The US men’s freestyle wrestling team definitely had something to prove at the World Championships held in Croatia.
The tournament was held every two years and served effectively as an alternative to the Olympics, where the Olympics are held every four years, with several US athletes on the podium and several others winning silver and bronze medals. The victory comes after a disappointing outing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where the US men’s freestyle left without a single gold medal for the first time in 56 years.
Two-time Olympic medalist Kyle Snyder not only won his fourth World Championship, but also defeated the same opponents that prevented him from winning a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics. Snyder finished his run at the World Championships to win another gold medal at 97kg in a 4-2 victory over Iranian Amirali Azalpira.
Snyder is one of the most won American wrestlers in history to win the gold and silver medals he won at the Olympics while winning the total medals at the World Championships, including four gold.
Snyder was not at all surprised to be back at the top of the sport, but perhaps the most impressive show by the Americans came from former Arizona standout Zahid Valencia, who struck out the competition on his way to win gold at 86kg.
Valencia tore his opposition, not surrendering a single point for five matches, eventually closing his week with a total score of 49-0. This includes Valencia, who won a 12-0 Tech Fall victory over Hayato Ishiguro from Japan in the gold medal match.
American Trent Hidrey also performed spectacularly along his way to win gold at 92kg.
Overall, the American men’s freestyle team won five medals in the 10 weight class.
There were many successes from the US team, but there were some surprising results along the way.
2024 Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee ended up losing 14-3 in the quarter-finals, eventually evicting him from the competition.
Wyatt Hendrickson, who defeated 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson to win first place in the NCAA Championship, went on a disappointing outing after losing 14-4 in his first and only match in the tournament.
On the women’s side, Helen Marrowris has won another gold medal in a phenomenal show as she continues to solidify her legacy as one of the greatest ever. Marrowris first shocked the world with his gold medal victory at the 2016 Olympics, winning two more bronze medals in 2020 and 2024.
At the World Championships, Maroulis is a four-time gold medalist and eight-time overall medalist.
2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blade returned to the bronze medal after suffering a spectacular loss in the quarterfinals after falling to Japan’s ami ishii with a score of 12-1. Blade won the next match and bouncing off with a 12-1 drab in her bronze medal match as the 22-year-old Phenom continues to be added to her medal collection on the international stage.
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