Spencer Lee is currently the #1 ranked wrestler in the world at 57 kg and will compete against #5 Luke Lilledahl at Final X on June 14. If Lee wins this best-of-three series, he’ll make his first senior world team and travel to Zagreb, Croatia in September to wrestle at the 2025 Senior World Championships. Lee will be a huge favorite not only at Final X but should als be considered the overwhelming favorite to win worlds this year at 57 kg. Check out the article below to see a quick breakdown of why Lee will win a gold medal this year.

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No World Champs In The Field

The landscape after an Olympic year usually changes but this year is especially significant at 57 kg considering there will not be any world champions in the field. Most notably, 2024 Olympic champion Rei Higuchi isn’t wrestling this year. Higuchi, who defeated Lee in the Olympic finals 4-2, is taking this year off and hasn’t announced if he’ll be returning to the weight or moving up. 

Originally it was reported that Japan’s Masanosuke Ono was going to drop to 57 kg this year. However, after Ono’s recent commitment to Penn State, he’s taking this year off of freestyle to focus on his folkstyle training. That means Japan is currently lacking a contender at 57 kg without a wrestler currently ranked in the top 20.

It’s also important to note that every other past world/Olympic champion over the past 4 years is either retired or moving up a weight class. 2021 Olympic champ Zaur Uguev is wrestling at 61 kg now, 2021 world champion Thomas Gilman is currently retired, 2022 world champ Zelimkhan Abakarov is also wrestling up at 61 kg, and 2023 world champ Stevan Micic isn’t wrestling this year. This absence of talent leaves Spencer Lee as the most credentialed wrestler in the weight.

Inconsistent 57 kg Challengers 

Outside of Spencer Lee being the most credentialed wrestler at the weight, the remaining challengers have been incredibly inconsistent over the past year. The current #2 ranked wrestler Aman Sehrawat won bronze at the 2024 Olympics but recently lost to Roman Bravo-Young at the Mongolian Ranking Series tournament. Lee notably defeated Bravo-Young at the Zagreb Open in February this year. 

Roman Bravo-Young's win over Aman Sehrawat:

Spencer Lee's win over Roman Bravo-Young:

After Sehrawat, #3 Gulomjon Abdullaev was teched by Spencer Lee at the Olympics and recently lost a match to Rakhat Kalzhan at the 2025 Asian Championships. Though Kalzhan defeated Sehrawat, he lost to Iran’s Milad Valizadeh, who then lost to North Korea’s Chongsong Han in the finals. And while Han looked impressive at the Asian Championships, he failed to qualify for the Olympics last year when he lost to Aman Sehrawat and Andrey Yatsenko at the World Olympic Games Qualifier. 

It’s also worth mentioning Iran’s 57 kg representative this year - Ali Momeni. Momeni won the world team spot when he defeated Milad Valizadeh in the finals of the Takhti Cup last month. While Iran is a perennial wrestling powerhouse, I’d be surprised if Momeni challenges for gold this year based on his past performances. His best result was at the U23 World Championships last year when he won a bronze medal. There, he lost to Kyrgyzstan’s Abdymalik Karachov (4-3) but defeated Max Gallagher (8-0). Momeni has since avenged his loss to Karachov, but Momeni has yet to prove he is anywhere close to Lee’s level.

All of the above proves a simple point - there is no clear challenger to Spencer Lee at 57 kg. Obviously a wrestler could emerge in the next few months, but the inconsistent results prove that Lee is the man to beat this year for gold. 

Can Luke Lilledahl Test Spencer Lee?

Many will be writing off Luke Lilledahl on June 14th at Final X. However, Lilledahl is an accomplished freestyle wrestler and is currently ranked #5 in the world at 57 kg. Lilledahl won the U20 World Championships last summer and defeated #10 Lev Pavlov in the finals. Pavlov is one of Russia’s best 57 kg wrestlers and placed second at both the 2025 Yarygin and 2024 Russian Nationals. 

Beyond that win, Lilledahl dominated his way through the US Open, going 4-0 with 3 techs while outsourcing his opponents 40-4. Lilledahl also has the benefit of training every day with the last wrestler to defeat Spencer Lee -  Masanosuke Ono. Though Lee defeated Lilledahl at the 2023 Bill Farrell, Lilledahl has made significant improvements since then and has spent over a year in the Penn State wrestling room. As remarkable as it sounds, Lilledahl might be as good, or better, than any wrestler Lee could potentially face at Worlds. 

The question is: Has Lilledahl improved enough to challenge Spencer Lee at Final X? When it comes down to it, I’m predicting Spencer wins two controlling matches against Lilledahl at Final X. After that, I’m picking Lee to continue his dominance at the World Championships and bring home his first senior world gold medal. 

Lee's win over Lilledahl at the 2023 Bill Farrell: