American wrestling fans may have been frustrated by what many considered to be a lackluster performance in Las Vegas, Nevada. While expectations were high for a rare age-group world championship held on U.S. soil, Team USA still gave American fans a lot to cheer for, hauling in 10 total medals and placing third in men’s freestyle and second in women’s freestyle.
There Was Plenty To Celebrate In Sin City
Rather than waste precious newsletter space bemoaning the results fans found unsatisfactory (log on to your social media platform of choice if you enjoy that particular variety of masochism), we’d like to focus on Team USA’s successes, of which there were many.
The Men’s Freestyle Squad Battled For Third Place On The Team Podium
Start with Ben Davino. Arguably third on the U.S. 61 kg ladder behind Marcus Blaze (2026 Senior World Team member) and Jax Forrest (2025 Senior World Team member), Davino, who turned 20 over the summer, blitzed the field, giving up no offensive points on his way to a U23 world gold medal.
Penn State freshman Jayden James brought the funk to 74 kg, earning a silver medal and matching his placement at the U20 World Championships held less than two months ago.
Oregon State’s Justin Rademacher continues to jump levels. Though not yet an NCAA All-American, he impressed on his way to the finals, where he gave Russian prodigy Mukhamed Takhir Khaniev all he could handle before dropping a heartbreaker in the waning seconds of the match.
Team USA’s lone men’s freestyle bronze came by way of Coby Merrill. The Iowa State freshman won three bouts by technical fall without surrendering a point in those victories.
The American Women Struck Gold Twice To Earn Second In The Team Race
The American women’s freestylers outperformed their male counterparts by a small margin. Kylie Welker was the standard-bearer for the red, white and blue. The Wisconsin native and NCAA champ at Iowa absolutely annihilated the 76 kg field, adding another gold medal to her ever-growing collection.
Welker is already a two-time Senior World medalist, an achievement Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler is hoping to match. She’ll have an opportunity to take a step toward that goal in Kazakhstan in about a week as Team USA’s 53 kg representative. Her gold medal at the U23 World Championships last weekend should give anyone doubting her ability to get the job done in Astana pause.
Falling just short of gold was Adaugo Nwachukwu, who had the move of the tournament in the quarterfinals.
Have you ever seen a more violent 5 point move?
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) October 15, 2026
Adaugo Nwachukwu LAUNCHES her opponent into space and secures her spot in the #U23Worlds semifinals 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iC2ohbfeEp
The Army WCAP wrestler ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Ukrainian Iryna Bondar in the finals, but neither Bondar nor anyone else in Vegas can boast of hitting a move as bone-shattering as Adaugo’s. So there’s that.
Two of America’s three bronze medals in women’s freestyle came by way of wrestling prodigies Morgan Turner at 50 kg and Everest Leydecker at 55 kg. Both are also America’s Senior World Team representatives, and both just graduated from high school in the spring. Our third bronze was courtesy of Reese Larramendy at 65 kg, another young American and NCAA All-American at Iowa.
Indeed, despite protestations to the contrary, the future of American wrestling is bright (which may be why Everest Leydecker wears shades so often).
Vegas Was A Nice Warm-Up For Astana
A handful of Americans at U23s will be pulling double duty, wrestling at Senior Worlds in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24 to November 1. Bo Bassett will actually be pulling triple duty, as he won a U20 world gold earlier this summer.
Bassett may have been responsible for some of the negativity emanating from disgruntled wrestling fans.
The Virginia Tech freshman made an uncharacteristic tactical mistake that cost him the match in the quarterfinals of U23s, but he was otherwise outwrestling his Indian opponent. Fans should be cautious about selling any of their Bo stock, as Bassett is at his most dangerous coming off a loss.
That’s just one of many reasons to get hyped for Senior Worlds. The time zones are less than ideal (check the schedule here), but what better way to fuel your wrestling passion than by waking up in the wee hours and following America’s finest, perhaps with the assistance of copious amounts of caffeine?
All your online friends will be there with you. We’ll be there with you, too. So join the fun. It only comes around once a year!
How To Watch The 2026 Senior World Championships:
STREAMING: Watch the 2026 Senior World Championships on FloWrestling.
On Your TV: Download the FloSports App Now Available on Roku, Fire TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Samsung, VIZIO, & LG.
On The Go: Download the FloSports app on iOS or Android.
FloWrestling Archived Footage
Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.
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