Team USA's men's freestyle team had one of the best performances in history: three golds and seven total medals in 10 weight classes. And still, Russia outscored America 178 to 150 stopping the Red, White, and Blue in their quest to repeat as Men's Freestyle World Champions. 

Despite earning more yellow medals at a World Championships since 1995 and more total medals since 1987, the Americans did not have enough firepower to overcome a rebounding Russian squad. The Russian Federation won zero gold last year, the first time that has happened in their competitive history was an aberration. But the Russians were on a mission in Budapest to prove last year was an aberration. They did so by picking up four golds and seven total medals at the 2018 Worlds and the team men's freestyle championship. 

The actual team race hewed remarkably close to how The Wrestling Nomad suggested it might. So how did your humble correspondent's predictions from the weight class previews fair? We shall review and find out together!

Before we begin, if you will allow me the caveat of pointing out that I made these predictions before the brackets where released, making things significantly more difficult than making predictions after the draws are completed. Thank you, we may proceed. 

How'd I Do?

Not terribly. I picked the defending champ to repeat and he at least made it on to the medal stand. Gilman wrestled for a medal (and kept Edisherashvili from medaling), but I whiffed on Erdenebat and totally slept on Uguev. 

So What Happened?

Uguev proved that last year's one and done at World's was a fluke, and ran the gauntlet to a gold medal. Takahashi also had a tough draw, losing only to Uguev. Takahashi then took out Andreyev of Belarus who beat Atri of Iran, who beat Erdenebat, my unfortunate silver pick. 

Gilman exorcized a World Cup demon by beating Edisherashvili in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, it was Atli would get revenge of his own against Gilman, denying the Hawkeye a second consecutive world medal in the bronze match. 

Sanayev was a trendy dark horse pick and the thirty-year-old Siberian showed why. Unfortunately for Sanayev, his Cinderella run came to an end in the finals when too many singlet pulls finally caught up to him. The former Russian Federation team member got dinged at the worst possible time, giving Uguev a penalty point and the gold medal in the final seconds of the finals match.

How'd I Do?

Again, not terrible, but not great either. I went with the favorite to win, but Bonne, who I picked to finish with a bronze medal, upset Radhidov in the finals. Lomtadze, who was on the same side of the bracket as Rashidov, missed a medal by losing in the bronze match to Tumenbileg.

I was pleased to see that I was wrong about Dubov, as it was Joe Colon who personally ended his tournament. 

So What Happened?

Yowlys Bonne showing that age is just a number, as the 35-year-old won four consecutive wars to earn his first World gold medal. His five-point stunner against Rashidov in the finals was one of the highlights of the tournament, but his back from the dead, come from behind win over Yakheshi in the quarterfinals was equally as impressive in my opinion. 

Tumenbileg over Lomtadze for bronze was a very minor upset. I also should have been more confident in Joe Colon's ability to beat Dubov and then go on to win a bronze, given their respective recent results. 

How'd I Do?

Disastrously. I did have Valdes pegged for a medal, which is courteously provided. But that was all I got right. This weight class quite often defies predictions and this year was no exception. It was foolish to sleep on Otoguro, but as the great Docter Farthing once said, "Hindsight is 20/20, my friend!"

So What Happened?

Otoguro are you kidding me? The 19-year-old scored 67 points on his way to besting one of the deepest weights in the tournament. When Otoguro beat Chakaev in the semifinals, he also eliminated two former world champs from the repechage in Stieber and Khinchegashvili. 

On the other side of the bracket, Punia upsetting Valdes in the semis eliminated another world champ, Haji Aliev, who lost to Valdes in the first round of the tournament. Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland, another potential favorite, lost in the second round to Tumur-Ochir of Mongolia in the second round. I was at least wise enough not to pick Gadzhiev to make the 65 kg podium.

How'd I Do?

Hey, look at that, I finally picked a champ right. Good for me! But the champagne will remain uncorked, as I completely whiffed everywhere else. Green, Navruzov, and Kaya all missed the podium, and only Navruzov managed to finish in the top 10. The Uzbek ultimately finished seventh.  

So What Happened?

Gazimagomedov buzzsawed through the tougher bottom half of the bracket, eliminating Green by beating the Mongolian who beat James. Gazi beat last year's 65 kg champ, Iakobishvili, in the semis, ending Navruzov's shot at a medal. The Mongolian beat Kaya in the wrestlebacks before losing to Iakobishvili for bronze. 

On the other side of the bracket, it was another thirtysomething making the finals in Dagestani transplant Adam Batirov, earning the first every wrestling world medal for the tiny island nation of Bahrain. Maren was another medal for Cuba, who took fifth place as a team while only sending five wrestlers to Budapest. 

How'd I Do?

Burroughs, Chamizo, and Sidakov all ended up on the same side of the bracket, so only two of them were going to medal. That they were all in the top three of their half of the bracket reflects well on my prognostication. Demirtas lost to Kentchadze in the semifinals and then to Bekzod the Merciless in the bronze medal match. While Abdurakhmonov did mess up my pick, in this case I was happy to be proven wrong by the Clarion University alumnus. 

So What Happened?

The top three wrestlers all getting drawn on the same side of the bracket is what happened. The young Sidakov showed incredible nerve, taking out five-time World and Olympic champ Burroughs and two-time World champ Chamizo in consecutive matches, both by the thinnest of margins. That steely resolve was again needed for a criteria win over Kentchadze, an unexpected but unsurprising World finalist (it's never a surprise to see a Georgian in a World Championship final). Kentchadze almost didn't make it out of the first round, having to surmount an eight-point comeback over Bekzod in his first match of the tournament.  

