Following Aidan Squier‘s (87 kg, NMU/NTS) electrifying run to bronze on Monday, there was cause for optimism that the US might add at least one more medal to their haul before leaving Slovakia. Squier’s Northern Michigan teammate — and fellow top prospect — Amryn Nutter (67 kg) had qualified for repechage, plus the American squad had two more competitors waiting to the take the mat on Wednesday in the form of Manuel Saldate (60 kg, Beaver Dam RTC) and Arvin Khosravy (82 kg, CA), respectively.
Saldate carried a 1-0 lead against Magomed Varaev (FRA) into Period 2 of their qualification-round contest but Varaev jumped ahead 5-1 after capitalizing on his chance from par terre. Saldate was able to have two offensive actions to cut the deficit to 5-4 and make things exciting, though Varaev ultimately hung on for a 6-4 nod (with a point added after a last-gasp Saldate challenge). Varaev was later downed by eventual champ Aykhan Javadov (AZE) in the next round, thereby eliminating Saldate.
Khosravy lost a bit of a heartbreaker himself. He had scored an early takedown against Bekmurod Rustamov (UZB) and tacked on a passive point, both in the first period. Rustamov then countered a Khosravy front headlock attempt to make the score 3-1, gained two exposure points to update the score to 3-3 in his favor — and was given two more after Khosravy was penalized for legs as Rustamov tried to hurl a reverse lift. The final score wound up 6-4 for Rustamov, who was edged 1-1 by Elmin Aliyev (AZE) in the proceeding round.
Such was the theme for the US in Britslava. The Americans mustered a mere 5 individual wins compared to 12 defeats. But looks may be deceiving.
- Of the 12 combined losses for the US, nine were via decision; and of those nine decision losses, six were within two points; and of those six, three were 1-1 criteria losses (two for Nutter, one for Leister Bowling IV).
- The AML (average margin loss) among the nine decision losses for Team USA at the U20 Worlds was 2.3 points. In other words, as a collective, it is not as though the US boys were getting their doors blown off in this thing. Mistakes big and small are costly in Greco-Roman wrestling and even more so in World events. The highest level of competition demands it to be that way. For those who were on the ’26 roster and dropped matches in this fashion, their close losses and the reasons for why they occurred might hopefully serve as a learning experience they can hold onto as their careers progress.
But when it comes to Nutter, his story is one of an increased granular texture.
Defense = Development
Nutter fell to Kazybek Kalmagambetov (UZB) in the round-of-16, decisioned Sebastian Wagner (GER) in his first repechage match, and lost to Mohamed Abdelrehim (EGY) in the second round of repechage. Below is a rendering of his tournament box score as according to the 5PM style guide.
67 kg: Amryn Nutter (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Kazybek Kalmagambetov (UZB) 1-1 (criteria)
WON Sebastian Wagner (GER) 5-2
LOSS Mohamed Abdelrehim (EGY) 1-1 (criteria)
On its face, Nutter’s ledger shows only that he achieved one win sandwiched between a pair of losses that were as tight as is permitted within the current structure of Greco-Roman governance. Of course, if we were to go one step deeper, we would see that Kalmagambetov eventually won the tournament and that Abdelrehim is the reigning U23 World Champion (and who had enjoyed a nearly identical outcome against Senior World Team member Otto Black at last year’s U23 Worlds). Neither UZB or EGY were able to score an offensive point against Nutter. Conversely, Nutter was shut out by both offensively, as well; but one item is more important than the other from a developmental aspect.
Nutter had four PTB (par terre bottom) situations across his three matches (as he was inexplicably put down twice against Abdelrehim) and he surrendered precisely zero points whilst prone. Therefore, his PTDR (par terre defense rate) was a perfect 100% — at his first World Championships and with two of his three matches coming against World titlists. Offensive points is obviously where Nutter struggled. His PTEP (par terre execution percentage) was 33% with all of his points from top coming against Wagner and he also did not have any points scored on-the-feet in the event overall. But, again, given how challenging of a position PTB is, Nutter’s lack of offense is more than made up for in how well he defended.
