent Hidlay over Redjep Hajdari (North Macedonia) 11-1 Round of 16: Trent Hidlay over Samuel Scherrer (Switzerland) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Trent Hidlay over Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia) 6-1 Semifinal Matchup: Trent Hidlay vs. Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan)

A very confident and excited Zahid Valencia after defeating 2-time world champion Kamran Ghasempour of Iran. Valencia will face Japan's Hayato Ishiguro in Sunday's gold medal match.

Zahid Valencia is going to the world finals! The 86 kg star stole the show for the United States on the first day of the 2025 Senior World Championships. Valencia outscored his four opponents on Saturday 37-0 on the way to the gold medal match. While Valencia’s first three opponents did not have a long track record of success at the world level, his semifinal foe was highly credentialed. To the tune of a pair of world titles. Iran’s Kamran Ghasempour was seeking his third gold medal - his first at 86 kg, after winning two at 92 kg, but was stopped in his tracks by Valencia. The American opened the scoring with a point from a shot clock violation. The match quickly got out of hand late in the first period as Valencia used lightning quick low leg attack to lock up a pair of takedowns and a 5-0 lead. Valencia got a pair of step out points in the second period to bring the score to 7-0. He also showed some incredible defense and refused to surrender a takedown when it looked imminent. The match finished with the Iranian refusing to initiate contact during the last :13 seconds. He stood defeated with his hands on his knees as Valencia sensed his victory and implored the crowd to cheer as the final seconds ticked off the clock. In tomorrow’s gold medal matchup, Valencia will face Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro. Ishiguro had a wild semifinal win that saw him score 16 unanswered points in the final three and a half minutes to win 17-7. The first American to take the mat in the semifinal round was high school senior Jax Forrest at 61 kg. Forrest and three-time world/Olympic champion Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) had an entertaining back-and-forth first period that ended 2-2 - with Uguev in the lead on criteria. There were more fireworks and scrambles in the second stanza; however, Uguev’s strength and experience eventually rose to the top and he pulled away for a 10-3 victory. With the loss, Forrest drops down to a bronze medal match. He’ll face the winner between Manvel Khndzrtsyan (Armenia) and Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan). The semifinal round also saw Penn State freshman PJ Duke’s 70 kg medal chances erode with a loss by 2024 world champion Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan). Kaipanov’s loss also meant that Wisconsin and Michigan All-American Austin Gomez was eliminated from metal contention. Along with Valencia and Forrest’s medal round matches tomorrow, Spencer Lee (57 kg), David Carr (74 kg), Levi Haines (79 kg), and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) will start competition in their respective weight classes. Saturday’s American Results 61 kg Round of 32: Jax Forrest over Sangboum Kim (South Korea) 10-0 Round of 16: Jax Forrest over Takara Suda (Japan) 7-2 Quarterfinals: Jax Forrest over Tairyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 13-8 Semifinals: Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) over Jax Forrest 10-3 Bronze Medal Match: Jax Forrest vs. Manvel Khndzrtsyan (Armenia)/Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan). 70 kg Round of 32: PJ Duke over Shuang Chen (China) 11-0 Round of 16: Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan) over PJ Duke 11-7 86 kg Round of 32: Zahid Valencia over Mukul Dahiya (India) 10-0 Round of 16: Zahid Valencia over Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Zahid Valencia over Ivars Samusonok (Latvia) 10-0 Semifinals: Zahid Valencia over Kamran Ghasempour (Iran) 7-0 Gold Medal Match: Zahid Valencia vs. Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) 125 kg Round of 32: Abdulla Kurbanov (UWW - Russia) over Wyatt Hendrickson 14-4 Sunday’s Gold Medal Matches: 61 kg: Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) vs. Ahmad Mohammadnezhad (Iran) 70 kg: Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) vs. Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) 86 kg: Zahid Valencia (USA) vs. Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) 125 kg: Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Georgia) vs. Amir Zare (Iran)

