Talented U.S. Senior Women’s Freestyle World Team set during Final X in Newark
Senior medalists Maroulis, Blades, Winchester, Kilty, Welker among women’s freestyle Final X champions
NEWARK, N.J. – The 2025 U.S. Senior World Team women’s freestyle was determined at an exciting Final X at the Prudential Center on Saturday. The winners at Final X will compete for the United States at the Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, September 13-21.
Final X served as the Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit, the 15th BTSNY Annual Benefit to date. The event helped BTSNY raise more than $950,000 for its youth wrestling programs which empower 3,000-plus young people in New York City.
The team will be a mix of five experienced stars, along with an influx of five young athletes who qualified for their first Senior World Team.
2016 Olympic champion, three-time Olympic medalist and three-time World champion Helen Maroulis continued her amazing run of excellence by pinning Amanda Martinez in both of their matches at 57 kg. Maroulis scored a first-period pin in 1:51 in the first match, then was able to put away Martinez in 4:43 in bout two.
Maroulis has qualified for her 12th Senior World Team, and with her three Olympic appearances, has now made her 15th career U.S. Senior level team. In her first 14 appearances, Maroulis won 10 medals, with seven at the World Championships and three at the Olympics.
2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades finished off a two-match sweep over Brooklyn Hays at 68 kg. It will be her first Senior World Championships appearance. In the second match, Blades scored the first takedown and went on to a 5-2 win over Hays. In the opening bout, Blades came strong with nine second-period points to defeat Brooklyn Hays, 10-4.
Blades was joined by her 2025 University of Iowa teammates on the Senior World Team, Macey Kilty at 65 kg and Kylie Welker at 76 kg. All three won 2025 NCWWC national titles for the Hawkeyes. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/june/14/talented-u-s-senior-women-s-freestyle-world-team-set-during-final-x-in-newark
Olympic medalist Dake leads strong Senior World Team Trials field in men’s freestyle
This weekend, 59 elite athletes will battle in the men’s freestyle division at the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament being held at Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville, Ky., May 16-17.
Multiple Olympians, World medalists, Senior World Team members, age-group standouts, college national champions and top high school prospects are in the fold with sights set on securing one of the eight remaining spots at Final X.
Online registration is open through May 15, leaving the door open for more athletes to enter last minute. However, the registration deadline to be eligible for tournament seeding was last Friday, making it unlikely many more entries come in.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Eight brackets will be contested in the men’s freestyle division at the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Each champion in Louisville will face the 2025 U.S. Open champion in a best-of-three series at Final X to determine the Team USA representative at the 2025 Senior World Championships. Final X will take place on June 14 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
There are two Final X matchups already determined in men’s freestyle, 57 kg and 61 kg, which removes those weight classes from the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament field.
ELIGIBLE ATHLETES
Athletes must qualify to enter the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament field. To review the Senior World Team selection process in each discipline, including Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament qualification criteria, visit the Team Selection Criteria page.
A list of qualified athletes for Louisville post-U.S. Open is available on themat.com. A complete list of entries as of May 13 is available below.
13 WRESTLERS TO WATCH
Kyle Dake headlines the group at 86 kg. The two-time Olympic bronze medalist shifted to a new weight class in late April at the U.S. Open. Dake, a four-time Senior World champion, looks to secure the last spot in Final X.
There are six athletes that have competed at a Senior World Championship tournament. Nick Lee, Dake and Chance Marsteller were teammates on the 2023 Senior World Team that competed in Belgrade, Serbia. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/may/13/olympic-medalist-dake-leads-strong-senior-world-team-trials-field-in-men-s-freestyle
Abbott blog: Top 10 wrestling stories of 2024
By Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling
For many years, one of my holiday traditions has been writing a Top 10 wrestling stories of the year column for TheMat.com. Finding time to write around traditional family holiday activities has always been a bit of a challenge but is something I look forward to each year.
Clearly, an Olympic year has way more story lines than the other three years of an Olympic cycle. Paris did a wonderful job running the 2024 Games, a breath of fresh air after going through the pandemic Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. The USA had a strong performance if you look back at historic results, although the U.S. has been so strong in recent years that expectations were very high. The Olympics are so hard to win because of the pressure on the athletes and the high level of preparation by every single Olympian in the field. Athletes around the world dream about winning the Olympics, and they all step up big time when given that opportunity.
It has been an honor and a privilege to bring this feature to the wrestling community over the years, and I appreciate all of the amazing opportunities I have had as a USA Wrestling staff member. This has truly been a dream job for a kid who loves wrestling and journalism. From the minute that the Olympics ended in Paris, all eyes have now turned towards the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. All I can say is Go Team USA!!!
