By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

The U.S. women’s freestyle team is poised for a strong performance at the 2026 Senior World Championships, led by three Olympians, including two Olympic medalists. With that experience at the top of the lineup, the Americans enter Astana with momentum.

Seven of the 10 U.S. World Team members bring Senior World Championships experience, and three have earned medals. Eight have age-group World medals, pointing to Senior-level success. Every weight class offers medal potential, further strengthening a possible team title run for the American women.

With that backdrop, here’s a breakdown of the U.S. women’s freestyle team heading to Astana, Kazakhstan, plus background on the international competitors entered in the women’s freestyle competition.

Team USA Outlook 

Helen Maroulis, the face of U.S. women’s wrestling for over a decade, will hunt her fifth Senior World title and ninth Senior World medal next week. She is the defending World champion at 57 kg and is Team USA’s only returning champion in women’s freestyle. Maroulis was the first Olympic champion for the U.S. in women’s wrestling and is a three-time Olympic medalist. A fifth World title would make Maroulis the third American to hit that mark—Jordan Burrough and Adeline Gray both have six.

Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades will shoot for her second straight World medal at 68 kg. Two-time Olympian and two-time World finalist Kayla Miracle found a new home at 65 kg after taking the post-Paris year off of active competition.

Four more athletes bring Senior Worlds experience: two-time age-group World champion Cristelle Rodriguez at 53 kg, two-time World Team member Abby Nette at 59 kg, two-time age-group World medalist Adaugo Nwachukwu at 62 kg and 2022 U23 World silver medalist Dymond Guilford at 76 kg. Rodriguez and Nwachukwu are fresh off medal performances at last week’s U23 Worlds in Las Vegas. Guilford supplanted two-time World bronze medalist Kylie Welker in the U.S. lineup.

Taking on the Senior Worlds for the first time are 18-year-old Morgan Turner at 50 kg and 19-year-old Everest Leydecker, who was the Arizona winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award in 2026, at 55 kg. Both are two-time age-group World champions—Turner at the U17 level and Leydecker at the U20 level. This will be the duo’s third World Championships event of 2026. Turner doubled up on bronze at this year’s U20 and U23 Worlds, while Leydecker earned gold at the U20’s and bronze at the U23’s.

Reigning Pan American champion Precious Wieser is a late replacement for Olympic champion and two-time World champion Amit Elor as Team USA's 72 kg entrant. Wieser is the No. 3-ranked athlete on the U.S. National Team behind Elor and No. 2 Alexandra Glaude. With Elor and Glaude sidelined by injury, Wieser moves into the lineup.

Three Returning World Champs In Field 

Of the 10 World champions crowned last year, just three are listed in the preliminary entries: Maroulis, Kyong Ryong Oh of North Korea (55 kg) and Ami Ishii of Japan (68 kg). Entries are subject to change until 72 hours before the draw. If this registration list holds, the top of the World podium in Astana will see significant turnover.

Maroulis has not competed on the international circuit since last year’s Worlds in Zagreb, Croatia. In the same timeframe, Oh won gold at the Mongolia Ranking Series event, and Ishii won gold at the Asian Games.

12 Olympic and World Champions Entered 

In addition to last year’s trio of returning gold medalists, nine others arrive in Astana with an Olympic or World title in women’s freestyle on their resume. Japan’s Yui Susaki joins Maroulis on the Olympic champions list. Susaki is a two-time Olympic medalist (2020 gold, 2024 bronze) and a four-time World champion (2017, 2018, 2022, 2023).

Additional World title holders include two-time World champion Nonoka Ozaki of Japan (2022, 2023), plus one-time World champions Moe Kiyooka of Japan (2024), Bilyana Dudova of Bulgaria (2021), Qi Zhang of China (2023), Irina Ringaci of Moldova (2021), Jia Long of China (2024), Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan (2021) and Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Türkiye (2023).

Susaki Hunts Fifth World Title 

Maroulis won’t be the only women’s freestyle athlete pursuing a fifth World title in Astana. The longtime Japanese great Susaki will return to the Senior World Championships for the fifth time, and the first time since 2023. Susaki is undefeated at the Senior Worlds. In fact, she has logged only one international loss in Olympic or World competition across every age level—a 3-2 defeat to India’s Vinesh at the 2024 Olympics, where she rebounded to win bronze. She was the 2020 Olympic champion in Tokyo. On the age-group side, Susaki is a three-time U17 World champion (2014, 2015, 2016), two-time U20 World champion (2018, 2019), and U23 World champion (2023). After taking two years off post-Paris, Susaki won gold at the 2026 Asian Championships and Asian Games. She is a considerable favorite against the 50 kg field in Astana.

How To Follow The Action 

Women’s freestyle is the second international discipline to take the mats at Barys Arena. 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 semifinals on day one and 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, which is 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 Arena.

2026 Senior World Championships 

At Astana, Kazakhstan, October 24 – November 1 

Reference Links 

• Event entry list

• 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 Roster 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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