Wrestlers · Career complete
Maya Nelson
2017 Junior World champion at 63 kg; 5th at the 2021 World Championships; first girl to win a match at Colorado's 5A state meet
Denver, CO · Denver East HS · University of the Cumberlands
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026
Maya Nelson grew up in the Montbello neighborhood of Denver and started wrestling at four. She wrestled for Randy Gallegos on the Denver East boys team. She was a Junior Nationals champion in 2013 and 2014. In February 2014 she became the first girl to win a big-school match at the Colorado state tournament. She beat Carl Camposanto of Regis Jesuit 13-9 at the Pepsi Center and advanced to the Class 5A quarterfinals.
She was a two-time state qualifier and won the Sportswomen of Colorado wrestling award in 2015. In September 2016, at the Junior World Championships in Macon, France, she took bronze at 63 kg, about 139 pounds. She then wrestled for the University of the Cumberlands and went 12-0 in 2016-17, winning the Missouri Valley Open and the NAIA Invitational.
In January 2017 she left for Colorado Springs to train full time at the Olympic Training Center. That August, in Tampere, Finland, she beat Yuliana Yaneva of Bulgaria 6-0 for the Junior World title. She was the first American woman to win a Junior World championship since 2010. On the way she took a technical fall over Ying Zhang of China, pinned Nicole Depa of Canada, and beat Maria Kuznetsova of Russia 4-0.
She won the 2021 Senior Nationals at 59 kg in Coralville and was named Outstanding Wrestler, then made the Pan American team and her first Senior World Team. In Oslo she beat Ebru Dagbasi of Turkey 7-0 and pinned Krystsina Sazykina of Belarus, then lost 4-1 to Akie Hanai of Japan and 4-3 to Shoovdor Baatarjav of Mongolia in the bronze-medal match. She placed fifth.
She was the U.S. Open runner-up at 59 kg in 2023 and closed that June by winning a true third-place match at Final X over Brenda Reyna of the Army WCAP. USA Wrestling still carries her athlete page out of Denver.
USA Wrestling lists her out of Denver, where the state now runs the girls' high school championship that did not exist when she wrestled the boys' 5A bracket.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | High school | Colorado (CHSAA) 5A State Championships, Pepsi Center, Denver | quarterfinalist | 29-10 entering. Feb. 20, 2014; def. Carl Camposanto (Regis Jesuit) 13-9 in the first round, the first match a girl had won at Colorado's big-school state tournament, then met Juan Rodriguez (Pine Creek) in the quarterfinals. The Denver Post story calls her a 120-pounder in the text and puts the Camposanto match at 106 in the photo caption, so no weight is claimed. | |
| 2014 | Age group | USA Wrestling Junior Nationals | 1st | Second straight Junior Nationals title; also second at the FILA Cadet World Team Trials and a gold medalist at the German Grand Prix and the Austrian Ladies Open in the FILA Cadet division; ASICS Girls High School All-American First Team | |
| 2014-15 | High school | Colorado (CHSAA) 5A State Championships, Pepsi Center, Denver | 120 lb | did not place | 31-6. Feb. 19, 2015; lost 5-2 to Keynan Davis (Prairie View) in the preliminaries and went to the consolation rounds; the only girl in the state tournament that year |
| 2015 | High school | Sportswomen of Colorado Wrestling Award | winner | Past winners include Adeline Gray, Elena Pirozhkova, Kristie Marano and Iris Smith | |
