Olympic or World medalists Lee, Snyder, Valencia lead U.S. men’s freestyle team at 2025 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia

Three past World or Olympic medalists are on the U.S. World Team in men’s freestyle at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Spencer Lee at 57 kg, Kyle Snyder at 97 kg and Zahid Valencia at 86 kg.

Lee won a 2024 Olympic silver medal and will be competing in his first Senior World Championships. Snyder is a 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic silver medalist and three-time Senior World champion, with a grand total of nine World or Olympic medals. Valencia was a 2023 World bronze medalist.

The rest of the men’s freestyle team will be competing in their first Senior Worlds: Jax Forrest at 57 kg, Real Woods at 65 kg, PJ Duke at 70 kg, David Carr at 74 kg, Levi Haines at 79 kg, Trent Hidlay at 92 kg and Wyatt Hendrickson at 125 kg.

Forrest and Duke were still attending high school when they won their spot on the Senior World Team, the first time a pair of high school wrestlers made a U.S. Senior World Freestyle Team.

Many of the team members have had extensive age-group World achievements. Snyder, Lee, Carr and Hendrickson are all past age-group World champions. Lee won a U17 World title and two U20 World titles. Duke, Snyder and Carr won a U20 World title and Hendrickson won a U23 World title. Forrest, Valencia, Duke and Hidlay are past age-group World medalists. Haines has no medal but has competed on an age-group World team.

Even with two of the athletes not yet competing in college, the group has a rich background in NCAA wrestling, winning a combined 12 NCAA individual titles. Lee and Snyder were three-time NCAA champions. Carr and Valencia won two NCAA titles, while Haines and Hendrickson were one-time NCAA champions. Hidlay was a two-time NCAA runner-up, while Woods was a one-time NCAA runner-up.

The United States is always a top contender for the team title at the Senior Worlds in freestyle and will need an excellent effort by the first-time team members to reach the top once again. In the last Olympic quad, the USA won back-to-back World Team titles for the first time (2022, 2023) and was second in 2021. The USA was also third in the men’s freestyle medal count at the 2024 Olympics. There is no team title at an Olympic Games, but the USA would have third in the unofficial standings using World Championships scoring in Paris

Four International men’s freestyle athletes to watch

Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain (97 kg) – No men’s freestyle wrestler over the last two seasons has been more impressive than Tazhudinov, who won both the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Olympic Games. A native of Russia who has only wrestled internationally for Bahrain, Tazhudinov has dominated one of the strongest weight classes in the field. He is a two-time Asian champion (2023, 2024) and a 2023 Asian Games champion. He won both of his international events this year, the Grand Prix of Spain and the Ranking Event in Hungary. With wins over Olympic champions Abdulrashid Sadulaev of UWW and Kyle Snyder of the USA, and pretty much everybody else he has faced, Zagreb is a chance to attempt to establish some separation from the rest of the field.

Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan (65 kg) – A 2024 Olympic champion, Kiyooka was the biggest surprise of Paris Games. His up-tempo wrestling style made him the poster boy for the amazing performance of the Japanese men’s freestyle team in Paris. Kiyooka scored wins over 2022 World champion Rahman Amouzad in the Olympic finals, and eventual Olympic bronze medalist Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals. Before Paris, his only previous major event was the 2023 U23 World Championships, where he placed ninth. He has not competed since the Olympic Games, so the question many ask is whether he can follow up with World title run, or if the rest of the field will bring him back down to earth.

Amir Hossein Zare of Iran (125 kg) – Heading into the Paris Games, Zare was the top heavyweight in the world, with 2021 and 2023 World titles on his resume. He powered into the Olympic finals, where he was beaten by Geno Petriashvili, a two-time World champion and three-time Olympic medalist. Zare’s silver in Paris goes along with a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Zare won his only event of this season, the 2025 Muhamet Malo in Albania. A proven winner, Zare also boasts U23 and U17 World titles on his way up the age-group ladder. He is seeded No. 2 heading into Zagreb.

