By David Gerhart
USA Wrestling

Team USA’s U20 men’s freestyle squad headed to the 2026 U20 World Championships includes the next stars in the discipline, from age-group World Medalists, Continental medalists and NCAA All-Americans. The men’s freestyle portion of the championships begins on Thursday, August 20 and runs through the end of the event on Sunday, August 23 at Sportova Hala Mladost.

USA Wrestling men's freestyle team members Jayden James, Landon Robideau, Dreshaun Ross, Aaron Seidel and Aeoden Sinclair are all winners of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

Men’s Freestyle Athlete Bios

Isaiah Cortez and Bo Bassett are back at the U20 World Championships after medaling at the 2024 event. Cortez, who competed in Greco-Roman at the last two U20 Worlds, claimed silver and Bassett won bronze in 2024. Bassett is one of two U17 World champions on this year’s men’s freestyle roster, with 2025 U17 World champion James also in the fold for the U.S.

Sinclair debuted for Team USA in 2023 on the U17 World Team, finishing eighth. The U.S. squad also features a trio of NCAA All-Americans who earned the status during their freshman campaigns. Robideau leads the trio after winning the NCAA title this year. Sinclair and Seidel both placed third at NCAAs in March in their respective weight classes. Robideau and Seidel are making their Team USA debuts next week in Bratislava.

Ryan Burton, Jimmy Mastny and Michael Boyle all made their first appearances for the U.S. last month at the 2026 U20 Pan American Championships. Each of the three walked away with gold medals. Bassett joined the trio at the continental championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and won gold.

2023 USA Wrestling Triple Crown winner Ross rounds out Team USA’s U20 roster and will make his first appearance on the World stage. He first put on a USA singlet at the 2022 U15 Pan American Championships, winning titles in both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.

At the 2025 U20 World Championships, the U.S. won the team title with 185 points, which was 73 points ahead of second-place Kazakhstan. Team USA racked up five gold medals and eight medals overall.

Heading into Slovakia, the U.S. looks to win its third-straight men’s freestyle team title.

The men’s freestyle field at the U20 World Championships currently includes 238 entrants from 48 countries. Of the 238 entrants, eight are returning medalists from 2025. Russia’s Ismail Khaniev is the lone returning U20 World champion. After winning his title at 74 kg in 2025. Khaniev moves up to the 79 kg weight class this summer.

Two returning medalists are back at the 97 kg and 125 kg weight classes. Both bronze medalists at 97 kg, Samir Dursunov of Kazakhstan and Konstantine Petriashvili of Georgia, return to the fray this year. At 125 kg, silver medalist Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad of Iran and bronze medalist Yusif Dursunov of Azerbaijan return.

Men’s freestyle action will be spread across four days, with the 10 weight classes being split into three groups. Group one (61-86 kg) kicks off the discipline on Thursday, August 20, and the group concludes the next day. Group two (57-65-79-92 kg) competes Friday and Saturday and group three (70-74-97-125 kg) rounds of the tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

The full men’s freestyle event schedule is available below.

FloWrestling will provide a live stream of the action in the U.S. market. Brackets and results will be hosted on UWW Arena.

For live results and updates from the U20 World Championships, follow along with USA Wrestling’s social channels and TheMat.com.

2026 U20 World Championships

At Bratislava, Slovakia, August 16-23

Reference Links

• Event Schedule

• Event Entry List

• Live Stream

• Brackets and Results

Men’s Freestyle Event Schedule

Thursday, August 20

10 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 61 kg, 86 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61 kg, 86 kg)

Friday, August 21

10 a.m. – Repechage (MFS 61 kg, 86 kg)

10 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 57 kg, 65 kg, 79 kg, 92 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57 kg, 65 kg, 79 kg, 92 kg)

6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 61 kg, 86 kg)

Saturday, August 22

10 a.m. – Repechage (MFS 57 kg, 65 kg, 79 kg, 92 kg)

10 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 70 kg, 74 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 70 kg, 74 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg)

6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 57 kg, 65 kg, 79 kg, 92 kg)

Sunday, August 23

4:15 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 70 kg, 74 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg)

6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 70 kg, 74 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg)

*All times local. Bratislava, Slovakia, is located six hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time Zone.

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Roster 

57 kg – Isaiah Cortez (Los Banos, Calif./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

61 kg – Aaron Seidel (Schaefferstown, Pa./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Bo Bassett (Windber, Pa./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

70 kg – Landon Robideau (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

74 kg – Jayden James (Westwood, N.J./KD Training Center/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg – Ryan Burton (Sparta, N.J./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

86 kg – Aeoden Sinclair (Columbia, Mo./Tiger Style RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

92 kg – Jimmy Mastny (Woodstock, Ill./ Relentless Training Center)

97 kg – Michael Boyle (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio Crazy Goats WC)

125 kg – Dreshaun Ross (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Cowboy RTC)

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Support Staff & Delegation

U.S. Men’s Freestyle coach – J’den Cox

U.S. Men’s Freestyle coach – Zo El Ouarraqe

U.S. Men’s Freestyle coach – Cory Crooks

Personal Coach – Yianni Diakomihalis

Personal Coach – Jared Frayer

Personal Coach – Bill Bassett

Personal Coach – Jimmy Kennedy

Personal Coach – Khaled Dassan

Personal Coach – Dom Bradley

Personal Coach – Chris Perry

Personal Coach – Ross Thatcher

Personal Coach – David Taylor

Medical (ATC) – Chad Smidt

Medical (ATC) – Judi Tekautz

Medical (MD) – Jeremy Frank

Official – Jason Babi

Official – Joshua Grube

Official – Brock Zollinger

Team Leader – Christina Hargrove

NF Media – Richard Immel

NF Media – Ariah Anderson-Cheetany

NF Media – Tony Rotundo

NF Official – Jeff Waters

NF Official – DeeDee Smidt

NF Official – Megan Ball

NF Official – Darryl Colbert

NF President/Technical Delegate – Bruce Baumgartner

NF Secretary General – Rich Bender

OC Guest – Michelle Bender