By David Gerhart
USA Wrestling

Over 40 athletes are entered in the Senior men’s freestyle field at the 2026 Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament at Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, Ky., May 14-15, including several winners of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

DSHSEA winners entered are Cameron Amine, David Carr, Anthony Cassioppi, PJ Duke, Jax Forrest, Jayden James, Spencer Lee, Quincy Monday, Jimmy Mullen, Zain Retherford, Landon Robideau, Edward Scott, Aaron Seidel and Evan Wick.

In a field loaded with established stars and up-and-coming talent, each wrestler is focused on grabbing one of the final five spots at Final X.

Online registration is open until May 13, allowing more individuals to enter.

What’s At Stake

Five weight classes will be contested at the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in men’s freestyle. Each champion from Louisville this week battles the 2026 U.S. Open champion in a best-of-three series at 2026 Final X, presented by Kerberos Capital Management, to determine the Team USA representative at the 2026 World Championships. Final X takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on June 19.

Five Final X series matchups are already set in men’s freestyle for the 65 kg, 79 kg, 86 kg, 92 kg and 97 kg weight classes. As a result, these weight classes will not be contested at the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament.

Eligible Athletes

Athletes must qualify to enter the field for the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. To review the Senior World Team selection process in each discipline, including Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament qualification criteria, visit the Team Selection Criteria page.

A list of qualified athletes for Louisville post-U.S. Open is available on themat.com.

A complete list of entries as of May 11 is available below.

Wrestlers To Watch

In a field loaded with talent, a trio of Olympians headline the field. Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee is entered at 57 kg, and his 2024 Olympic teammates Zain Retherford and Mason Parris are in the field at 70 kg and 125 kg, respectively.

Lee debuts at the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament following a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. Along with his Olympic silver medal, Lee was a member of the 2025 World Team and is a three-time age-group World champion.

After last competing at the 2024 Olympics, Retherford is set to grace the mat for the first time in nearly two years this week in Louisville. The last time Retherford, who is a two-time World medalist, competed at 70 kg was when he won gold at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

2023 World bronze medalist Parris comes into the World Team Trials after bowing out of the U.S. Open in the quarterfinals. Before the U.S. Open, Parris claimed silver at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series and won gold at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France.

A trio of 2025 World Team members look to take the next step to earn their spot on the 2026 World Team. Jax Forrest at 61 kg and David Carr at 74 kg suffered setbacks at the U.S. Open and look to rebound this weekend to earn a spot in Final X. After not competing in the U.S. Open, PJ Duke moves up a weight class to 74 kg with Carr after we competed at 70 kg a year ago. Along with being on the Senior World Team last year, Forrest and Duke won medals at U23 Worlds, with Forrest winning gold and Duke taking bronze.

Hayden Zillmer is the final competitor in the field with Senior World Team experience. Zillmer competed for Team USA at the 2022 World Championships. At the U.S. Open, Zillmer finished as the runner-up at 97 kg. With the 97 kg Final X matchup set, he moves up to 125 kg this week, which was the weight class he competed in at 2022 Worlds.

The field also includes six age-group World champions, all of whom are entered at 74 kg or 125 kg. The three age-group World champions at 74 kg are Jayden James (U17 2025), Will Lewan (U17 2017) and Joseph Sealey (U17 2022). The trio of age-group World champions in the 125 kg division includes Anthony Cassioppi (U23 2021), Daniel Kerkvliet, Jr. (U17 2017) and Isaac Trumble (U23 2023).

Along with Lee and Zillmer, four more U.S. Open runners-up are in the field at the Senior World Team Trials. Benjamin Davino (61 kg), Caleb Henson (70 kg) and Demetrius Thomas (125 kg) all return to their U.S. Open weight classes. Evan Wick finished second at 79 kg in Las Vegas and is moving down to 74 kg with the 79 kg Final X series established.

Three Weights to Watch

61 kg

The youth movement is in full swing at 61 kg with the marquee names of Benjamin Davino, Jax Forrest and Aaron Seidel headlining the class. The trio is coming off NCAA All-American campaigns as freshmen. Forrest won the national title over Davino, but Davino avenged the loss at the U.S. Open with an 8-4 decision in the semifinals.