Here we go with the biggest stories of 2024, in my humble opinion…
1 –Hildebrandt, Elor win golds and U.S. women get four Olympic medals in Paris – Women first competed in Olympic wrestling in 2004 in Athens, and the USA has been one of the top nations ever since. However, it was 20 years later, at the 2024 Paris Games, where the USA women truly took center stage, claiming two gold medals for the first time and a U.S. record four total medals. Golds went to one of the veteran leaders on the team, Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 kg, and the best young athlete in the world, Amit Elor at 68 kg. Hildebrandt’s run included some big-time drama, as her finals opponent Vinesh from India (who upset the favorite Yui Susaki in the first round) missed weight. UWW chose to put the semifinal loser to Vinesh in the finals against Hildebrandt, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba, and Sarah closed it out with a 3-0 win. A lifetime of hard work and persistence paid off when it most counted. Elor, who became the youngest U.S. Senior World wrestling champion at 18 in 2022, dropped to 68 kg for the Olympic year and become the youngest Olympic wrestling champion for Team USA at age 20 in Paris. Elor was her dominant self, outscoring her opponents 31-2, including a 3-0 shutout victory over Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the finals. Elor’s future seems unlimited at this point. Kennedy Blades, who beat the legendary Adeline Gray to make the U.S. team, nailed a beautiful five-point throw in her first match and powered into the finals to claim a silver medal. The amazing Helen Maroulis added a bronze medal and the U.S. women had its best Olympics ever.
2 – Maroulis wins third Olympic medal and Dake earns second Olympic medal – Winning an Olympic wrestling medal is an amazing feat. Winning more than one is very rare and especially noteworthy. Helen Maroulis further cemented her Hall of Fame career by winning a third career Olympic medal in Paris, a 2024 bronze to go with 2016 gold and 2020 bronze. Her back story is inspiring (a documentary was made about her comeback from injury and personal challenge). In Paris, Maroulis opened with two wins to reach the semifinals, where she fell 6-0 to three-time World champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan, who had beaten Maroulis in previous meetings. She put an exclamation point on her third Olympics with a stunning 24-second pin of Canada’s Hannah Taylor for the bronze. Only one USA athlete has won more Olympic wrestling medals, the great Bruce Baumgartner with four. Dake’s quest for an Olympic gold after winning four career World titles, was halted in the semifinals in a wild 20-12 loss to Japan’s Daichi Takatani. Dake came back strong after the loss. It looked like Dake might fall in the bronze-medal match to past World champion Hetik Cablov of Serbia, but a late five-point toss gave him a memorable 10-4 win and a second career Olympic bronze medal. Could either come back to seek another at the 2028 Olympics? Who knows, but I wouldn’t put it past either of them if they chose to go another Olympic cycle. 3 – Lee gets healthy and powers to Olympic silver medal – As an age-group freestyle wrestler, Spencer Lee of Pennyslvania was beyond dominant. He won a 2014 U17 World title and two U20 World titles (2015, 2016), and most of his matches were over in less than a minute. It seemed like Lee was destined to win multiple World and Olympic medals for Team USA. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/28/abbott-blog-top-10-wrestling-stories-of-2024
Raúl Castro honors Mijaín López as a Hero of the Republic of Cuba
Gladys Bejerano Portela and Omara Durand were also honored as Heroes of Labor
Army General Raúl Castro Ruz once again appeared before the public to bestow the honorary title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba on Mijaín López, a five-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. During the event, attended by high-ranking officials of the Havana regime, including President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Gladys Bejerano Portela and Omara Durand were also honored as Heroines of Labor, according to the official site Cubadebate.
Undoubtedly, the recognition awarded to López highlights not only his exceptional sports career but also his deep commitment to revolutionary values and his people.
Salvador Valdés Mesa, Vice President of the Republic, emphasized that Mijaín’s achievements rank him among the greatest athletes of all time. Beyond his impressive victories at the Olympic Games, Valdés Mesa highlighted the athlete’s loyalty to the legacy of Fidel and Raúl, as well as to the Revolution that shaped him. “Just reviewing his impressive record is enough to recognize Mijaín as one of the greatest athletes of all time,” stated Valdés Mesa, recalling the countless victories that have made Mijaín a symbol of perseverance and greatness for Cuba and the world.
Mijaín, considered by many to be the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler in history, has always supported the communist government, to the extent of having struck a young compatriot at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile, … more at … https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2024-12-18-u1-e197721-s27061-nid294069-raul-castro-condecora-mijain-lopez-heroe-republica
USA Wrestling launches Grow Greco campaign to support development of Greco-Roman wrestling in the U.S.
