Dake Makes History with Fifth World Gold in Third Weight

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (October 31) -- In college, Kyle DAKE (USA) made a name for himself by winning four national titles in four different weight classes. In Astana on Saturday, he accomplished what could be regarded as the global equivalent.

Dake became the first wrestler in history to win five world titles in three different weight classes on Saturday when he defeated Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) 3-2 in the Freestyle 86kg final at the World Championships.

“I think this may be my favorite one,” said Dake who, at 35, also became the oldest U.S. champion ever. “There was a lot of adversity that I went through. In 2024, losing my dad. My son got really sick…Last year, I fell short of my goals. I wanted to be a world champion last year.”

Iran won two of the three other Freestyle golds at stake on the eighth day of competition, with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) routing Zavur UGUEV (RUS) at 61kg to avenge a loss in last year’s world final, and Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) continuing his total dominance at 125kg.

The experience and determination that led Dake to two world titles at 79kg and three at 74kg dating back to 2018 came to the fore before a packed crowd at Astana’s Barys Arena, as the U.S. wrestler reversed a loss to Dzhioev from earlier this year.

“Just lateral movement, trying to get corners, hitting angles,” Dake said. “He’s a really, really tough opponent, he wrestles hard for six minutes.”

Dake, holding a 1-0 lead from an activity point in the first period, shot in for a double-leg takedown that Dzhioev countered. Dake then transitioned to a single and lifted the leg in the air as he moved toward the edge.

But instead of settling for the easy stepout, he managed to trip Dzhioev to the mat for two while avoiding being thrown himself.

“He’s such a good opponent,” Dake said. “He got an underhook and got me out of bounds pretty quickly. I knew if it was just one point, it was going to be hard. So, scoring those two was really important.”

He wasn’t out of the woods yet. Dzhioev came back with a stepout, then received an activity point to make it a one-point gap with :35 to go.

When Dzhioev shot in for a takedown, Dake wrapped his arms around the chest and held his ground to run out the clock and clinch the victory.

“Coach Cody [SANDERSON] had a little bit of a panic attack in the corner,” Dake said. “I’m just so comfortable there.”

Dake said he has been working on avoiding getting into that situation, from which he often works an effective counter, but which can also backfire.

“That’s how I scored my points yesterday -- I didn’t get stuck in the chest wrap every single time,” Dake said. “I didn’t score on it, but I also got my legs back, re-attacked and scored, so that will continue to be a point of emphasis moving forward. I’m really pleased how it turned out.”

After the adversity of recent years, from which his faith helped him get through, Dake could have easily thrown in the towel, particularly when he lost in the U.S. trials to Zahid VALENCIA (USA), who went on to win the 2025 world gold in Zagreb.

But he came back, beat Valencia in this year’s trials and made it back to the top of the medal podium. That gave him six world medals overall—he also a silver from 2023—to go with his two Olympic bronzes, both at 74kg.

As he displayed over two grueling days in Astana, Dake shows no signs of slowing down. He can’t, given the competition he faces daily in one of the combative wrestling clubs in the world.

Dake has been a member of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, affiliated with Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania, since 2022, somewhat ironic given the rivalry he had with the school’s wrestlers when he was at Cornell University.

The intensity of the wrestling room cannot be overemphasized. In fact, he was preceded as a gold medalist in Astana by teammate Kyle SNYDER (USA), and Levi HAINES (USA) could join them tomorrow.

Two others, Zain RETHERFORD (USA) and Marcus BLAZE (USA), claimed bronze medals on Saturday.

“We have so many guys that are always pushing the pace,” Dake said. “We push each other to get better. Conditioning is just part of who we are. You have to be able to go out and wrestle hard for six minutes, and wrestle the way that you want to.

“Our coaching staff is the best in the world and I just have a great support system around me…I don’t think I’d be here without that.”

In the 61kg final, Javan handled everything thrown at him in a frantic second period by Uguev, the Tokyo Olympic champion who was aiming for a title repeat and fourth overall.

After Javan received an activity point in the first period, Uguev went ahead in the second with an activity point and a stepout from a single-leg attack.

But when Uguev went on the attack again, Javan countered and spun behind for a go- ahead takedown and added a gut wrench to lead 5-2. The two repeated the process two more times, without the roll. Uguev shoots, Javan gets behind.

At 125kg, Zare had little trouble putting away Abdulla KURBANOV (RUS) with an 11-0 victory that ended 56 seconds into the second period, giving him a fourth world title and fifth medal overall.

In the first period, Kurbanov tried to match Zare’s power, only to result in five straight stepouts.

Kurbanov changed his strategy in the second and tried to be more aggressive by shooting, but fared no better. Zare put his full weight on Kurbanov and spun behind, then hit a gut wrench to make it 9-0, then got behind again on another shot to end the match.

For Zare, the victory keeps him undefeated since losing in the final of the Paris Olympics to Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO). This year, he won his second titles at both the Asian Championships and Asian Games.

