USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender has consistently called this a golden age for American wrestling. And if you look at the output at the senior international level — he’s right.

Is this THE golden era, though? Are we in an era unlike any other in history? 

Historical comparisons get complicated since the sport continues to evolve. There are currently 10 World weights and six Olympic weights each between men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.

There were 10 weight classes each for Greco and men’s freestyle at the Worlds and Olympics between 1969 through 1996 before it dropped to eight in 1997 and seven in 2002 before moving back to eight World weights in 2014 and 10 in 2018. 

A women’s freestyle World Championship was first held in 1987 with the United States entering in 1989. Women’s wrestling entered the Olympics in 2004 with four weight classes before moving to six in 2016. 

Weights have also changed, as have rules, weigh-in procedures, and bracketing. The lightest men’s freestyle classes used to be 48 kg (105.5 pounds) and 52 kg (114.5 pounds). That means that Zeke Jones — one of the greatest wrestlers in US history — would be on the outside looking in if he competed today since the lightest weight is 57 kg (125.5 pounds). He would have faced the likes of Brad Penrith, Kendall Cross, and Terry Brands just to make the team.

Greco is not in a golden age. Americans have produced two medals within the past six years. The best Greco era was during the 2000s. Rulon Gardner upset Alexander Karelin at the 2000 Olympics with Matt Lindland (silver) and Garrett Lowney (bronze) bagging medals. 

Gardner won a World title in 2001 with Dremiel Byers winning in 2002, which gave the United States three consecutive gold medals in the super heavyweight class. Joe Warren won a World title in 2006 and the United States won an improbable Greco team title in 2007. 

If freestyle wrestling is the standard, then an argument can be made that this is the best era in history — especially since women’s wrestling has flourished. It’s hard to argue for an era prior to 2004 since that was the first year that women’s wrestling was added to the Olympics. 

The United States won a women’s freestyle World team title in 1999 followed by a balanced performance at the 2003 World Championships in New York City. The United States tied Japan on points but Japan was awarded the team title based on more individual gold medals. 

The current era for women’s wrestling has produced our three best wrestlers: Helen Maroulis, Adeline Gray, and Tamyra Mensah-Stock. 

In 2016, Maroulis became the first American woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics and in 2021 she became the first to win multiple medals. She is a four-time World/Olympic champion with seven total medals. 

Gray is a six-time World champion, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, and a nine-time medalist. Mensah-Stock won a World title in 2019 and was a 202One Olympic gold medalist. 

At the 2019 World Championships, the United States won three individual gold medals for the first time in history (Jacarra Winchester, Mensah-Stock, and Gray) without the services of Maroulis, who was sidelined with a concussion. 

Things get complicated with men’s freestyle. There are two, six-year windows that are comparable: 1991-96 and 2016-21. 

Below is a complete breakdown of each era with individual results and team placings at the World Championships. 

1990s era

1991 World team - 2nd
48 kg: Tim Vanni - dnp
52 kg: Zeke Jones - 1st
57 kg: Brad Penrith - 2nd
62 kg: John Smith - 1st
68 kg: Townsend Saunders - dnp
74 kg: Kenny Monday - 2nd
82 kg: Kevin Jackson - 1st
90 kg: Chris Campbell - 5th
100 kg: Mark Coleman - 2nd
130 kg: Bruce Baumgartner - 7th

1992 Olympic team
48 kg: Tim Vanni - 5th
52 kg: Zeke Jones - 2nd
57 kg: Kendall Cross - 6th
62 kg: John Smith - 1st
68 kg: Townsend Saunders - 7th
74 kg: Kenny Monday - 2nd
82 kg: Kevin Jackson - 1st
90 kg: Chris Campbell - 3rd
100 kg: Mark Coleman - 7th
130 kg: Bruce Baumgartner - 1st

1993 World team - 1st
48 kg: Rob Eiter - 9th
52 kg: Zeke Jones - 4th
57 kg: Terry Brands - 1st
62 kg: Tom Brands - 1st
68 kg: Townsend Saunders - 4th
74 kg: Dave Schultz - 2nd
82 kg: Kevin Jackson - 4th
90 kg: Melvin Douglas - 1st
100 kg: Mark Kerr - 7th
130 kg: Bruce Baumgartner - 1st

1994 World team - 9th
48 kg: Tim Vanni - 9th
52 kg: Zeke Jones - dnp
57 kg: Terry Brands - dnp
62 kg: Tom Brands - dnp
68 kg: Townsend Saunders - dnp
74 kg: Dave Schultz - 7th
82 kg: Kevin Jackson - dnp
90 kg: Melvin Douglas - 3rd
100 kg: Mark Kerr - dnp
130 kg: Bruce Baumgartner - 2nd 

