By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A talented crew of 30 Americans heads to the 2026 U20 World Championships next week in Bratislava, Slovakia, with six past age-group World champions at the tip of the spear.

The rosters include National Wrestling Hall of Fame Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award winners Gretchen Donally, Piper Fowler, Caley Graber, Everest Leydecker and Taylor Whiting and Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winners Jayden James, Landon Robideau, Dreshaun Ross, Manuel Saldate, Aaron Seidel, Aeoden Sinclair and Nicholas Sorrow.

Arizona product Leydecker is the solo returning U20 World champion on the U.S. roster. She will look to defend her 55 kg women’s freestyle title at Bratislava’s Sportova Hala Mladost.

This is the first of three World Championships appearances for Leydecker in 2026. She qualified to represent Team USA at the U20, U23 and Senior Worlds, as did two-time U17 World champion Morgan Turner of Illinois. Turner holds the 50 kg women’s freestyle spot.

Three weeks after topping the U17 Worlds in Baku, Azerbaijan, three-time U17 World champion Taina Fernandez of Maryland takes her first attempt at the U20 level. Tennessee’s Fowler, a 2023 U17 World champion and 2026 NAIA champion for William Penn, gives the U.S. women a fourth age-group World champ in its impressive lineup.

The men’s freestyle team features a pair of past U17 World champions—Bo Bassett of Pennsylvania at 65 kg and James of New Jersey at 74 kg. Bassett, an incoming freshman at Virginia Tech, bagged a U17 World title in 2021 and was a U20 World bronze medalist in 2024. James, a Penn State commit, won U17 Worlds last year.

Incoming Cornell freshman Isaiah Cortez was a U20 World silver medalist in Greco-Roman two years ago, and a U20 Greco-Roman World Team member last year. He takes over the 57 kg men’s freestyle spot in Slovakia.  

Also featured in the men’s freestyle lineup is NCAA champion Robideau of Oklahoma State at 70 kg, plus NCAA All-Americans Seidel of Virginia Tech at 61 kg and Sinclair of Missouri at 86 kg. Sinclair was on the 2023 U17 World Team.

On the Greco-Roman side, Arvin Khosravy at 82 kg and Leister Bowling IV at 77 kg return to the U20 World Championships. It will be the fifth age-group World Championships appearance for Khosravy, and third-straight at the U20 level. Bowling IV was fifth at last year’s event in Samokov, Bulgaria, the highest placer on the U.S. Greco-Roman team.

Two more past age-group World Team members will take the mats in Greco-Roman—Bookends Ezekiel Witt at 55 kg and Trayvn Boger at 130 kg. Both competed at one U17 World Championships, Witt in 2023 and Boger in 2024.

The complete U.S. lineup in each Olympic discipline, and the full U.S. delegation, is available below.

Each U20 World Team member earned their place on the U.S. roster through style-specific team selection procedures, which are outlined on the USA Wrestling Team Selection Criteria page of TheMat.com.

The U20 World Championships span eight days of competition—Greco-Roman kicks off the event and will compete August 16-19, women’s freestyle is set for August 18-21, and men’s freestyle wraps things up August 20-23. A daily schedule of events is available below.

FloWrestling is the host broadcast partner of United World Wrestling in the U.S. market. Fans unable to attend in person can watch the U20 World Championships live or on-demand at FloWrestling.org.

Brackets and live results for the U20 World Championships will be available through UWW Arena.

USA Wrestling will provide continued updates on the U20 World Championships on TheMat.com and its social media platforms.

2026 U20 World Championships 

At Bratislava, Slovakia, August 16-23 

Reference Links 

• Event Website

• Event Schedule

• Live Stream

• Brackets & Results

Event Schedule 

Sunday, August 16 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 63-77-87-130 kg)

5:15 p.m. – Opening Ceremony

6 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 63-77-87-130 kg)

Monday, August 17 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 55-67-72-97 kg), Repechage (GR 63-77-87-130 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 55-67-72-97 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (GR 63-77-87-130 kg)

Tuesday, August 18 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 60-82 kg, WFS 50-53-72 kg), Repechage (GR 55-67-72-97 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 60-82 kg, WFS 50-53-72 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (GR 55-67-72-97 kg)

Wednesday, August 19 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 55-62-65-76 kg), Repechage (GR 60-82 kg, WFS 50-53-72 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 55-62-65-76 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (GR 60-82 kg, WFS 50-53-72 kg)

Thursday, August 20 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 57-59-68 kg, MFS 61-86 kg), Repechage (WFS 55-62-65-76 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 57-59-68 kg, MFS 61-86 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 55-62-65-76 kg)

