By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

DALLAS – Olympic champion Gable Steveson, who was the Minnesota winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2018, returned to the wrestling mats on Saturday night at RAF 09 in the heart of The Lone Star State. His 10-0 technical fall over Alexandr Romanov in the evening’s main event was a not-so-subtle reminder that Steveson’s still got it.

The Men’s Heavyweight division win over Romanov, who is a seasoned international competitor in freestyle wrestling, grappling and mixed martial arts from Moldova, is Steveson’s first match since the finals of the 2025 NCAA Division I Championships, and his first freestyle bout since 2023 Final X. He recently signed with the UFC.

Fellow Olympic champion and reigning World champion Kyle Snyder continued his RAF hot streak with a 10-0 thrashing of 2024 Olympic silver medalist Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia for the Men’s Light Heavyweight title. Other names on Snyder’s RAF hit list include 2024 Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain and 2023 World champion Rizabek Aitmukhan of Kazakhstan.

2025 World bronze medalist Real Woods put forth a dominant effort against Ibragim Ilyasov of Russia, with the one-sided match culminating in a pin and the Men’s Featherweight title for Woods.

Two weeks after winning the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament and qualifying for Final X, 2023 World champion and Olympian Zain Retherford, who was the Pennsylvania and National winner of the DSHSEA in 2013, made his first RAF appearance with an 8-0 decision over 2025 NCAA champion Antrell Taylor at Men’s Lightweight.

2026 U.S. Open runner-up Parker Keckeisen took out 2025 World champion Georgios Kougioumtsidis of Greece, 8-5, at Men’s Cruiserweight.

Match of the Night honors went to the Men’s Middleweight bout between Jason Nolf and Christopher Minto, which Nolf won by decision, 10-5. The Performance of the Night was given to Merab Dvalishvili after a 12-1 technical fall against Frankie Edgar at Men’s Lightweight.

Other winners on the night included Colby Covington, Ridge Lovett, who was the Idaho winner of the DSHSEA in 2019, Lucia Yepez and Arman Tsarukyan.

Complete results from RAF 09 are available below.

Snyder, Woods, Retherford, Lovett and Keckeisen will all be in action on June 19 at 2026 Final X, presented by Kerberos Capital Management, at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

RAF 10 is set for June 13 in St. Louis, Mo., with tickets up for purchase on Ticketmaster. USA Wrestling notables on the RAF 10 card include Aaron Pico, Keegan O’Toole, who was the Wisconsin winner of the DSHSEA in 2020, Austin DeSanto, Zac Braunagel and Hayden Zillmer, with more matchups to be announced.

More information on Real American Freestyle is available at realamericanfreestyle.com.

RAF 09 

At Dallas, Texas, May 31 

Final Results 

Men’s Heavyweight – Gable Steveson tech. fall Alexandr Romanov, 10-0

Men’s Catchweight – Colby Covington dec. Chris Weidman, 5-4

Men’s Light Heavyweight (Title Match) – Kyle Snyder tech. fall Givi Matcharashvili, 10-0

Men’s Lightweight – Merab Dvalishvili tech. fall Frankie Edgar, 12-1

Men’s Featherweight (Title Match) – Real Woods fall Ibragim Ilyasov, 2:11

Men’s Middleweight – Jason Nolf dec. Christopher Minto, 10-5

Men’s Cruiserweight – Parker Keckeisen dec. Georgios Kougioumtsidis, 8-5

Men’s Lightweight – Zain Retherford dec. Antrell Taylor, 8-0

Men’s Lightweight – Ridge Lovett dec. Bajrang Punia, 13-8

Women’s Catchweight – Lucia Yepez tech. fall Cameron Guerin, 10-0

Men’s Middleweight – Arman Tsarukyan tech. fall Mugzy, 16-5