Dake Wins Fifth World Title; Three More into Sunday's Finals
A day after the American women’s freestyle team captured a world championship, their male counterparts put themselves in position to win themselves on Sunday. The final members of the men’s freestyle team hit the mat on Saturday and three out of the four wrestlers will compete for gold medals tomorrow.
In today’s action, Kyle Dake added another world title, while three others wrestled back for bronze medals.
In his gold medal matchup, Dake tangled with Azerbaijan’s Arsenii Dzhioev, a returning world bronze medalist. There wasn’t much action in the opening period and Dake got on the board with a point via a Dzhioev activity clock violation. Early in the second, Dake was in position for a go-behind, but dropped down to Dzhioev’s leg and switched to a single, which he finished at the edge for the only two-point score of the contest. It was enough for him to get his hand raised in a 3-2 victory.
With the latest championship, Dake now has five world titles and they’ve come at three different weights. Two at 79 kg, two at 74 kg, and this latest at 86 kg. He also had a total of eight world/Olympic medals.
Dake’s win over Dzhioev makes it back-to-back matches at this tournament with wins over wrestlers who previously beat him earlier this year. In the semis, he avenged a Ranking Series loss to Russia’s Ibragim Kadiev.
Just a day after Kyle Snyder made his case for American wrestling’s hypothetical Mount Rushmore, Dake threw his hat into the ring.
Wrestling back for bronze medals on Saturday were Marcus Blaze (61 kg), Zain Retherford (70 kg), and Wyatt Hendrickson (125 kg). Blaze did not initially make the semifinals, so he needed a repechage win before advancing to a bronze medal bout.
The bronze medals were the first at the Senior level for Blaze and Hendrickson, while Retherford now has a sizable medal collection of his own. He has three world medals, one of each color.
In the final group of competitors for the United States, Spencer Lee (57 kg), Levi Haines (79 kg), and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) all qualified for tomorrow’s gold medal matches.
Lee was trailing Azerbaijan’s Islam Bazarganov 10-3 on the scoreboard after giving up a takedown and a few turns. Bazarganov got sloppy trying for another gut wrench and Lee grabbed a headlock and caught Bazarganov on his back for the fall.
And extra level of intrigue surrounds Lee’s gold medal match tomorrow. He’ll face former Penn State two-time national champion, Roman Bravo-Young, who competes for Mexico. It also pits Penn State and Iowa grads against each other. The pair met in 2025 in the semifinals of the Zagreb Open and Lee won 8-3.
Bravo-Young’s Penn State teammate, Levi Haines, is back in the world finals for a second time in as many tries. Haines had a workman-like 3-3 win on criteria over Mongolia’s Suldkhuu Olonbayar, the same opponent he defeated in the 2025 world semifinals.
For the gold medal, Haines will take on Iran’s Mohammad Nokhodilarimi, a five-time world medalist who had a long hit list of Americans he’s beaten over the past three years. That group includes Dean Hamiti, Jordan Burroughs, Evan Wick, Joey Lavallee, and Chance Marsteller.
The final match of the tournament will feature a rematch of the 2025 world finals at 92 kg. Trent Hidlay will take on Russia’s Amanula Gadzhimagomedov. Hidlay’s 13-10 comeback win over Gadzhimagomedov was one of the most memorable moments from the 2025 tournament.
Just to make the 2026 finals, Hidlay had to stage another impressive comeback, this time at the expense of Iran’s Amirhossien Firouzpourbandpei. The Iranian held an 8-2 lead late in the first period; however, Hidlay reeled off nine straight points in the closing moments of the first and into the second to grab an 11-8 victory.
The Americans will also have James Green alive in the 74 kg repechage. He will need two wins just to wrestle for a bronze medal.
American results
57 kg
Round of 32 - Spencer Lee over Edwin Segura (Guatemala) Fall 1:33
Round of 16 - Spencer Lee over Milad Valizadeh (Iran) 12-2
Quarterfinals - Spencer Lee over Abubakar Mutaliev (Russia) 11-0
Semifinals - Spencer Lee over Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan) Fall 4:17
61 kg
Repechage - Marcus Blaze over Nikhil (India) 9-1
Bronze Medal Match - Marcus Blaze over Assyl Aitakyn (Kazakhstan) 4-2
70 kg
Bronze Medal Match - Zain Retherford over Lachlan McNeil (Canada) 4-0
74 kg
Round of 32 - James Green over Orozobek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan) 5-0
Round of 16 - Inalbek Sheriev (Russia) over James Green 10-0
79 kg
Round of 32 - Levi Haines over Mohammed Bouazouni (Morocco) Fall 1:30
Round of 16 - Levi Haines over Szymon Wojtkowski (Poland) 10-0
Quarterfinals - Levi Haines over Ismail Khaniev (Russia) 8-1
Semifinals - Levi Haines over Suldkhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia) 3-3
86 kg
Gold Medal Match: Kyle Dake over Arsenii Dzhioev (Azerbaijan) 3-2
92 kg
Round of 16 - Trent Hidlay over Jesaia Uera (Nauru) Fall :47
Quarterfinals - Trent Hidlay over Ali Tcokaev (Azerbaijan) 5-1
Semifinals - Trent Hidlay over Amirhossien Firouzpourbandpei (Iran) 11-8
125 kg
Bronze Medal Match: Wyatt Hendrickson over Jaspooran Singh (India) 10-0
Sunday’s Gold Medal Matchups
57 kg - Spencer Lee (USA) vs. Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico)
74 kg - Inalbek Sheriev (Russia) vs. Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan)
79 kg - Levi Haines (USA) vs. Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran)
92 kg - Trent Hidlay (USA) vs. Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia)
Final Results
61 kg
Gold Medal Match: Ahmad Javan (Iran) over Zavur Uguev (Russia) 9-2
Bronze Medal Match: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Nikhil (India) 9-1
Bronze Medal Match: Kwang-Myong Kim (North Korea) over Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) 3-3
70 kg
Gold Medal Match: Ibragim Ibragimov (Russia) over Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) 5-2
Bronze Medal Match: Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) over Vasile Diacon (Moldova) Fall 3:55
Bronze Medal Match: Zain Retherford (USA) over Lachlan McNeil (Canada) 4-0
86 kg
Gold Medal Match: Kyle Dake (USA) over Arsenii Dzhioev (Azerbaijan) 3-2
Bronze Medal Match: Vladimiri Gamkrelidze (Georgia) over Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece) 6-0
Bronze Medal Match: Malik Shavaev (Kyrgyzstan) over Ibragim Kadiev (Russia) 4-3
125 kg
Gold Medal Match: Amir Zare (Iran) over Abdulla Kurbanov (Russia) 11-0
Bronze Medal Match: Wyatt Hendrickson (USA) over Jaspooran Singh (India) 10-0
Bronze Medal Match: Giorgio Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) over Vladislav Baitsaev (Hungary) Cautions
