Fire erupted on both sides of Team USA as it walked to the mat for its final showdown of the wrestling World Cup.

The orange and yellow flames were fitting, as the United States showed its firepower by taking home the gold medal with an impressive victory over Azerbaijan in the first-place dual, 6-4,.

After taking gold at the 2017 World Championships, Team USA defended its title with its first first-place finish at the World Cup since 2003.

“It’s exciting. It means a lot,” Team USA coach Bill Zadick said. “It’s a significant performance. It’s something that you key on because of the prestige that it brings, and you know there’s always going to be a super strong competition with the top eight teams in the world.”

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On its path to gold, the United States took down India (10-0), Japan (7-3), Georgia (8-2), and Azerbaijan (6-4).

The United States tore through its pool thanks to the stellar efforts from the back end of its lineup.

The final six weight classes combined for only three losses throughout the World Cup, demonstrating the power of the back end.

Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake were spark plugs in the American lineup, while Kyle Snyder got the job done toward the end each time. Each wrestler at every weight has the potential to win a big match, and for the United States, it was about taking it one match at a time and trusting teammates.

“The coaching staff is really big on taking care of yourself,” Dake said. “That’s kind of been the motto — you take care of yourself, you take care of your team. I can’t go out and wrestle for these guys, and they can’t come out and wrestle for me. All we can do is sit on the sidelines and cheer each other on.”

Team USA had a minimal level of threat throughout the World Cup. Part of that was because of the absences of Iran and Russia, two of the best teams in the world.

Iran earned gold at the 2017 World Cup with a 5-3 defeat of the United States, but the American squad won the World Championships and backed it up with a win at the 2018 World Cup to prove it is one of the most elite wrestling countries.

With the World Championships coming up again in October, the United States wants to make it three titles in a row on the world’s biggest stage.

“The Russians and Iranians can only run for so long,” said Thomas Gilman, who competed at 57 kilograms. “They can’t choose not to show up at the Worlds, so we’ll show them we’re undisputed.”

The possibilities are endless for this U.S. group. As things pick up over the next few months, it looks as if Team USA is the group to beat.