The 2026 World Championships was a disappointing tournament for Team USA as only three athletes recorded individual wins with the roster as a whole posting a ledger of 3-11.
Max Nowry (55 kg, NYAC/IRTC), Otto Black (67 kg, NYAC), and Benji Peak (72 kg, NYAC/Position) each had their hands raised in the competition. Nowry — who returned from a four-year hiatus in April to make the World Team — disposed of Nazarmamad Rakhmonbekov (TJK) in his opener before falling to eventual silver Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (IRI). Nowry had one repechage match, a 7-0 loss to Lalit Lalit (IND), which ended his tournament.
Black was taken out of the championship bracket in his very first bout by returning World gold Aytjan Khalamakhanov (UZB). He was right in the thick of it in the second period but two crucial sequences took the match out of reach. Khalamakhanov subsequently impressed en-route to a second-straight final (eventually finishing with silver), and so Black, like Nowry, received an opportunity in the repechage. First up for the 21-year-old was a decisive VSU over Tsuchika Shimoyamada (AUS), who this past summer had defeated Black in Hungary. In the next round of repechage, Black threatened ’20 Olympic gold/’24 bronze Luis Orta Sanchez (CUB) throughout their contest in what became a narrow decision loss. Black had also acquitted himself quite well against Orta Sanchez in the Pan-Am Championships finals back in May.
Peak, in his third Senior World appearance, defeated Aliaksandr Liavonchyk (BLR) in the qualification round by a score of 4-1 and drew Russian Mingiian Goriaev for his next match. Peak owned a 4-0 lead heading into the second period when the match derailed. Goriaev received the Period 2 passivity/par terre chance and Peak held strong from bottom. But — a challenge review determined that Peak had failed to clear whilst prone, resulting in two more points for Goriaev along with another shot from top par terre. This time, the Russian was able to turn Peak once to make the score 5-4 in his favor and that margin went unchanged prior to the bout’s conclusion.
Notes & Stats
Medicals
Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP) had endured a torn calf muscle with just over two weeks remaining in the lead-up to the tournament. Injuries for athletes — specifically for those who still opt to compete despite being physically-compromised — are not excuses. Plus, thanks in large part to the Army trainers, Roberts was reportedly around “90%” one week out from the event. Nevertheless, a torn calf is an unusual injury in this sport, not to mention a debilitating one until it begins healing, thus rendering it difficult to believe that Roberts was clicking on all proverbial cylinders when action got underway last weekend. That said, Roberts is the furthest thing from a “normal” person, as he continues to set the standard in the US when it comes to matters like work ethic, drive, and resilience. Perhaps he was A-OK by the time the opening whistle blew.
And there was a coincidence of sorts for Roberts in Kazakhstan: he had Ramzan Arnaut (ROU) in the qualification round. Back in ’23 at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, Roberts beat up Arnaut — and had entered that match dealing with cracked ribs. In Astana against Arnaut, Roberts looked fine, was moving seemingly fine, but fell to the the ’24 European bronze, primarily via par terre points, and Arnaut was aced by eventual silver Ali Ahmadi Vafa (IRI), which of course eliminated Roberts.
Roberts (right, blue) battles with Ramzan Arnaut at the 2026 World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)
One weight class north, another Army wrestler had a medical issue, albeit this one presented itself while in Astana and not beforehand. Xavier Johnson (63 kg) had to contend with a peritonsillar abscess, which required immediate medical attention. Johnson was, to put it plainly, messed up badly. Almost any other type of ailment would not have halted him from competing. But between the procedure to eradicate the abscess and the ensuing dose of hardcore antibiotics — essentially just two days out from competition for the 63 kg class — there was virtually no way that Johnson could answer the bell. There just was not enough time for him to recover, regain his energy, make weight, and then face off against the best athletes the sport has to offer. An unfortunate set of circumstances for a wrestler who had previously worked himself back from other injuries in order to make this roster.
Basic Stats
Indeed it was a down year at the World Championships for the US, particularly when compared to other recent (full) squads — with the exception being ’24 since that year’s World tournament involved only the four non-Olympic weight categories.
