By David Gerhart
USA Wrestling

TIRANA, Albania – Team USA’s men’s freestyle squad learned their opening round draws for the 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana, Albania. Action at Tirana’s Feti Borova Olympic Park will be United World Wrestling’s second Ranking Series event of the 2026 season.

Olympians Spencer Lee, Kyle Dake, Kyle Snyder and Mason Parris lead the 22-man U.S. side this week.

2016 Olympic champion and four-time World champion Snyder makes his 2026 debut at 97 kg against Germany’s Ertugrul Agca. Agca finished ninth at the 2025 World Championships and is a U20 World medalist.

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Dake also begins his 2026 campaign in Albania, where he takes on the winner of Puerto Rico’s Shane Jones or two-time age-group World champion UWW’s Ibragim Kadiev at 86 kg.

2024 Olympic silver medalist Lee – who is coming off a gold medal performance at the Zagreb Open – begins action at 57 kg against Atish Todkar. Todkar captured fifth place in his international debut at the Zagreb Open earlier this month.

Parris goes up against Omar Sarem of Romania in the opening round at 125 kg. The 2024 Olympian returns to action for the U.S. after winning a gold medal at the Grand Prix of France in January.

At 125 kg, Parris is joined by 2025 World Team member Wyatt Hendrickson. Hendrickson’s first match comes against age-group World medalist Khasanboy Rakhimov of Uzbekistan.

Two-time World medalist and 2023 World champion Vito Arujau highlights the 65 kg bracket for Team USA. Arujau is set to compete in his first event of the year in Albania, where he will face Krzysztof Bienkowski of Poland in the first round. The experienced Bienkowski has appeared at nine World Championships, featuring a fifth-place finish in 2021.

Austin DeSanto, who has picked up two gold medals in two appearances this season, faces reigning World silver medalist Bekzat Almazbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan in the opening round at 61 kg.

The full list of opening round draws for the U.S. is listed below.

Men’s freestyle action takes place on Wednesday and Thursday. Competition both days begins at 10:30 a.m. local time/4:30 a.m. ET.

The 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series also features women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman competition. The women’s freestyle draws will be announced on Wednesday, followed by Greco-Roman on Thursday.

The full schedule for the 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series is listed below.

A live stream of the Muhamet Malo will be available to the U.S. audience through FloWrestling. Brackets and updated results will be hosted on UWW Arena.

2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series 

At Tirana, Albania, February 25 – March 1 

Quick Links 

• Events Website

• Brackets and results

• Live Stream
  

Event Schedule  

Wednesday, February 25  

MFS 57-61-65-70-74-86 kg  

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

2:30 p.m. – Semifinals

3:30 p.m. – Repechage

5 p.m. – Opening ceremony

6 p.m. – Medal matches

Thursday, February 26  

MFS 79-92-97-125 kg, WFS 50-55 kg  

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

1:30 p.m. – Semifinals

2:30 p.m. – Repechage

6 p.m. – Medal matches

Friday, February 27  

WFS 59-62-65-68 kg, GR 77-87 kg  

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

2:30 p.m. – Semifinals

3:30 p.m. – Repechage

6 p.m. – Medal matches

Saturday, February 28  

WFS 53-57-72-76 kg, GR 63-67 kg  

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

2 p.m. – Semifinals

3 p.m. – Repechage

6 p.m. – Medal matches

Sunday, March 1  

GR 55-60-72-82-97-130 kg  

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

2:30 p.m. – Semifinals

3:30 p.m. – Repechage

6 p.m. – Medal matches

*All times listed local to Tirana, Albania, which is located six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Draws 

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

VS Atish Todkar (India)

57 kg – Liam Cronin (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan) or Niklas Stechele (Germany)

61 kg – Nathan Tomasello (Riverside, Calif./Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Rahul (India)

61 kg – Austin DeSanto (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)

61 kg – Mike McGee (Bolingbrook, Ill./Southwest WC) 

VS Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico)

65 kg – Joey McKenna (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Kumar Mohit (India)

65 kg – Vito Arujau (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Krzysztof Bienkowski (Poland)

70 kg – Ridge Lovett (Post Falls, Idaho/Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Maiis Aliyev (Kazakhstan) or Islam Dudaev (Albania)

70 kg – Alec Pantaleo (Canton, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Siddharth (India) or Austin Gomez (Mexico)

74 kg – Quincy Monday (Princeton, N.J./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Adilet Akylbekov (Kyrgyzstan)

74 kg – Yahya Thomas (Chicago, Ill./New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Will Lewan (United States)

74 kg – Will Lewan (Naperville, Ill./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Yahya Thomas (United States)

79 kg – Cameron Amine (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Adilet Maratbaev (Kyrgyzstan)

79 kg – Dean Hamiti (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Luka Chkhitunidze (Georgia) or Akhsarbek Gulaev (Slovakia)

86 kg – Kyle Dake (Port Matilda, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Shane Jones (Puerto Rico) or Ibragim Kadiev (UWW)

92 kg – Jacob Cardenas (Kearny, N.J./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Dovletgeldi Myradov (Turkmenistan)

92 kg – Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Kamil Kurugliyev (Kazakhstan)

97 kg – Jay Aiello (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Thomas Barns (Australia)

97 kg – Kyle Snyder (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Ertugrul Agca (Germany)

125 kg – Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Omar Sarem (Romania)

125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./ Cowboy RTC/U.S. Air Force WCAP) 

VS Khasanboy Rakhimov (Uzbekistan)

125 kg – Trent Hillger (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Georgi Ivanov (Bulgaria)