By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

The U.S. men’s freestyle team is primed for a title run at the 2026 Senior World Championships, with two returning champions and a lineup built for contention.

Eight of the 10 U.S. World Team members have Senior World Championships experience, and half have stood atop the World podium. Six have earned World medals, and the lineup also includes four Olympians, three of whom are Olympic medalists. The two newcomers have won a U20 World title. This team brings a pop in every weight class.

Here’s a breakdown of the U.S. men’s freestyle team heading to Astana, Kazakhstan, along with background on the international competitors entered in the men’s freestyle competition.

Team USA Outlook 

The U.S. lineup is strong throughout, but the power sits up top with returning champions Trent Hidlay at 92 kg and Kyle Snyder at 97 kg. Both posted memorable runs at last year’s Worlds in Zagreb, Croatia. Hidlay finished his first Worlds appearance with a 13-10 “match of the tournament” win over Amanula Gadzhimagomedov of Russia for gold, while Snyder looked impressive as ever on his way to a fourth Senior World gold. Snyder holds two Olympic medals, gold in 2016 and bronze in 2020, plus eight Senior World medals.

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist and four-time World champion Kyle Dake will make his first Worlds appearance at 86 kg. He won two World titles at 79 kg (2018, 2019) and another two at 74 kg (2021, 2022). Both Olympic medals (2020, 2024) came at 74 kg. Dake supplanted 2025 World champion Zahid Valencia, who was the California and National winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award (DSHSEA) in 2015, in the U.S. lineup, and he joins Snyder in a tie with John Smith for second place on the all-time list of men’s freestyle World titles won by an American. Jordan Burroughs stands alone with six.

Paris Olympians Spencer Lee (57 kg) , who was the Pennsylvania and Northeast Region winner of the DSHSEA in 2017, and Zain Retherford (70 kg), who was the Pennsylvania and Northeast Region winner of the DSHSEA in 2013, are both hunting for redemption. Lee finished with silver at the 2024 Olympics but missed the podium last year in his first Senior Worlds appearance. He is two-for-two on international gold medals this year, winning the Zagreb Open and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series events. Retherford made consecutive World finals (2022 silver, 2023 gold) before coming up short of the podium in Paris. After nearly two years away from the competition circuit, he returned for another run. In his lone international outing since Paris, Retherford claimed gold at the 2026 Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial.

Returning World finalist Levi Haines tops the 79 kg contender list. Since earning silver in Zagreb, Haines has gone on an undefeated streak that includes gold medal wins at the U23 World Championships, Pan American Championships and Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial.

Two-time World medalist James Green is set to make his eighth appearance at the Senior World Championships, a mark that dates back to his 2015 bronze medal win in Las Vegas. He also won silver in 2017. This is Green's first time making the U.S. team at 74 kg. His past seven World runs came at 70 kg.

Two-time Pan American champion Wyatt Hendrickson, who was the Kansas winner of the DSHSEA in 2019, returns as the U.S. representative at 125 kg. He came up short of the podium last year in Zagreb, but has proven international experience, including a 2023 U23 World title and two UWW Ranking Series medals this year.

Rounding out the list of U.S. entries are U20 World champions Marcus Blaze at 61 kg, who was the Ohio and National winner of the DSHSEA in 2025, and Bo Bassett at 65 kg. Both men took out 2025 World Team members at Final X, with Blaze beating 2025 U23 World champion Jax Forrest, who finished fifth in Zagreb, and Bassett defeating 2025 World bronze medalist Real Woods. Forrest was the Pennsylvania winner of the DSHSEA in 2026.

Eight Look for World Repeats 

Of the 10 World champions crowned last year, eight are listed in the preliminary entries: Hidlay, Snyder, Chong Song Han of North Korea (57 kg), Zavur Uguev of Russia (61 kg), Rahman Amouzad of Iran (65 kg), Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan (74 kg), Georgios Kougioumtsidis of Greece (86 kg) and Amir Hossein Zare of Iran (125 kg). Aoyagi and Kougioumtsidis both bumped up one weight class from where they won Worlds last year.

Snyder (2016) and Uguev (2024) are Olympic champions, while Amouzad and Zare both reached the Olympic finals in Paris. Uguev is a three-time World champion (2018, 2019, 2025). Amouzad holds two World titles (2022, 2025) in addition to his Olympic silver (2024). Zare is a three-time World champion (2021, 2023, 2025) and two-time Olympic medalist (2020, 2024). Hidlay, Han, Aoyagi and Kougioumtsidis are one-time World champions.

21 Olympic and World Champions Entered 

In addition to the eight returning gold medalists, 13 individuals arrive in Astana with an Olympic or World title in men’s freestyle on their resume.

Five men join Snyder and Uguev as Olympic champions in the field: Razambek Jamalov of Uzbekistan (2024), Magomed Ramazanov of Bulgaria (2024), Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain (2024), Hassan Yazdani of Iran (2016), and Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia (2016, 2020). Three of this bunch have topped the World podium: Tazhudinov (2023), Yazdani (2017, 2019, 2021), and Sadulaev (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024).

Additional World title holders include four-time World champion Dake (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), two-time World champion Kamran Ghasempour of Iran (2021, 2022), and one-time World champions Retherford (2023), Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania (2022), Abasgadzhi Magomedov of Russia (2021), Iszmail Muszukajev of Hungary (2023), Nurkozha Kaipanov of Kazakhstan (2024) and Rizabek Aitmukhan of Kazakhstan (2023).

Four Olympic Champions Highlight 97 kg 

The 97 kg bracket is shaping up to be historic. Four Olympic champions—Snyder, Tazhudinov, Yazdani and Sadulaev—are set to do battle in this weight class. It is anyone’s guess who will emerge with the title.

As defending champion, Snyder is the frontrunner. He recently beat Tazhudinov and Sadulaev at RAF events, but he dropped a couple of matches this year, proving he is susceptible to an upset. Sadulaev looked strong in recent gold medal outings at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series and European Championships. Tazhudinov is always dangerous but has lost some of his luster since claiming gold in Paris. Yazdani took the post-Olympic year off and bulked up to 97 kg for his 2026 run. In his lone international outing of the year, Yazdani earned silver at the Zagreb Open, dropping his finals match to American upstart Stephen Buchanan, who also took a match from Snyder at Final X.

Several others could shake up this bracket and are high on the list of threats to the Olympic champion quartet—Aitmukhan, Olympic medalists Magomedkhan Magomedov of Azerbaijan and Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia, and World medalists Arash Yoshida of Japan and Batyrbek Tsakulov of Slovakia, to name a few.

How To Follow The Action 

Men’s freestyle is the third and final international discipline to take the mats at Barys Arena. 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 semifinals on day one and 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, which is 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 Arena.

2026 Senior World Championships 

At Astana, Kazakhstan, October 24 – November 1 

Reference Links 

• Event entry list

• 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 Roster 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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