Seidel, Sinclair to U20 World finals, Graber goes for bronze, Brooks, Fernandez make repechage

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – The U.S. remains undefeated in men’s freestyle after its first wave of competition at the 2026 U20 World Championships. Both Aaron Seidel and Aeoden Sinclair wowed the Bratislava crowd en route to the gold medal round.

Seidel was the first to punch a ticket to the finals. He dropped a 10-0, first period technical fall on U20 Pan American bronze medalist Moses Mendoza Garza of Mexico in the 61 kg semifinals. Seidel will face 2025 U17 World bronze medalist and current U20 Asian champion Bekassyl Assambek of Kazakhstan in tomorrow’s gold medal match.

The NCAA All-American for Virginia Tech is competing in his first international event. He finished the day with three technical falls and a pin. Notable wins for Seidel came against 2025 U20 World silver medalist Ahora Khateri of Iran and 2023 U17 World bronze medalist Jamal Abbasov of Azerbaijan.

The semifinal heart rate was slightly more elevated during Sinclair’s 86 kg battle against U20 Asian bronze medalist Natsura Okazawa of Japan. Okazawa stormed out to a 6-0 first period lead. Sinclair chipped away in the second frame, securing the go-ahead takedown with 27 seconds left in the match to win, 7-6.

Sinclair, a two-time age-group World Team member and NCAA All-American for Missouri, posted preliminary round wins over U20 Asian bronze medalist Askhab Khajiyev of Kazakhstan, 12-2, and 2024 U17 World champion and current U20 Asian champion Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand of Iran, 4-4. His finals opponent is Akhmad Mukutov of Russia.

Shifting to women’s freestyle group three, Caley Graber was edged on criteria, 2-2, by 2024 U17 World silver medalist Sae Noguchi of Japan in the 59 kg semifinals. Graber earned a takedown in the first period, but Noguchi countered with a takedown of her own in the second period to get the win.

Three-time U17 World champion Taina Fernandez (68 kg) and two-time age-group World Team member Karlee Brooks (57 kg) were pulled into repechage, and are both one win away from a bronze medal match.

Read More: U20 World Championships Day Five Match Notes

The action continues from A4 Studio at 6 p.m. local time with the women’s freestyle group two (55-62-65-76 kg) medal matches. Bratislava, Slovakia, is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

Fans can watch the U20 World Championships live or on-demand at FloWrestling.org. Brackets and live results are available through UWW Arena.

USA Wrestling will provide continued updates from the U20 World Championships on TheMat.com and its social media platforms.