Photo credit John Sachs
Finding the best wrestling shoes can be a difficult task. Everyone has their own preferences and some shoes work better for certain styles. There are many variables: grip strength, location of grip, weight, flexibility, split-sole vs. single sole, tightness, price, and durability to name a few. Lots of websites publish lists of the best wrestling shoes but those only represent the opinion of one person, and that writer’s preferences may not align with yours. To remove subjectivity on our end, we’ve compiled a list of the shoes worn by every member of the 2024 US National Team. We recommend to find the wrestler(s) whose style most closely aligns with your own and see what they wear. Links are included for most shoes, but keep in mind that some models and colorways are only available on the second-hand market.
The table has been updated to include the 2024 National Team, but the shoes worn by the 2023 National team are still included below. Scroll to the bottom to check out some analysis of the brand distribution and the reasons for some changes year-over-year.
2024 US National Team
Men’s Freestyle
| Weight | Name | Shoe |
| 57kg | Spencer Lee | Rudis JB1 Black |
| Thomas Gilman | Asics Matcontrol 3 White/Blue | |
| Marcus Blaze | Asics Matflex 7 Black | |
| 65kg | Zain Retherford | Rudis SF-Tbilisi Rocky |
| Nick Lee | Asics EX-EO Black/Gold | |
| Joey Mckenna | Asics EX-EO White/Black | |
| 74kg | Kyle Dake | Spartan Combat Dake Black |
| Jason Nolf | Scraplife Ascend One Empire Chrome | |
| Mitchell Mesenbrink | Asics Dan Gable EVO 3 | |
| 86kg | Aaron Brooks | Nike Inflict White/Black |
| David Taylor | Nike Freek White/Black | |
| Trent Hidlay | Asics EX-EO Black/Gold | |
| 97kg | Kyle Snyder | Rudis KS Infinity Edge Rio |
| Isaac Trumble | Adidas Combat Speed 5 Red | |
| Kollin Moore | Rudis SF-Tbilisi 2.0 Black | |
| 125kg | Mason Parris | Nike Inflict Black |
| Hayden Zillmer | Adidas Tech Fall 2.0 White/Black | |
| Nick Gwiazdowski | Asics Dan Gable EVO 3 |
Next are the wrestling shoes worn by the members of the Women’s Freestyle US National Team
Women’s Freestyle
| Weight | Name | Shoe |
| 50kg | Sarah Hildebrandt | Rudis SF-Tbilisi 2.0 Cali Waves |
| Audrey Jimenez | Nike Inflict White/Gold | |
| Sage Mortimer | Scraplife Ascend One Tiger Eye | |
| 53kg | Dominique Parrish | Nike Inflict White/Red/Black |
| Haley Augello | Rudis Samurai Speed Emptiness | |
| Areana Villaescusa | Adidas Combat Speed 5 Red | |
| 57kg | Helen Maroulis | Nike Inflict White/Gold |
| Jacarra Winchester | Nike Inflict White/Gold (Custom) | |
| Alex Hedrick | Asics Split Elite Black | |
| 62kg | Kayla Miracle | Rudis Samurai Speed The Way |
| Macey Kilty | Scraplife Endurance Overdrive | |
| Adaugo Nwachukwu | Nike Inflict Tokyo SE | |
| 68kg | Amit Elor | Rudis Ninety-5 Spur |
| Forrest Molinari | Nike Freek White/Gold | |
| Alexandria Glaude | Asics Split Elite Black (Custom) | |
| 76kg | Kennedy Blades | Rudis Ninety-5 Pink Sky |
| Adeline Gray | Asics Aggressor 4 Tokyo | |
| Yelena Makoyed | Nike Freek White/Red |
Below are the wrestling shoes worn by the members of the 2023 Men’s Freestyle US National Team
2023 US National Team
Men’s Freestyle
Next are the wrestling shoes worn by the members of the 2023 Women’s Freestyle US National Team
Clearly it isn’t possible to declare a unanimous pair of best wrestling shoes. At the highest level, athletes are having success with a wide range of shoes. Nike, Asics, and Rudis are by far the biggest players in the space right now, making up 80% of the team collectively. Interestingly, Asics went from a 16.9% share in 2023 to a 27.8% share in 2024, due largely to the new release of the Asics EX-EO wrestling shoes. The EX-EO’s are not currently available in the US but can be bought from Japanese retailers or on eBay. The EX-EO is also extremely prevalent amongst international competitors. Another notable finding was three occurrences of the Nike Freek wrestling shoes, which are not currently available for sale. This could hint at a new release of the beloved shoes coming in the near future.
We hope this helps you in your search of finding a pair of wrestling shoes. And always remember that the best wrestling shoes are the ones that feel right on you and give have the best mobility, flexibility, weight, and traction for the techniques you are executing.
