Two U.S. champions and six medals at the U23 Worlds

Kylie Welker won the 76 kg title at the U23 World Championships in Las Vegas on October 15, beating Evelin Ujhelji of Serbia 10-0 in 47 seconds. It is her third straight U23 World title, after 72 kg in 2024 and 76 kg in 2025. She outscored her four opponents 38-0, with three technical falls and a fall. United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling both report that no American had won three before: /wrestlers/kylie-welker.

Cristelle Rodriguez won 53 kg on October 16, pinning Sevval Cayir of Turkey in 55 seconds in the final. On the way she beat Xiaotong Zeng of China 6-2, Sweety of India 11-2 and Anastasiia Polska of Ukraine 3-1. USA Wrestling, which lists her as Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler, reports that she won the 2024 U20 World title: /wrestlers/cristelle-rodriguez.

The two titles were among six U.S. medals in the ten women's freestyle weights: two gold, one silver and three bronze. Only Ukraine also won six. The United States finished second in the team standings with 117 points, behind Ukraine on 143, with Japan third on 108. The women's tournament ran October 14 to 16 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Adaugo Nwachukwu took silver at 62 kg. She won her first three bouts 10-0, 10-0 and 11-0, then beat Melanie Jimenez Villalba of Mexico 3-1 in the semifinal. Iryna Bondar of Ukraine won the final 10-0: /wrestlers/adaugo-nwachukwu.

Three Americans won bronze. At 50 kg, Morgan Turner lost her semifinal 10-6 to Aida Kerymova of Ukraine, then beat Ana Rotaru of Romania 6-2: /wrestlers/morgan-turner. At 55 kg, Everest Leydecker won her first three bouts 10-0, 10-0 and 11-0 before Gerda Terek of Hungary beat her by fall in the semifinal. Leydecker took bronze 11-0 over Ulmeken Esenbaeva of Uzbekistan: /wrestlers/everest-leydecker. At 65 kg, Reese Larramendy beat Nicoll Parrado Osorio of Colombia 6-4, lost her semifinal 10-0 to Yuqi Rao of China, then beat Ayse Erkan of Turkey 10-4: /wrestlers/reese-larramendy.

Taylor Graveman placed 10th at 72 kg, Bella Mir 11th at 68 kg, Alexis Janiak 13th at 59 kg and Sara Sterner 14th at 57 kg. Mir's record is at /wrestlers/bella-mir and Janiak's at /wrestlers/alexis-janiak.

Ukraine won three of the ten titles: Alina Filipovych at 59 kg, Bondar at 62 kg and Iryna Zablotska at 72 kg. Russia won two, Ekaterina Koshkina at 65 kg and Alina Shevchenko at 68 kg. Haruna Morikawa of Japan won 50 kg, and Aryna Dzemchanka Martynava of Belarus won 57 kg. Terek won 55 kg, the first U23 World title in women's wrestling for Hungary, United World Wrestling reported.

USA Wrestling reports that Turner, Rodriguez, Leydecker and Nwachukwu are on the U.S. team for the Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, October 24 to November 1. The U23 and Senior World Championships are both on the calendar at /events.