Here are the results from the first session of day one at the 2025 Senior World Championships. We'll have a more thorough recap after the semifinals this afternoon. 61 kg Round of 32: Jax Forrest over Sangboum Kim (South Korea) 10-0 Round of 16: Jax Forrest over Takara Suda (Japan) 7-2 Quarterfinals: Jax Forrest over Tairyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 13-8 Semifinals Match: Jax Forrest vs. Zavur Uguev (UWW - Russia) 70 kg Round of 32: PJ Duke over Shuang Chen (China) 11-0 Round of 16: Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan) over PJ Duke 11-7 86 kg Round of 32: Zahid Valencia over Mukul Dahiya (India) 10-0 Round of 16: Zahid Valencia over Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Zahid Valencia over Ivars Samusonok (Latvia) 10-0 Semifinal Match: Zahid Valencia vs. Kamran Ghasempour (Iran) 125 kg Round of 32: Abdulla Kurbanov (UWW - Russia) over Wyatt Hendrickson 14-4

We’re just over 12 hours away from the first matches at the 2025 Senior World Championships. Brackets were released earlier this morning and wrestling fans frantically looked to see where the Americans were placed in the bracket and where their foreign adversaries were located. We’ve done the same and broken down paths to the finals for all ten of the Americans in the men’s freestyle tournament. Below are credentials for their initial opponent and then some for their most likely opponents through their half of the bracket. 57 kg Spencer Lee Round of 16 opponent: Winner of Sunggwon Kim (South Korea)/Yusuf Demir (Turkiye) Kim: 2021 Asian 5th place, 2017 World 9th place Demir: 2023 U23 World 12th place, 2022 European U23 5th place Potential quarterfinal opponent Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia): 3x World bronze medalist, 2024 Olympic 7th place, 4x European champion Azamat Tuskaev (Serbia): 2025 European silver medalist, 2020 European champion, 2024 World 8th place Potential Semifinal opponent Ali Hossein Momeni (Iran): 2024 U23 World bronze medalist Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico): 2025 Pan-American champion, 2024 Olympic 12th place Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico): 2024 Olympic 5th place, 2x Pan-American silver medalist Chongshong Han (North Korea): 2025 Asian Champion Verdict: Pretty good. Lee will have a test in the quarterfinals from either Harutyunyan or Tusakev. It may end up being his biggest challenge pre-finals. A match versus NCAA champions Bravo-Young or Cruz could be fun in the semis. 61 kg Jax Forrest Round of 32 opponent: Sangboum Han (South Korea) Han: 2025 World Military bronze medalist Potential Round of 16 opponent Takara Suda (Japan): 2025 Asian Champion, 2025 Hungarian and Albanian Ranking Series champion Potential quarterfinal opponent Udit Kumar (India): 2x Asian silver medalist, 2x Asian champion Tairybek Zhumashbek Uulu (KGZ): 2023 World bronze Potential semifinals opponent Zavur Uguev (Russia): 2020(1) Olympic gold, 2x World champion Verdict: Tough. Forrest’s second opponent, Suda, might be the best wrestler in the bracket. Should he get by Suda, he could have a world medalist in the quarters and then Uguev lurking in the semis. Forrest has surprised us (and other opponents) before. 65 kg Real Woods Round of 32 opponent: Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) Sacultan: 2024 Olympic 9th place, 2023 World 5th place Potential Round of 16 opponent: Rahman Amouzad (Iran): 2024 Olympic silver medalist, 2022 World silver medalist Potential quarterfinals opponent Sujeet Kalkal (India): 2024 U23 World bronze medalist, 2025 U23 Asian champion Kwang-Jin Kim (North Korea): 2025 Asian bronze medalist Potential semifinals opponent Khamzat Arsamerzouev (France): 2025 European silver medalist, 2023 European U23 champion, 2022 U20 World bronze medalist Ali Rahimzada (Azerbaijan): 4x European bronze medalist Krzysztof Bienkowski (Poland): 2021 World 5th place Verdict: Tough. Woods’ first opponent is no pushover, but beatable. Then comes top-seeded Amouzad. The good news is that if he can beat Amouzad, there’s a much clearer path towards the finals. 