Five Americans open U23 Worlds freestyle, Bassett gets a bye
Davino, James, Sinclair, Shumate and Merrill go Friday, and the 65kg bracket sets up a possible Bassett vs Buckeye opener.
Men's freestyle takes over U23 Worlds on Friday, and Team USA sends five out in the opening session, per @justinjbasch: Ben Davino of Ohio State at 61kg, Jayden James of Penn State at 74kg, Aeoden Sinclair of Missouri at 86kg, Seth Shumate of Ohio State at 92kg and Coby Merrill of Iowa State at 125kg. Opening rounds start at 1:30 PM ET with semifinals at 7:45 PM ET. That is a lineup with hardware on it already, which makes Friday the first real medal chance for the American men after the Greco side came home empty in Las Vegas.
The resumes stack up fast. Davino is the 2026 NCAA runner-up. James is a 2025 U17 World champ and a 2026 U20 World silver medalist. Sinclair is the reigning U20 World champ. Merrill is the 2026 U20 Pan Am champ. Shumate is the outlier in the best way, making his World Championships debut.
Bassett byed into the Round of 16
The 65kg bracket is out and Bo Bassett drew a first-round bye straight into the Round of 16. He gets the winner of Romania's D. Sandu and Canada's Karson Brown, and Basch flagged the wrinkle there.
"Brown is an Ohio State freshman, so Bassett could open against a Buckeye."
Brown is an Ohio State freshman, so Bassett could open against a Buckeye.
The other American storyline in that bracket is not technically American on the entry list. Nebraska's Omar Ayoub is wrestling for Puerto Rico and opens against Hungary's Z. Mizsei. Ayoub and Bassett are on opposite sides of the bracket, so the only place they can meet is the final.
65kg goes Saturday at 1:30 PM ET.
The Greco run set the bar low. The US Greco team went 11-10 in Las Vegas without a medal, so the freestyle men arrive with the whole week's American medal count still sitting at whatever the women put on it. Five entries on day one, a reigning U20 World champ among them, and a 65kg bracket with two US college wrestlers on opposite sides is about as much as you can ask for from one bracket release.
Basch said he will post the rest of the brackets as they are released.
What to watch: Friday's semifinals at 7:45 PM ET, and whether Bassett draws Karson Brown in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
92kg Seth Shumate (Ohio State), making his World Championships debut
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