Brett Back Reaches Quarterfinals as U.S. Goes Medal-Free on U23 Worlds Day 3
Kazakhstan claimed two Greco-Roman titles in Las Vegas, while Brett Back reached the quarterfinals on a medal-free day for the United States.
Brett Back reached the Greco-Roman 72kg quarterfinals as the United States finished Day 3 of the 2026 U23 World Championships without a medal. Back pinned Japan's Rintaro Sogabe with the score at 9-3 before losing 0-9 by technical superiority to Turkiye's Ibrahim Ozdemir.
Kazakhstan claimed two of the day's five Greco-Roman titles in Las Vegas. Aibek Aitbekov won by technical superiority, while Yussuf Ashrapov took a one-point decision.
- 60kg: Kazakhstan's Aibek Aitbekov defeated Azerbaijan's Elmir Aliyev 13-4 by technical superiority for gold. Aliyev took silver.
- 67kg: Russia's Erzu Zakriev pinned Turkiye's Azat Sariyar with the score at 8-0 to win gold. Sariyar earned silver.
- 72kg: Kazakhstan's Yussuf Ashrapov edged Armenia's Gaspar Terteryan 4-3 for gold. Terteryan finished with silver.
- 82kg: Iran's Abolfazl Mohmedi beat Armenia's Martik Petrosyan 2-1 to claim gold. Petrosyan took silver.
- 97kg: Belarus' Abubakar Khaslakhanau defeated Ukraine's Yehor Yakushenko 2-1 for gold. Yakushenko earned silver.
Maxwell Black opened at 60kg with a 5-1 win over China's Dahua Xiong before losing 0-8 to Kyrgyzstan's Kubanych Arinov. At 67kg, Otto Black beat Ukraine's Imed Khudzhadze 3-1, then fell 3-6 to Armenia's Yurik Hoveyan.
Adrian Artsisheuskiy won his 82kg opener 7-1 over China's Zheying Song before a 0-8 loss to Sweden's Alexander Johansson. Ryder Rogotzke lost his 97kg qualifying bout 0-9 to Germany's Darius Kiefer.
Iran leads the Greco-Roman team race with 119 points, followed by Kazakhstan with 114 and Russia with 105. Georgia sits fourth with 97, ahead of Azerbaijan with 77.
Japan leads women's freestyle with 75 points, Ukraine has 72 and the United States stands third with 55. Russia follows with 49 and Hungary with 35. In men's freestyle, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Brazil are tied with 0 points.