70 kg PJ Duke Round of 32 opponent: Shuang Chen (China) Chen: Albanian Ranking Series 17th place Potential Round of 16 opponent: Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan): 2024 World champion, 2x World medalist (1,2), 3x Asian champion Potential quarterfinals opponent Austin Gomez (Mexico): 2025 Pan-American champion, 2025 Zagreb Open bronze medalist Haydar Yavuz (Turkiye): 2020 European bronze medalist, 2017 U23 5th place Potential semifinals opponent Akaki Kemertelidze (Georgia): 2024 World 5th place, 2024 European silver medalist Vasile Diacon (Moldova): 2023 European bronze medalist, 2023 U23 World 5th place Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) - 2021 World bronze, 2024 Olympic 5th place, 2x Asian silver medalist Verdict: Tough. I’d expect Duke to roll in his first match. That would set the stage for a Round of 16 match with the returning world champion Kaipanov. While he’s the biggest hurdle, there are some other potential tough matches even with a win over Kaipanov. 74 kg David Carr Round of 32 opponent: Rasul Shapiev (North Macedonia) Shapiev: 2025 European 14th place Potential Round of 16 opponent: Ramazan Ramazanov (Bulgaria): 2023 World bronze Potential quarterfinals opponent: Chermen Valiev (Albania): 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, 2x U23 World medalist (1,2), 2025 European champion Potential semifinals opponent: Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) - 2020 Olympic gold, 3x World champion Murad Kuramagomedov (Hungary): 2x European 5th place Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan): 2024 Olympic 13th place, 2021 European silver medalist, 2023 World 5th place Orozobek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan): 2025 Asian silver Verdict: Rough. Carr’s should be ok in the first round. It gets tougher from there as he likely has to beat a world/Olympic medalist in each of his next three matches to make the finals. Most notably would be Sidakov in the semis. 79 kg Levi Haines Round of 32 opponent: Khidir Saipudinov (Bahrain) Saipudinov: 2025 Asian bronze medalist Potential Round of 16 opponent: Dejan Mitrov (North Macedonia): 2025 European 16th place Bumgue Seo (Korea): 2x Asian 7th place Potential quarterfinal opponent: Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia): 2023 World silver medalist, 2023 U23 World bronze medalist, 2025 European bronze medalist Akhmed Usmanov (Russia): 2023 World champion, 2x European champion Potential semifinal opponent: Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia): 2x Asian bronze medalist Daulet Yergesh (Kazakhstan): 2022 U23 World silver medalist Zelimkhan Khadjiev (France): 2019 World bronze medalist Verdict: Decent. Haines should cruise through his first two matches. Things get much tougher in the quarterfinals with either of the two past world finalists. The potential semifinalists don’t look quite as challenging, so repechage is in the picture if Haines can’t get past the quarters. 86 kg Zahid Valencia Round of 32 opponent: Mukul Dahiya (India) Dahiya: 2025 Asian 5th place Potential Round of 16 opponent: Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria): 2x African champion Weng Chow (Singapore): 2023 Asian 5th place Potential quarterfinals opponent: Avtandil Kentchadze (Georgia): 2024 World champion, 2x World medalist (1,2), 4x European bronze medalist Potential semifinal opponent: Osman Gocen (Turkiye): 3x European bronze Ibragim Kadiev (Russia): 2x U20 World champion Kamran Ghasempour (Iran): 2x World champion Verdict: Good. You may not agree, judging by world champions potentially in the quarters and semis, but Valencia is wrestling as good as ever. You’ve got to beat the best to win a world title, Valencia gets a couple of warm-up matches and then gets tested. 