Yianni Diakomihalis expressed pride as he claimed the belt after defeating Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia at the Real American Freestyle 01. The 26-year-old took the mat as the reigning RAF Lightweight champion. Yianni Diakomihalis was the fifth athlete from Cornell University to achieve four NCAA Division I champion titles. He continued to excel in freestyle, amassing a silver medal in the 65 kg category at the 2022 World Championships, and was part of the gold-winning team at the World Cup that year. The 26-year-old was in contention in the 65 kg category at the 2024 US Olympic trials, but faced a defeat from Jesse Mendez, thus ending his Olympic bid. He kicked off his 2025 season dominantly, claiming his first US Open title since 2019 with a win over James Green in the final. But he faced a setback in the Final X, losing in Round 2 and 3, thus missing a spot on the World Championships. Diakomihalis competed in the Real American Freestyle 01, where he faced an Olympic bronze medalist from India, Bajrang Punia. He trounced the latter 5-1 and walked home with the belt. In an Instagram post, the four-time NCAA Division I champion shared a picture of his winning moment and captioned:"THE BELT IS MINE! RAF1 last night was absolutely electric, it’s good to be back and I can’t wait to step out again… heard I’ve already got a few challengers.." View this post on Instagram Instagram PostDiakomihalis also won two gold medals in the 65 kg at the 2020 and 2023 Pan American Championships. Yianni Diakomihalis opened up about his health challenge that almost ended his life after the Final X campaignDiakomihalis at the Cornell vs Princeton - (Source: Getty)Yianni Diakomihalis was suffering from an arrhythmia called Supraventricular Tachycardia for the past years, and things took a turn for the worse after his Final X run. Following that, he decided to undergo an ablation to treat the condition, but after the procedure, the World silver medalist almost lost his life when a complication caused his heart to stop for some seconds. "For the last 6 years I’ve had a form of arrhythmia called SVT, it eventually progressed to a point where I was having weekly episodes and decided after Final X an ablation was needed. When I woke up from the procedure I had a complication that caused my heart to stop for about 20 seconds.""Life is a very short and very wild ride. I feel very fortunate and thankful to come out on the other side healthy, and now I’m able to train harder than I ever have before. I feel like a brand new man and I’m excited to keep moving towards my goal of gold in 2028," he added.Yianni Diakomihalis won two golds at the US National Championships and two at the U17 World Championships.