Wrestlers · College
Brianna Gonzalez
2025 U.S. Open champion at 53 kg; fifth at the 2025 U23 Worlds; third at the 2026 NCAA meet for Iowa; 2022 CIF girls' state champion
El Monte, CA · Arroyo High School HS · University of Iowa
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 28, 2026
Brianna Gonzalez is from El Monte, California, and wrestled for Arroyo High School alongside her identical twin sister, Emilie. As a sophomore in 2020 she reached the 101-pound final of the CIF girls' state championships and lost 7-2 to Lizette Rodriguez of James Logan.
In June 2021 she won the Cadet Pan American title at 46 kg, about 101 pounds, in Oaxtepec, Mexico. That July both sisters reached the 100-pound final at Junior Nationals, Fargo. Under USA Wrestling rules they shared the title without wrestling. As a senior in 2022 she won the 101-pound CIF girls' state title, beating Kaelani Shufeldt of Marina 5-1.
She joined the University of Iowa and wrestled unattached in 2022-23. In 2024 she beat Sydney Petzinger of North Central 10-1 to reach the 116-pound NCWWC final, where teammate Felicity Taylor beat her. That April she won 53 kg at U20 Nationals, taking the last two matches of her series with Clare Booe of Florida by technical fall. She placed 15th at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain.
She went 38-2 in 2024-25 and placed fifth at 117 pounds at the 2025 NCWWC. In April she beat Taylor 6-5 in the 53 kg final of the U.S. Open. Taylor won their Final X series in June, 2-1 and 6-4. In August she took bronze at the Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay, pinning Kailane Araujo de Sousa of Brazil.
At the U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, that October, she beat Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine 2-1 in repechage. She lost the bronze-medal match 8-0 to Christianah Ogunsanya of Nigeria and placed fifth.
In February 2026 she won the NCAA Region V title at 117 pounds. At the NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships in March she lost 17-10 to Yu Sakamoto of McKendree. She won her last two matches, beating Jenna Anderson of Presbyterian 3-2 and Karissa Turnwall of Emmanuel 4-2, to place third.
She is back at the University of Iowa for her fifth season in 2026-27, and she wrestles freestyle for the Iowa Women's Wrestling Club and the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | High school | CIF girls' state championships | 101 lb | 2nd | A sophomore at Arroyo. Lost the final 7-2 to Lizette Rodriguez of James Logan. |
| 2021 | Age group | Cadet Pan American Championships, Oaxtepec, Mexico | 46 kg | 1st | 2-0. Round robin. Beat Jaren Osorio Ixpata of Guatemala 10-0 and pinned Yusneiry Agrazal West of Panama in 1:23. |
| 2021 | Age group | Junior Nationals, Fargo | 100 lb | 1st | Co-champion with her twin sister, Emilie. Both won their semifinals, and USA Wrestling rules let the sisters share the title without wrestling the final. |
| 2021-22 | High school | CIF girls' state championships | 101 lb | 1st | A senior at Arroyo. Beat Kaelani Shufeldt of Marina 5-1 in the final. |
| 2023-24 | College | NCWWC | 116 lb | 2nd | 4-1. Beat Carleigh Czerneski of Adrian 11-0 and pinned Jaia Ashley of Schreiner in 3:14. Beat Abby Nelson of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 10-0 and Sydney Petzinger of North Central 10-1, then lost the final to Iowa teammate Felicity Taylor. |
| 2024 | Age group | U20 Women's Nationals, Spokane | 53 kg | 1st | Won the best-of-three final series over Clare Booe of Florida two matches to one: lost 7-6, then won 10-0 and 12-2. |
| 2024 | Age group | U20 World Championships, Pontevedra, Spain | 53 kg | 15th | 0-1. Lost 3-1 to Jyoti Jyoti of India. |
| 2024-25 | College | NCWWC | 117 lb | 5th | NCWWC All-American at 117 pounds, the second of her two NCWWC placings. Iowa won the team title at Xtream Arena in Coralville. |
| 2025 | Senior | U.S. Open | 53 kg | 1st | Beat Felicity Taylor 6-5 in the final, which put her in Final X. |
| 2025 | Senior | Final X, Newark | 53 kg | 2nd | 0-2. Felicity Taylor won the best-of-three series 2-1 and 6-4 to make the World Team. |
| 2025 | Age group | Junior Pan American Games, Asuncion, Paraguay | 53 kg | 3rd | 2-1. Beat Serena Di Benedetto of Canada 7-1 and lost 6-0 in the semifinals to Alexa Alvarez Valenzuela of Venezuela, the eventual champion. Pinned Kailane Araujo de Sousa of Brazil in 2:22 in the bronze-medal match. |
| 2025 | Age group | U23 World Championships, Novi Sad, Serbia | 53 kg | 5th | 2-2. Pinned Vestina Daniseviciute of Lithuania in 3:41 and lost 6-0 to Haruna Morikawa of Japan, the eventual champion. Beat Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine 2-1 in repechage, then lost the bronze-medal match 8-0 to Christianah Ogunsanya of Nigeria. |
| 2025-26 | College | NCAA Region V Championships | 117 lb | 1st | 3-0. Pinned Gisele Gallegos of Augsburg and Shea Reisel of Dubuque, and beat Gable Hemann of Wartburg 12-2. |
| 2025-26 | College | NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships | 117 lb | 3rd | 4-1. Beat Josey Wehr of Eastern 12-0 and pinned Icart Galumette of Delaware State. Lost 17-10 to Yu Sakamoto of McKendree, then beat Jenna Anderson of Presbyterian 3-2 and Karissa Turnwall of Emmanuel 4-2. |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/player/brianna-gonzalez · University of Iowa, 2026-27 women's wrestling roster. Brianna Gonzalez, fifth year, El Monte, Calif., Arroyo High School. Her identical twin sister, Emilie, is also on the roster.
