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Hamiti and Parris Advance To Gold Medal Bouts; Men’s Freestyle Quartet to Compete for Bronze at Muhamet Malo Ranking Series

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by David Gerhart, USA Wrestling

Dean Hamiti hand raise following win at 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series

Dean Hamiti hand raise following win at 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series

TIRANA, Albania – Dean Hamiti and Mason Parris both went unbeaten in the morning session of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series to move into gold medal matches this afternoon at Tirana’s Feti Borova Olympic Park.


Both Hamiti and Parris faced fellow countrymen in the semifinals to earn their spots in the finals.


At 79 kg, Hamiti went up against Carmeron Amine. In a close battle, Hamiti edged his former collegiate teammate, 5-3. In the 125 kg semifinals, between 2024 Olympian Parris and 2025 World Team member Wyatt Hendrickson, Parris won a 14-3 technical fall.


Hamiti takes on five-time World medalist Mohammad Nokhodilarim of Iran. Parris’s gold medal bout comes against age-group World medalist Abulla Kurbanov of UWW.


Both Amine and Hendrickson move into bronze medal matches. Amine takes on Georgia’s Luke Chkhitunidze, who Hamiti pinned in the quarterfinals of the 79 kg bracket. Hendrickson takes on three-time age-group World medalist Hakan Buyukcingil of Türkiye, who lost to Parris in the quarterfinals, for bronze.


Hendrickson has a dominant start to the day with two technical falls over two-time age-group World medalist Khasanboy Rakhimov of Uzbekistan (10-0) and 2024 Olympian Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Azerbaijan (15-4).


Jacob Cardenas and Kyle Snyder both battle through repechage matches to earn spots in bronze medal matches. Cardenas went 2-1 in the morning and beat Albania’s Albin Peoposhi in the repechage to move into the medal round at 92 kg. Snyder picked up three wins throughout the morning session, including a victory over 2024 Olympian Radu Lefter, 4-1. In the repechage, Snyder bounced back and shutout Richard Vegh of Hungary, 10-0.


In the 92 kg bronze medal match, Cardenas faces Ahmed Bataev of Bulgaria. Snyder takes on two-time World medalist Magomedkhan Magomedov of Azerbaijan in his bronze medal contest at 97 kg.


Action in Tirana continues at 6 p.m. local time/noon ET with the medal matches for men’s freestyle group two (79-92-97-125 kg) and women’s freestyle group one (50-55 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.



2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series 

At Tirana, Albania, February 26 




Men’s Freestyle Results

Medal Match Pairings 
79 kg 

Gold – Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) vs. Dean Hamiti (United States)

Bronze – Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan) vs. Sagar Jaglan (India)

Bronze – Luka Chkhitundze (Georgia) vs. Cameron Amine (United States)


92 kg 

Gold – Miriani Masisuradze (Georgia) vs. Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (Iran)

Bronze – Jacob Cardenas (United States) vs. Ahmed Bataev (Bulgaria)

Bronze – Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) vs. Kamil Kurugliyev (Kazakhstan)


97 kg 

Gold – Mukhamed Khaniev (UWW) vs. Abdulrashid Sadulaev (UWW)

Bronze – Kyle Snyder (United States) vs. Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan)

Bronze – Jointy Kumar (India) vs. Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan)


125 kg 

Gold – Mason Parris (United States) vs. Abdulla Kurbanov (UWW)

Bronze – Hakan Buyukcingil (Türkiye) vs. Wyatt Hendrickson (United States)

Bronze – Nursultan Azov (Kazakhstan) vs. Kamil Kosciolek (Poland)


U.S. Men’s Freestyle Results 

79 kg – Cameron Amine (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal match 

WIN Adilet Maratbaev (Kyrgyzstan), 12-0

LOSS Dean Hamiti (United States), 5-3

VS Luka Chkhitunidze (Georgia)


79 kg – Dean Hamiti (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal match 

WIN Luka Chkhitunidze (Georgia), fall, 1:17

WIN Cameron Amine (United States), 5-3

VS Mohammad Nokhodilarim (Iran)


92 kg – Jacob Cardenas (Kearny, N.J./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal match 

WIN Dovletgeldi Myradov (Turkmenistan), 12-5

LOSS Miriani Maisuradze (Georgia), 11-0

WIN Albin Peposhi (Albania), 7-3

VS Ahmed Bataev (Bulgaria)


92 kg – Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC), eliminated 

LOSS Kamil Kurugliyev (Kazakhstan), 6-3


97 kg – Jay Aiello (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC), eliminated 

WIN Thomas Barns (Australia), 10-0

WIN Eric Thiele (Greece), 8-6

LOSS Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan), 13-2


97 kg – Kyle Snyder (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal match 

WIN Ertugrul Agca (Germany), 3-0

WIN Radu Lefter (Moldova), 4-1

LOSS Mukhamed Khaniev (UWW), 10-4

WIN Richard Vegh (Hungary), 10-0

VS Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan)


125 kg – Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal match 

WIN Omar Sarem (Romania), 15-5

WIN Hakan Buyukcingil (Türkiye), 5-2

WIN Wyatt Hendrickson (United States), 14-3

VS Abulla Kurbanov (UWW)


125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./ Cowboy RTC/U.S. Air Force WCAP), bronze medal match 

WIN Khasanboy Rakhimov (Uzbekistan), 10-0

WIN Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan), 15-4

LOSS Mason Parris (United States), 14-3

VS Hakan Buyukcingil (Türkiye)


125 kg – Trent Hillger (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota RTC/Titan Mercury WC), eliminated 

LOSS Georgi Ivanov (Bulgaria), 7-2