| 2016 | Age group | Junior World Championships, Macon, France | 63 kg | 3rd | Sept. 2016; beat Zarina Dauletkeldi (Kazakhstan) and Asli Tugcu (Turkey), lost 8-3 to Ayana Gempei (Japan) in the quarterfinals, then won the bronze-medal match over Maria Kuznetsova (Russia) 9-4. The Sept. 2, 2016 preview carries the run to the bronze match; the score comes from the Aug. 4, 2017 report, which recalls it. |
| 2016-17 | College | University of the Cumberlands season | 136 lb | 12-0 | 12-0. Second year on campus; first at the Missouri Valley Open on Nov. 19 with a 5-0 record and first at the NAIA Invitational on Dec. 10 with a 4-0 record; ranked third at 136 pounds in the WCWA polls; she left in January 2017 to train full time at the Olympic Training Center |
| 2017 | Age group | Junior World Championships, Tampere, Finland | 63 kg | 1st | Aug. 4, 2017; def. Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria) 6-0 in the final; technical fall over Ying Zhang (China), second-period pin over Nicole Depa (Canada), 4-0 semifinal over Maria Kuznetsova (Russia); first U.S. woman to win a Junior World title since Victoria Anthony in 2010 |
| 2017 | Age group | U23 World Championships | 63 kg | 17th | |
| 2021 | Senior | U.S. Senior Nationals, Coralville, IA | 59 kg | 1st | April 30, 2021; won a four-athlete round-robin with wins of 14-2 over Megan Black, 9-4 over Lauren Louive and 8-0 over Xochitl Mota-Pettis; named Outstanding Wrestler of the women's freestyle division; the title also put her on the Pan American Championships team |
| 2021 | Senior | Senior Pan American Championships | 59 kg | Named to the U.S. team at 59 kg out of the USOPTC and Sunkist Kids; her finish there is not claimed because no result page was read | |
| 2021 | Senior | Senior World Championships, Oslo, Norway | 59 kg | 5th | 2-2. First Senior World Team, entered as the No. 4 seed; def. Ebru Dagbasi (Turkey) 7-0, pinned Krystsina Sazykina (Belarus) in 5:56, lost 4-1 to Akie Hanai (Japan) and 4-3 to Shoovdor Baatarjav (Mongolia) in the bronze-medal match; Team USA won a record seven medals and finished second |
| 2023 | Senior | U.S. Open | 59 kg | 2nd | April 2023; technical falls over Sumayyah Kemp and Lauren Louive, 7-5 semifinal over Brenda Reyna, then a 5-3 loss to Michaela Beck in the final |
| 2023 | Senior | Final X | 59 kg | true 3rd | June 10, 2023; 10-0 technical fall over Brenda Reyna in the true third-place match |
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 and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://www.themat.com/profiles/maya-nelson · USA Wrestling athlete page: hometown Denver, CO; education University of the Cumberlands; 2021 Senior World Championships fifth at 59 kg, 2017 U23 World Championships 17th at 63 kg, 2017 Junior World Championships gold at 63 kg, 2016 Junior World Championships bronze at 63 kg; Instagram @mayagnelson and X @mayagnelson
- https://www.denverpost.com/2014/02/20/denver-easts-maya-nelson-advances-in-colorado-wrestling-tournament/ · Feb. 20, 2014 Denver Post: Nelson beat Regis Jesuit's Carl Camposanto 13-9 in the first round at the Pepsi Center, the first girl to win a big-school state match, and drew Pine Creek's Juan Rodriguez in the quarterfinals; she was 29-10 and a regional runner-up; from Montbello; coached by Randy Gallegos; started wrestling at four; had trained at the Olympic Training Center; inspired by her father Joshua and by Adeline Gray. NOTE: the text calls her a 120-pounder while the photo caption puts the Camposanto match at 106 pounds.