Nutter flanked by U20 World Team coach Zac Dominguez (background) and NMU/NTS head coach Andy Bisek between periods against Sebastian Wagner of Germany. (Image: FLOWrestling)
Nutter already knows how to score from top. It is just difficult to do so against elite opponents (at any level), yet it is also an area upon which he can more easily improve as he continues to develop. Defending is a totally different matter, particularly for USA athletes. PTB is a phase of the sport that necessitates skill, feel, intuition, toughness, confidence, and timing — all at the same time. Some either have it or they don’t, and everyone in the world has to practice it constantly. Par terre bottom is a vulnerable place to be by design; but the more comfortable and confident an athlete grows when in PT, the more he is going to have what it takes to defend against World-caliber opponents. If Nutter demonstrated anything in Slovakia, it is that he is right on track to develop into the Senior star most in the US project him to become. And now it seems like that may materialize sooner rather than originally anticipated.
2026 U20 World Championships Notes:
- The US finished the 2026 U20 World Championships in 15th place with 19 points, holding off Romania and India (both with 16).
- Russia was credited with their first U20 World team title since ’21 and accumulated 142 points, 33 points better than 2nd place Iran (109). Uzbekistan came in 3rd with 95 points.
- The US had a combined individual record of 5-12. Of the five victories, one was recorded as a VSU (Squier over Ukrainian Vladyslav Solodchuk in repechage).
- Squier’s medal was the first for Team USA in two years. In ’24, Isaiah Cortez and Otto Black both earned silver while Aden Attao (130 kg, NYAC) earned bronze.
- The US has had at least one Junior/U20 World medal in nine of the past ten years when counting Wyatt Voelker retroactively being awarded bronze from ’23 due to a doping sanction on the part of his opposition.
2016 — Taylor LaMont (bronze); G’Angelo Hancock (bronze)
2017 — Cevion Severado (silver); Kamal Bey (gold)
2018 — Andrew Berreyesa (silver); Cohlton Schultz (bronze)
2019 — Alston Nutter (bronze); Peyton Omania (bronze); Schultz (silver)
2021 — Braxton Amos (bronze)
2022 — Attao (bronze)
2023 — Voelker (bronze)
2024 — Cortez (silver); Black (silver); Attao (bronze)
2026 — Squier (bronze)
2026 U20 World Championships
August 16-18 — Bratislava, SVK
TEAM USA FULL RESULTS
55 kg: Ezekiel Witt (Bison WC) — 10th
LOSS Khojiakbar Kuchkarov (UZB) 8-3
60 kg: Manuel Saldate (Beaver Dam RTC)
LOSS Magomed Varaev (FRA) 6-4
63 kg: Nick Sorrow (Simmons Academy of Wrestling) — 17th
LOSS Taiga Hibarino (JPN) 10-5
67 kg: Amryn Nutter (NMU/NTS) — 11th
LOSS Kazybek Kalmagambetov (UZB) 1-1 (criteria)
WON Sebastian Wagner (GER) 5-2
LOSS Mohamed Abdelrehim (EGY) 1-1 (criteria)
72 kg: Eli Esguerra (Beast Mode) — 13th
LOSS Jorge Gomez Garcia (MEX) 13-5, TF
77 kg: Leister Bowling IV (Hawkeye WC) — 10th
LOSS Samvel Terteryan (ARM) 6-0
WON Mohamed Ibrahim (EGY) 9-4
LOSS Zalan Toplak (HUN) 1-1 (criteria)
82 kg: Arvin Khosravy (CA) — 16th
LOSS Bekmurod Rustamov (UZB) 6-4
87 kg: Aidan Squier (NMU/NTS) — BRONZE
LOSS Taizo Yoshida (JPN) 10-2, TF
WON Vladyslav Solodchuk (UKR) 10-2, TF
WON Luka Kochalidze (GEO) 6-4
WON Gabriel Stan (ROU) 6-6 (criteria)
97 kg: Cittadino Tuttle (PINnacle) — 14th
LOSS Dimitrios Pappas (GRE) 2-1
130 kg: Travyn Boger (Protos WC) — 16th
LOSS Amirhossein Abdevali (IRI) 9-1, TF
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FIVE POINT MOVE PODCAST
iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music
