By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – The women’s freestyle draw is finalized, and complete brackets have been released for the 2026 Senior World Championships, which start Tuesday at Barys Arena. 

Returning champion Helen Maroulis leads Team USA. She holds down the No. 2 seed at 57 kg and opens her time in Astana in the round of 16 against either Mia Friesen of Canada or Danielle Lim of Singapore. A win sets up a likely quarterfinal against Japan’s Sena Nagamoto, who won silver at the Asian Championships at 59 kg. 

At 68 kg, Kennedy Blades returns to the World Championships, looking to upgrade her 2025 bronze. As the No. 5 seed, she awaits the preliminary round winner between Faith Wamalwa of Kenya and Laura Koehler of Germany. To have a chance at avenging last year’s loss to two-time World champion Ami Ishii of Japan, Blades would need to make the semifinals. 

The three remaining seeded athletes—Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler (No. 5 at 53 kg), Abby Nette (No. 4 at 59 kg) and Adaugo Nwachukwu (No. 3 at 62 kg)—all sit in the round of 16 with favorable openers. 

Spotlight first-round contests for Team USA come at 55 kg, with two-time U20 World champion Everest Leydecker, who is the Arizona winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award for 2026, taking on 2022 World bronze medalist Karla Godinez Gonzalez of Canada, and at 72 kg, with Pan American champion Precious Wieser facing 2024 Olympic bronze medalist and 2023 World champion Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Türkiye. 

Other U.S. entrants drawn into the field include five-time age-group World medalist Morgan Turner at 50 kg, two-time Olympian and two-time World finalist Kayla Miracle at 65 kg, and two-time World Team member Dymond Guilford at 76 kg. Initial opponents for each U.S. athlete are listed below. 

Women’s freestyle is the second international discipline to hit the mats in Astana. Athletes will compete in three waves over the course of the event—group one (50-57-65-76 kg) starting October 27, group two (53-62-68-72 kg) on October 28, and group three (55-59 kg) on October 29. Each bracket will be contested over two days, with qualification rounds and semifinals on day one, then repechage and medal matches on day two. 

To follow along in real time, refer to the event schedule below. Astana, Kazakhstan, is in the GMT +5 time zone, nine hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. USA Wrestling will provide regular updates on TheMat.com and its social media platforms throughout the event. 

The Senior World Championships will stream live on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. United World Wrestling will provide brackets and updated results on uww.org.

2026 Senior World Championships 

At Astana, Kazakhstan, October 24 – November 1  

Reference Links 

• USA Wrestling event hub

• Live stream

• Brackets and results 

Women’s Freestyle Event Schedule 

Tuesday, October 27 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg) 

Wednesday, October 28 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg), Repechage (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg) 

Thursday, October 29 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 55-59 kg), Repechage (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 55-59 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg) 

Friday, October 30 

10:30 a.m. –Repechage (WFS 55-59 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 55-59 kg) 

*Listed times reflect local time in Astana, Kazakhstan, which is nine hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. 

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Draws 

50 kg – Morgan Turner (Chicago, Ill./All I See Is Gold Academy/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Greili Bencosme Carvajal (Cuba) 

53 kg – Cristelle Rodriguez (Crete, Neb./Tiger WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Viktoriia Vaulina (Russia) or Nogona Bakayoko (Ivory Coast) 

55 kg – Everest Leydecker (Phoenix, Ariz./Thorobred WC/New York AC) 

VS Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) 

57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Scottsdale, Ariz./Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Mia Friesen (Canada) or Danielle Lim (Singapore) 

59 kg – Abigail Nette (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP) 

VS Gloria Niyonkuru (Burundi) 

62 kg – Adaugo Nwachukwu (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP) 

VS Sevim Akbas (Türkiye) 

65 kg – Kayla Miracle (Phoenix, Ariz./Valiant WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Ayse Erkan (Türkiye) 

68 kg – Kennedy Blades (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Faith Wamalwa (Kenya) or Laura Koehler (Germany) 

72 kg – Precious Wieser (Maplewood, Minn./Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Türkiye) 

76 kg – Dymond Guilford (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC) 

VS Ozoda Zaripboeva (Uzbekistan)