Susaki pins her way to a fifth World title
Yui Susaki went through the 50kg bracket in Astana without giving up a single point, outscoring five opponents 34-0 and finishing the final by fall. Helen Maroulis took bronze at 57kg for her 12th career World or Olympic medal.
The one that matters
Susaki pins Neelam for fifth World title, never scored on
Yui Susaki won the 50kg World final by fall over India's Neelam while leading 5-0, her fifth Senior World title after 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023. She outscored the field 34-0 across five matches, with three techs, a fall and a 9-0 win. GlobalWrestOrder counts it as her sixth World or Olympic gold.
She completely dominated the 2026 World Championships, without surrendering a single point
Why it matters: Nobody at 50kg has solved Susaki, and the rest of the field is wrestling for silver.
On the mat
Maroulis beats Raimova 5-2 for bronze, 12th career medal
Helen Maroulis beat Kazakhstan's Nilufar Raimova 5-2 for 57kg bronze in Astana, her 12th career World or Olympic medal and ninth at Senior Worlds. She teched Canada's Friesen 11-0, lost 4-2 to Japan's Nagamoto in the quarters, then pinned Ecuador's Valverde in repechage. It is Team USA's second bronze of the tournament, back to back with Dymond Guilford.
9 World medals (4 gold) and 3 Olympic medals (1 gold). One of the greatest to ever do it.
Why it matters: Maroulis stays on the podium at 57kg after losing the title to Nagamoto earlier in the bracket.
Sadulaev lands in Snyder's quarter at 97kg in Astana
The men's freestyle brackets are out and Abdulrashid Sadulaev drew into No. 1 seed Kyle Snyder's quad at 97kg as the 8 seed, per Justin Basch.
Snyder needs one win and Sadulaev needs two, and then it's meeting No. 7.
Why it matters: The biggest rivalry in men's freestyle could decide 97kg before the semifinals.
- First session starts overnight at 1:30 AM ET
- Bo Bassett opens 65kg vs Biabani (CAN) Thursday