92 kg Trent Hidlay Round of 32 opponent: Redjep Hajdari (North Macedonia) Hajdari: 2024 European 7th place Potential Round of 16 opponent: Andrew Johnson (Canada): 2025 Pan-American silver medalist Samuel Scherrer (Switzerland): 2024 World 11th place, 2023 European 8th place Potential quarterfinals opponent Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia): 2x World medalist (2,3), 4x European bronze medalist Takashi Ishiguro (Japan): 2x Asian bronze medalist Magomed Sharipov (Bahrain): 2x Asian bronze medalist Potential semifinals opponent Dauren Kurugliev (Greece): 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, 4x European champion Osman Nurmagomedov (Azerbaijan): 3x World medalist (2, 3x2), 2x European silver medalist Deepak Punia (India): 2019 World silver medalist, 2x Asian silver medalist Verdict: Very good. Hidlay’s Senior world debut could be a good one. He has two rounds of very winnable matches. Even in the quarterfinals, he could have a #1 seed who he’s beaten this year. Even the semis could produce Kurugliev, who he beat by injury default earlier this year. 97 kg Kyle Snyder Round of 16 opponent: Winner of Adam Jaksik (Slovakia)/Cristian Sarco (Venezuela) Jaksik: 2024 U20 World bronze medalist, 2025 European 15th place Sarco: 2024 Pan-American bronze medalist Potential quarterfinals opponent: Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland): 2024 Olympic 8th place, 2019 European silver medalist David Mchedlidze (Ukraine): 2025 European U23 bronze medalist, 2023 U23 World 10th place Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba): 2024 Olympic 9th place, 4x Pan-American silver medalist Potential semifinals opponent: Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia): 2024 Olympic silver medalist, 2x World medalist (3,3), 3x European champion Arash Yoshida (Japan): 2025 Asian champion, Albania Ranking Series Champion Verdict: Very good. Snyder starts his tournament in the Round of 16 and should cruise there. There are a couple of veterans expected to be waiting in the quarters. All very winnable. In the semis, it gets tougher, but no one Snyder couldn’t beat. 125 kg Wyatt Hendrickson Round of 32 opponent: Abdulla Kurbanov (Russia) Kurbanov: 2024 U23 World bronze, 2023 World 5th place Potential Round of 16 opponent: Dzianis Khramiankou (Belarus): 2025 European bronze medalist, 2020(1) Olympic 9th place Potential quarterfinals opponent: Shamil Sharipov (Bahrain): 2x Asian bronze medalist, Hungarian Ranking Series champion Potential semifinals opponent: Amir Zare (Iran): 2x Olympic medalist (2,3), 2x World champion, 3x World medalist (1,3,1) Verdict: Tough. There are no easy matches for Hendrickson. He gets the Russian right away and gets opponents of a similar caliber up until the semifinals, where Zare is expected to be waiting. With Zare looming in the semis, advancing to that point is crucial, as the other possible opponents probably don’t beat him.

Brackets have been released in men's freestyle at the 2025 Senior World Championships. 57 kg 61 kg 65 kg 70 kg 74 kg 79 kg 86 kg 92 kg 97 kg 125 kg

Lehigh announced today that two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph will join the Mountain Hawks coaching staff for the 2025-26 season. Joseph is currently the recruiting coordinator for North Carolina. He has served in that role from August of 2024. Before his stint at North Carolina, Joseph also served as the recruiting coordinator for Arizona State. He also was on Stanford’s staff for a year. Joseph wrestled collegiately at Penn State where he earned NCAA All-American honors three times and was tabbed an NWCA First-Team All-American after the 2020 national tournament was cancelled. Joseph burst onto the college wrestling scene with a national title during his redshirt freshman year. In the 2017 NCAA finals, Joseph stunned two-time champion Isaiah Martinez and pinned him for a title. A year later, Joseph met Martinez again in the finals and prevailed, 6-1. Despite winning a pair of national titles, Joseph never captured a Big Ten championship; however, he advanced to the finals on three occasions. Joseph’s career record in a Penn State singlet was 88-9. After participating in the 2020 Olympic Trials, Joseph seemed content focusing on collegiate coaching career. After the 2022 national tournament, Joseph resurfaced at the US Open and made the finals in the 79 kg weight class. Later that spring, he fell in a best-of-three finals to Chance Marsteller at the World Team Trials. Last year, Joseph won the Olympic Trials Last Chance Qualifier and had the opportunity to compete in his second Olympic Trials. Joseph will join the Lehigh staff before a promising 2025-26 campaign. The Mountain Hawks could unveil a lineup that includes three returning All-Americans and eight past NCAA qualifiers. Joseph returns to his home state - though on the opposite side of where he went to high school. He captured a pair of PIAA AAA state titles wrestling for Pittsburgh Central Catholic.

