The United States men’s freestyle wrestling team definitely had something to prove at the World Championships held in Croatia.
The tournament, which takes place every two years and effectively serves as an alternate with the Olympics happening every four years, saw several U.S. athletes atop the podium with several others capturing silver and bronze medals. The wins came after a disappointing outing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris where the U.S. men’s freestyle left without a single gold medal for the first
time in 56 years.
Two-time Olympic medalist Kyle Snyder, not only captured his fourth World Championship, but he did it by beating the same opponent who prevented him from winning a bronze at the 2024 Olympics. Snyder finished his run through the World Championships with a 4-2 victory over Iranian Amirali Azarpira to claim another gold medal at 97kg.
Snyder remains one of the winningest American wrestlers in history with gold and silver medals earned at the Olympics while capturing eight total medals including four golds at the World Championships.
While Snyder returning to the top of the sport wasn’t totally surprising, perhaps the most impressive showing by an American came from former Arizona State standout Zahid Valencia, who trounced the competition on his way to winning gold at 86kg.
Valencia tore through his opposition and didn’t surrender a single point across five matches while ultimately capping off his week with a total score of 49-0. That includes Valencia earning a 12-0 tech fall win over Hayato Ishiguro from Japan in the gold medal match.
American Trent Hidlay also put on a stunning performance on his way to winning gold at 92kg, which was the third and final championship for the U.S. men’s freestyle team.
Overall, the American men’s freestyle team won five medals across 10 weight classes.
While there was a lot of success from the U.S. team, there were also a couple of surprising results along the way.
2024 Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee suffered a 14-3 loss in the quarterfinals, which ultimately eliminated him from the competition.
Wyatt Hendrickson, who defeated 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson to claim first place at the NCAA Championships, had a disappointing outing after he was defeated 14-4 in his first and only match in the tournament.
On the women’s side, Helen Maroulis won another gold medal with a phenomenal showing as she continues to cement her legacy as one of the greatest of all-time. Maroulis first shocked the world with her gold medal win at the 2016 Olympics and she’s gone onto claim two more bronze medals in 2020 and 2024.
At the World Championships, Maroulis is a four-time gold medalist and eight time medalist overall.
2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades worked her way back for a bronze medal after she suffered a stunning loss in the quarterfinals after falling to Japan’s Ami Ishii with a 12-1 score. Blades bounced back with a win in her next match and then a 12-1 drubbing in her bronze medal match as the 22-year-old phenom continues to add to her collection of medals on the international stage.
