For all of the “same names, different year” type of talk that normally accompanies World Team Trials finals match-ups on a near-annual basis, 2025 has already witnessed a fresh group of wrestlers step up to try and change the narrative — even as the nation’s most-established competitors continue to demonstrate why they have been, and shall remain, so difficult to beat.
The semifinal round for six of the ten Greco-Roman weight categories began at 4:00pm local time/7:00pm ET from the Expo at World Market Center-Las Vegas and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
In the “same names” department, six athletes who have appeared on recent World or Olympic Teams won their semifinal bouts on Thursday afternoon. They are (in weight class order): Brady Koontz (55 kg, TMWC/Dubuque RTC), Ildar Hafizov (63 kg, Army/WCAP), Ellis Coleman (63 kg, Army/WCAP), Alex Sancho (72 kg, Army/WCAP), Aliaksandr Kikiniou Sr. (77 kg, NYAC), and Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP). Two others — Alston Nutter (67 kg, Army/WCAP) and David Stepanyan (NYAC/NTS) — had previously been finalists (in ’21 and ’22, respectively), but they canceled each other out due to having clashed earlier today with Nutter prevailing 7-1.
Just about everywhere else on the card set for tomorrow’s slate of best-of-three series features competitors who are just getting started on the Senior level — or in the case of Zane Richards (60 kg, TMWC/IRTC), have plenty of Senior experience, except in a different style.
Recap & Results
Koontz is knocking on the door of a third World Team after defeating Billy Sullivan (Army/WCAP) 9-1. Sullivan was game, for sure, but Koontz understands how to deploy his best weapon, which is to say getting his hands locked. The points flew in his column in the first period and now he gets to affix his gaze on ’24 U17 World Champion Jayden Raney (NYAC). Raney, despite his youth, performed brilliantly during Thursday’s earlier session and continued his tournament push by downing Peter Del Gallo (Southside WC) via 8-0 VSU.
Richards — who was a freestyle World Teamer in ’23 — could not have impressed much more in his Senior Greco debut, though the same can be said of Isaiah Cortez (Daniel Cormier WC) since he had been awarded a decision over ’24 Olympic Trials champ/multi-time World Team member Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP) in the quarterfinals. Thus the stage was set for a semifinal showdown pitting 31-year-old Richards against high school-aged Cortez.
After trading step-outs, and gaining another in his favor, in the first period, Richards earned a shot from top due to passivity/par terre and managed to crank Cortez over with a gutwrench to take a 4-1 lead. Late in the second period, and on the heels of an apparent Richards score that was nullified via challenge, Cortez was gifted his own passivity/PT opportunity. Richards defended the turn and back up they were with time falling off the clock. Just prior to the conclusive whistle, Cortez dipped levels for an attack — but Richards instantly pancaked him for two additional points to collect the 6-2 victory and secure himself a spot in the finals.
The steady rise of Max Black (NYAC/NTS) gathered more steam on Thursday after the brash National Team rep won out in the morning session and defeated oft rival Randon Miranda (NYAC) in the semifinals (4-1) to lock down the corner opposite Richards tomorrow. Black has been on a roll within the domestic Senior circuit ever since the December ’23 Nationals, where he had made the “challenge tournament” final of that tournament and followed with a third-place showing at the Olympic Trials four months later. Then this past September, Black advanced to the World Trials final in the 63 kg bracket and took a match from Hafizov before ultimately losing the series two matches to one.
63 kg: Hafizov & Coleman
Two-time Olympian (once for Uzbekistan) and four-time World Team member Hafizov has now achieved something historic. Upon defeating Kaden Ercanbrack (NMU/NTS) in yesterday’s semifinal round, Hafizov guaranteed himself an appearance in a US Team selection best-of-three final for a tenth straight time, and 12th time overall. Only Dremiel Byers (one of two Greco wrestlers in American history to own all three medal colors) had qualified in more consecutive years. Byers made every finals series from 2001 through the ’12 Olympic Trials. The reason why Hafizov has been able to tie Byers in terms of numbers is due to the advent of Final X as well as the fact that two seasons offered two different Trials events.