Veterans Austin DeSanto, Michael McGee and Nathan Tomasello look to use their experience to balance out the young talent in the division.

74 kg

A pair of 2025 World Team members headline the class in David Carr and PJ Duke. With Duke moving up a weight class, the pair is projected to be the class of the division. However, age-group World champions Jayden James, Will Lewan and Joseph Sealey are looking to make their mark on the Senior stage this week.

Cameron Amine enters the tournament after upsetting Carr at the U.S. Open to knock him out of title contention. Two U.S. Open runners-up are also in the 74 kg field: Caleb Henson and Evan Wick. Wick finished second at 79 kg but drops down to 74 kg in search of his second-straight Final X appearance.

125 kg

The 14-man weight class is the biggest of the five and could be one of the more open divisions. Olympian Mason Parris headlines the 125 kg field, but comes in following a loss to Coby Merrill – who is also entered in the weight class – at the U.S. Open. Three age-group World champions in Anthony Cassioppi, Daniel Kerkvliet, Jr. and Isaac Trumble are also set to compete at the World Team Trials.

2022 World Team member and U.S. Open runner-up Hayden Zillmer moves up from 97 kg to 125 kg, with the Final X matchup at 97 kg already set. Demetrius Thomas, who has finished second at the U.S. Open each of the last two years, looks for his breakthrough tournament victory.

How to Follow

The Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament begins Thursday, May 14, at 10 a.m. ET with preliminaries and quarterfinal matches. Semifinal contests are slated for Thursday at 4 p.m. ET. Men’s freestyle championship bouts are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday, May 15.

The 2026 Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament will be broadcast live on FloWrestling. Brackets and match-by-match results will be available through USA Bracketing.

2026 Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament

At Louisville, Ky., May 14-15

Quick Links

• Event Website

• Event Hub

• Brackets and Results

• Live Stream
  

Event Schedule

Thursday, May 14

10 a.m. – Preliminaries, quarterfinals, consolations

4 p.m. – Semifinals, consolation semifinals

Friday, May 15

Noon – Senior women’s freestyle finals, third place matches

1:30 pm. – Senior men’s freestyle finals, third place matches

*All times listed are U.S. Eastern Time, local time in Louisville, Ky.

Entry List (As of May 11)

57 kg (Six Entries)

Austin Assad (Seasons Freestyle Club)

Liam Cronin (Nebraska Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Anthony Knox (Scarlet Knight WC)

Spencer Lee (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Elijah Oliver (Capital WC/New York AC)

Brody Teske (Panther WC)

61 kg (Six Entries)

Benjamin Davino (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Austin DeSanto (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Jax Forrest (Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Michael McGee (Southwest WC/New York AC)

Aaron Seidel (Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Nathan Tomasello (Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

70 kg (Seven Entries)

Caleb Henson (Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Alec Pantaleo (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Ian Parker (Panther WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Landon Robideau (Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Edward Scott (Brunson Utah Valley RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Jordan Williams (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

74 kg (10 Entries)

Cameron Amine (Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Michael Caliendo (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

David Carr (Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

PJ Duke (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Jarrett Jacques (Tiger Style WC)

Jayden James (KD Trained/Titan Mercury WC)

Will Lewan (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Quincy Monday (New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Joseph Sealey (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Evan Wick (Titan Mercury WC)

125 kg (14 Entries)

Jonathan Aiello (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Anthony Cassioppi (Titan Mercury WC)

Taye Ghadiali (Cliff Keen WC)

Daniel Kerkvliet, Jr. (Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Coby Merrill (New York AC)

Cole Mirasola (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Connor Mirasola (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Jimmy Mullen (Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Mason Parris (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Lucas Stoddard (West Point WC)

Demetrius Thomas (Brown RTC/New York AC)

Isaac Trumble (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Jordan Wood (Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC/New York AC)

Hayden Zillmer (Gopher RTC/Titan Mercury WC)