How'd I Do?

Pretty decent. Purejav found himself on the same side of the bracket as the two favorites, Dake and Gadzhimagomedov, and so a medal was never likely for him. I nailed a bronze for Shabanov but missed seeing the savvy veteran Hasanov picking up another World or Olympic medal (his fourth) in yet another weight class (his third).

So What Happened?

Dake powerbombed the dirty wrestling, head-butting Gadzhimagomedov off the mat in the semifinals. That 13-0 thrashing propelled Dake into the finals and Gadzhi into the bronze medal match. Dake and Gadzhi both won their next matches to place first and third respectively. 

On the top side of the bracket, Hasanov beat Shabanov in the quarters then barely got by Akbari of Iran in the semis. It was more heartache for Akbari in the bronze-medal match as he lost in the closing seconds to Shabanov. 

How'd I Do?

Dece to quite dece in my opinion. Nobody picked Friev to medal, and if you did, please stop lying. One of my bronze-medal picks lost to my gold medal pick in the bronze medal match, and the other finished in second place. And my silver medal pick ended up winning the whole thing. 

I will tell you this, though, I will not be picking against David Taylor again for a long, long time.  

So What Happened?

David Taylor showed the world who is boss of 86 kg. While Erdin earned the number one seed and made the most of it, cruising to the finals against decent but uninspiring opponents, Taylor's road to the finals was paved with landmines. 

The Magic Man drew defending World and Olympic champ Hasan Yazdani in the first round. Taylor beat Yazdani 11-6, wearing the great Iranian down and scoring 9 unanswered points for the come from behind victory. DT dispatched the top 20-ranked Rajabov of Belarus next, 10-0. An 8-0 win over the dangerous Torreblanca of Cuba, who David only beat via 4-4 criteria the last time they met, and it was a semifinal bout against one of the co-favorites, Kurugliev of Russia. An errant heel to the face nearly knocked Taylor unconscious, but David shook it off and again used his unparalleled pace and conditioning to beat the Russian 7-5. 

The finals was a coronation, as David Taylor left no doubt, teching the Turk 12-2.  

How'd I Do?

Could've done better. I had Cox on the medal stand but I did not place him on the top step. I whiffed on everyone else. I did not have enough faith in either J'den or Karimi, a mistake I won't make again. 

So What Happened?

J'den's draw did him no favors, as his first match was against Marsagishvili, a Georigan who beat J'den at the 2018 World Cup. J'Den also found himself on the same side of the bracket as pre-tournament favorites, Tsakulov, Sharifov, and Karimi. 

Cox got revenge on Marsagishvili, then beat Moldova for a date in the semifinals with Karimi. Karimi took out both Sharifov and Tsakulov, but then fell to his American kryptonite. Karimi is now 0-3 against J'den.

In the finals, J'den beat Yankovski, an unheralded but highly ranked Belarusian by way of Bulgaria, for gold. It was Cox's third straight World or Olympic medal.  

How'd I Do?

Well, I picked the finalists, just not in the right order. So there's that. And I correctly predicted that Odikadze would finally break the spell that had him ensorcelled and caused him to lose four straight World and Olympic bronze medal matches. I missed Alborov but I don't feel bad about not having Conyedo on the podium. The number of people that predicted Conyedo to medal but not his Italian teammate Chamizo is exactly zero.

So What Happened?

Sadulaev and Snyder both did their job to make their highly anticipated World finals rematch happen. We all know what happened in the actual match, no need to rehash that. 

Odikadze took out Alborov in a big quarterfinals match. The winner of that would see Sadulaev next, so a loss in that match is basically guaranteed to eliminate you from medal contention. Odi would prevail and then lose to Saddycakes in the semis. A satisfying pinfall win for Odi in the third place bout over Rio bronze medalist Ibragimov and the Curse of Odikadze was lifted at last. 

How'd I Do?

I'll take getting half of the names right, but I missed a couple big ones. I did not see Hadi taking out the Rio champ, Taha Akgul. I was happy to be correct in picking a second straight medal for Gwiz, although I wish I had been wrong about the color. Deng of China was ranked in the top 20 but few, if anyone, had him picked as a medalist. And if you did, well, sorry, but I don't believe you. 

So What Happened?

Geno ran through a very difficult bottom bracket. 125 kg was also very uneven numbers-wise, with 14 on the bottom and only 8 on the top, showing how important it was for Nick Gwiazdowski to earn that top seed. 

Despite the upset in the final seconds of his quarterfinal match with Deng, Gwiz was able to cruise through the repechage, winning two straight matches and securing his second consecutive World bronze medal. 

There was carnage on the other side of the bracket, as Magomedov lost his first round match and was then knocked out of the competition when Hadi beat the Belarussian who beat Magomedov. Hadi then knocked off the favorite, Akgul 3-2, eliminating Khotsiansivskiy of Ukraine, the second seed. Geno meanwhile had to take out the Hungarian, the Russian, and then Hadi to make the finals, where he beat Deng 6-0 to take his second consecutive World Championships. Geno's win over Hadi shockingly ended Akgul's tournament, and the favorite left Budapest without a medal of any kind.

So How Did You Do?

Did you make Budapest picks? Did you do so before the brackets were released? Either way, we'd like to here how you did, so let us know!