By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling
TIRANA, Albania – The duo of Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker carried the mantle for the U.S. women the past week, capping their time in Albania with bronze medal performances at the 2024 Senior World Championships.

Kilty picked up the first medal of the event for Team USA with an electric 16-5 technical fall over Individual Neutral Athlete Valeriia Dondupova Suvorova at Tirana’s Feti Borova Sports Hall. After trailing 5-0, Kilty reeled off 16-straight points from takedown-to-leg lace combinations to get secure the 65 kg bronze medal.

It is Kilty’s second-straight Senior World medal. She was runner-up last year in Belgrade, Serbia. Last week, Kilty picked up a silver medal at the U23 World Championships, her sixth age-level World medal.

Welker, who was a U23 World champion last week, returned with force on her way to 72 kg Senior World bronze. She took out Alexandra Anghel of Romania in a 5-2 match that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate. Welker controlled the pace and positioning throughout, and likely would have secured a fall if there were five more seconds on the clock.

This is the first Senior World medal for Welker in her second appearance at the event. She was a World Team member in 2021 as well. On the age-group scene, she is a three-time World medalist, with gold medals at the U20 and U23 levels.

Both Kilty and Welker will return to the U.S. and pick up with a college season as teammates at the University of Iowa.

Coming in fifth place at 55 kg was first-time World Team member Areana Villaescusa, who dropped a tough, one-point decision to Tatiana Debien of France in the bronze medal match. Villaescusa was up 3-0 in the back half of the second period but gave up a pair of late takedowns to fall, 4-3.

The U.S. came in third place as a team with 40 points. Japan outdistanced the field with 90 team points on its way to the title. China wound up in second place with 53 team points.

The Senior World Championships conclude at 4 p.m. local time tomorrow with the men’s freestyle repechage, followed by the medal matches at 6 p.m. For those planning to follow along live, Tirana, Albania, is located five hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

Updated brackets and match-by-match results are available on UWW Arena. A live broadcast of the event is available for the U.S. market at FloWrestling.com.

Revisit the details of each U.S. match from today in our day three match notes article.

2024 Senior World Championships | Tirana, Albania, October 30

Women’s Freestyle Results

Team Ranking

1. Japan, 90

2. China, 53

3. United States, 40

4. Mongolia, 34

5. Romania, 30

6. India, 29

7. Kazakhstan, 20

8. Ukraine, 20

T9. Czech Republic, 15

T9. France, 15

T9. Germany, 15

Final Results

55 kg

Gold – Moe Kiyooka (Japan)

Silver – Jin Zhang (China)

Bronze – Tatiana Debien (France)

Bronze – Iryna Kurachkina (Individual Neutral Athlete)

5th – Areana Villaescusa (United States)

5th – Ramona Galambos (Hungary)

7th – Oleksandra Khomenets (Ukraine)

8th – Elvira Suleyman Kamaloglu (Turkey)

9th – Kirti Kirti (India)

10th – Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada)

Gold – Moe Kiyooka (Japan) tech. fall Jin Zhang (China), 10-0

Bronze – Tatiana Debien (France) dec. Areana Villaescusa (United States), 4-3

Bronze – Iryna Kurachkina (Individual Neutral Athlete) dec. Ramona Galambos (Hungary), 5-3

59 kg

Gold – Risako Kinjo (Japan)

Silver – Tserenchimed Sukhee (Mongolia)

Bronze – Mansi Mansi (India)

Bronze – Elena Brugger (Germany)

5th – Laurence Beauregard (Canada)

5th – Svetlana Lipatova (Individual Neutral Athlete)

7th – Evelina Nikolova Grezdeleva (Bulgaria)

8th – Solomiia Vynnyk (Ukraine)

9th – Alyona Kolesnik (Azerbaijan)

10th – Erika Bognar (Hungary)

Gold – Risako Kinjo (Japan) dec. Tserenchimed Sukhee (Mongolia), 4-2

Bronze – Mansi Mansi (India) dec. Laurence Beauregard (Canada), 5-0

Bronze – Elena Brugger (Germany) dec. Svetlana Lipatova (Individual Neutral Athlete), 6-3

65 kg

Gold – Jia Long (China)

Silver – Kateryna Zelenykh (Romania)

Bronze – Macey Kilty (United States)

Bronze – Miwa Morikawa (Japan)

5th – Valeriia Dondupova Suvorova (Individual Neutral Athlete)

5th – Manisha Manisha (India)

7th – Kadriye Kocak Aksoy (Turkey)

8th – Elma Zeidlere (Latvia)

9th – Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal (Mongolia)

10th – Elis Manolova (Azerbaijan)

Gold – Jia Long (China) fall Kateryna Zelenykh (Romania), 1:18

Bronze – Macey Kilty (United States) tech. fall Valeriia Dondupova Suvorova (Individual Neutral Athlete), 16-5

Bronze – Miwa Morikawa (Japan) dec. Manisha Manisha (India), 8-2

72 kg

Gold – Ami Ishii (Japan)

Silver – Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan)

Bronze – Adela Hanzlickova (Czech Republic)

Bronze – Kylie Welker (United States)

5th – Bolortungalag Zorigt (Mongolia)

5th – Alexandra Anghel (Romania)

7th – Qian Jiang (China)

8th – Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine)

9th – Vusala Parfianovich (Individual Neutral Athlete)

10th – Noémi Szabados (Hungary)

Gold – Ami Ishii (Japan) dec. Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan), 8-6

Bronze – Adela Hanzlickova (Czech Republic) fall Bolortungalag Zorigt (Mongolia), 1:55

Bronze – Kylie Welker (United States) dec. Alexandra Anghel (Romania), 5-2

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Results

55 kg – Areana Villaescusa (Fountain, Colo./Army WCAP), 5th place

WIN Zulfiya Yakhyarova (Kazakhstan), fall, 1:45

WIN Elvira Suleyman Kamaloglu (Turkey), 11-4

LOSS Jin Zhang (China), fall, 1:28

LOSS Tatiana Debien (France), 4-3

59 kg – Jacarra Winchester (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC), 14th place

LOSS Mansi Mansi (India), 2-1

65 kg – Macey Kilty (Stratford, Wis./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal

WIN Alexis Gomez (Mexico), forfeit

LOSS Kateryna Zelenykh (Romania), 11-4

WIN Elis Manolova (Azerbaijan), tech. fall, 12-2

WIN Valeriia Dondupova Suvorova (Individual Neutral Athlete), tech. fall, 16-5

72 kg – Kylie Welker (Franksville, Wis./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal

WIN Aleah Nickel (Canada), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Pauline Lecarpentier (France), 4-0

WIN Qian Jiang (China), fall, 5:30

LOSS Ami Ishii (Japan), tech. fall, 12-1

WIN Alexandra Anghel (Romania), 5-2