Team USA’s men’s freestyle squad had a historically good U20 World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia (aka the Big Brat). They gave the world a hurtin for certain. A perfect 10, some would say, as all 10 men’s freestylers climbed the podium and earned a medal. 

And sure, maybe 10 golds would technically be a perfect 10, but a near perfect 10 is still pretty impressive. 

According to UWW, the American men’s freestylers in Bratislava were the first country to score a medal in every contested weight class at an age-level world championship since the 1988 Junior Championships, when the Soviet Union went 10 for 10, and whom amongst us can forget the 1988 USSR junior men’s freestyle team for setting the bar so high?

Just how tremendous was Team USA’s performance? Some are calling it mollywhomping. Others, who enjoy mixing American and British slang, are calling it a stonking great bushwhacking. Whatever you call it, Team USA did pretty all right in the Big Brat. 

Team USA’s Medal Haul

It wasn’t just the men’s freestylers that are coming home from Slovakia with laurels and awards. Below is a list of all the medals the Americans earned at U20 Worlds. 

• GOLD: 61kg - Aaron Seidel, Men’s Freestyle
• GOLD: 65kg - Bo Bassett, Men’s Freestyle 
• GOLD: 86kg - Aeoden Sinclair, Men’s Freestyle 
• GOLD: 97kg - Michael Boyle, Men’s Freestyle
• GOLD: 55kg - Everest Leydecker, Women’s Freestyle 
• SILVER: 57kg - Isaiah Cortez, Men’s Freestyle 
• SILVER: 74kg - Jayden James, Men’s Freestyle
• SILVER: 125kg - Dreshaun Ross, Men’s Freestyle
• BRONZE: 70kg - Landon Robideau, Men’s Freestyle 
• BRONZE: 79kg - Ryan Burton, Men’s Freestyle
• BRONZE: 92kg - Jimmy Mastny, Men’s Freestyle
• BRONZE: 50kg - Morgan Turner, Women’s Freestyle
• BRONZE: 59kg - Caley Graber, Women’s Freestyle 
• BRONZE: 68kg - Taina Fernandez, Women’s Freestyle
• BRONZE: 87kg - Aidan Squier, Greco-Roman

That’s enough shiny metal circular objects to fill a treasure chest. Scrooge McDuck has fewer precious metals in his money bin. I’m getting word that USA Wrestling is looking at moving to new offices in Colorado Springs because they ran out of room in their trophy cases. 

Grab Your Shades, The Future Looks Bright

Just how bright is the future for American men’s freestyle wrestling? Luminous. Radiant, even. You’ll need those proverbial sunglasses is what I’m saying. 

For starters, the USA men’s freestyle team didn’t just win a 2026 U20 World Championship. They also won the 2025 and 2024 World Championships, going back-to-back-to-back just like Tom Emanski’s AAU baseball teams. 

Nine medals in 2024 and eight in 2025 bring the three year total of U20 men’s freestyle medals for Team USA to 27 out of 30 weight classes, an astonishing tally. 

Things are set up nicely for 2027 and beyond. Michael Boyle and Jayden James, a gold and silver medal winner, respectively, have two years of U20 eligibility remaining. 

Dreshaun Ross and Jimmy Mastny, who respectively won silver and bronze medals, each have one more year of eligibility. That’s four of the heaviest six weight classes all winning medals as teenagers. Cue the Larry David ‘pretty good’ gif. 

Getting back to Boyle’s gold medal, do you know the last time an American won a 97kg world gold with two years of eligibility remaining? Ben Kueter in 2022. And before that? Kyle Snyder, in 2013. And in other weights? I don’t know. I didn’t check, and AI wasn’t very helpful when I asked, but I bet it probably doesn’t happen very often. 

Where Can I See More Future Stars Of American Wrestling?

U20s may have concluded, but U23s are just around the corner! The 2026 U23 World Champions are happening between October 12th through the 18th in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The venue for U23s is the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV where the Runnin’ Rebels play ball. This is also where the 2027 Senior World Championships are being held, in a bit of a change from the last time the Worlds were held in Las Vegas. Back in 2015, Worlds were held in the Orleans, a Casino Resort, which created one of my favorite moments where I sat at a bar in the casino and watched all the competitors walk through the casino floor from the conference room where weigh-ins happened to the locker rooms by the arena inside the resort. Good times. 

Anyway, here the loaded lineups for Team USA’s U23 World Teams.

Men’s Freestyle

• 57kg - Luke Lilledahl (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 61kg - Benjamin Davino (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 65kg - Bo Bassett (Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 70kg - Jordan Williams (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 74kg - Jayden James (KD Training Center/Titan Mercury WC)
• 79kg - Matthew Singleton (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 86kg - Aeoden Sinclair (Tiger Style RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 92kg - Seth Shumate (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 97kg - Justin Rademacher (Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 125kg - Coby Merrill (New York AC)

Women’s Freestyle

• 50kg - Morgan Turner (All I See Is Gold/Titan Mercury WC)
• 53kg - Cristelle Rodriguez (Tiger WC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 55kg - Everest Leydecker (Thorobred WC/New York AC)
• 57kg - Sara Sterner (Cardinal WC)
• 59kg - Alexis Janiak (Titan Mercury WC)
• 62kg - Adaugo Nwachukwu (US Army WCAP)
• 65kg - Reese Larramendy (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 68kg - Kennedy Blades (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) or Isabella Mir (Cardinal WC)
• 72kg - Amit Elor (New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
• 76kg - Kylie Welker (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Greco-Roman

• 55kg - Kenneth Crosby (New York AC)
• 60kg - Max Black (NMU-NTC/New York AC)
• 63kg - Landon Drury (NMU-NTC)
• 67kg - Otto Black (New York AC)
• 72kg - Brett Back (Position Wrestling)
• 77kg - Joel Adams (Beaver Dam RTC)
• 82kg - Adrian Artsisheuskiy (New York AC)
• 87kg - Michael Altomer (Curby 3-Style WC/New York AC)
• 97kg - Arian Khosravy
• 130kg - Aden Attao (New York AC)

Those three teams may not win as many medals as the 2026 U20 men’s freestyle world team, but expectations, and hopes, remain high. And you can watch it all LIVE on FloWrestling. How convenient! 

Rewatch of the Week

How often do you see former high school teammates turned future college rivals wrestling in an age level world championship for different countries? Maybe you can think of other instances, but at the moment, all I can recall is when Jayden James of the USA and Penn State wrestled Alessio Perentin of Italy and Cornell in the 74kg round of 16 in Bratislava last week. 

James and Perentin were teammates at Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey. I won’t spoil the result, you can see for yourself what happens in the video below!