USA Wrestling has kicked off a year-long fundraising campaign entitled Grow Greco to further the growth and development of Greco-Roman wrestling in the country.
The U.S. Greco-Roman coaching staff has earmarked a $250,000 fundraising goal for 2025 to support Greco-Roman specific initiatives that include national and international training and competition opportunities, developmental camps across the U.S., and building pipelines for youth athletes to pursue a career in the specialized international discipline. “Supporting Greco-Roman wrestling is more than just a contribution to our program; it’s an investment in the future of our athletes and a legacy of excellence. Every dollar donated helps us build a stronger, more competitive team, providing athletes with opportunities to reach their full potential on the global stage,” said Herb House, U.S. National Greco-Roman Head Coach.
The U.S. qualified four athletes to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling, a feat only nine countries achieved for Paris.
2024 was a banner year for the U.S. age-group World Team’s. The U17 team finished in fifth place with two medalists, including one champion. The U20 team earned three medals and placed sixth as a team. Additionally, the U.S. won its first Greco-Roman medal at the U23 level.
Contributions put directly toward the Greco-Roman program will help continue the upward trajectory seen in 2024 and assist in providing the necessary resources for sustained international success in the style. “Your support fuels athlete training and competition, … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/06/usa-wrestling-launches-grow-greco-campaign-to-support-development-of-greco-roman-wrestling-in-the-u-s-
Olympics Wrestling PA Announcer finds community, belonging as Voice of the Huskies
Jason Bryant has emerged as one of the top wrestling public address (PA) announcers in the world over the past decade.
The numbers speak for themselves: 25 collegiate wrestling national championship events, seven world championship events and three editions of the Summer Olympics.
So how did an avid wrestling fan end up as the voice of a Division I men’s hockey team?
When longtime PA announcer Chuck Clausen retired in 2022 after 32 years with St. Cloud State University Men’s Hockey, a significant role needed to be filled.
Bryant first saw the job posting on a PA announcing Facebook group. He showed it to his wife Abby, who encouraged him to give it a try. “We opened up a search not knowing where it would go, and a lot of people wanted to be the next voice of the Huskies,” said Andrew Melroe, Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Communications. “I was surprised and happy when I saw he had applied, I hoped we could make it work … any time I can add to the Husky family, I’m happy to do so.”
Bryant didn’t feel his in-person audition went great, so he was a bit surprised when he was offered the position. Prior to SCSU’s 2022-23 season opener against St. Thomas, he’d only seen one college hockey game live in his life. Did he feel ready to call one in-person?
“I’ve done the Olympics; nothing is more pressure-packed than that,” Bryant said. … more at … https://today.stcloudstate.edu/2024/10/28/olympics-wrestling-pa-announcer-finds-community-belonging-as-voice-of-the-huskies/
What we learned from the 2024 senior world wrestling championships
The 2024 senior world championships in Albania marked the end of a three-month world championship event series for Team USA that included the Olympics in August to the U20 world championships in September to the U23 world championships in late October to the senior world championships.
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The U23 and U20 world championships featured 10 weight classes for men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco, while the Olympics featured six, and the senior world championships included four weights, the four remaining non-Olympic weights. The U.S. brought home a total of 35 medals across these events, with Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor’s senior world bronze medal and his formal retirement serving as an emotional capper to the freestyle championship season.
Here’s what we learned about Team USA in this final event of the freestyle year and what kind of impact the athletes on this senior world championship team could have on their teammates and their programs moving forward.
Taylor’s bronze medal models success, perseverance for young Oklahoma State squad
One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2024 senior world championships was Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor. Despite being on a stacked team with Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, 2023 senior world champion Vito Arujau and two-time world medalist James Green, much of the focus centered on how Taylor would compete in what he declared to be the final competition of his career. DAVID TAYLOR: History, college records set by the Olympic gold medalist
The hype wasn’t forced either. Taylor entered a bracket with one of the best Russian athletes in the sport — Abdulrashid Bulachevich Sadulaev — and two-time World champion Iranian wrestler Kardos … more at … https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2024-11-04/what-we-learned-2024-senior-world-wrestling-championships
Six Americans over 30 earn spots on Non-Olympic Weights World Team
By Mike Finn
OMAHA — Sunday was quite a day for several of USA Wrestling’s older wrestlers as six wrestlers over the age of 30 — James Green, Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor in men’s freestyle, Ildar Hafizov and Aliaksandr Kikiniou in Greco-Roman, and Jacarra Winchester in women’s freestyle — all won Best-of-3 Championships at the Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials.
