By Zack Chavez
USA Wrestling

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Jordan Burroughs, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and six-time World champion, scored an 11-0 win over Sean Brady in his return to freestyle competition at Real American Freestyle (RAF) 12 on Saturday, Aug. 22, at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The card also featured a successful welterweight title defense by David Carr, who was the Ohio and National winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2018, and a win by 2025 World bronze medalist Kennedy Blades.

Burroughs was dominant from start to finish in the men’s cruiserweight co-main event, building a 7-0 lead in the opening period with a powerful five-point move, bookended by a pair of pushouts. The Olympic gold medalist then used a four-point move to finish the match in the opening moments of the second period.

Carr retained his men’s welterweight title with a gritty 6-4 win over four-time World medalist Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia. After falling behind 3-1, Carr mounted a comeback in the final round, leveling the score at 3-3 after a leg lace and exposure. The two-time NCAA champion then took his final lead before running out the clock to retain his belt.

Blades improved to 4-0 in RAF competition with a decisive 11-0 technical fall over Reese Larramendy in the women’s catchweight matchup. After opening with four points, Blades extended her lead to 7-0 at the end of the first. She added a four-point takedown in the opening 10 seconds of the second period to secure the win over Larramendy, who stepped into the matchup on short notice after Diana Avsaragova withdrew on Saturday due to illness.

Max McEnelly, a 2025 U20 World champion and 2026 NCAA champion, scored an upset over Bo Nickal in the light heavyweight showdown. Nickal carried a 1-0 lead into the second period, but McEnelly took a 2-1 advantage with a timely ankle pick and go-behind. McEnelly and Nickal were each tagged with a passivity point throughout the remainder of the match, but McEnelly held on for the 3-2 win and Performance of the Night honors.

Jesse Mendez, a two-time NCAA Division I champion for Ohio State and 2023 U20 World silver medalist, defeated Vladimer Khinchegashvili, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Georgia, in the featherweight division.

Jason Nolf delivered another impressive RAF performance, this time with a decisive 11-1 technical fall over Evan Wick in the middleweight title match. Johnni Dijulius also earned Performance of the Night honors after disposing of Asu Almabayev of Kazakhstan, 10-0, at featherweight.

Two additional U.S. Olympic gold medalists also captured wins on Saturday—Gable Steveson and Henry Cejudo. Steveson’s 6-0 shutout of Anthony Cassioppi at heavyweight preserved his unbeaten record in RAF. Cejudo scored a 36-second pin over Merab Dvalishvili in the main event to win the lightweight title.

Tyron Woodley mounted a comeback against Joaquin Buckley, erasing an 8-1 deficit before outscoring Buckley 13-0 in the final two rounds for the 14-8 win.

Ben Davino and Will Lewan were also featured on the card but were defeated in their respective matches. Davino was beaten by Masanosuke Ono of Japan, 4-0, in the bantamweight division. Lewan was injured in the opening round and unable to continue against Kadik of Belarus in the middleweight matchup.

Complete results from RAF 12 are available below.

Up next, RAF heads to Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Sept. 5. The card will feature Tyron Woodley and Khamzat Chimaev in the main event and Zac Braunagel versus Abdulrashid Sadulaev in the co-main event. Kyle Snyder and Kyle Dake—both members of the 2026 World Team—and Kennedy Blades will each compete in title matches. RAF Moscow will also feature 2025 World champion Zahid Valencia, along with Burroughs, Nolf, Nickal and Vito Arujau.

More information, including ticketing information, for RAF Moscow is available at realamericanfreestyle.com.

Real American Freestyle 12 

At Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 22 

Final Results 

Men’s Lightweight (Title Match) – Henry Cejudo fall Merab Dvalishvili, 0:36

Men’s Cruiserweight – Jordan Burroughs tech. fall Sean Brady, 11-0

Men’s Heavyweight – Gable Steveson dec. Anthony Cassioppi, 6-0

Women’s Catchweight – Kennedy Blades tech. fall Reese Larramendy, 11-0

Men’s Light Heavyweight – Max McEnelly dec. Bo Nickal, 3-2

Men’s Middleweight (Title Match) – Jason Nolf tech. fall Evan Wick, 11-1

Men’s Featherweight – Jesse Mendez dec. Vladimer Khinchegashvili, 7-2

Men’s Welterweight (Title Match) – David Carr dec. Tajmuraz Salkazanov, 6-4

Men’s Featherweight – Johnni Dijulius tech. fall Asu Almabayev, 10-0

Men’s Middleweight – Kadik med. forfeit Will Lewan

Men’s Cruiserweight – Tyron Woodley dec. Joaquin Buckley, 14-8

Men’s Bantamweight – Masanosuke Ono dec. Ben Davino, 4-0