2025 World Championships Day One Match Notes
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Wyatt Hendrickson at the 2025 Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico.
The 2025 Senior World Championships kicks off on Saturday from Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia. Today will feature the start of men's freestyle group one (61-70-86-125 kg) through its semifinals. Updates and results from each Team USA match can be found below.
10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)
6 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
7 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)
*Listed times reflect local time in Zagreb, Croatia, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.
A snap down, go-behind for followed by four consecutive trapped-arm guts to take the match 10-0 in 35 seconds.
With a drag out from underneath a front headlock, Forrest takes the early 2-0 lead. Forrest gets a shrug, locks up a standing merkle position, and takes it back for four points. The Kyrgyzstan corner challenges the call and loses, giving Forrest an additional point and 7-0 advantage with 1:02 left in the first period. Zhumashbek Uulu gets to the body and logs his first points of the match, 7-2. A nice exchange sees Forrest convert a low level, Zhumashbek Uulu pops Forrest through with exposure, Forrest counters back with exposure to make it 11-4 heading to the break. Forrest returns to his low level, Zhumashbek Uulu goes for an overhook toss, Forrest counters to the back for two points. Forrest is now one point away from the technical fall at 13-4. Zhumashbek Uulu comes back with a pair of takedowns TD to bring the score to13-8. Forrest ties up the ankles in the final 20 seconds and rides out the win.
Duke passes by his ties to a double leg takedown, 2-0 in the first 23 seconds. Duke counters a shot with a foot sweep takedown, 4-0. The 4-0 score holds to the break. Kaipanov drives through an underhook position for his first takedown of the match, 30 seconds into the second period, 4-2. Takedown and turn for Kaipanov to go up 6-4. Duke gets driven off the mat for a step out, 7-4. He’s having some trouble with the underhook attacks from Kaipanov. A go-behind takedown for Duke cuts the lead to 7-6—Fresh start with 1:13 to go. Another underhook drive going off the mat for Kaipanov lands a takedown, 9-6. Kaipanov steps out and it’s 9-7 with 48 seconds left. Duke goes for a desperation chest wrap and gives up the late takedown to fall, 11-7.
Valencia opens the scoring with a takedown-to-lace combo about one minute into the match. It’s 6-0 Valencia early. Valencia lands a crisp double leg to go up 8-0. A third takedown converts, and Valencia takes the match 10-0 in 2:26.
The match is scoreless at the 1:34 mark in the first period, and Suda is put on the shot clock. The clock expires and Forrest gets the point. Suda comes close to scoring on the edge, but Forrest counters nicely and gets grounded going out of bounds, ending the action in the first period. Slick shuck-by for a Forrest takedown. It’s 3-0 Forrest with 2:15 to go. Again, Forrest displays some great edge wrestling to come out on top of a grounded exchange, taking a 5-0 lead. In on a single leg, Forrest gets rolled through to make it 5-2 with 40 seconds to go. Forrest ices the win with a takedown to end the match, 7-2.
Good action for Duke to start things off. He works Chen off the mat with a go-behind, single leg combo to go up 1-0. Duke drives a two-on-one off the mat for another step out, 2-0, 49-seconds into the match. A third step out point for Duke off a go-behind attempt to lead 3-0 nearing the two-minute mark. This time the go-behind lands in bounds for Duke’s first takedown of the match. Duke immediately lands with double boots and a half nelson on top, scoring an exposure to lead 7-0 heading into the period break. Duke finishes the match early in the second period with a go-behind takedown and turn to end it, 11-0.
Valencia opens with a takedown-to-lace combination right away to go up 6-0 early. He adds a go-behind takedown to lead 8-0 in the first 47 seconds. A single leg conversion ends it, 10-0, in the first period.
A single leg off the whistle for Forrest, right into a leg lace going out of bounds. The lace doesn’t score, but it’s an early 2-0 lead for the American. Crafty double leg, cartwheel off the mat for another takedown. Forrest leads 4-0 in the first 49 seconds. Forrest goes arm spin, go-behind, body lock, (he’s a mad man) to the takedown—Now 6-0. Single leg secured as time expires in the first period to take an 8-0 advantage to the break. Forrest ends it with a takedown 22 seconds into the second period.
Hendrickson goes for a chest wrap and gets exposed from neutral to trail 4-0 early. He powers through on the edge for a step out, getting on the board, 4-1. Hendrickson cuts the corner on a Kurbanov shot, a crafty finish from Kurbanov exposes Hendrickson, making the score 6-1, which holds to the break. A double leg attempt for Hendrickson, countered with a chest wrap from Kurbanov is scored 4-1 in favor of Kurbanov. The call is successfully challenged by the U.S. corner, bringing the score to 8-2 Kurbanov with 2:36 to go. The chest wrap finally lands for Hendrickson, 8-4. Another chest wrap attempt from Hendrickson is countered for a takedown. He gets gutted twice and the match ends early, 14-4, for Kurbanov.
WIN Sangboum Han (Korea), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Takara Suda (Japan), 7-2
WIN Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan), 13-8
VS Zavur Uguev (UWW)
WIN Shuang Chen (China), tech. fall, 11-0
LOSS Nurkozha Kaipanov (Kazakhstan), 11-7
WIN Mukul Dahiya (India), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Ivars Samusonok (Latvia), tech. fall, 10-0
VS Kamran Ghasempour (Iran)
LOSS Abdulla Kurbanov (UWW), tech. fall, 14-4