- https://www.themat.com/profiles/brianna-gonzalez · USA Wrestling athlete profile. She is from El Monte, California, went to Arroyo High School and wrestles for Titan Mercury WC and the Iowa Women's WC. It lists her fifth at 53 kg at the 2025 U23 World Championships, 15th at the 2024 U20 World Championships, the 2025 U.S. Open title and second at Final X.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2025/august/19/biographies-of-u-s-athletes-competing-in-junior-pan-american-games-in-asuncion-paraguay-august-20-22 · USA Wrestling, August 2025. Her Junior Pan American Games biography lists the 2022 California state title for Arroyo High School and second place at the 2020 state championships.
- https://www.cifstate.org/sports/wrestling/past_results_records/2020_wr_recap · CIF State, 2020 championship recap. At 101 pounds, Lizette Rodriguez of James Logan beat Brianna Gonzalez of Arroyo 7-2 in the girls' final.
- https://www.cifstate.org/sports/wrestling/past_results_records/2022_recap · CIF State, 2022 championship recap. At 101 pounds, Brianna Gonzalez of Arroyo, a senior, beat Kaelani Shufeldt of Marina 5-1 in the girls' final.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/june/11/cd-jr-pan-ams-recap-3 · USA Wrestling, June 2021, from Oaxtepec, Mexico. Brianna Gonzalez won the Cadet Pan American title at 46 kg in round-robin play.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/july/21/junior-womens-finals-wrap · USA Wrestling, July 2021, from Fargo. Twin sisters Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez of Arroyo High School both reached the 100-pound Junior Nationals final and were named co-champions.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/july/21/junior-women-finalist-bios · USA Wrestling, July 2021. The Junior Nationals finalist biographies list her as a rising senior at Arroyo High School who was second at the 2020 California girls' state championships at 101 pounds.
- https://hawkeyesports.com/2024-ncwwc-champions · University of Iowa, 2024 NCWWC Championships. Her bout-by-bout run to the 116-pound final, which she lost to Iowa teammate Felicity Taylor.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/april/14/larramendy-qureshi-secure-titles-as-u20-action-concludes-at-2024-usmc-women-s-nationals · USA Wrestling, April 2024, from Spokane. Brianna Gonzalez won the 53 kg best-of-three series at the U20 Women's Nationals over Clare Booe, two matches to one.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/september/06/robinson-caps-u20-worlds-run-with-finals-pin-u-s-women-finish-third-as-team · USA Wrestling, September 2024, from Pontevedra, Spain. At the U20 World Championships she lost 3-1 to Jyoti Jyoti of India and placed 15th at 53 kg.
- https://storage.googleapis.com/hawkeyesports-prod/2026/01/08/mswxQBY2KgDebOCEWlfUOBNCqiBZVVzS0PZZ3uTp.pdf · University of Iowa, 2025-26 media guide. Fifth at 117 pounds at the 2025 NCWWC, second at 116 in 2024, a 38-2 record in 2024-25 and the 2025 U.S. Open title at 53 kg.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2025/april/25/blades-jimenez-nette-shine-in-finals-welker-named-women-s-freestyle-ow-at-2025-claw-u-s-open-championships · USA Wrestling, April 2025, from Las Vegas. Brianna Gonzalez beat Felicity Taylor 6-5 in the 53 kg final of the U.S. Open.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2025/june/14/talented-u-s-senior-women-s-freestyle-world-team-set-during-final-x-in-newark · USA Wrestling, June 2025, from Newark. Felicity Taylor beat Brianna Gonzalez 2-1 and 6-4 in their 53 kg Final X series.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2025/august/21/kelly-win-women-s-freestyle-gold-hays-takes-silver-gonzalez-cosme-get-bronzes-at-junior-pan-american-games · USA Wrestling, August 2025, from Asuncion, Paraguay. She won 53 kg bronze at the Junior Pan American Games by pinning Kailane Araujo de Sousa of Brazil in 2:22.
- https://nwhof.org/news/team-usa-sweeps-saturday-morning-session-at-u23-world-championships · USA Wrestling, October 2025, from Novi Sad, Serbia. She beat Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine 2-1 in the 53 kg repechage at the U23 World Championships.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2025/october/25/mesenbrink-strikes-gold-janiak-bronze-u-s-women-third-overall-at-u23-world-championships · USA Wrestling, October 2025, from Novi Sad, Serbia. She lost the 53 kg bronze-medal match 8-0 to Christianah Ogunsanya of Nigeria and placed fifth.
- https://storage.googleapis.com/hawkeyesports-prod/2026/03/10/HDAWFtqV9HWf99FauDAfSbFIUAF0V1qZeDMB1f9c.pdf · University of Iowa, 2025-26 match-by-match results. She won the NCAA Region V title at 117 pounds and placed third at the NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships.
- https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/womens-wrestling/schedule/season/2025-26/ · University of Iowa, 2025-26 schedule. The NCAA Regional Championships were February 20-21, 2026, in Indianola, Iowa, and the NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships began March 6 in Coralville, Iowa.
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