Photo: Tony Rotundo
The 2026 U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia (August 16-23) were about as good as it gets for Team USA. Fifteen medals, five World champions, a 64-31 combined record and, in men's freestyle, a medal at every single weight on the way to a third straight team title.
Men's Freestyle: Ten Weights, Ten Medals
The U.S. men piled up 205 team points to win the team title for the third year in a row, with Russia a distant second. Four gold medals, three silvers and three bronzes: every American on the roster came home with hardware.
The Champions
Bo Bassett (65kg, Virginia Tech) went 5-0 and was rarely tested. He teched Kazakhstan's Yeraly Askerbek 11-0, pinned Azerbaijan's Bashir Verdiyev in 40 seconds, teched Turkey's Haci Zade 12-2, then pinned Russia's Zalimkhan Umarov in 1:26 in the semis before beating Japan's Takuto Osedo 8-2 for gold.
Aaron Seidel (61kg, Virginia Tech) also went 5-0, opening with a 15-4 tech over Iran's Ahora Khateri, pinning Slovakia's Marian Kret in 46 seconds and teching his way through the quarters and semis before a 7-0 shutout of Kazakhstan's Bekassyl Assambek in the final. That's two U20 World titles for the Hokies.
Michael Boyle (97kg, Ohio State) capped the tournament with a dominant run: 10-0 and 13-2 techs, a pin of Belarus' Azamat Tsarikaev in the semis, and a 12-2 tech over Russia's Rodion Sanakoev for gold.
Aeoden Sinclair (86kg, Missouri) did it the hard way. He won his quarterfinal on criteria over Iran's Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand, edged Japan's Natsura Okazawa 7-6 in the semis and came from behind again to beat Russia's Akhmad Mukutov 8-4 in the final.
The Silver Medalists
Isaiah Cortez (57kg, Cornell) teched China, shut out Kazakhstan 6-0 and won a 4-3 semifinal over Uzbekistan before falling 8-4 to Russia's Magomed Magomedov in the final.
Jayden James (74kg, Penn State) beat Italy's Alessio Perentin 7-5 and Kazakhstan's Nurdaulet Seilbekov 13-4 in the semis, then lost a 13-12 thriller to Japan's Ariya Yoshida for gold.
Dreshaun Ross (125kg, Cowboy RTC) teched his first three opponents, including Georgia's Aleksandre Abramishvili 12-0, and beat Azerbaijan's Yusif Dursunov 4-1 in the semis before falling 5-3 to Iran's Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad in the final.
The Bronze Medalists
Landon Robideau (70kg, Oklahoma State) beat Russia's Mairbek Merov 7-4 in the quarters, lost a 3-2 semifinal to Iran's Sina Khalili, then won bronze 3-1 over Kyrgyzstan's Zalkarbek Tabaldiev. His medal clinched a U.S. medal at all 10 weights.
Ryan Burton (79kg, Virginia Tech) pinned Georgia's Luka Margvelidze and beat Kazakhstan 3-1 before taking bronze 10-4 over Azerbaijan's Eljan Ismayilzada.
Jimmy Mastny (92kg, Iowa State) was pulled back through repechage after a Round of 16 loss, teched Russia's Artur Togoev 22-10 and won bronze 3-2 over Kazakhstan's Beibarys Yergali.
Women's Freestyle: Leydecker Strikes Gold
The U.S. women finished fourth in the team race with 118 points behind Japan, India and China, and brought home four medals.
Everest Leydecker (55kg) was the star, going 4-0 with three pins, including a fall over Japan's Nana Kozuka in the gold-medal match.
Bronzes went to Morgan Turner (50kg), who won her last two matches by tech fall; Caley Graber (59kg), who pinned Russia's Alina Baroeva in 25 seconds and Mongolia's Gundegmaa Enkhbaatar for bronze; and Taina Fernandez (68kg), who came back through repechage to beat Russia's Evangeliia Berezhnova 4-0.
Greco-Roman: Squier Comes Through
It was a tough week in Greco, but Aidan Squier (87kg) salvaged a medal. After an opening loss to Japan's Taizo Yoshida, he won three straight through repechage, including a tech over Ukraine's Vladyslav Solodchuk, and took bronze over Romania's Gabriel Stan.
The Bottom Line
Five gold, three silver and seven bronze. The men's freestyle program keeps setting the standard at the age-group level, and several of these names will be in college lineups and on Senior World Team Trials brackets soon. Relive every U.S. match from Bratislava on our U20 Worlds tracker.