By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – The men’s freestyle draw is finalized, and complete brackets have been released for the 2026 Senior World Championships, which start Thursday at Barys Arena.

Marcus Blaze (Ohio and National in 2025), Wyatt Hendrickson (Kansas in 2019), Spencer Lee (Pennsylvania and Northeast Region in 2017), Zain Retherford (Pennsylvania and National in 2013) and Cohlton Schultz (Colorado and National in 2019) are all winners of the Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

Returning World champions and No. 1 seeds Kyle Snyder (97 kg) and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) both sit to the round of 16. Snyder awaits the winner between Alperen Tokgoz of Türkiye and Demchigdorj Tumurbaatar of Mongolia before a potential quarterfinal against longtime rival Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia. Hidlay opens with Jesaia Uera of Nauru, with competition level picking up afterward.

Olympic silver medalist and No. 2 seed Spencer Lee has a first-round tune-up against Edwin Segura Guerra of Guatemala at 57 kg. Two-time Olympic medalist and four-time World champion Kyle Dake, who is unseeded, must win five matches to reach the 86 kg finals, starting with Batbilguun Naadambat of Mongolia.

Returning World silver medalist Levi Haines holds the No. 3 seed at 79 kg. He opens against Mohammed Bouazouni of Morocco.

A spotlight first-round contest for Team USA comes at 65 kg, with this year’s U20 World champion Bo Bassett taking on Peiman Biabani of Canada, who wrestled in the bronze medal round last year. Also notable, Wyatt Hendrickson has drawn returning World bronze medalist Shamil Sharipov of Bahrain at 125 kg.

Other U.S. entrants drawn into the field include Marcus Blaze at 61 kg, Zain Retherford at 70 kg and James Green at 74 kg. Initial opponents for each U.S. athlete are listed below.

Men’s freestyle is the last international discipline to hit the mats in Astana. Athletes will compete in three waves over the course of the event—group one (65-97 kg) starting October 29, group two (61-70-86-125 kg) on October 30, and group three (57-74-79-92 kg) on October 31. Each bracket will be contested over two days, with qualification rounds and semifinals on day one, then repechage and medal matches on day two.

To follow along in real time, refer to the event schedule below. Astana, Kazakhstan, is in the GMT +5 time zone, nine hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. USA Wrestling will provide regular updates on TheMat.com and its social media platforms throughout the event.

The Senior World Championships will stream live on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. United World Wrestling will provide brackets and updated results on uww.org.

2026 Senior World Championships 

At Astana, Kazakhstan, October 24 – November 1 

Reference Links 

• USA Wrestling event hub

• Live stream

• Brackets and results

Men’s Freestyle Event Schedule 

Thursday, October 29 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 65-97 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 65-97 kg)

Friday, October 30 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg), Repechage (MFS 65-97 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 65-97 kg)

Saturday, October 31 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg), Repechage (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

Sunday, November 1 

4:30 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

*Listed times reflect local time in Astana, Kazakhstan, which is nine 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 Edwin Segura Guerra (Guatemala)

61 kg – Marcus Blaze (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Emrah Ormanoglu (Türkiye)

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

VS Peiman Biabani (Canada)

70 kg – Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Muhammad Abdurachmanov (Belgium)

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

VS Orozbek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan)

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

VS Mohammed Bouazouni (Morocco)

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

VS Batbilguun Naadambat (Mongolia)

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

VS Jesaia Uera (Nauru)

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

VS Alperen Tokgoz (Türkiye) or Demchigdorj Tumurbaatar (Mongolia)

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

VS Shamil Sharipov (Bahrain)