Max Nowry (55 kg, NYAC/IRTC) returned to the hardest tournament in sports with an early-round victory but tasted defeat one match later. But at press time, Nowry is still alive in the tournament, along with Joel Adams (77 kg, Beaver Dam RTC), as the US looks to rebound going into Sunday.
Day 1 of the 2026 World Championships began at 10:30am local time from Astana, Kazakhstan (1:30am ET) and is streaming live on FLOWrestling.
Nowry and Adams were two of four USA athletes competing on Saturday with Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP) and Kamal Bey (82 kg, Army/WCAP) also outfitted for battle.
Nowry — twice 5th at the World Championships previously — drew Nazarmamad Rakhmonbekov (TJK) in the qualification round and scored first when he managed to torque a front headlock for two points; however, Rakhmonbekov quickly reversed for exposure points and the US trailed on criteria 2-2 heading into the break. Not long into the second period, Nowry took full command. After being awarded passivity/par terre, Nowry locked a trapped-arm gutwrench and, although he briefly lost the lock only to regain the grip, rolled Rakhmonbekov the requisite number of times to secure the victory via VSU.
One round later, Nowry was paired with one his weight class’ biggest obstacles in returning World silver Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (IRI). Balootaki was just 18-years-old when he advanced through the 55 kg bracket at Zagreb ’25, a showing that was punctuated by a win over multi-time World gold Eldaniz Azizli (AZE). Since then, the young Iranian has taken his place among the top athletes in his country and figured to be an impact player in this tournament.
Nowry checked into the ties and the two began prodding in earnest. Balootaki scored first on a takedown and subsequent lift. That action ultimately resulted in a US challenge, from which Nowry received a point to make the score 4-1 for Iran. Upon the reset, Nowry sought a front headlock; Balootaki responded by locking around the American’s waist; Nowry went to arch back, Balootaki adjusted for four land-on-top points, and one turn iced the proceedings in Iran’s favor. Balootaki will face Ishkar Kurbayev (KAZ) in the semifinal; should he triumph, Nowry would become eligible for tomorrow’s opening round of repechage (against Lalit Lalit of India).
Adams
Adams stood toe-to-toe with Stoyan Kubatov (BUL) and it came down to only a single sequence (as it so often does at the Worlds) that provided the difference. In the first period, Adams was dinged for passive and Kubatov — who had to work hard for it — cranked one gutwrench to go up 3-0. Adams garnered a point of his own in Period 2 but could not penetrate Kubtov’s defenses through the remainder. Kubatov then, in somewhat surprising fashion, went on a tear, defeating ’22 World Champion/’24 bronze Ali Arsalan (SRB) and ’25 U23 World bronze Merey Maulitkanov (KAZ) to reach the semifinal against Alexandrin Gutu (MDA), where a win for Kubatov pulls Adams back in for Sunday’s repechage round.
Roberts & Kamal
For Roberts, the ’26 World Championships — including its lead-up — proved to be a frustrating experience. Roberts — a multi-time National Champion and World Team member — recently suffered a torn calf muscle and, at one point, it was at best questionable as to whether or not the popular Michigan native would be able to make the start in Astana. But last week, Roberts was said to be “90%” recovered and, indeed, he certainly looked primed as he met up with ’24 European Championships silver Ramzan Arnaut (ROU). The two had one match between them prior, back in ’23 at the Zagreb Grand Prix. Roberts won that contest (and entered it already having to deal with cracked ribs) by way of decision.
On Saturday morning, victory went to the Romanian. Roberts betrayed zero vulnerabilities as he busied up the works against Arnaut. He energetically pounded his way into the pummel, but the dynamics bogged down and the officials chose Roberts to hit the deck for passivity. Arnaut was able to rotate a gutwrench four times and walk away the 9-0 winner. The Romanian was ousted by ’24 U23 World gold Ali Abdollah Ahmadi Vafa (IRI) in the quarterfinal, thereby eliminating Roberts from re-entering the event via repechage.
Frustration for Roberts, frustration for Bey. After a head clash that required a “Gable wrap” beneath his scalp, Bey was ordered to go prone in par terre against Halishan Bahejiang (CHN), who did execute a turn — only to have Bey float and step over for exposure points. The officials did not immediately confirm the scoring but a challenge from the US corner corrected their mistake. Bey was behind 3-2 as action moved into the second frame and, curiously, perhaps, he was deemed passive again to give Bahejiang another passivity/par terre chance. Bey defended in totality this time but was unable to score again. Bahejiang was defeated by Yuksel Saricicek (TUR) in the next round to cut all too short Bey’s time in the tournament.
The semifinal round of the World Championships gets underway at 7:00pm local time from Astana (10:00am ET) and can be viewed live in the US on FLOWrestling.
2026 World Championships
October 24-27 — Astana, KAZ
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
55 kg: Max Nowry (NYAC/IRTC)
WON Nazarmamad Rakhmonbekov (TJK) 11-2, TF
LOSS Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (IRI) 10-1, TF
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP)
LOSS Ramzan Arnaut (ROU) 9-0, TF
77 kg: Joel Adams (Beaver Dam RTC)
LOSS Stoyan Kubatov (BUL) 3-1
82 kg: Kamal Bey (Army/WCAP)
LOSS Halishan Bahejiang (CHN)
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