By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – The U.S. men’s freestyle team put the finishing touches on arguably the best World Championships performance in the nation’s history on Sunday night at Barys Arena.

Spencer Lee (57 kg), who was the Pennsylvania and Northeast Region winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2017, and Levi Haines (79 kg) topped the World podium for the first time in their careers, and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) earned silver, his second-straight World medal, to deliver Team USA its sixth men’s freestyle team title and its fourth in the last 10 years.

The win was especially emotional for Lee, who needed only 26 seconds to defeat Mexico’s Roman Bravo Young, who was the Arizona winner of the DSHSEA in 2018, 10-0 in the championship bout. In the lead-up to the World Championships, Lee tore his ACL for the fourth time. You wouldn’t know it from his results—he won all five of his bouts by pin or technical fall.

A year made all the difference for Haines, who took one step up on the World podium, from silver to gold, after defeating five-time World medalist Mohammad Nokhodilarimi of Iran 4-3 in the gold medal match. His pace and physicality made all the difference as he wore the Iranian down in the second period.

The last U.S. match of the tournament took a somber turn as Hidlay dropped a 3-2 decision to Amanula Gadzhimagomedov of Russia in a rematch of last year’s World final. Hidlay controlled the match front-to-back until a 4-1 lead was reversed to a 3-2 deficit after video review of an edge sequence in which Hidlay shot Gadzhimagomedov off the mat and Gadzhimagomedov rolled Hidlay through in a chest wrap with 18 seconds left.

Read More: 2026 Senior World Championships Day 8 Match Notes

At 74 kg, two-time World medalist James Green finished with a 2-2 overall record, including a 1-1 mark in Sunday’s repechage round. He defeated Armenia’s Narek Harutyunyan 15-2 before falling to eventual bronze medalist Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati of Iran, 8-2.

The U.S. finished with five champions and nine medalists, both U.S. records. All ten Americans placed in the top 10, earning critical team points to fend off Russia, which also had nine medalists and had every athlete place in the top five. The U.S. won by 194 to 185 in one of the greatest team races in World history.

Kyle Snyder (97 kg) and Kyle Dake (86 kg) added to the history, becoming the third and fourth U.S. wrestlers across all Olympic disciplines to reach the five World title milestone, trailing only Jordan Burroughs and Adeline Gray, who have six each, on the all-time list. Additionally, Dake became the oldest American to win a World title at age 35.

U.S. fans can watch archive matches from the Senior World Championships on-demand at FloWrestling.org. Complete results are available at uww.org.

2026 Senior World Championships 

At Astana, Kazakhstan, November 1 

Reference Links 

USA Wrestling Event Hub

Live Stream

Brackets And Results

Photo Galleries

Athlete Interviews

Team Ranking 

Men’s Freestyle 

1. United States, 194

2. Russia, 185

3. Iran, 133

4. Azerbaijan, 88

5. Japan, 47

6. Kyrgyzstan, 43

7. Kazakhstan, 40

8. Georgia, 36

9. Mongolia, 35

10. North Korea, 30

Weight Class Ranking 

Men’s Freestyle | Group Three 

57 kg  

Gold – Spencer Lee (United States)

Silver – Roman Bravo Young (Mexico)

Bronze – Chongsong Han (North Korea)

Bronze – Abubakar Mutaliev (Russia)

5th – Munkh Batkhuyag (Mongolia)

5th – Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan)

7th – Milad Valizadeh (Iran)

8th – Aryan Tsiutryn (Belarus)

9th – Abdymalik Karachov (Kyrgyzstan)

10th – Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan)

Gold – Spencer Lee (United States) tech. fall Roman Bravo Young (Mexico), 10-0

Bronze – Chongsong Han (North Korea) dec. Munkh Batkhuyag (Mongolia), 3-1

Bronze – Abubakar Mutaliev (Russia) dec. Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan), 6-2

74 kg  

Gold – Inalbek Sheriev (Russia)

Silver – Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan)

Bronze – Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati (Iran)

Bronze – Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan)

5th – Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia)

5th – Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan)

7th – Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan)

8th – Mohammad Mottaghinia (Spain)

9th – James Green (United States)

10th – Magomedrasul Asluev (Bahrain)

Gold – Inalbek Sheriev (Russia) dec. Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan), 10-4

Bronze – Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati (Iran) dec. Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia), 5-4

Bronze – Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (Japan) tech. fall Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan), 11-0

79 kg  

Gold – Levi Haines (United States)

Silver – Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)

Bronze – Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus)

Bronze – Ismail Khaniev (Russia)

5th – Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan)

5th – Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia)

7th – Szymon Wojtkowski (Poland)

8th – Alans Amirovs (Latvia)

9th – Cesar Bordeaux Rego Alvan (Brazil)

10th – Okan Tahtaci (Türkiye)

Gold – Levi Haines (United States) dec. Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran), 4-3

Bronze – Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus) dec. Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan), 3-0

Bronze – Ismail Khaniev (Russia) dec. Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia), 6-0

92 kg 

Gold – Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia)

Silver – Trent Hidlay (United States)

Bronze – Ali Tcokaev (Azerbaijan)

Bronze – Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia)

5th – Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (Iran)

5th – Samuel Scherrer (Switzerland)

7th – Ion Demian (Moldova)

8th – Mukhammed Aliiev (Ukraine)

9th – Dauren Kurugliev (Greece)

10th – Sugela (China)

Gold – Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia) dec. Trent Hidlay (United States), 3-2

Bronze – Ali Tcokaev (Azerbaijan) dec. Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (Iran), 6-0

Bronze – Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia) dec. Samuel Scherrer (Switzerland), 6-3

U.S. Results 

Men’s Freestyle | Group Three 

57 kg – Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal 

WIN Edwin Segura Guerra (Guatemala), tech. fall, 11-0

WIN Milad Valizadeh (Iran), tech. fall, 12-2

WIN Abubakar Mutaliev (Russia), tech. fall, 11-0

WIN Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan), fall, 4:17

WIN Roman Bravo Young (Mexico), tech. fall, 10-0

74 kg – James Green (Blacksburg, Va./Tech WC/Titan Mercury WC), 9th place

WIN Orozbek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan), 5-0

LOSS Inalbek Sheriev (Russia), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Narek Harutyunyan (Armenia), tech. fall, 15-2

LOSS Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati (Iran), 8-2

79 kg – Levi Haines (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal 

WIN Mohammed Bouazouni (Morocco), fall, 1:30

WIN Szymon Wojtkowski (Poland), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Ismail Khaniev (Russia), 8-1

WIN Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia), 3-3

WIN Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran), 4-3

92 kg – Trent Hidlay (Raleigh, N.C./Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC), silver medal 

WIN Jesaia Uera (Nauru), fall, 0:45

WIN Ali Tcokaev (Azerbaijan), 5-1

WIN Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (Iran), 11-8

LOSS Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia), 3-2