- https://www.denverpost.com/2015/02/19/maya-nelson-of-denver-east-falls-into-consolation-rounds-at-31-6/ · Feb. 19, 2015 Denver Post: Nelson, the only girl in the state tournament that year, lost 5-2 at 120 pounds to Prairie View's Keynan Davis in the Class 5A preliminaries and went to the consolation rounds at 31-6; a year earlier she became the first girl to win a big-school match and reach the quarterfinals
- https://www.themat.com/news/2015/february/04/gray-nelson-honored-by-sportswomen-of-colorado · Feb. 4, 2015 USA Wrestling: Nelson of Denver East won the Sportswomen of Colorado wrestling award; 2014 Junior Nationals champion for the second straight year; second at the FILA Cadet World Team Trials; FILA Cadet gold at the German Grand Prix and the Austrian Ladies Open; ASICS Girls High School All-American First Team in 2014
- https://www.themat.com/news/2016/september/02/nelson-to-wrestle-for-junior-world-bronze-in-womens-freestyle · Sept. 2, 2016: Nelson went 2-1 at 63 kg at the Junior World Championships in Macon, France, beating Zarina Dauletkeldi (Kazakhstan) and Asli Tugcu (Turkey) and losing 8-3 to Ayana Gempei (Japan) in the quarterfinals, and was set to face Maria Kuznetsova (Russia) for bronze
- https://www.themat.com/news/2017/august/04/maya-nelson-wins-junior-world-gold · Aug. 4, 2017: Nelson beat Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria) 6-0 at 63 kg in Tampere, the first Junior women's World champion for the United States since Victoria Anthony in 2010; she teched Ying Zhang (China), pinned Nicole Depa (Canada) in the second period, and beat Maria Kuznetsova (Russia) 4-0 in the semifinals, having beaten Kuznetsova 9-4 in the 2016 bronze match; Denver, Colo., Sunkist Kids WC
- https://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/07/maya-nelson-junior-world-championship-title/ · Aug. 7, 2017 Denver Post: 2015 Denver East graduate, the first girl to advance to the quarterfinals of the Colorado state wrestling tournament; moved from Montbello to Colorado Springs in January 2017 to train full time at the Olympic Training Center; a two-time state qualifier
- https://cumberlandspatriots.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/maya-nelson/8273 · University of the Cumberlands roster bio, 2016-17 sophomore season: 12-0 with two falls and two first-place finishes; first at the Missouri Valley Open on Nov. 19 at 5-0; first at the NAIA Invitational on Dec. 10 at 4-0; ranked third at 136 pounds in WCWA polls
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/may/01/senior-womens-nationals-wrap · May 1, 2021: Nelson won the 59 kg four-athlete round-robin at Senior Nationals in Coralville and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the women's freestyle division, beating Megan Black 14-2, Lauren Louive 9-4 and Xochitl Mota-Pettis 8-0; the title also earned her a spot on the 2021 Pan American Championships team
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/may/24/2021-senior-pan-am-preview · May 24, 2021: Nelson listed at 59 kg on the U.S. Senior Pan American Championships team out of the USOPTC and Sunkist Kids
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/october/03/womens-draws-for-world-championships · Oct. 3, 2021: Nelson was on her first Senior World Team, seeded No. 4 at 59 kg out of Denver and the Sunkist Kids, opening against Ebru Dagbasi of Turkey
- https://nwhof.org/news/maroulis-wins-third-world-title-mensah-stock-gets-bronze-nelson-is-fifth-usa-finishes-second · 2021 World Championships in Oslo, 59 kg: Nelson finished fifth, beating Ebru Dagbasi (Turkey) 7-0 and pinning Krystsina Sazykina (Belarus) in 5:56, then losing 4-1 to Akie Hanai (Japan) and 4-3 to Shoovdor Baatarjav (Mongolia) in the bronze-medal bout; the U.S. women placed second with a record seven medals
- https://www.flowrestling.org/nextgen/people/5949952 · STATUS NOTE: no page published in 2025 or 2026 about Maya Nelson herself could be found through Firecrawl search. Her FloWrestling results page ends with the June 2023 Final X, which is the basis for the retired status; her USA Wrestling athlete page remains live and lists her hometown as Denver.
- https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/11/star-power-inaugural-colorado-girls-state-wrestling/ · March 11, 2021 Denver Post on the first CHSAA sanctioned girls' state wrestling tournament in Pueblo, which names Colorado's Team USA products Adeline Gray and Maya Nelson and notes that girls had long entered the boys' state tournament, starting with Golden's Brooke Sauer in 2006
- https://www.themat.com/news/2026/april/21/senior-women-s-freestyle-pre-seeds-released-for-2026-u-s-open · USA Wrestling's April 2026 U.S. Open pre-seed list places Brenda Reyna with the Army WCAP
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