2022 — Belgrade, SRB
Combined Individual Record: 7-12
Wins via VSU: 1
Losses via VSU: 2
Wins via fall: 2
Losses via fall: 2
Athletes in medal rounds: 1 (Nowry, bronze)
Highest placer: Nowry, 5th
2023 — Belgrade, SRB
Combined Individual Record: 10-12
Wins via VSU: 1
Losses via VSU: 5
Wins via fall: 2
Losses via fall: 2
Athletes in medal rounds: 0
Highest placer: Patrick Smith, 10th
2024 — Tirana, ALB
*Non-Olympic World Championships (55, 63, 72, & 82 kg)
Combined Individual Record: 1-5
Wins via VSU: 1
Losses via VSU: 2
Wins via fall: 0
Losses via fall: 0
Athletes in medal rounds: 0
Highest placer: Brady Koontz, 11th
2025 — Zagreb, CRO
Combined Individual Record: 8-14
Wins via VSU: 4
Losses via VSU: 4
Wins via fall: 1
Losses via fall: 0
Athletes in medal rounds: 0
Highest placer: Jayden Raney, 7th; Payton Jacobson, 7th
2026 — Astana, KAZ
Combined Individual Record: 3-11
Wins via VSU: 2
Losses via VSU: 3
Wins via fall: 0
Losses via fall: 1
Athletes in medal rounds: 0
Highest placer: Black, 10th
The most relevant statistics are those which are unrepresented, such as par terre points (for and against). The United States routinely exits World-level tournaments at a deficit pertaining to par terre points, regardless of how the par terre positions (top or bottom) were achieved (i.e., due to passivity or via takedown, throw, reversal, etc.). This year, the US was 15/30, meaning they surrendered par terre points at a 2/1 ratio. Nowry and Peak were the only two USA athletes to finish with a positive par terre grade. Nowry scored eight points from par terre and surrendered six combined points across three matches. Peak scored three points from the par terre top position (counting a lift attempt taken out of bounds) and gave up two in two matches.
2026 World Championships Notes
- Nowry and Black were the only Americans to be defeated by eventual medalists. The duo were downed by finalists in their weight classes, which means that their vanquishers were automatically guaranteed at least silver.
- Iran won the team title with 192 points and enjoyed medalists in nine of ten weight classes (four golds, three silvers, and two bronze). Azerbaijan was 2nd with 104 points and Uzbekistan came in 3rd with 80.
- The US finished in 31st place (2 points), essentially tied with Serbia, Italy, and Chile. Serbia won the team title in ’22.
2026 World Medalists
55 kg
GOLD: Eldaniz Azizli (AZE)
SILVER: Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (IRI)
BRONZE: Vakhtang Lolua (GEO)
BRONZE: Ishkar Kurbayev (KAZ)
60 kg
GOLD: Koto Gomi (JPN)
SILVER: Ali Ahmadi Vafa (IRI)
BRONZE: Alisher Ganiev (UZB)
BRONZE: Aidos Sultangali (KAZ)
63 kg
GOLD: Karen Aslanyan (ARM)
SILVER: Nihat Mammadli (AZE)
BRONZE: Sergey Emelin (RUS)
BRONZE: Ozodbek Khalimboev (UZB)
67 kg
GOLD: Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (IRI)
SILVER: Aytjan Khalmakhanov (UZB)
BRONZE: Bagdat Sabaz (KAZ)
BRONZE: Luis Orta Sanchez (CUB)
72 kg
GOLD: Seyed Sohrabi (IRI)
SILVER: Krisztian Vancza (HUN)
BRONZE: Iuri Lomadze (GEO)
BRONZE: Amantur Ismailov (KGZ)
77 kg
GOLD: Sanan Suleymanov (AZE)
SILVER: Alexandrin Gutu (MDA)
BRONZE: Ali Oskou (IRI)
BRONZE: Shuai Mamedau (BLR)
82 kg
GOLD: Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (IRI)
SILVER: Yuksel Saricicek (TUR)
BRONZE: Mihail Bradu (MDA)
BRONZE: Akzhol Makhmudov (KGZ)
87 kg
GOLD: Semen Novikov (BUL)
SILVER: Alireza Mohmadipiani (IRI)
BRONZE: Lasha Gobadze (GEO)
BRONZE: Gevorg Tadevosyan (ARM)
97 kg
GOLD: Kiryl Maskevich (BLR)
SILVER: Artur Sargsian (RUS)
BRONZE: Mohammadhadi Saravi (IRI)
BRONZE: Kiril Milov (BUL)
130 kg
GOLD: Fardin Hedayati (IRI)
SILVER: Darius Vitek (HUN)
BRONZE: Wenhao Jiang (CHN)
BRONZE: Pavel Hlinchuk (BLR)
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