Pantaleo and Lee advance to final; U.S. sends six to compete for bronze at Muhamet Malo Ranking Series
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by David Gerhart, USA Wrestling
Alec Pantaleo competing and 2025 World Team Trials
TIRANA, Albania – During the opening day of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series at Tirana’s Feti Borova Olympic Park, Spencer Lee and Alec Pantaleo went unbeaten in the morning and earned spots in gold medal matches.
Team USA also features Nathan Tomasello, Austin DeSanto, Joey McKenna, Vito Arujau, Quincy Monday and Kyle Dake competing for bronze medals.
For the second time this month, Lee finds himself in a gold medal bout after a 3-0 morning session at 57 kg. Following back-to-back technical falls, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist rattled off 14 straight points in the first 48 seconds of his semifinal match to win a 14-4 technical fall over 2021 World bronze medalist Horst Lehr of Germany.
In the final, Lee faces UWW’s Ramiz Gamzatov. Gamzatov finished fifth at the 2019 U23 World Championships.
Pantaleo moved into the gold medal match during his 2026 debut after he posted a 10-0 win over Kyrgyzstan’s Zalkarbek Tabaldiev in the semifinals. To start the day, Pantaleo was leading 2024 Olympian Austin Gomez of Mexico, 4-2, before Gomez defaulted due to injury at the 2:32 mark in the match.
Pantaleo is set to face his second 2024 Olympian of the day in Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the final at 70 kg.
At 65 kg, the pair of McKenna and Arujau moved into the semifinals following three-straight wins during the first session. However, the duo suffered semifinal losses and moved into bronze medal matches. Prior to his semifinal match, McKenna won a 3-0 decision over two-time age-group World champion and reigning World bronze medalist Umidjon Jalov of Uzbekistan.
In their bronze medal matches, McKenna takes on Nika Zakashvili of Georgia, and Arujau goes head-to-head with Ecuador’s Joshua Kramer.
DeSanto made his third-straight semifinal appearance this year but was unable to move into the gold medal bout at 61 kg. DeSanto suffered a 5-0 setback to three-time World champion Zavur Uguev of UWW. Uguev also beat Tomasello earlier in the day, which sets up an All-American bronze medal match with DeSanto and Tomasello squaring off.
Dake and Monday each advanced to bronze medal matches out of the repechage. Dake collected two wins at 86 kg to move on to face Azerbaijan’s Arsenii Dzhioev, who is the reigning World bronze medalist. Monday moved into the bronze medal match at 74 kg after Kanan Heybatov of Azerbaijan defaulted due to injury. For bronze, Monday takes on Giorgi Elbakidze of Georgia.
Full results for the U.S. men’s freestyle team are listed below.
Action in Tirana continues at 6 p.m. local time/noon ET with the medal matches for freestyle group one (57-61-65-70-74-86 kg).
A live stream of the Muhamet Malo will be available to the U.S. audience through FloWrestling. Brackets and updated results will be hosted on UWW Arena.
Men’s Freestyle Results
Gold – Spencer Lee (United States) vs. Ramiz Gamzatov (UWW)
Bronze – Atish Todkar (India) vs. Horst Lehr (Germany)
Bronze – Akshay Dhere (India) vs. Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan)
Gold – Chermen Tavitov (UWW) vs. Zavur Uguev (UWW)
Bronze – Nathan Tomasello (United States) vs. Austin DeSanto (United States)
Bronze – Bazarbayev (Kazakhstan) vs. Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania)
Gold – Sujeet (India) vs. Rashid Babazade (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Nika Zakashvili (Georgia) vs. Joey McKenna (United States)
Bronze – Joshua Kramer (Ecuador) vs. Vito Arujau (United States)
Gold – Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Alec Pantaleo (United States)
Bronze – Austin Gomez (Mexico) vs. Zalkarbek Tabaldiev (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Ibragim Ibragimov (UWW) vs. Maiis Aliyev (Kazakhstan)
Gold – Orozbek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran)
Bronze – Quincy Monday (United States) vs. Giorgi Elbakidze (Georgia)
Bronze – Inalbek Sheriev (UWW) vs. Magomedrasul A Asluev (Bahrain)
Gold – Georgios Kougioumtsid (Georgia) vs. Ibragim Kadiev (UWW)
Bronze – Alp Begenjov (Turkmenistan) vs. Bolat Sakayev (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Kyle Dake (United States) vs. Arsenii Dzhioev (Azerbaijan)
WIN Atish Todkar (India), 10-0
WIN Roberti Dingashvili (Georgia), 15-4
WIN Horst Lehr (Germany), 14-4
VS Ramiz Gamzatov (UWW)
LOSS Islam Bazarganov (Azerbaijan), 5-0
61 kg – Nathan Tomasello (Riverside, Calif./Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal match
WIN Rahul (India), 4-2
WIN Ersjan Kashiku (Albania), forfeit
LOSS Zavur Uguev (UWW), 7-1
WIN Simone Piroddu (Italy), 13-2
VS Austin DeSanto (United States)
WIN Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan), 14-11
WIN Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan), 3-2
WIN Mike McGee (United States), 10-5
LOSS Zavar Uguev (UWW), 5-0
VS Nathan Tomasello (United States)
WIN Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico), 12-2
LOSS Austin DeSanto (United States), 10-5
WIN Kumar Mohit (India), 10-0
WIN Gamzatgadshi Khalidov (Hungary), 7-2
WIN Umidjon Jalolov (Uzbekistan), 3-0
LOSS Sujeet (India), 11-0
VS Nika Zakashvili (Georgia)
WIN Krzysztof Bienkowski (Poland), 6-0
WIN Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan), forfeit
WIN Shannon Hanna II (Bahamas), 4-0
LOSS Rashid Babazade (Azerbaijan), 18-15
VS Joshua Kramer (Ecuador)
LOSS Maiis Aliyev (Kazakhstan), 5-5
WIN Austin Gomez (Mexico), inj. def., 2:32
WIN Zalkarbek Tabaldiev (Kyrgyzstan), 10-0
VS Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan)
WIN Adilet Akylbekov (Kyrgyzstan), 10-0
WIN Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan), 5-1
LOSS Orozbek Toktomambetov (Kyrgyzstan), 5-1
WIN Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan), injury default, 0:22
VS Giorgi Elbakidze (Georgia)
LOSS Will Lewan (United States), 1-1
WIN Yahya Thomas (United States), 1-1
LOSS Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran), 7-2
LOSS Inalbek Sheriev (UWW), 12-2
LOSS Ibragim Kadiev (UWW), 11-4
WIN Shane Jones (Puerto Rico), 11-0
WIN Khidir Saipudinov (Bahrain), 10-4
VS Arsenii Dzhioev (Azerbaijan)
