James, Boyle, Ross push U.S. to seven men’s freestyle finalists at U20 World Championships

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – The U.S. went three-for-four in the Saturday evening semifinal round, with Jayden James, Michael Boyle and Dreshaun Ross each earning a place in the gold medal finals of the 2026 U20 World Championships.

James bagged his second-straight age-group World final with a 13-4 win over 2023 U17 World bronze medalist Nurdaulet Seilbekov of Kazakhstan in the 74 kg semifinals. James bookended the first period with a pair of takedowns to take a 4-0 lead at the break. He built the lead up to nine points and maintained it for the duration of the second period.

In the championship match, James will face 2025 U20 Asian silver medalist Ariya Yoshida of Japan. The 2025 U17 World champion and Penn State incoming freshman earned session one wins over Samuel Vokal of Slovakia, Alessio Perentin of Italy and Artsiom Bolsun of Belarus.

Boyle thoroughly dominated Azamat Tsarikaev of Belarus in the 97 kg semifinals, bullying his way to six first-period step outs before catching Tsarikaev on his back for a pin in 2:37. His finals opponent is 2024 U17 World silver medalist Rodion Sanakoev of Russia.

The Ohio State commit was arguably the most dominant wrestler of the day, with technical falls in the prelims over returning U20 World bronze medalist Samir Dursunov of Kazakhstan and 2023 U17 Asian bronze medalist Noah Leibowitz of Japan, before notching the semifinal pin.

At heavyweight, Ross earned a gritty 4-1 win over returning U20 World bronze medalist Yusif Dursunov of Azerbaijan in the semifinals. The match was a test of patience and opportunity for Ross, who broke through for the first offensive point of the match with 1:25 to go. Ross cemented the win with a takedown in the final 20 seconds. The finals present Ross with his toughest test yet—three-time age-group World medalist and 2025 U23 World champion Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad of Iran.

The incoming Oklahoma State freshman closed out three foes in the preliminary rounds by first-period technical fall—2026 U20 Asian bronze medalist Baejoon Jang of Korea, 2025 U17 Asian bronze medalist Riza Izakhar of Kazakhstan, and three-time U20 European bronze medalist Aleksandre Abramishvili of Georgia.

Coming up just short of the gold medal round was 2026 NCAA champion Landon Robideau, who dropped a 3-2 match to 2025 U23 World silver medalist and two-time Senior Asian bronze medalist Sina Khalili of Iran in the 70 kg semifinals. Robideau was leading 2-1 before Khalili converted a double leg with 43 seconds left to clinch the match.

Robideau drops into the bronze medal match, where he will face either U23 Asian silver medalist Zalkarbek Tabaldiev of Kyrgyzstan or 2023 U17 European silver medalist Remzi Temur of Türkiye.

Read More: U20 World Championships Day Seven Match Notes

The action concludes from A4 Studio at 4:15 p.m. local time on Sunday with the men’s freestyle group three (70-74-97-125 kg) repechage, followed by the medal matches at 6 p.m. 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.