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 common on the US women’s freestyle team. Five of the ten world teamers have not competed at a Senior World Championship event. 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 our men’s freestyle previews: Part One and Part Two 50 kg - Audrey Jimenez Seeds #1 Oksana Livach (UKR) #2 Evin Demirhan (TUR) #3 Gabija Dilyte (LTU) #4 Madison Parks (CAN) #5 Svetlana Ankicheva (KAZ) #6 Munkhnar Byambasuren (MGL) #7 Audrey Jimenez (USA) #8 Remina Yoshimoto (JPN) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Demirhan: 2017 World bronze Livach: 2018 World bronze Yoshimoto: 2021 World champion Others Ankush (IND): 2x Asian U20 champion Natalya Varakina (UWW - Belarus): 2025 European bronze Myong-Gyong Won (PRK): 2025 Asian bronze Yu Zhang (CHN): 2025 Asian Silver, 2024 U20 World champion We’ll have a changing of the guard at 50 kg as Audrey Jimenez makes her first Senior World Team appearance. Previously, Sarah Hildebrandt had made every world/Olympic team at this weight since 2021. Jimenez should be up for the task. She is a three-time U20 world silver medalist and a one-time U23 silver medalist. During three of the four times that Jimenez made the world finals, it was an opponent from Japan who defeated her in the finals. Japan’s Remina Yoshimoto should be one of the key contenders here. With the 2021 world champion as the eighth seed, Jimenez wouldn’t see her until the finals. It seems like the bulk of the other contenders at this weight will be coming in unseeded. Yu Zhang is a young star who made the Asian finals earlier this year. North Korean lightweights are always tough so, I’d keep an eye on Myong-Gyong Won. 53 kg - Felicity Taylor Seeds #1 Lucia Yepez Guzman (ECU) #2 Hyogyong Choe (PRK) #3 Zeynep Yetgil (TUR) #4 Antim Panghal (IND) #5 Natalia Malysheva (UWW - Russia) #6 Annika Wendle (GER) #7 Maria Prevolaraki (GRE) #8 Jonna Malmgren (SWE) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Choe: 2024 Olympic bronze, 2025 Asian champion Haruna Okuno (JPN): 3x World champion Panghal: 2023 World bronze Prevolaraki: 3x World bronze Yepez Guzman: 2024 Olympic silver, 2023 World bronze Roksana Zasina (POL): 2017 World bronze Jin Zhang: 2024 World silver Others Liliia Malanchuk (UKR): 2023 U23 World bronze Malmgren: 2024 U23 World champion Malysheva: 2025 European bronze As we go up in weights, we have another first-time Senior world team member, Felicity Taylor. Taylor previously advanced to Final X, but broke through this year with her win over former Iowa teammate Brianna Gonzales. In 2024, Taylor defeated Gonzales in the NCWWC national finals to capture her second collegiate national title. Though this is her first Senior World Championship tournament, Taylor does have plenty of experience internationally. She made a pair of U23 world teams and wrestled in a bronze medal match back in 2022. 53 kg is shaping up to be one of the deepest women’s weights in 2025. Like many weights, the Japanese representative has to be the favorite. Haruna Okuno fits that bill as a three-time world champion. There are also two 2024 Olympic medalists in the bracket (Choe, Yepez Guzman). Altogether, there are seven women with past world/Olympic medals. And that doesn’t include the reigning U23 world champion (Malmgren). Bracketing could be weird here. Okuno, like Taylor, is not seeded. At this point, I don’t know that one side of the bracket is much different than the other, but we’ll re-evaluate after they are drawn. 55 kg - Cristelle Rodriguez Seeds #1 Tatiana Debien (FRA) #2 Oleksandra Khomenets (UKR) #3 Karla Godinez-Gonzalez (CAN) #4 Ekaterina Verbina (UWW - Russia) #5 Elvira Kamaloglu (TUR) #6 Kyong Ryong Oh (PRK) #7 Amory Andrich (GER) #8 Cristelle Rodriguez (USA) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Debien: 2024 World bronze Godinez-Gonzalez: 2022 World bronze Khomenets: 2x World medalist Others Khulan Batkhuyag (MGL): 2022 World silver Xuejing Liang (CHN): 2023 U20 World bronze Oh: 2025 Asian champion Rodriguez: 2024 U20 World champion Sowaka Uchida (JPN): 2024 U20 World champion Verbina: 2025 European champion, 2021 U23 World silver Of our first five weights, this is the last one with a first-time world team member. Like the two before her, Cristelle Rodriguez is making her Senior World debut; however, she has plenty of age group experience. Rodriguez is a two-time U20 world team member and claimed