U.S. Set to Welcome World to Las Vegas for Galaxy U23 World Championships
By David Gerhart
USA Wrestling
Team USA is ready to welcome the world to the U.S. for the 2026 Galaxy U23 World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 12-18, at the Thomas & Mack Center. All three Olympic styles will take place, with Greco-Roman kicking off the action on October 12. Women’s freestyle begins October 14, and men’s freestyle starts October 16 to close out the week-long event.
The 30-person roster representing the U.S. on home soil features 2024 Olympic champion and two-time Senior World champion Amit Elor. The U23 World Championships will be Elor’s return to international competition since the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Reigning U23 World champions Kylie Welker and Luke Lilledahl are looking for more gold, and both look to make history. Welker looks to become the first women’s wrestler to win three straight U23 World titles. Elor can also win her third U23 championship after winning in 2022 and 2023. Elor and Welker would become the first Americans to win three U23 World titles. Lilledahl looks to be the first American men’s freestyle wrestler to win two U23 titles.
Otto Black is hunting his second straight U23 World medal after a bronze medal finish in 2025. He would become the first two-time Greco-Roman U23 World medalist in U.S. history if he can medal in Las Vegas.
The U.S. will send eight athletes to compete at both the U23 World Championships in Las Vegas and the Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. Elor is joined by Morgan Turner, Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler, Everest Leydecker and Adaugo Nwachukwu, who will compete at both championships from the women’s freestyle squad. Greco-Roman wrestlers Black and Joel Adams will compete at both events, and Bo Bassett is the lone men’s freestyle athlete pulling double duty this month.
All eight athletes will have quick turnarounds, with the Senior Worlds beginning just six days after the U23 Worlds conclude.
The trio of Turner, Leydecker and Bassett are pulling triple duty this championship season as they each competed and won medals at the U20 World Championships in August and will now take part in the final two World events of the season. Leydecker and Bassett won gold at U20 Worlds, while Turner captured bronze.
Collegiate stars are scattered throughout the U.S. lineup. Welker and two-time age-group World Team member Isabella Mir both won national titles at the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling National Championships this March. Returning U23 World bronze medalist Alexis Janiak and three-time age-group World Team member Reese Larramendy finished as runners-up at the NCAA National Championships.
Lilledahl won his first national title this spring, while 2026 U20 World champion Aeoden Sinclair and 2023 U17 World Team member Benjamin Davino both finished as NCAA All-Americans during their freshmen seasons.
Senior World Team members Rodriguez-Dobler and Nwachkwu both have three NAIA titles to their names.
The complete U.S. roster and delegation list is available below.
This will be the first World Championship event in the U.S. since 2015, when Las Vegas hosted the Senior World Championships. The U.S. will host World events each of the next three years, with U23 Worlds this fall, the Senior Worlds back in Las Vegas in 2027, and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Competition begins each day at 10:30 a.m. PT. Each of the three disciplines will be split into two groups, with each group wrestling across two days. The complete event schedule is listed below.
FloWrestling will provide live video in the U.S. market throughout the 2026 Galaxy U23 World Championships. Live results and brackets will be available on UWW Arena.
Single-session and all-session tickets for the U23 World Championships are still available on the UNLV Ticketing page.
2026 Galaxy U23 World Championships
At Las Vegas, Nevada, October 12-18
Reference Links
Event Schedule
Monday, October 12
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 60-67-72-82-97 kg)
5:15 p.m. – Opening ceremony
6 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 60-67-72-82-97 kg)
Tuesday, October 13
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (GR 60-67-72-82-97 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 55-63-77-87-130 kg)
4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 55-63-77-87-130 kg)
6 p.m. – Medal matches (GR 60-67-72-82-97 kg)
Wednesday, October 14
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (GR 55-63-77-87-130 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (WFS 50-55-59-68-76 kg)
4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 50-55-59-68-76 kg)
6 p.m. – Medal matches (GR 55-63-77-87-130 kg)
Thursday, October 15
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (WFS 50-55-59-68-76 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (WFS 53-57-62-65-72 kg)
4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 53-57-62-65-72 kg)
6 p.m. – Medal matches (WFS 50-55-59-68-76 kg)
Friday, October 16
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (WFS 53-57-62-65-72 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 61-74-86-92-125 kg)
