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U.S. receives men’s freestyle draw at 2025 U17 World Championships

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

Arseni Kikiniou in action during the Greco-Roman portion of the 2025 U17 World Championships.

Arseni Kikiniou in action during the Greco-Roman portion of the 2025 U17 World Championships.

ATHENS, Greece – The men’s freestyle brackets have been released for the 2025 U17 World Championships being held at Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall, with an up-and-coming team of 10 U.S. athletes taking center stage.


The veteran of the group is returning U17 World champion Samuel Sanchez, who will man the 51 kg roster spot. Sanchez opens his quest for back-to-back gold medals against Georgi Spasov of Bulgaria. A win moves Sanchez to the round-of-16, where he would face 2024 U17 European silver medalist Bugra Kavak of Turkey.


Two athletes from the U.S. Greco-Roman crew will also compete on the men’s freestyle side—Arseni Kikiniou at 65 kg and Alex Taylor at 110 kg. Kikiniou navigated to a bronze medal in Greco-Roman earlier this week. His first-round opponent in freestyle is Nikita Kozich of Israel. Taylor sits to the round-of-16 where he awaits the winner between Mikita Tkachyk, a UWW registered athlete, and 2025 U17 European bronze medalist Hakim Taghiyev of Azerbaijan.


Kikiniou and Taylor enter Athens as reigning U17 Pan American champions, as are 48 kg representative Ariah Mills and 71 kg representative Jayden James. Mills, who won the U17 World Team Trials in both styles, opens his tournament against UWW athlete Islam Rabadanov. James gets a stiff test in his opener against 2025 U17 European bronze medalist Koba Goguadze of Georgia.


Another first-round matchup to keep an eye on comes at 60 kg, with American Ashton Besmer taking on reigning U17 Asian champion Bekassyl Assambek of Kazakhstan.


Additional Team USA athletes in the mix are Keegan Bassett at 45 kg, Grey Burnett at 55 kg, Aaron Stewart at 80 kg and Tanner Hodgins at 92 kg. First round matchups for each American can be found below.


The men’s freestyle tournament will be held August 1-3, with the action starting at 10:30 a.m. local time for the first two days, and at 4:30 p.m. on the final day of wrestling. For those following along live, Athens, Greece, is located seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.


The U.S. will compete in two groups over the course of the men’s freestyle event. Group one, which starts on Friday, is comprised of Mills, Burnett, Kikiniou, Stewart and Taylor. Group two starts a day later, featuring Bassett, Sanchez, Besmer, James and Hodgins.


Updated brackets and match-by-match results are available on UWW Arena. A live broadcast of the event is available for the U.S. market at FloWrestling.com.


Stay tuned to TheMat.com and USA Wrestling’s social media platforms for complete coverage of the U17 World Championships. 

2025 U17 World Championships #

At Athens, Greece, August 1-3 #


Men’s Freestyle Event Schedule #

Friday, August 1 #

10: 30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (48-55-65-80-110 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (48-55-65-80-110 kg)


Saturday, August 2 #

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (45-51-60-71-92 kg), Repechage (48-55-65-80-110 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (45-51-60-71-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal matches (48-55-65-80-110 kg)


Sunday, August 3 #

4:30 p.m. – Repechage (45-51-60-71-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal matches (45-51-60-71-92 kg)


* All times listed local to Athens, Greece (GMT+3), which is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.


U.S. Men’s Freestyle Draw #

45 kg – Keegan Bassett (Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort) #

VS Stanimir Slavov (Bulgaria) or Shivam (India)


48 kg – Ariah Mills (Dacula, Ga./Roundtree Wrestling Academy) #

VS Islam Rabadanov (UWW)


51 kg – Samuel Sanchez (Whittier, Calif./Titan Mercury WC) #

VS Georgi Spasov (Bulgaria)


55 kg – Grey Burnett (Perrysburg, Ohio/Burnett Trained Wrestling) #

VS Chengzhuang Ma (China) or Armen Papikyan (Armenia)


60 kg – Ashton Besmer (Clovis, Calif./Dethrone WC) #

VS Bekassyl Assambek (Kazakhstan)


65 kg – Arseni Kikiniou (Escondido, Calif./Poway Wrestling) #

VS Nikita Kozich (Israel)


71 kg – Jayden James (Westwood, N.J./KD Training Center) #

VS Koba Goguadze (Georgia)


80 kg – Aaron Stewart (Gurnee, Ill./Toss Em Up Wrestling Academy) #

VS Levan Chertkoev (France) or Marshall Everett Jones (United Kingdom)


92 kg – Tanner Hodgins (Howell, N.J./Shore Thing WC) #

VS Amirali Alizadeh (Iran)


110 kg – Alex Taylor (Howard, Ohio/Beast Mode Wrestling) #

VS Mikita Tkachyk (UWW) or Hakim Taghiyev (Azerbaijan)