In ’19, Hafizov prevailed in the best-of-three at the World Team Trials challenge tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina before defeating Mike Fuenffinger at Final X: Lincoln. Two years later, he won the Olympic Trials and, five months after that, fell to Roberts in the ’21 World Team Trials. Last year, Hafizov was again in two separate Trials finals. In April, he was clipped by Roberts in the Olympic selection tournament; in September he defeated Black in the best-of-three series for the 63 kg spot on the ’24 non-Olympic World Team. Below is what Hafizov’s best-of-three resume entails.
April 2016 — Olympic Trials, Iowa City — (loss to Jesse Thielke)
April 2017 — World Team Trials, Las Vegas — (defeated Hayden Tuma)
June 2018 — World Team Trials, Tulsa — (loss to Dalton Roberts)
May 2019 — World Team Trials, Raleigh — (defeated Randon Miranda)
June 2019 — Final X: Lincoln — (defeated Mike Fuenffinger)
April 2021 — Olympic Trials, Fort Worth — (defeated Ryan Mango)
September 2021 — World Team Trials, Lincoln— (loss to Roberts)
June 2022 — Final X: New York — (defeated Roberts)
June 2023 — Final X: Newark — (defeated Roberts)
April 2024 — Olympic Trials, State College — (loss to Roberts)
September 2024 — World Team Trials, Omaha — (defeated Max Black)
April 2025 — World Team Trials, Las Vegas — (TBD, Ellis Coleman)
Hafizov, 37, will be meeting an opponent who has likewise enjoyed a stellar and long career full of meaningful accomplishments as Ellis Coleman (Army/WCAP) was able to get past the strong and versatile Riley Lomenick (NYAC) in his semifinal contest by way of technical superiority to stamp down his 7th Trials final opportunity. 33-year-old Coleman’s first Senior Trials came during Olympic Team selection in ’12, a series he won over Joe Betterman. He then went on to make World Teams in ’13, ’17, ’18, and ’19 before coming up just short to teammate Alex Sancho at the ’20ne Olympic Trials. Of course, Coleman’s most impressive run might have come just a year ago. Following a two-year absence from competition, he emerged from a stacked 67 kg bracket at the Olympic Trials to come back and edge Sancho in the best-of-three series.
The other wrinkle is this: aside from being friends/teammates, Hafizov and Coleman are both new to 63 kg. Hafizov bumped up from 60 to the non-Olympic weight in September, whereas Coleman dropped from 67 to this weight division earlier in the winter. They also have not yet had time on target against one another in a sanctioned competitive environment.
67 kg: Nutter & Black
Alston Nutter‘s (Army/WCAP) return to competition has now come attached to another crack at a Senior World Team, which he earned against former Northern Michigan stablemate David Stepanyan (NYAC/NTS) on the strength of a 7-1 decision. Nutter received the first opportunity from passive/par terre but Stepanyan defended to get the restart. Shortly thereafter, Nutter broke forth on an arm drag that he used to wrap Stepanyan and drum up four points at the edge. They would go on to exchange step-outs to make the score 6-1 for Nutter, who picked up one more such point following an attack towards the boundary late in the second period. Nutter’s first appearance in a Senior best-of-three came in ’22 at Final X: New York in what was a thrilling two-match battle against Sancho.
The top side of the 67 kg bracket featured ’24 U20 World silver Otto Black (NYAC/CTT) against ’21 U20 World rep Richard Fedalen (NYCRTC). Fedalen had earlier in the day downed ’23 World Team member Xavier Johnson (Army/WCAP), while Black had overwhelmed Taylor LaMont (West Point WC), who himself had been dormant Greco-wise since last year’s Olympic Trials. Black engineered his third flourishing finish of the day against Fedalen by virtue of having seized full advantage of par terre, from which he executed two turns complemented by a booming four-point lift, thus ending the match at 9-0 in the first period.
Sancho, Bey, & Kikiniou
More history was part of the theme on Thursday with Sancho, Bey, and the Kikiniou family enjoying the festivities.
For all of the “Trials appearances” stats, Sancho’s ledger is quite impressive in its own right and rivals Hafizov. The native of Miami, Florida is himself now beholden to a long string of World and Olympic Team Trials performances in which he has been in position to make an impact.
When Sancho on Thursday afternoon defeated two-time National Team member Noah Wachsmuth (NYAC), it meant that he had advanced to his 11th Trials best-of-three.
