Snyder edges Tazhudinov in battle of Olympic champions at RAF 07; Dake, Blades, Hendrickson retain belts
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
TAMPA, Florida – Four championship belts were on the line at RAF 07 on Saturday night, which were secured by Kyle Snyder, Kyle Dake, Kennedy Blades and Wyatt Hendrickson.
Snyder rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat 2024 Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain on criteria for the men’s light heavyweight title. It is Snyder’s first win against Tazhudinov in three matches.
The men’s cruiserweight title was retained by Dake, who took out a surging Parker Keckeisen by six points in a match that was closer than the 7-1 score would indicate. It was Dake’s third successful title defense.
Russia’s Milana Dudieva was no match for the Olympic silver medalist Blades in the women’s middleweight title match. It was a quick 11-0 early stoppage for Blades, who is three weeks removed from winning the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships.
The Final X rematch between Hendrickson and Trent Hillger was all Hendrickson. The reigning World Team member built an early 6-0 lead and cruised to the finish.
Also in action was 2025 World champion Trent Hidlay, who made quick work of former World Team member Pat Downey by technical fall, 12-0.
A notable result came in the men’s featherweight division, with high school senior Bo Bassett earning a 13-3 technical fall over 2016 Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia.
Complete results from RAF 07 are available below.
RAF 08 is set for April 18 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with tickets up for purchase on Ticketmaster. USA Wrestling notables on the RAF 08 card include Henry Cejudo, Helen Maroulis, Jordan Oliver and Real Woods, with more matchups to be announced.
More information on RAF is available at realamericanfreestyle.com.
Men’s Middleweight – Arman Tsarukyan dec. Georgio Poullas, 9-3
Men’s Cruiserweight – Colby Covington tech. fall Dillon Danis, 14-4
Men’s Cruiserweight (Title Match) – Kyle Dake dec. Parker Keckeisen, 7-1
Men’s Light Heavyweight (Title Match) – Kyle Snyder dec. Akhmed Tazhudinov, 3-3
Women’s Middleweight (Title Match) – Kennedy Blades dec. Milana Dudieva, 11-0
Men’s Heavyweight (Title Match) – Wyatt Hendrickson dec. Trent Hillger, 6-2
Men’s Featherweight – Bo Bassett tech. fall Vladimer Khinchegashvili, 13-3
Men’s Cruiserweight – Aeoden Sinclair dec. Khidir Saipudinov, 9-4
Men’s Middleweight – Jason Nolf tech. fall David Mistulov, 10-0
Men’s Light Heavyweight – Trent Hidlay tech. fall Pat Downey, 12-0
Men’s Featherweight – Johnni DiJulius dec. Connor Beebe, 9-6