Zaurbek Sidakov of UWW (74 kg) – With Russia not able to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics due to IOC eligibility, there was no opportunity for 2020 Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov to attempt to win a second straight Olympic gold. Sidakov won Senior World titles in 2018, 2019 and 2023, with a big win over four-time World champion Kyle Dake of the USA in the 2023 World finals. Sidakov returned to the mats for the 2025 European Championships, where he lost to Cherman Valiev of Albania in the finals, 4-2. Will the world see the same Sidakov who was dominant during the last two Olympic quads, or have others moved up and surpassed him?

 2024 Olympic medalists/World medalists in the field

57 kg Olympics – Spencer Lee of USA (silver), Aman of India (bronze), Gulomyon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan (bronze)

61 kg Worlds  – None

65 kg Olympics – Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan (gold), Rahman Amouzad of Iran (silver), Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico (bronze), Islam Dudaev of Albania (bronze)

70 kg Worlds – Nurkozha Kaipanov of Kazakhstan (gold), Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan (silver), Addulmahid Kudiev of Tajikistan (bronze) is now at 65 kg

74 kg Olympics – Cherman Valiev of Albania (bronze)

79 kg Worlds – Akhsarbek Gulaev of Slovakia (bronze), Mohammad Nokhodilarimi of Iran (bronze)

86 kg Olympics – Duaren Kurugliev of Greece (bronze)

92 kg Worlds – Abdulrashid Sadulaev of UWW (gold) is now at 97 kg, Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia (silver), Batyrbek Tsakulov of Slovakia (bronze)

97 kg Olympics – Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain (gold), Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia (silver), Amirali Azarpira of Iran (bronze), Magomedkhan Magomedov of Azerbaijan

125 kg Olympics – Amir Zare of Iran (silver), Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Azerbaijan (bronze)

Three loaded men’s freestyle weight classes to watch

Men’s freestyle 97 kg: This weight class is loaded with proven superstars, and only one of them can come home as the champion. The weight is headlined by dynamic Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain, who blasted his way onto the international scene with gold medals at the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Olympics. He has wins over most of the top stars in a packed weight class. Tadzhudinov has won every major international tournament he has entered, except a seventh place at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking event, where he was edged in the quarterfinals by Vlagyiszlav Bajcajev of Hungary, 6-4.

Two-time Olympic champion and six-time World champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia, competing for UWW, is considered the greatest freestyle wrestler of his generation. Fans would love to see him compete against Tazhudinov again. Sadulaev quicky fell behind Tazhudinov in the 2023 World Championships semifinals and withdrew with serious injury. He was not eligible for the 2024 Olympic Games due to IOC rulings. Sadulaev came back to win the 92 kg World title in 2024, with a win over 2020 Olympic champion David Taylor of the USA. Because he wrestled 92 kg last year, Sadulaev is not seeded and could face any of the challengers at any time.

Sadulaev holds a decided edge over another future Hall of Fame star Kyle Snyder of the USA, a 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic silver medalist, three-time World champion and nine-time World and Olympic medalist. Snyder won a medal in his first nine World Championships or Olympic Games, a streak snapped with his fifth-place at the 2024 Olympics. Snyder has lost his most recent battles against Tazhudinov and Sadulaev and is highly motivated for another chance to face them.

Coming into Zagreb, a number of talented athletes are primed for a run at the finals. 2024 Olympic silver medalist Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia is the 2025 European champion and also boasts two Senior World bronze medals. Matcharashvili defeated Magomed Magomedov of Azerbaijan in the 2024 Olympic Games, then Magomedov rebounded to claim an Olympic bronze medal. Magomedov, a former Russian, also boasts two Senior World medals. The other 2024 Olympic bronze medalist was Amirali Azarpira of Iran, who beat Snyder in the medal round. Azarpira has not competed since the Paris Games, and his resume also features a 2022 U23 World title. The top five seeds are: No. 1 Tazhudinov, No. 2 Matcharashvili, No. 3 Snyder, No. 4 Magomedov and No. 5 Azarpira, which could get blown up by where Sadulaev ends up in the draw.

There is another unseeded Senior World champion in the mix, Rizabek Aitmukhan of Kazakhstan, who won the 2023 World title at 92 kg. Since then, he moved up to 97 kg, where he won U20 and U23 World titles in 2024 and was second in the 2025 Asian Championships, losing to Arash Yoshida of Japan in the finals.