2015 — World Team Trials, Ithaca — (loss to Bryce Saddoris)
2016 — World Team Trials, NYC — (loss to Chris Gonzalez)
2017 — World Team Trials, Las Vegas — (loss to Coleman)
2018 — World Team Trials, Tulsa — (loss to Coleman)
2021 — Olympic Trials, Fort Worth — (defeated Coleman)
2021 — World Team Trials, Lincoln — (loss to Peyton Omania)
2022 — Final X: New York — (defeated Nutter)
2023 — Final X: Newark — (defeated Robert Perez III)
2024 — Olympic Trials, State College — (loss to Coleman)
2025 — World Team Trials, Las Vegas — (TBD vs. Aliaksandr Kikiniou Jr.)
Sancho will do business with young Aliaksandr Kikiniou Jr. (NYAC), who prior to the tournament was indeed considered a potential sleeper threat in the 72 kg bracket. Kikiniou — whose 45-year-old father also had a statement-making showing — faced off with Peyton Robb (NYAC/Nebraska Wrestling TC) after the pair had split two exciting matches back in November at the Bill Farrell Memorial. This time around, Kikiniou Jr. exploded with offense to, surprisingly, put Robb away 11-3. Kikiniou Jr.’s clean dynamics and conditioning could make for an interesting set of matches opposite Sancho, who owns what is perhaps the best par terre top skill-set in the country.
Bey will be suiting up for a 7th Trials best-of-three thanks to having blitzed Aydin Rix-McElhinney (NYAC/NTS). Bey kicked it off with an off-balance that was potent enough to knock Rix-McElhinney down and off the edge for two, and he then followed with a sort of inverted arm throw to garner four more. Bey closed out the match with a four-point lift. Bey has won all three of his matches thus far by VSU and has not yet reached the second minute in any of his bouts.
The elder Kikiniou — who was a World bronze medalist in ’09 — managed to turn back Britton Holmes (Army/WCAP) in the bracket’s bottom semifinal. As had been reported, Holmes just returned to action yesterday after having recovered from knee surgery. He still looked great, however, but Kikiniou got on a run from par terre top and achieved the number of rotations necessary to end the match prematurely.
A marvel at 45-years-old, Kikiniou first became eligible to compete in US Team selection events in ’23. That year, he lost to Bey in the US Open final, won the World Team Trials challenge event, and lost to Bey at Final X: Newark. Bey also got the better of Kikiniou in the Olympic Trials last year, but the former Belarusian National Team star was back this past September at 82 kg and made the non-Olympic World Team in that weight category.
Day 2 Schedule
Friday will avail the peak amount of Senior Greco-Roman at this version of the World Team Trials as all ten weights will overlap with each other. The best-of-three finals for what USA Wrestling is calling “Group A” (55, 60, 63, 67, 72, and 77 kg) will begin at 10:00am local time (1:00pm ET) in conjunction with the early rounds for “Group B” (82, 87, 97, and 130 kg). But it will not be until 6:00pm local time when Round 2 for “Group A” commences, which will be followed by Round 3 matches (in weight categories in which third matches are necessary.
Day 1 WTT Semifinal Results
55 kg
Brady Koontz (TMWC/Dubuque RTC) def. Billy Sullivan (Army/WCAP) 9-1, TF
Jayden Raney (NYAC/IRTC) def. Peter Del Gallo (South Side WC) 8-0, TF
60 kg
Zane Richards (TMWC/IRTC) def. Isaiah Cortez (Daniel Cormier WC) 6-2
Max Black (NYAC/NTS) def. Randon Miranda (NYAC) 4-1
63 kg
Ildar Hafizov (Army/WCAP) def. Kaden Ercanbrack (NMU/NTS) via fall
Ellis Coleman (Army/WCAP) def. Riley Lomenick (NYAC) 9-0, TF
67 kg
Otto Black (NYAC/CTT) def. Richard Fedalen (NYCRTC) 9-0, TF
Alston Nutter (Army/WCAP) def. David Stepanian (NYAC/NTS) 7-1
72 kg
Alex Sancho (Army/WCAP) def. Noah Wachsmuth (NYAC) 8-0, TF
Aliaksandr Kikiniou (NYAC) def. Peyton Robb (Nebraska Wrestling TC) 11-3, TF
77 kg
Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP) def. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (NYAC/NTS) 10-0, TF
Aliaksandr Kikiniou (NYAC) def. Britton Holmes (Army/WCAP) 9-0, TF
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