No one was surprised when U.S. wrestling prodigy Bo Bassett made it to the semifinals of the U20 World Championships in September this year. However, what no one expected was what actually transpired during the match between Bassett and Japan’s Makoto Hosokawa. Despite being the favorite to progress to the finals, Bassett lost to Hosokawa in spectacular fashion, losing his chance at earning gold.

Keep in mind, we’re talking about the same Bassett who, at just 17, is already one of the brightest stars of school wrestling. You name it and he will already have achieved that accolade—he’s a 8x PAW Champion, the 2021 U17 Champion, and also the 2022 Ironman, and Super 32 Champion. Hosokawa, on the other hand, is 20 and a champion in his own right with a gold at the 2019 U-15 Asian Championships, a silver and a bronze at the U20 and U15 Asian Championships, in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Now, months after the disaster at Pontevedra, Spain, the young wrestler has opened up about his true feelings regarding the heartbreaking loss. Bassett appeared on the Coach Myers YouTube channel alongside his father and brothers and revealed his indomitable spirit and love for the sport. He spoke about the loss being a hard pill to swallow and what he hopes to accomplish on the world stage moving forward.

Like a true champion, he first appreciated his Japanese opponent. “It wasn’t what I wanted at the World Championships. I didn’t win the gold medal. I 100% believed I was going to. I went out there for nothing else than gold and when you lose in the semis to a pretty solid country and a solid guy who’s doing a lot of good things, it stinks,” the teen wrestler said. And why wouldn’t he? Makoto Hosokawa caught the American by surprise and dominated him. Hosokawa grabbed Bassett and finished the match with three back-to-back gut wrenches.

Having said that, Bassett definitely isn’t taking the setback to heart, and fully realizes that the journey is not over. “You thought you were going to beat him and you really wanted to wrestle Iran in the finals, but it didn’t happen. So for me it was next best thing. I love this sport. I got two more years in the U-20 division and I’m going to be sprinting and absolutely going to be back there the next year. Excited to hopefully win gold and and keep following God’s plan for me.”

“But it was exciting to go back and get bronze and win a team title Team USA and we’re world champions forever. So I’m excited to have that under my belt and that’s something I’ll never never forget.” Notably, the 17-year-old had defeated Nikoloz Beshidze from Europe’s Georgia, 10-0 by technical superiority in 2:19 in the 65-kilogram third-place bout, after the latter entered the tournament as the top seed in the 65-kilogram bracket.

And Bassett’s reaction was pretty much the same after coming in third at the event—his thirst for a comeback was palpable…

“I’m so blessed. I’m grateful to be in this moment. I have two more years in the U20 division. I can’t wait to just wreak havoc on everybody over the next two years and sprint through the World Championships. I just can’t wait. It’s already lit a fire and I’m so excited to be back,” Bassett had said during a telephonic interview. “The bronze is an amazing accomplishment and I’m coming out of here with my head held high. I’m really happy. I’m really blessed overall.”

“I was just so excited that I had an opportunity to come back after that semifinal. I was fired up. I wanted to get back on the mat. There’s nothing like the rush when they announce your full name – first, middle, last name – from the USA. Representing the red, white and blue. You’re going against the best in the world. I wanted to feel that one more time this weekend. I wrestled out of my mind. I feel like that was one of my best performances, maybe ever. I want to keep building off that, and there is a hunger to get back there next year and the year after,” he concluded.

Iran’s Ali Mahmoud Khorramdel won gold by a 10-2 win over Hosokawa in the 65-kilogram championship bout. However, USA put together a historic performance by winning the team title in men’s freestyle wrestling—with one gold, four silvers, and four bronze—with 175 points. Iran came in second with 160 team points, followed by Russia at 127, and Japan at 95. Interestingly, this was the first time since 2017 that the U.S. won the team title and stopped Iran from completing a hat trick of top-place finishes. All 10 U.S. wrestlers competed for a medal and nine won a medal.

“Everyone put themselves in the position to get on the podium and win the best medal they could. Everyone is going to get better but overall it was great. They are the best in the world. I get it that individually in some cases we didn’t get where we wanted to go but as a whole, we wrestled an amazing tournament,” J’den COX, coach of Team USA, had said later.

On a separate note, winning the team title was the “next best thing,” for the youngster. However, Bassett has done exactly what he spoke about on the podcast in the two months since September.

Already bouncing back, Bo Bassett reveals how he treats practice

After falling short in the U20 World Championship semi-finals, it took Bassett less than a month to get back to his winning ways. However, the freestyle wrestler’s redemption felt even sweeter as he avenged an earlier loss. On September 29, Bassett faced off against a confident Daniel Zepeda at the Super 32 championship.

The 17-year-old was unable to defeat Zepeda in 2023, but the rematch went differently. Taking an early lead with 3 points, Bassett held on to his lead. Despite the Californian’s best efforts, he couldn’t close the gap, losing the match 12-6 to Bo Bassett. This is exactly what the U20 star hopes to pull off at the World Championships next year and is already chasing that goal.

Despite redeeming himself and earning his third Super 32 championship title, Bassett is not slowing down. The teenager explained the intensity of his practice session while discussing his U20 world championship loss. “It’s like preparing for war every day,” Bassett told the host, about how he doesn’t differentiate between practice and competition.

“I make sure I’m taking my pace, I make sure I’m ready to go like in my mental frame before I even go into practice, let alone a competition. So it’s a battle, it’s war every day in practice,” revealed the 17-year-old. However, you’d be wrong to mistake the wrestling sensation’s intensity at practice for stress.

“If you’re not smiling, you’re not having fun. I always remind myself that I do this for fun. Wrestling is fun,” said Bassett. So while the disappointment of losing at Worlds remains, the prodigy is already chasing redemption.

Now with the possibility of the 17-year-old joining OSU under Olympic champion-turned-coach David Taylor, the future looks bright for Bassett.