2026 U17 World Championships

Villafane Denies Wax History, Makes His Own

Monday, August 3, 2026 - 10:25 By Vinay Siwach

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BAKU, Azerbaijan (August 3) -- Two wrestlers chasing history and with a growing rivalry met in the 45kg final. U17 world champion in Greco-Roman Rylen WAX (USA) was hoping to add the Freestyle gold as well and become first wrestler since 1983 to win golds in both styles.

Standing in his way was 15-year-old Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR), who was aiming to become only the second Puerto Rican wrestler to win a U17 world title, 51 years after the nation's first.

WATCH: Villafane's Historic Final Win at U17 World Wrestling Championships

Their rivalry began at the 2025 U15 Pan-American Championships, where they met in both the 41kg Freestyle and Greco-Roman finals. Villafane claimed the Freestyle title with a 5-4 victory before Wax responded with an 8-0 win in the Greco-Roman final.

Wrestling Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR)Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR) celebrates after winning the 45kg gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

They renewed the rivalry earlier this year at the U17 Pan-American Championships, again facing each other in both styles. This time, Wax emerged victorious in both matches, edging Villafane 9-8 in the 45kg Freestyle semifinal before winning 7-5 in the Greco-Roman round-robin bout.

Wax held the head-to-head advantage but Villafane was determined to take one back. The final was off to an electric start as they searched for the breakthrough.

As no early points were scored, Wax on the first to go on the activity clock. He managed to get to Villafane's legs but failed to complete the takedown, allowing Villafane to counter with a stepout for a 1-0 lead. When Wax failed to score during the 30-second activity period, Villafane received another point to take a 2-0 advantage into the break.

Wrestling Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR)Nelson VILLAFANE (PUR) scores on Rylen WAX (USA) during the 45kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Villafane stalled the action in the second period and was put on the 30-second activity clock which he erased after scoring a takedown and lead 4-0 with 49 seconds left on the clock.

Wax drove Villafane towards the edge but the Puerto Rico wrestler circled and pushed Wax, who looked disappointed, out for a point. Wax got a stepout with 14 seconds remaining but his late desperate headpinch was blocked as Villafane scored two more points, completing a top-class 7-1 win and the U17 world title.

Click here for the full report of the U17 World Wrestling Championships 2026 

LIVE BLOG: Pan-American Championships (DAY FOUR)

Sunday, May 10, 2026 - 15:14 By Eric Olanowski

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CORALVILLE, United States (May 10) -- We just kicked off the final day of wrestling, not only at the Pan-American Championships, but of the continental championship season. Today, we'll had out the final seven freestyle golds at 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 97kg and 125kg.

Stars in Action:
- Levi David HAINES (USA) - World silver medalist 
- Real Marshall Ray WOODS (USA) - World bronze medalist 
- Darian Toi CRUZ (PUR) - Paris 2024 Olympian 
- Wyatt Avery HENDRICKSON (USA) - Pan-Am champion

12:15: Once we finish these matches on Mat A, we'll be taking a quick five-minute break then head right into the semfinals.  

11:56: Not much to say about Wyatt Avery HENDRICKSON (USA). He hit a snap down to a cradle and pinned Brandon Eloin ANGUIANO FLORES (MEX) in 31 seconds. He'll wrestle the winner of  Gabriel DE SOUSA SILVA (BRA) and Aaron Anthony JOHNSON (JAM) in today's semifinals.

11:38: We have not talk much about the reinging world silver medalist, Levi David HAINES (USA), but he's coming up next on Mat A. He's already had a pair of matches that have both ended in 10-0 wins. He'll try to make it three-for-three, as he'll wrestle Patrik LEDER (CAN) next.

11:36: We're back to action on Mat A. The issue has been fixed and Jose Daniel DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN) and  Jorawar Singh DHINSA (CAN) are finally wrestling.

11:28: We're having technical issues on Mat A. We apologize for the delay but we'll be back to wrestling once the IT issues get solved.

11:16: Impotant note for tonight's final session. We'll start at 16:00, an hour earlier than normally scheduled. The start time has been updated from 17:00 to 16:00,

11:10: We're doing a mini doc on Hidlay so we just ran back to do a quick interivew and also ran the Question of the Day: "Which Olympic champion has the best shot to win 97kg world gold in Bahrain? Sadulaev, Snyder, Tazhudinov or Yazdani?" That'll be up on our IG tomorrow, so stay tuned.  

10:41: Hidlay who won 10-0  about 15 minutes ago is already coming up again shortly. He'll be up in three matches on Mat A against AMBROCIO GREIFO Pool Edinson (PER).

10:26: It'll be very USA heavy today. They have a lot of firepower taking the mat and are favored in nearly every weight today. But on a non-USA note: reigning Pan-Am runner-up from Puerto Rico Shane Christopher JONES (PUR) scored four takedowns in his opening round match against Andrew Terry Musey JOHNSON (CAN), picking up the 8-2 win. 

10:20: Reigning world champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) is the biggest star in action today. He's making his way to Mat A as we speak for his opening round match. I actually just spoke to his coach Jamil KELLY (USA) and this is the match that they circled coming into the competition as the toughest that Trent will face here in Iowa.