Photo: Tony Rotundo
Team USA men's freestyle closed the 2026 Senior World Championships in Astana with one of the best weeks in program history: five World champions, nine medals in ten weights, a 42-6 record and the World team title.
The U.S. finished with 194 points in UWW's final team standings, nine clear of Russia (185), with Iran third (133).
Five World Champions
- Spencer Lee, 57kg (5-0): Teched Roman Bravo-Young 10-0 in the final, with a takedown and four leg laces in just under 30 seconds. Lee teched four opponents and came back from 10-5 down to pin Azerbaijan's Islam Bazarganov in the semis.
- Bo Bassett, 65kg (5-0): Beat two-time Olympian Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia 9-1 in his Senior Worlds debut, the first American World champion at this weight since Bill Zadick won it in 2006, when it was 66kg.
- Levi Haines, 79kg (5-0): Beat Iran's Mohammad Nokhodi 4-3 for gold, a year after taking World silver. His win clinched the team title.
- Kyle Dake, 86kg (6-0): Beat Azerbaijan's Arsenii Dzhioev 3-2 for his fifth World title and his first at a third weight class, after two at 79kg and two at 74kg. He avenged a February loss to Russia's Ibragim Kadiev in the semis.
- Kyle Snyder, 97kg (4-0): Won his fifth World title in the deepest bracket of the tournament, beating Abdulrashid Sadulaev in the quarterfinals and Japan's Arash Yoshida in the final, both 4-4 on criteria. Sadulaev and Hassan Yazdani took bronze, and Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov finished fifth. Snyder is now a six-time World and Olympic champion.
Silver and Bronze
- Trent Hidlay, 92kg, silver (3-1): Fell 3-2 to Russia's Amanula Gadzhimagomedov in a rematch of last year's final, after a late challenge swung the match. He follows up his 2025 World title with a second straight World medal.
- Marcus Blaze, 61kg, bronze (4-1): Battled back through repechage after a 3-2 quarterfinal loss and beat Kazakhstan's Assyl Aitakyn 4-2 for bronze in his Senior Worlds debut.
- Zain Retherford, 70kg, bronze (4-1): Shut out Canada's Lachlan McNeil 4-0 for his third World medal, after 2022 silver and 2023 gold.
- Wyatt Hendrickson, 125kg, bronze (4-1): Teched India's Jaspooran Singh 10-0 in 25 seconds for bronze. Four of his five matches ended in tech falls, and his only loss came to three-time World champion Amir Hossein Zare.
James Green, 74kg
Green went 2-2 and finished ninth in his eighth World Championships. After a round-of-16 loss to Russia's Inalbek Sheriev, he teched Armenia's Narek Harutyunyan 15-2 in repechage before an 8-2 loss to Iran's Amirmohammad Yazdani left him one win short of a bronze-medal match.
A Historic Week for USA Wrestling
The men's team title came days after the U.S. women won their first World team title since 1999. It's the first time Team USA has won both freestyle team titles at the same World Championships. In 1999, the only other year the women won, the men finished second to Russia.
The U.S. men also went 5-2 against Russia in Astana, beating Russians in the quarterfinals or semifinals at 57, 65, 79, 86 and 97kg.
We'll break down the entire week on Basch & The Brain. Subscribe on YouTube so you don't miss an episode, and see every result on our Team USA Senior Worlds tracker.