For Green and Burroughs, New Jersey natives and former stars at the University of Nebraska, they earned spots before many of their Husker fans in the MECA – CHI Health Center. Green, 31, a two-time World medalist, defeated former Michigan All-American Alec Pantaleo in two straight matches at 70 kilos, while Burroughs, 36, a six-time World champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, avenged a 2023 World Team Trials loss to Chance Marsteller at 79 kilos.
Taylor, 33, the former World and Olympic champ who came up short at the 2024 Olympic Trials at 86 kilos before taking the Oklahoma State head coaching position, defeated fellow 2023 Worlds teammate Zahid Valencia in two straight bouts at 92 kilos.
Aliaksandr Kikiniou (right), a 2009 World bronze medalist for Belarus, defeated Jesse Porter in two bouts to claim a World Team Trials title in Greco-Roman. (Sam Janicki photo)
Hafizov and Kikiniou, both immigrants from Uzbekistan and Belarus, respectively, earned spots on the team. Hafizov, 36, qualified for his fifth World Team for Team USA but needed three matches to beat Max Black at 63 kilos, while Kikiniou, 44, a former World bronze medalist for his native country, will represent Team USA for the first time. Winchester, 31, who has represented Team USA at 53k and 55k in past World and Olympic Championships, won two straight matches against Michaela Beck at 59 kilos.
Jacarra Winchester has now qualified for either the Worlds or Olympics in three different weights. (Sam Janicki photo)
The other six winners, who will compete in the 2024 Non-Olympic Weight World Championships, Oct. 28-31 in Tirana, Albania, were 2023 World champ Vito Arujau (61k) in men’s freestyle, Areana Villaescusa (55k), 2023 World silver medalist Macey Kilty (65k) and Kylie Welker (72k) in women’s freestyle, and Brady Koontz (55k) and Benji Peak (63k) in Greco-Roman. … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2024/09/15/29536/
Burroughs, Taylor, Arujau, Green make U.S. Senior World Team in men’s freestyle
OMAHA, Neb. – The United States will send an experienced team of men’s freestyle athletes to the 2024 World Championships. The four-man team, which earned their berths at this weekend’s World Team Trials, includes two Olympic champions, three World champions and all four who have won World medals. Combined, these four athletes have won a combined two Olympic gold medals, 10 World gold medals and 16 total World medals. All four athletes swept their best-of-three Championship Series in two straight matches. 2012 Olympic champion and six-time World champion Jordan Burroughs swept his two-match series at 79 kg over 2023 World Team member Chance Marsteller. Burroughs sealed the win in the second match with a 6-3 victory. The key exchange late in the second period had Burroughs score four points on a double leg shot, with Marsteller getting a two-point counter exposure. On Sunday morning, Burroughs shut out Marsteller in the first match.
It was the third time these warriors battled in the finals of a World Team qualifier. Burroughs and Marsteller also wrestled in Final X twice, with Burroughs making the World Team in 2022 and Marsteller earning the spot in 2023. It will be Burroughs 10th Senior World Team. 2020 Olympic champion and three-time World champion David Taylor came through the Challenge Tournament on Saturday, then swept the Championship Series at 92 kg over 2023 World bronze medalist Zahid Valencia. Taylor clinched the win in the second match pin over Valencia at 2:34. After Taylor scored the first two takedowns, he cradled Valencia for a takedown, then turned him again and secured the fall. In the first match, Taylor scored a second period takedown to claim criteria in a 3-3 match.
It was Taylor’s first competition since dropping … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/september/15/burroughs-taylor-arujau-green-make-u-s-senior-world-team-in-men-s-freestyle
Greco-Roman National Team member Alan Vera, 33, has passed away
USA Wrestling was devastated to receive information that one of its current Greco-Roman National Team members, Alan Vera of Guttenburg, N.J., 33, passed away last night.
Vera suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while playing soccer this past summer and had been hospitalized since then in recovery from his serious health challenges.
We ask people to keep Alan’s family and his friends around the world in their thoughts and prayers at this most difficult time. Alan’s wife is Elena Pirozkhova, a two-time U.S. Olympian and World champion in women’s freestyle wrestling, along with their infant daughter Alina. “Our hearts have been broken. Our sincere thoughts and prayers go out to Elena, Alina and all of Alan’s family, as well as those who have known Alan. The wrestling community mourns the loss of a great champion, whose incredible life impacted so many within USA Wrestling and around the world,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “Ever since he came into my life in 2016, he has been a true leader, always ready to do anything for anyone in need. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/september/24/greco-roman-national-team-member-alan-vera-33-has-passed-away
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 