The United States senior men's freestyle wrestling team is champion of the world and will remain champion until at least October 2018, when it will attempt to repeat its historic achievement. 

Last week's UWW World Championships in Paris was one American fans will not soon forget. Team USA won six medals, two of each color. That's the largest medal haul for the men's freestyle team since 1995, when the U.S. won four golds and two bronze. There were 10 weights in 1995, as opposed to just eight in Paris, although this year's team did benefit from the double-bronze system. 

The table below shows the different medals won by the USA's senior men's freestyle team since 1995. Note that it includes Olympic tournaments and the non-Olympic championships in 2016 for 61kg and 70kg.

	Gold	Silver	Bronze	TOTAL
2017	2	2	2	6
2016	2		1	3
2015	2		1	3
2014			2	2
2013	1			1
2012	2		1	3
2011	1		1	2
2009		1	1	2
2008	1			1
2007			1	1
2006	1	1	2	4
2005			2	2
2004	1	2		3
2003		2		2
2001		1	1	2
2000	1	1	2	4
1999	1	1	1	3
1998	1		2	3
1997	1	1		2
1996	3	1	1	5
1995	4		2	6
1994		1	1	2

The 1995 World Championships was also the last year the United States won a freestyle team title. The Americans' last championship in any style was by the U.S. Greco-Roman team in 2007.

The United States' freestyle win comes at a time when Russia has dominated most competitions. America's average team finish from 2004 to 2016 has been 5.7. During that same time frame, Russia's average team placement has been 1.2. Iran, the next closest rival to Russia, has average a team finish of 3.9. 

Below is a table with the USA's, Russia's, and Iran's team placement from 2004 to 2017. Please note that official scores are not kept during the Olympics, and we added the non-Olympic championships to those unofficial scores.

	United States	Russia	Iran
2017	1	2	9
2016	4	2	3
2015	7	1	2
2014	9	1	2
2013	5	2	1
2012	3	2	4
2011	3	1	2
2010		1	4
2009	7	1	3
2008	9	1
2007	4	1	7
2006	3	1	2
2005	7	1	6
2004	2	1	4

The U.S. did not place in the top 10 in 2010, and Iran did not place in the top 10 in 2008.

To further place the American freestylers' win into context, we can look at the team scores for every top 10 team between 2004 and 2017. UWW calculates team scores by awarded points per finish on a 10, 9, 8, 8, 6, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 scale. USA edged Russia by a single team point this year. 

	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Russia	53	49	61	62	44	40	43	66	63	59	68	51	54	53
Iran	16	49	48	45	46	38	41	27	40		19	44	22	32
United States	54	46	29	20	25	38	38		19	18	32	35	20	46
Georgia	40	34	44	23	29	42	34	21	14	29		32	33
Azerbaijan	32	50	39	36		37	37	42	48	24		16
Cuba	23	18		33	19			38		28	34	18	39	34
Ukraine			20	20	27			18	23	32	28	33	27	26
Turkey	39	27	33	33	18		13		27	21	40
Uzbekistan		31				18		18	18	31	31	32		22
Kazakhstan	18	18				22	29	15		23			16	26
Japan	28	19				27	23							23
Mongolia			41	29	19						12		18
Bulgaria			23				15	18			12	22	26
Belarus				28			22		21			23
India			14		23	18			14
Hungary								14					20
Armenia	16				18
Greece														21
South Korea														19
Kyrgyzstan											14

The 54 points scored by the USA in Paris are the most in recent memory. Russia also did not have much of a down year either when compared to its scores in the past. The Russians' 53 points are the highest second-place total going as far back as 2004 and would be good enough to win any other tournament -- absent Russia's own scores -- in that time frame as well.

And in case you were wondering, the 68 team points Russia scored in 2007 is a record. Seventy was the maximum number of points you could score in 2007, which would be seven gold medals in seven weight classes. Russia won six golds and one bronze. Not too shabby. 

Next year there will be a new point system, new weights, and new rosters from Russia and Iran (and Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and Turkey, etc). Team USA will have a dogfight on its hands, but it will be in as good a position to repeat as champ since the mid-1990s. 

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