Nwachukwu stuns Ozaki in final seconds as four Americans reach world finals

A finish for the ages in Astana

The latest developments at the Senior World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, delivered the most dramatic night of the tournament so far on Thursday, 29 October 2026. Adaugo Nwachukwu won the women's 62kg world title with a takedown in the final seconds, Kyle Snyder beat his great rival Abdulrashid Sadulaev on the way to another final, and four Americans in total reached Friday's gold-medal matches.

Nwachukwu, a 23-year-old specialist in the U.S. Army, beat Nonoka Ozaki of Japan 12-11 in a final that swung wildly from start to finish. She led 5-0 at the break and later held leads of 5-1 and 9-4, before Ozaki — the 2024 Olympic bronze medallist at 68kg and a two-time world champion — fought back to take her first lead of the match, 11-9, with 13 seconds left. A lace-lock roll, upheld on challenge, had put Ozaki in front. Nwachukwu refused to settle for silver. She chased down a retreating Ozaki for the title-clinching takedown as time expired, and a further challenge did not change the result.

"I feel like I always have to put my coaches on the edge of their seats," Nwachukwu said. "I know I can get a takedown, even though there's literally four seconds left on the clock."

The gold made Nwachukwu the first American woman to win a senior world title in the middleweight class since Elena Pirozhkova in 2012, and the first world champion for the Army World Class Athlete Program in more than two decades. It completed a remarkable fortnight: she had finished runner-up at the World U23 Championships in Las Vegas before travelling to Kazakhstan. Born in Nigeria, Nwachukwu moved to the United States with her father at age 14, was third at the 2024 Olympic trials and seventh on her senior world debut in 2025.

Snyder settles the rivalry — for now

If Nwachukwu provided the night's most dramatic finish, Snyder provided its most significant result. The defending world champion at 97kg beat Sadulaev of Russia 4-4 on criteria in the quarter-finals, overturning a 4-1 second-period deficit with a takedown and a stepout in the final minute. Sadulaev still leads their head-to-head on the world and Olympic stage 3-2, but Snyder closed the gap in a rivalry that has defined the weight class for a decade.

Snyder then beat Zbigniew Baranowski of Poland 5-0 in the semi-finals. He will face Arash Yoshida of Japan in Friday's final. Yoshida pinned Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain after trailing 6-0, and Snyder beat Yoshida in last year's world semi-finals.

"He's difficult to wrestle and has come through a very challenging side," Snyder said of Yoshida. "So, he's going to be a great opponent tomorrow. He's young, tough, good condition, and I think he's gotten better since last year, so I'm going to have to really dig deep."

By reaching the final, Snyder clinched his ninth career senior world medal, tying the American record shared by Kristie Davis, Helen Maroulis, Adeline Gray, Bruce Baumgartner and Jordan Burroughs. It is his seventh Senior World final, and a win would make him a five-time world champion.

Four Americans into Friday's finals

Snyder was one of four Americans to reach a gold-medal match on Thursday, alongside Everest Leydecker, Abigail Nette and Bo Bassett — and for Leydecker, Nette and Bassett, each final will be their first at senior world level.

Leydecker, a two-time U20 world champion, beat Nagisa Harada of Japan 6-1 in the women's 55kg semi-finals. She will face Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine for gold. Nette, in her second senior world appearance, pinned Mariia Vynnyk of Ukraine in the first period of the women's 59kg semi-finals. Her final opponent is Manisha of India.

Bassett's road to the men's 65kg final was the most turbulent of the four. In the quarter-finals he trailed Abasgadzhi Magomedov of Russia 12-3 before storming back to win 14-13. He was far more comfortable in the semi-finals, beating Abdulmazhid Kudiev of Tajikistan 12-2 by technical fall. The reigning U20 world champion will face Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia for gold.

Blades repeats as bronze medallist

Kennedy Blades earned a second consecutive bronze medal at 68kg. The 2024 Olympic silver medallist at 76kg had lost in the quarter-finals to Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan, then won two repechage matches to reach the bronze-medal bout, where she trailed Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan of Mongolia 2-0 before countering a front-headlock attempt and securing the fall.

Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler lost 6-3 to Andreea Ana of Romania in the women's 53kg bronze-medal match, for the second straight year, while Precious Wieser lost 9-5 to Tanu Sharma of India at 72kg. Both finished fifth.

Elsewhere on Thursday, China won two of the four women's titles at stake: Jia Long edged Zhumanazarova 4-3 in the 68kg final, and Zelu Li beat Wiktoria Choluj of Poland 4-3 at 72kg. Moe Kiyooka of Japan won the 53kg title, beating Lucia Yepez Guzman of Ecuador 6-0. After the second women's group, Japan led the team standings with 120 points, ahead of China on 115 and the United States on 92.

What Friday holds

Friday's gold-medal matches at Barys Arena will therefore carry far more than individual glory. Leydecker, Nette, Bassett and Snyder each have a chance to turn a breakthrough tournament into a world title, and Snyder has the added prize of a fifth world crown. For Nwachukwu, the work is already done — in the final seconds, when the match, and the night, seemed lost.