The 2025 Senior World Championships are almost upon us, and will begin with the men’s freestyle division on Saturday, September 13, in Zagreb, Croatia. One of the most exciting storylines to follow every year at Worlds is the team race, and this year is no different. The USA’s men’s freestyle team has won team titles at the last two world championships (2022 & 2023), but its roster is almost entirely new. An astounding 8 athletes are competing at their first Senior World Championships. What should be the expectations for Team USA at worlds this year, and what do they need to do to bring home the team title? We’ll explore the answer to those questions in the article below!

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How Do Teams Score Points At Worlds?

Before we get deep in the weeds of the team race, it’s important to first understand how points are accumulated. Unlike folkstyle, where tournament team points are tallied for every win, freestyle team points are only determined by a wrestler's overall finish. Only the top 10 wrestlers in every weight earn points for their team, and wrestlers earn points based on the following scoring:

Gold - 25 points

Silver - 20 points

Bronze - 15 points

Bronze- 15 points

5th - 10 points

5th - 10 points

7th - 8 points

8th - 6 points

9th - 4 points

10th - 2 points

Where Does Team USA Stack Up Against Iran & Russia?

As mentioned above, Team USA is incredibly inexperienced this year with so many first-time world teamers. Powerhouse countries like Russia and Iran have a few weights where they’re missing veterans, but will enter Worlds with teams anchored by experience. However, it is worth noting that Russia will be competing under the “UWW” designation and will not be eligible to win a team trophy based on sanctions due to their war with Ukraine. So, that makes things a little easier for Team USA, but we’ll still be tracking Russia because they’ll be in the field competing, and we can calculate the points they would score if they were eligible for the team title.

Our World Championship Rankings are the perfect tool to help us understand where the USA stacks up against the best in the world. I compiled these rankings based on head-to-head results against other wrestlers in the World Championship field. Below, you can see where Team USA’s wrestlers are currently ranked based on this information:

57 kg: Spencer Lee - 1st

61 kg: Jax Forrest - 4th

65 kg Real Woods - Not Ranked

70 kg: PJ Duke - Not Ranked

74 kg: David Carr - 4th

79 kg: Levi Haines - 6th

86 kg: Zahid Valencia - 4th

92 kg: Trent Hidlay - 3rd

97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 5th

125 kg: Wyatt Hendrickson - 4th

So, how does this compare to every other country at Worlds? I’m glad you asked! Below you can see how the team rankings shake out based on the top 10 wrestlers at each weight in our World Championship Rankings.

Current Team Rankings

1. Russia - 166

2. Iran - 164

3. United States - 120

4. Japan - 97

5. Azerbaijan - 61

6. Albania - 60

7. Kazakhstan - 55

8. Georgia - 51

9. Bahrain  - 43

10. India - 37

10. Kyrgyzstan - 37

Here’s a more detailed look at how each country is scoring points based on each weight class.

Does Team USA Have Any Chance At A Team Title?

You might look at the above rankings and tables and see that Team USA is over 40 points behind Iran and Russia, and think the USA is out of the team race. Not so fast my friend! Over the past few weeks, I’ve been previewing and predicting medal finishes for every weight. After this, I took all my predictions and applied points based on medals only, and here’s how the Top 5 team score turned out:

1. United States - 145

2. Iran - 140

3. Russia - 125

4. Japan - 75

5. Bahrain - 40

Here’s how I predicted Team USA to finish:

57 kg: Spencer Lee - Gold

61 kg: Jax Forrest - Bronze

65 kg Real Woods - DNP

70 kg: PJ Duke - DNP

74 kg: David Carr - Bronze

79 kg: Levi Haines - DNP

86 kg: Zahid Valencia - Gold

92 kg: Trent Hidlay - Gold

97 kg: Kyle Snyder - Silver

125 kg: Wyatt Hendrickson - Silver

Here's how I predicted every medal by country:

What does this all mean? Simply, I think many of Team USA’s wrestlers will overperform at Worlds compared to where I have them currently ranked. Because there are so many first-timers with limited results against the field, this really shouldn’t be all that surprising. It’s similar to when a true freshman enters college with incredible hype but a low ranking. They get ranked low because they haven’t had the opportunity to defeat wrestlers who are more experienced. 

It’s also important to note that the points tabulated from my predictions do not include any placement points for wrestlers who finish 5th-10th place. That means teams like Iran and Russia, who might be slightly deeper than Team USA (on paper), aren’t getting the benefit of some of their wrestlers who might not medal, but have the potential to score team points. 

Should We Expect A Team Title From USA?

You never know what to expect at the World Championships, and that’s what makes it such an amazing event. So no, we should not expect a team title from the USA, but they should be right in the mix with Iran for the official team title (and Russia for the unofficial one). A lot has to go right for any team to win gold, and it will be no different for Team USA this year. Regardless of how it plays out, there should be an incredible race for a team title this year in Zagreb.