Friday, August 21 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg), Repechage (WFS 57-59-68 kg, MFS 61-86 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 57-59-68 kg, MFS 61-86 kg)

Saturday, August 22 

10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg), Repechage (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg)

Sunday, August 23 

4:15 p.m. –Repechage (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)

*All times reference local time in Bratislava, Slovakia, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time (GMT +2)

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Roster 

57 kg – Isaiah Cortez (Los Banos, Calif./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

61 kg – Aaron Seidel (Schaefferstown, Pa./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Bo Bassett (Windber, Pa./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

70 kg – Landon Robideau (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

74 kg – Jayden James (Westwood, N.J./KD Training Center/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg – Ryan Burton (Sparta, N.J./Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

86 kg – Aeoden Sinclair (Columbia, Mo./Tiger Style RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

92 kg – Jimmy Mastny (Woodstock, Ill./ Relentless Training Center)

97 kg – Michael Boyle (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio Crazy Goats WC)

125 kg – Dreshaun Ross (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Cowboy RTC)

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Roster 

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

53 kg – Taylor Whiting (Oconto, Wis./Askren Wrestling Academy/Iowa Women’s WC)

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

57 kg – Karlee Brooks (Phoenix, Ariz./Iowa Women’s WC)

59 kg – Caley Graber (Northfield, Minn./Summit Wrestling Academy)

62 kg – Bella Williams (Edmond, Okla./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Riley Hanrahan (Black River Falls, Wis./Team Nazar Training Center)

68 kg – Taina Fernandez (Bowie, Md./Titan Mercury WC)

72 kg – Gretchen Donally (Ballantine, Mont./Colorado Mesa WC)

76 kg – Piper Fowler (Cleveland, Tenn./Cyclone RTC)

U.S. Greco-Roman Roster 

55 kg – Ezekiel Witt (Fargo, N.D./Bison WC)

60 kg – Manuel Saldate (Las Vegas, Nev./Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC)

63 kg – Nicholas Sorrow (Jackson, Mich./Simmons Academy of Wrestling)

67 kg – Amryn Nutter (Fennimore, Wis./NMU-National Training Center)

72 kg – Eli Esguerra (Dublin, Ohio/Beast Mode Wrestling)

77 kg – Leister Bowling IV (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC)

82 kg – Arvin Khosravy (Woodland Hills, Calif.)

87 kg – Aidan Squier (North Granby, Conn./NMU-National Training Center)

97 kg – Cittadino Tuttle (North Saint Paul, Minn/Pinnacle WC)

130 kg – Trayvn Boger (Adamsville, Utah/Protos WC)

U.S. Support Staff 

U.S. men’s freestyle coach – J’den Cox 

U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Zo El Ouarraqe 

U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Cory Crooks 

U.S. women’s freestyle coach – Jessica Medina 

U.S. women’s freestyle coach – Clarissa Chun  

U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Cheney Haight 

U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Zac Dominguez 

U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Sam Hazewinkel 

Personal coach – Yianni Diakomihalis

Personal coach – Jared Frayer

Personal coach – Tony Robie

Personal coach – Bill Bassett

Personal coach – Jimmy Kennedy

Personal coach – Khaled Dassan

Personal coach – Dom Bradley

Personal coach – Chris Perry

Personal coach – Ross Thatcher

Personal coach – David Taylor

Personal coach – Kim Thompson

Personal coach – Max Askren

Personal coach – Randy Leydecker

Personal coach – Riley Graber

Personal coach – Nazar Kulchytskyy

Personal coach – Jason Gabrielson

Personal coach – Travis Mercado

Personal coach – Jake Kadel

Personal coach – Ken Kepley

Personal coach – Brandon Kaylor

Personal coach – Nick Simmons

Personal coach – Andy Bisek

Personal coach – Jeremiah Webber

Personal coach – Dan Dennis

Personal coach – Shervin Khosravy

Personal coach – Antony Tuttle

Personal coach – Dwayne Henry

ATC – Chad Smidt 

ATC – Judi Tekautz 

MD – Jeremy Frank 

Official – Jason Babi 

Official – Joshua Grube 

Official – Brock Zollinger

Team leader – Christina Hargrove 

NF media – Richard Immel 

NF media – Ariah Anderson-Cheetany  

NF media – Tony Rotundo  

NF official – Jeff Waters 

NF official – DeeDee Smidt

NF official – Megan Ball 

NF official – Darryl Colbert

NF President/Technical Delegate – Bruce Baumgartner

NF Secretary General – Rich Bender

OC guest – Michelle Bender