Men’s freestyle 65 kg – This weight class is truly up for grabs, with a number of top talents absolutely capable of getting the gold medal. Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan, the 2024 Olympic champion, was an unknown coming into Paris and blasted onto the scene with a memorable run in Tokyo. However, he has no impressive past achievements and has not competed this year. He defeated 2022 World champion Rahman Amouzad of Iran in the Olympic finals. Amouzad won three age-group World titles before becoming one of the top Senior stars at this weight class. A 2024 Asian champion, Amouzad has also not wrestled on the international scene since Paris. Amouzad has the No. 1 seed and Kiyooka the No. 2 seed, and many fans would enjoy a rematch of their 10-3 battle last year.

The thing is that although there are no other World champions in the entry list, there is a deep field looking to beat the Olympic finalists and get a World title of their own. The top contender is well known to U.S. fans, 2023 World silver medalist and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico. An NCAA star for Northwestern and Rutgers, “SeaBass” was also fifth in the 2022 Senior Worlds, and has developed a devastating gut wrench which can break open any match. The other Olympic bronze medalist from Paris is Islam Dudaev of Albania, a 2024 European champion who started his career competing for Russia. Dudaev won U23 World bronze medals for Russia in 2017 and 2018, and started competing for Albania in 2022.

There are two other past Senior World medalists in the hunt who are aiming for a trip to the finals, 2024 World bronze medalist Abdulmazhid Kudiev of Tajikistan and 2023 World bronze medalist Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia. Kudiev won his World medal at 70 kg, and like many of the others in the field, started his career competing for Russia. Tevanyan was seventh in the Paris Olympics, and won a Senior European title in 2023. He reached the U23 World finals in two straight years, winning a silver in 2021 and a gold in 2022.

Many of the others to watch have healthy age-group World resumes. On a fast rise is Russia’s Ibragim Ibragimov, representing UWW, who won the 2025 Senior European title. Ibragimov won U23 World titles in both 2023 and 2024. Past U23 World medalists who are in the field include Ali Rahimzada of Azerbaijan, Maxim Sacultan of Moldova and Sujeet of India. Peiman Biamani of Canada won a 2016 U20 World title for Iran, and has competed for Canada since 2024. The USA has an unknown quantity in first-time Senior World Team member Real Woods, who last competed in a World Championships back in 2016 at the U17 level. Woods has shown great skill since his college career ended less than a year ago.

Men’s freestyle 74 kg – The most credentialled athlete in the weight class is 2020 Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov, a Russian representing UWW. Sidakov has won three Senior World titles (2018, 2019 and 2023) but has wrestled infrequently internationally since Russia has been sanctioned by the IOC. Sidakov was ineligible for the 2024 Olympics. Sidakov will enter the tournament unseeded, meaning he can land anywhere in the draw and wreck the bracket. He wrestled at the 2025 European Championships, where he lost to 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Cherman Valiev of Albania in the finals. Valiev started his career with Russia, where he was a 2021 U23 World champion and 2019 U23 World silver medalist. He has only been with Albania since 2024, and has won every tournament he entered since the Paris Games.

There is a deep field of past Senior World medalists seeking to claim their first World title. Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia has three Senior World medalist to his credit, silver medals in 2021 and 2022 and a bronze medal in 2019. Salkazanov lost his first match at the 2024 Olympics and was eliminated without a repechage. Salkazanov lost to Sidakov in the 2025 European quarterfinals, and wrestled back for third place. Two-time World bronze medalist Younes Emami of Iran will also be in the hunt. Emami lost in the 2024 Olympics quarterfinals to four-time World champion Kyle Dake of the USA and did not reach repechage. Emami also has three age-group World medals to his credit. The top three seeds are No. 1 Valiev, No. 2 Salkazanov and No. 3 Emami.

Soner Demirtas of Turkiye, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 World bronze medalist, is in the draw. His best finish recently was a silver medal at the 2024 European Championships. 2023 World bronze medalist Ramazan Ramazanov of Bulgaria lost to Valiev at the 2025 European Championships and ended up in fifth place. Ramazanov has won three Senior European medals. Just missing a medal at the 2024 World Championships was Kota Takahashi of Japan, who placed fifth at 79 kg. Takahashi won a 2024 U23 World gold medal and has two other age-group World medals.