1995 World team - 1st
48 kg: Rob Eiter - 7th
52 kg: Zeke Jones - 3rd
57 kg: Terry Brands - 1st
62 kg: Tom Brands - 9th
68 kg: Townsend Saunders - 8th
74 kg: Dave Schultz - 5th
82 kg: Kevin Jackson - 1st
90 kg: Melvin Douglas - 3rd
100 kg: Kurt Angle - 1st
130 kg: Bruce Baumgartner - 1st

1996 Olympic team
48 kg: Rob Eiter - 8th
52 kg: Lou Rosselli - dnp
57 kg: Kendall Cross - 1st
62 kg: Tom Brands - 1st
68 kg: Townsend Saunders - 2nd
74 kg: Kenny Monday - 6th
82 kg: Les Gutches - 7th
90 kg: Melvin Douglas - 7th
100 kg: Kurt Angle - 1st
130 kg: Bruce Baumgartner - 3rd

Gold: 17 (28.3%)
Silver: 8 (13.3%)
Bronze: 5 (8.3)
Total medals: 30/60 (50%)

Current Era

2016 Olympic Team
57 kg: Daniel Dennis - dnp
65 kg: Frank Molinaro - 5th
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs - 9th
86 kg: J'den Cox - 3rd
97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 1st
125 kg: Tervel Dlagnev - 3rd

2017 World Team - 1st
57 kg: Thomas Gilman - 2nd
61 kg: Logan Stieber - dnp
65 kg: Zain Retherford - dnp
70 kg: James Green - 2nd
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs - 1st
86 kg: J'den Cox - 3rd
97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 1st
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski - 3rd

2018 World Team - 2nd
57 kg: Thomas Gilman - 5th
61 kg: Joe Colon - 3rd
65 kg: Logan Stieber - dnp
70 kg: James Green - dnp
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs - 3rd
79 kg: Kyle Dake - 1st
86 kg: David Taylor - 1st
92 kg: J'den Cox - 1st
97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 2nd
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski - 3rd

2019 World Team - 3rd
57 kg: Daton Fix - dnp
61 kg: Tyler Graff - 5th
65 kg: Zain Retherford - dnp
70 kg: James Green - dnp
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs - 3rd
79 kg: Kyle Dake - 1st
86 kg: Pat Downey - 9th
92 kg: J'den Cox - 1st
97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 3rd
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski - dnp

2020 Olympic Team
57 kg: Thomas Gilman - 3rd
65 kg: DNQ
74 kg: Kyle Dake - 3rd
86 kg: David Taylor - 1st
97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 2nd
125 kg: Gable Steveson - 1st

2021 World Team - 2nd
57 kg: Thomas Gilman - 1st
61 kg: Daton Fix - 2nd
65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis - dnp
70 kg: James Green - 7th
74 kg: Kyle Dake - 1st
79 kg: Jordan Burroughs - 1st
86 kg: David Taylor - 2nd
92 kg: J'den Cox - 3rd
97 kg: Kyle Snyder - 2nd
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski - 5th

Gold: 13 (26%)
Silver: 7 (14%)
Bronze: 12 (24%)
Total medals: 32/50 (64%)

Several things should stand out. There were 10 additional opportunities during the 1990s since there were 10 weights at the Worlds and the Olympics. There are currently six weights at the Olympics, which means our best wrestlers are funneled into one weight class. 

The 1990s era had a slightly higher gold medal percentage (28.3 to 26) but the current era has a 14 percent higher medal output. This is skewed since two bronze medals are awarded and only one was given in the 90s. The percentage would be closer to 60 percent had the current medal system been in place back then, and the percentage would be lower if a true third-place match was wrestled today. 

Americans won World team titles in 1993 and 1995 compared to one in 2017. The United States had a disastrous performance in 1994 while the current era hasn’t finished lower than third. 

It’s also fun to speculate where wrestlers from the 1990s would compete under the current Olympic structure. Tom Brands and John Smith may have faced Townsend Saunders at 65 kg and Kevin Jackson, Melvin Douglas, and Chris Campbell may have faced off at 86 kg. 

Notice, too, that Townsend Saunders (68 kg) and James Green (70 kg) have eerily similar careers. Each owned his respective weight class domestically with similar results. 

Decide for yourself, but the current era of American wrestling is as good as it’s ever been. Is it THE golden age? 

The combination of men's and women's success means the answer is YES!