Wyatt Hendrickson, the man who had the wrestling world shaking with his upset win over Gable Steveson in the 2025 NCAA championships, is in the headlines once more. And this time, it’s because of an upset he suffered at the hands of Russia’s Abdulla Kurbanov. Now back in 2023, Hendrickson handily dispatched of Kurbanov at the U-23 World Championships. But fast forward to the 2025 World Wrestling Championships, and it was Kurbanov who had the upper hand as he defeated Hendrickson with a 14-4 victory. And as if to add salt to the wound, Jax Forrest crashed out in the semis to Olympic gold medalist Zavur Uguev, further putting a dent in Team USA’s gold medal hopes. But is all hope lost?

Well, the Americans have one last hope left for a gold medal in the form of Zahid Valencia. In the 86 kg quarters, Valencia was in a hurry. He dominated against Ivars Samusonok. He snapped him down, went behind for two, then locked a trapped arm and rolled four straight gut wrenches. In just 35 seconds, the score hit 10-0, giving Valencia a dominant technical superiority win. And in his semifinal he proved to be a strong match against a two-time world champion.

But Zahid Valencia got off to a rough start in the semifinal against Iran’s Kamran Ghasempour. He was hit in the face, resulting in a bloody nose, causing the match to be briefly stopped at the 44-second mark. Once action resumed, he quickly took the lead 1-0 when Ghasempour went on the clock in a scoreless first period. Valencia then struck with a clever misdirection single-leg takedown, running Ghasempour off the mat for a 3-0 lead, and followed it up immediately with another takedown to go into the break ahead 5-0.

In the second period, Valencia added a step-out to extend his lead to 6-0. When Ghasempour tried a deep single-leg, Valencia defended cleanly and countered with a go-behind single-leg, driving his opponent off the mat for the final point. Ghasempour couldn’t mount any offense, and Valencia finished with a commanding 7-0 win. And now Valencia has the chance to wrestle for the ultimate glory tomorrow night. But that’s not all; there’s a bronze medal in the mix for the Americans too.

A bronze can be added to the tally after Jax Forrest’s loss

Jax Forrest and Zavur Uguev had quite the tussle in the semifinals. At first, the teenage phenom dived in on a single leg right off the whistle but couldn’t convert, but then he pushed Uguev out of bounds for a point. Uguev’s corner challenged and lost, giving Forrest another point and a quick 2-0 lead less than 30 seconds in.

But the Russian veteran struck back, capitalizing on a scramble to expose Forrest and level it 2-2, holding the criteria at the break.

In the second period, Uguev showed his experience. He started by locking up a cradle for two. Forrest battled hard and forced a step-out to narrow it to 4-3, but Uguev answered with an ankle pick and gut wrench to stretch the lead to 8-3.

In the closing moments, a final takedown from Uguev sealed the deal, as he pulled away for a 10-3 win over the American teenager. But Forrest will have the opportunity to wrestle for bronze tomorrow. Can the 18-year-old win it? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.