a gold medal in her second trip (2024). She also earned a silver medal in 2019 at the Cadet World Championships. To secure her spot on the 2025 squad, Rodriguez held off phenom and future U20 world champion Everest Leydecker in two straight bouts at Final X. This will be one of the smaller brackets on the women’s freestyle side. At first glance, seeing Cristelle Rodriguez as the eighth see - it might give you some pause. I actually like it. Though top seeded Tatiana Debien is a returning world medalist, I think she’s beatable. The fourth (Verbina) and fifth (Kamaloglu) are high quality, but also not out of Rodriguez’s league. We’ll have to pay attention to where U20 world champion Uchida (Japan), Batkhuyag (Mongolia), and Liang (China) are drawn in. They will be tough. The other half of the bracket is probably deeper with Khomenets, Godinez-Gonzalez, and Oh. 57 kg - Helen Maroulis Seeds #1 Helen Maroulis (USA) #2 Kexin Hong (CHN) #3 Luisa Valverde (ECU) #4 Olga Khoroshavtseva (UWW - Russia) #5 Tamara Dollak (HUN) #6 Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (MGL) #7 Youngjin Kwon (KOR) #8 Zhala Aliyeva (AZE) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Hong: 2024 Olympic bronze Iryna Kurachkina (UWW - Belarus): 2021 Olympic silver, 3x World medalist Maroulis: 3x Olympic medalist (Gold, Bronze x2), 3x World champion Samantha Stewart: 2021 World bronze Others Laura Almaganbetova (KAZ): 2024 Asian bronze Khoroshavtseva: 3x European champion Il-Sim Son (PRK): 2025 Asian silver Tapsya (IND): 2025 U20 World champion Himeka Tokuhara (JPN): 2x U23 World medalist Solomiia Vynnyk (UKR): 2024 U23 World champion The queen is back at the World Championships again and holds the top seed. Helen Maroulis will wrestle at the World Championships for the 12th time(!) in 2025. Her first Senior world appearance came in 2008. Maroulis is now the only American woman with three Olympic medals and the first to win gold. In Croatia, she’ll seek her eighth world medal and the fourth of a golden variety. Maroulis locked up her latest world team spot by pinning Amanda Martinez twice at Final X. She was the only wrestler (male or female) at the event to win via fall and she did it twice. Maroulis’ bronze medal from the 2024 Olympic Games, coupled with a win at the Hungarian Ranking Series event, helped her receive the #1 seed. For the last three World/Olympic events, Maroulis has been in the same weight class as Japan’s Sakurai. They have a new representative this year - Tokuhara, a U23 world champion in 2022 and a U23 bronze medalist in 2024. Just looking at seeds alone, you have to like Maroulis’ draw. None of the past World/Olympic medalists are on her side. That could change depending on where Kurachkina (Belarus) is placed. Aside from Tokuhara and Kurchkina, perhaps Son (North Korea) and Tapsya (India) represent the most significant challenges for Maroulis in Zagreb. 59 kg - Jacarra Winchester Seeds #1 Elena Brugger (GER) #2 Erika Bognar (HUN) #3 Laurence Beauregard (CAN) #4 Anastasiia Sidelnikova (UWW - Russia) #5 Sakura Onishi (JPN) #6 Bediha Gun (TUR) #7 Jumoke Adekoye (NGR) #8 Altjin Togtokh (MGL) Past Senior World/Olympic medalists: Brugger: 2024 World bronze Winchester: 2019 World champion, 2x World medalist Others Pyol Hong (PRK): 2025 Asian silver Hong Liang (CHN): 2024 U23 bronze Sakura Onishi (JPN): 2x U20 World champion We’ll marvel at Maroulis’ longevity, and it’s true; however, don’t sleep on Jacarra Winchester’s career. Winchester will compete at the World Championships for a sixth time, and that doesn’t include her 2021 Olympic appearance. Back in 2019, Winchester captured a world title at 55 kg. She earned a second world medal in 2023, when she made the 55 kg world finals. We’ll see if Winchester can add to her medal haul in Croatia. Winchester took quite the unusual route to her latest world team. She made the finals of the US Open at 57 kg, but did not wrestle. At the World Team Trials, Winchester bumped up to 59 kg and got the win. That set up a clash with former world team member, Abby Nette. Nette took the first match of the series, 6-4, but Winchester stormed back with two consecutive wins - the first was 9-7 and then 11-0 in the clincher. 59 kg looks to be a relatively wide open weight. Looking at the Japanese entry, we’ll have a new face to watch on the Senior level, as Onishi gets the call. She is a two-time U20 champion. Her most recent title came a few months ago and she downed American Aubre Krazer on her path to the gold medal. She’s the next big thing at this weight, but is she there right now? Top-seeded Elena Brugger is a returning world medalist and will be in the hunt for gold. Other contenders include Hong (North Korea) and Liang (China). Since Winchester will be unseeded, we’ll have to weight to see what her exact path looks like.