There are a slew of other age-group World medalists seeking to reach the podium on the Senior level. Other age-group World champions in the weight include Turan Bayramov of Azerbaijan, a 2019 U23 World champion and 2018 U17 World champion, 2022 U23 World champion Giorgi Elbakdidze of Georgia, and 2019 U20 World champion David Carr of the United States. Bayramov was a 2020 and 2024 Olympian, and won the 2018 Youth Olympics. Carr, a two-time NCAA champion for Iowa State who is entered in his first Senior Worlds, won a 2016 U17 World bronze.

Other past age-group World medalists in the field include Orozobek Toktomambetov of Kyrgyzstan, Mohammad Mottaghinia of Spain, Hrayr Alikhanyan of Armenia and Feng Lu of China. Totomambetov gets the No. 4 seed, while Lu is seeded at No. 8. Murad Kuramagomedov of Hungary, another past Russian, earned the No. 5 seed, and was fifth in the last two Senior European Championships.

How To Follow The Action

Men’s Freestyle is the first style to take the mats at Arena Zagreb. Athletes will compete in three waves over the course of the event—group one (61-70-86-125 kg) starting September 13, group two (57-74-79-92 kg) on September 14 and group three (65-97 kg) on September 15. Each bracket will be contested over a two-day stretch, running through semifinals on day one, followed by repechage and medal matches on day two.

Those seeking to follow along in real time can reference the event schedule below. Zagreb, Croatia, is in the GMT +2 time zone, which is six 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 be live streamed on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. Brackets and updated results will be provided by United World Wrestling on UWW Arena.

2025 Senior World Championships

At Zagreb, Croatia, September 13-21

Quick Links

Event entry list and seeds

Live stream

Brackets and results

Men’s Freestyle Event Schedule

Saturday, September 13

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

6:00 p.m. – Opening Ceremony

7:00 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

Sunday, September 14

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg), Repechage (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

Monday, September 15

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 65-97 kg), Repechage (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 65-97 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

Tuesday, September 16

10:30 a.m. – Repechage (MFS 65-97 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 65-97 kg)

*Listed times reflect local time in Zagreb, Croatia, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

 U.S. Men’s Freestyle Roster

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

61 kg –Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg –Real Woods (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)

70 kg –PJ Duke (KD Training Center/Titan Mercury WC)

74 kg –David Carr (Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg –Levi Haines (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

86 kg – Zahid Valencia (Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

92 kg – Trent Hidlay (Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC)

97 kg – Kyle Snyder (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Cowboy RTC/U.S. Air Force WCAP)

U.S. Men's Freestyle Delegation

U.S. National Team Head Coach – Bill Zadick

Manager of Freestyle Programs – Joe Russell

Personal Coach – Tom Brands

Personal Coach – Zo El Ouarraqe

Personal Coach – Alex Dieringer

Personal Coach – Cody Sanderson

Personal Coach – Brent Metcalf

Personal Coach – Casey Cunningham

Personal Coach – David Taylor

Personal Coach – Jamill Kelly

Personal Coach – Jake Varner

Personal Coach – Lee Roper

Coach – Jim Cunningham

Training Partner – Brandon Sorensen

Training Partner – Daton Fix

Training Partner – Seth Gross

Training Partner – Nick Lee

Training Partner – Marcus Coleman

Training Partner – Josh Barr   

Training Partner – DJ Hamiti

Training Partner – Justin Rademacher

Training Partner – Cael Sanderson

Training Partner – Konner Doucet

USA Wrestling National Teams Staff – Cody Bickley 

National Team – Meredith Suess

MD – David Haight  

ATC – Andrew Ernst 

ATC – Terry Grindstaff 

ATC – Rae Martin 

DC – Jessica Kapungulya

DC – Sam Nelson 

MT – Aaron Pavlechko 

MT – Amy Murry

Nutrition – Rob Skinner 

Nutrition – Nuwanee Tamaki 

Official – Susanna Sylstad 

Official – Sammy Julian 

Team Leader – Andy Barth

Secretary General – Rich Bender 

President – Bruce Baumgartner

NF Media – Richard Immel 

NF Media – Ava Fricke  

Photographer – Tony Rotundo

Men’s Freestyle Chaplain – Jose Campo

NF Official – Ken Honig

NF Official – Nate Carr, Sr.