4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61-74-86-92-125 kg)
6 p.m. – Medal matches (WFS 53-57-62-65-72 kg)
Saturday, October 17
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (MFS 61-74-86-92-125 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 57-65-70-79-97 kg)
4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57-65-70-79-97 kg)
6 p.m. – Medal matches (MFS 61-74-86-92-125 kg)
Sunday, October 18
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (MFS 57-65-70-79-97 kg)
1 p.m. – Medal matches (MFS 57-65-70-79-97 kg)
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Roster
57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
61 kg – Benjamin Davino (South Elgin, Ill./Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
65 kg – Bo Bassett (Windber, Pa./Tech WC/Titan Mercury WC)
70 kg – Jordan Williams (Tulsa, Okla./Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
74 kg – Jayden James (Westwood, N.J./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
79 kg – Joseph Sealey (Bear Creek Township, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg – Aeoden Sinclair (Columbia, Mo./Tiger Style RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
92 kg – Seth Shumate (Dublin, Ohio/Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
97 kg – Justin Rademacher (Corvallis, Ore./Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
125 kg – Coby Merrill (Ontario, Calif./Cyclone RTC/New York AC)
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-Dobler (Crete, Neb./Tiger WC/Titan Mercury WC)
55 kg – Everest Leydecker (Phoenix, Ariz./Iowa Women’s WC/New York AC)
57 kg – Sara Sterner (Morro Bay, Calif./Cardinal WC)
59 kg – Alexis Janiak (Plainfield, Ill./Titan Mercury WC)
62 kg – Adaugo Nwachukwu (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)
65 kg – Reese Larramendy (Reno, Nev./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)
68 kg – Isabella Mir (Naperville, Ill./Cardinal WC)
72 kg – Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
76 kg – Kylie Welker (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)
U.S. Greco-Roman Roster
55 kg – Kenneth Crosby (Colorado Springs, Colo./NMU-National Training Center/New York AC)
60 kg – Max Black (Marquette, Mich./NMU-National Training Center/New York AC)
63 kg – Landon Drury (Colorado Springs, Colo./NMU-National Training Center)
67 kg – Otto Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/New York AC)
72 kg – Brett Back (Rudolph, Wis./Position Wrestling)
77 kg – Joel Adams (Omaha, Neb./Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC)
82 kg – Adrian Artsisheuskiy (Brooklyn, N.Y./New York AC)
87 kg – Michael Altomer (Stuyvesant, N.Y./Curby Training Center/New York AC)
97 kg – Arian Khosravy (Woodland Hills, Calif.)
130 kg – Aden Attao (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/New York AC)
U.S. Support Staff & Delegation List
U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Joe Russell
U.S. men’s freestyle coach – J’den Cox
U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Jake Varner
U.S. women’s freestyle coach – Terry Steiner
U.S. women’s freestyle coach – Tonya Verbeek
U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Herb House
U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Joe Warren
U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Ismael Borrero Molina
U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Joe Betterman
U.S. Greco-Roman coach – Robby Smith
Personal coach – Cody Sanderson
Personal coach – Jeffrey Jaggers
Personal coach – Jared Frayer
Personal coach – Brandon Sorensen
Personal coach – Casey Cunningham
Personal coach – Cael Sanderson
Personal coach – Dom Bradley
Personal coach – Kollin Moore
Personal coach – Cory Crooks
Personal coach – Chris Perry
Personal coach – Nore Turner
Personal coach – Dana Vote
Personal coach – Randy Leydecker
Personal coach – Joe Norton
Personal coach – Justin Pearch
Personal coach – Bruce Robinson
Personal coach – Jan Rosenberg
Personal coach – Grant Zamin
Personal coach – Emma Randall
Personal coach – Jenna Burkert
Personal coach – Andy Bisek
Personal coach – Payton Jacobson
Personal coach – Sam Hazewinkel
Personal coach – Ike Anderson
Personal coach – Nate Engel
Personal coach – Brandon Kaylor
Personal coach – Dmitriy Landa
Personal coach – Joe Uccellini
Personal coach – Shervin Khosravy
Training partner – Andrii Yatsenko
Training partner – Keegan O’Toole
Training partner – Benjamin Peak
Training partner – Joe Smith
Medical (MD) – Matthew Weirath
Medical (ATC) – Randall Boswell
Medical (ATC) – Jessica Battilochi
Medical (DC) – Jake Fisher
Medical (MT) – Allison Anderson
Medical (Dietitian) – Nuwanee Tamaki
Medical (S&P) – Alex LaRochelle
Medical (Psych) – Peter Haberl
Official – Nick Kindred
Official – Jason Salley
Official – Peter Kuisle
Official – Andrew Mullet
Team leader – Tim Manning
Team leader – Jeff Waters
NF media – Ariah Anderson-Cheetany
NF media – David Gerhart
NF official – Andrea Shuler
NF official – Elana Elor
NF official – Jose Campo
Secretary General – Rich Bender
President – Bruce Baumgartner
OC staff – Cody Bickley
OC staff – Jaimie McNab
OC staff – Paul Kieblesz
OC staff – Zack Chavez
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