We’ve got more news regarding Real American Freestyle’s RAF 02 event. Initially, it was slated to take place on November 8th, from Penn State’s storied Rec Hall. The date has been changed to October 25th. This seems like a smart move as the Nittany Lions football team is slated to host Indiana on that same Saturday. In addition to the date change, we also have a first matchup. In what is being billed as the co-main event, Mason Parris will make his return to the wrestling world by taking on the legendary Kyle Snyder. Parris was a 2024 Olympic teammate of Snyder’s but stepped away from wrestling after Paris in an attempt to make the NFL. Parris signed with the Tennessee Titans and participated in their training camp before getting cut. At the end of the RAF 01 show, Parris came out on stage to call out the heavyweight champion Wyatt Hendrickson. This matchup would lead us to believe that the winner will get a shot at Hendrickson on a future card. Parris was a three-time NCAA All-American at the University of Michigan. He capped his collegiate career with an undefeated national championship season and the Hodge Trophy in 2023. Later that year, Parris made the world team and came home from Serbia with a bronze medal. Snyder will be in action within the next week at the 2025 World Championships - his 11th straight world/Olympic team. During his illustrious career, he has won two Olympic medals (gold and silver), three world titles, and a total of nine world/Olympic medals. This is a unique matchup that we haven’t seen before since Snyder’s international accolades have come at 97 kg (213 lbs). With RAF’s light heavyweight being 205 lbs, I expected Snyder to compete at heavyweight in these events. We’ll have more on the RAF 02 card as it develops.

Spencer Lee's journey to his first Senior World Championships has been anything but ordinary by 2025 standards, he won age level world titles at the U17 and U20 Championships and then didn’t wrestle internationally for six years. A three-time NCAA champion for the University of Iowa and an Olympic silver medalist, Lee has already carved out a legendary career. Yet, as he prepares to compete in Zagreb, Croatia, from September 13-21, it is with the distinction of making his first-ever US World Team. This milestone, surprising for an athlete of his caliber, sets the stage for a highly anticipated performance. An in-depth look at his offensive scoring from the past year reveals a wrestler who is not just winning, but dominating with a calculated and evolving offensive arsenal. What We Looked At Spencer Lee only competed twice this year, but I thought it was a strong enough body of work to analyze his offensive attacks, so from each match this year I noted the following criteria: Event Round Opponent Attack Time On The Clock At The Start Of The Attack Points Scored On Attack Conversion Time (time he was awarded a takedown) Transitional Par Terre Offense Attempt? Par Terre Technique Par Terre Points Scored What Constitutes Offense? Lee's 2025 performances at the Zagreb Open and Final X provide a compelling snapshot of his current form. To understand the true nature of his offensive dominance, it's important to clarify what constitutes an "offensive attack" in this analysis. This breakdown focuses specifically on Lee's initiated attacks from the neutral position that result in controlled takedowns, providing opportunities for par terre offense. Notably, this analysis includes go-behind attacks executed off opponent shots, which are considered counter-offensive moves rather than purely defensive reactions. One thing that makes Lee's approach particularly fascinating is what this analysis deliberately excludes. Step-out points, while clearly an offensive weapon for most wrestlers, are largely absent from Lee's scoring repertoire. He scored just one step-out all year, demonstrating his commitment to keeping action in the center of the mat. While most wrestlers immediately look for the edge when they secure a leg, Lee does the