The other gold at stake went to Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (RUS), who scored all of his points in the first period to defeat Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) 5-2 at 70kg and make his first senior medal at gold one.

Ibragimov, the 2025 European champion at 65kg, scored a single-leg takedown-gut wrench combination and a stepout in the opening period, then held on until conceding a takedown with 10 seconds left.

Akmataliev leaves Astana with his fourth career world medal but still looking to strike gold. The 2025 Asian champion now has two silvers and two bronzes.

Kougioumtsidis Falls Short

In the bronze-medal matches, Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) came up short of a medal at 86kg, a year after becoming Greek’s first-ever male world champion with a victory at 79kg.

Kougioumtsidis was dealt a 6-0 loss by Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who combined two takedowns and two activity clock points to add the 86kg world bronze to the 2023 silver he won at 79kg.

It was a tough night for the reigning Olympic champ at 86kg as well, as Ibragim KADIEV (RUS) fell 4-3 to Malik SHAVAEV (KGZ), who scored a decisive two-point counterlift with :05 left.

The Russian-born Shavaev, who also won a bronze at the recent Asian Games, had given up a second activity point to trail 2-1 when he jacked up Kadiev in the final seconds for two. Kadiev rolled through for a reversal, but a challenge to make it a two-pointer was denied.

At 70kg, Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) and Retherford both won convincingly to become three-time world medalists.

Tumur Ochir was leading 5-0 -- all from single points -- when he nailed Vasile DIACON (MDA) with a pancake and secured a fall in 3:54. That adds to his silver medal from last year and bronze at 65kg in 2021.

Retherford gained a pair of takedowns in the first period and that was enough for a 4-0 win over Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN). With the victory, Retherford completes his collection of medals, having won the gold in 2023 and silver in 2022.

At 61kg, Asian champion Kwang Myong KIM (PRK) gave the DPR Korea its first medal of the championships, scoring a late takedown to defeat Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), 3-3 on last-point criteria.

Abakarov, with a takedown in the first period, was holding a 3-1 lead when Kim shot in on a single in the last minute. He managed to get behind in standing and, with some effort, finally got Abakarov to the mat for the winning points.

The 19-year-old Blaze, last year’s world U20 champion, earned a world medal in just his second senior international tournament by taking the other 61kg bronze with a 4-2 victory over Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ).

Blaze got all the points he needed in the first period, when he used a well-executed ankle pick to score a takedown, then added a gut wrench that put him up 4-1. The lone point he conceded in the second period was a one-point penalty for finger-grabbing.

At 125kg, Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) made up somewhat for his disappointing performance a year ago in Zagreb, needing just 26 seconds to take a bronze medal with a 10-0 demolition of Jaspooran SINGH (IND).

Hendrickson, who medaled at two Ranking Series events this year, gained a quick takedown, then gut-wrenched Singh across the mat -- four times in succession -- to finish the match and end the Indian men’s last chance for a medal in Astana.

In a match that certainly lacked any spark, to say the least, last year’s silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) picked up the other 125kg bronze when Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) was disqualified for a third fleeing penalty among the six stepouts scored against him.

After the Meshvildishvili received an activity point for the lone score of the first period, the match evolved into a repetitive parade out of the ring in the second period, with Meshvildishvili encountering virtually no resistance.

The last stepout and penalty increased Meshvildishvili’s lead to a match-ending 10-0, but it will go down officially as a disqualification.

RESULTS

57kg (34 entries)
SF1: Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) df. Chong Song HAN (PRK), 4-1
SF2: Spencer LEE (USA) df. Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) by Fall, 4:16 (5-10)

61kg (27 entries)
GOLD: Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) df. Zavur UGUEV (RUS), 9-2

BRONZE: Kwang Myong KIM (PRK) df. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), 3-3
BRONZE: Marcus BLAZE (USA) df. Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ), 4-2

70kg (24 entries)
GOLD: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (RUS) df. Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), 5-2

BRONZE: Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) df. Vasile DIACON (MDA) by Fall, 3:54 (9-0)
BRONZE: Zain RETHERFORD (USA) df. Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN), 4-0

74kg (37 entries)
SF1: Inalbek SHERIEV (RUS) df. Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 3-1
SF2: Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) df. Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), 2-1

79kg (30 entries)
SF1: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) df. Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE), 9-5
SF2: Levi HAINES (USA) df. Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL), 3-3

86kg (41 entries)
GOLD: Kyle DAKE (USA) df. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 3-2

BRONZE: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), 6-0
BRONZE: Malik SHAVAEV (KGZ) df. Ibragim KADIEV (RUS), 4-3

92kg (23 entries)
SF1: Trent HIDLAY (USA) df. Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI), 11-8
SF2: Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 3-2

125kg (30 entries)
GOLD: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) df. Abdulla KURBANOV (RUS) by TS, 11-0, 3:56

BRONZE: Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) df. Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) by VCA., 4:13 (10-0)
BRONZE: Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) df. Jaspooran SINGH (IND) by TS, 10-0, :26