opposite. He actively works to finish his attacks in the center, prioritizing the opportunity to get on top and turn his opponent rather than settling for a quick one or two points at the boundary. Similarly, uncontrolled exposure points, which Lee scored twice via underhook throw-bys, are not included in this offensive breakdown. These scores, while effective, don't provide the par terre opportunities that make Lee so dangerous. His preference for controlled takedowns over quick exposure points reveals a wrestler who thinks several moves ahead, always positioning himself for maximum scoring potential. Finishing Mastery At the heart of Spencer Lee’s success is his exceptional ability to score just about every time he gets his hands locked on a leg. In his recent outings, he successfully converted on 77.8% of his offensive attempts. This high success rate is not built on a single, predictable attack. Instead, Lee employs a range of techniques that keep his opponents guessing and on the defensive. His go-to weapon of choice is a right-handed high crotch, which accounted for over half of his offensive attempts. While his success rate with this move was 60%, it serves as a constant threat that opens up other opportunities. Which is interesting to me because I’ve always thought of Spencer as a single leg guy. When opponents focus on defending the high crotch, Lee seamlessly transitions to other attacks. This was evident in his perfect 100% success rate with single legs and double legs. Spencer Is Evolving A closer examination of Spencer Lee's offensive timing reveals something that just about everyone in the world has known for a long time: Spencer Lee is a first period wrestler.. An overwhelming 77.8% of his offensive attacks (7 out of 9) occurred during the first period. This front-loaded approach demonstrates Lee's commitment to wanting to finish matches. Interestingly, while Lee is definitely less likely to attack in the second period, his finish percentage tells the tale of growth from his college days. With only two attacks attempted in the second period, he achieved perfect execution, converting both opportunities for scores. And these weren’t garbage time takedowns with his opponent diving at his legs in a last-ditch effort to steal the match, they were offensive attacks with extremely fast conversion times. This shows a maturity of decision making and positional prowess. A far cry from his days in an Iowa singlet where he gave up losses later in the in the match to guys like Sebastian Rivera and Nick Piccininni. Punishing And Purposeful Par Terre Scoring the takedown is only half the story…. Literally. Spencer Lee truly separates himself from the pack in par terre. His performance in the par terre position has been nothing short of dominant. After securing a takedown, Lee immediately transitions to his top game, attempting to add to his own momentum. Here’s what jumps off the statistical page to me though, It’s that he almost always finishes with enough room on the mat to get at least one turn. In 2025 most high level coaches are telling their athletes to find the edge when they get to a leg. It’s an extremely sound strategy in that you limit your opponent’s likelihood of scoring off any counter if he steps out. The problem with that tactic is that you don't get a chance on top. Not Spencer, he almost always leaves just enough room to one turn. His primary weapon on top is the gut wrench, more specifically, he has shown a clear preference for attacking the right side, doing so in two-thirds of his par terre attempts.The only outlier coming when he happened to trap his opponent’s left arm in transition. This consistent, high-level execution of a fundamental technique makes him a nightmare for any opponent who finds themselves on the bottom. What is most impressive is the sheer number of points he generates from the top position. In the analyzed matches, he scored as many points from par terre as he did from his takedowns, a total of 14 points. This ability to consistently add to his score after a takedown has proven to be a driver of success. Primed for the World Stage As Spencer Lee prepares for his first Senior World Championships, the data from his recent performances paints a clear picture: he is a wrestler at the peak of his powers. His offensive versatility, combined with his punishing par terre game, makes him a complete and formidable force at 57kg.