By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

Team USA heads to Astana, Kazakhstan, this week for the 2026 Senior World Championships, led by defending World champions Helen Maroulis, Kyle Snyder and Trent Hidlay.

Everest Leydecker was the Arizona winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award in 2026 while Marcus Blaze (Ohio and National in 2025), Wyatt Hendrickson (Kansas in 2019), Spencer Lee (Pennsylvania and Northeast Region in 2017), Zain Retherford (Pennsylvania and National in 2013) and Cohlton Schultz (Colorado and National in 2019) are all winners of the Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

Maroulis, the three-time Olympic medalist and 2016 Olympic champion, is seeking her fifth Senior World title and her ninth overall Senior World medal. She is accompanied by a strong women’s freestyle team that includes Olympic champion Amit Elor, Olympic and World medalist Kennedy Blades, two-time Olympian and two-time World medalist Kayla Miracle, and several young talents with proven age-group World success.

Both Snyder and Hidlay posted memorable runs at last year’s Worlds in Zagreb, Croatia. The win was Snyder’s fourth Senior World gold. He holds two Olympic medals, gold in 2016 and bronze in 2020, plus eight Senior World medals. Hidlay is one-for-one in Senior Worlds appearances. Joining them on the men’s freestyle side are Olympic medalists Spencer Lee and Kyle Dake, World champion and Olympian Retherford, two-time World medalist James Green, returning finalist Levi Haines, and three others with age-group World titles on their resumes.

2024 Olympian Kamal Bey remains the backbone of the U.S. Greco-Roman program, making his fifth Senior Worlds appearance, this time at a new weight class. Four Greco-Roman athletes—Otto Black, Joel Adams, Beka Melelashvili and Schultz—have medaled on the age-group circuit and are primed to break out on the Senior stage.

The Senior World Championships will be held at Barys Arena October 24 through November 1. Greco-Roman will start the week-long event, followed by women’s freestyle mid-week and men’s freestyle at week’s end. Each day begins at 10:30 a.m. local time. Astana, Kazakhstan, is nine hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

United World Wrestling has published preliminary entry lists for all three international disciplines (Greco-Roman entries, women’s freestyle entries, men’s freestyle entries). The top-eight seeds for each weight class are expected later this week.

Brackets will be released in three waves—Greco-Roman on October 23, women’s freestyle on October 26, and men’s freestyle on October 28—the day before each discipline takes the mats. UWW Arena will host brackets and live results from the event.

A live stream of the Senior World Championships will be available to the U.S. market on FloWrestling.

A Wrestling social media platforms for complete coverage of the Senior World Championships.

2026 Senior World Championships 

At Astana, Kazakhstan, October 24 – November 1 

Reference Links 

• Event Website

• Live Stream

• Brackets and Results

Event Schedule 

Saturday, October 24 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 55-60-77-82 kg)

5:30 p.m. – Opening Ceremony

7 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 55-60-77-82 kg)

Sunday, October 25 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 72-97-130 kg), Repechage (GR 55-60-77-82 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 72-97-130 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (GR 55-60-77-82 kg)

Monday, October 26 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (GR 63-67-87 kg), Repechage (GR 72-97-130 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 63-67-87 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (GR 72-97-130 kg)

Tuesday, October 27 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg), Repechage (GR 63-67-87 kg)

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

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (GR 63-67-87 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, MFS 65-97 kg), Repechage (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 55-59 kg, MFS 65-97 kg)

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

Friday, October 30 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg), Repechage (WFS 55-59 kg, MFS 65-97 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 55-59 kg, MFS 65-97 kg)

Saturday, October 31 

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg), Repechage (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 61-70-86-125 kg)

Sunday, November 1 

4:30 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 57-74-79-92 kg)

U.S. Greco-Roman Roster 

55 kg – Max Nowry (Washington, Ill./Illinois RTC/New York AC)

60 kg – Dalton Roberts (Fountain, Colo./Army WCAP)

63 kg – Xavier Johnson (Pueblo, Colo./Army WCAP)

67 kg – Otto Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/New York AC)

72 kg – Benji Peak (Colorado Springs, Colo./Position Wrestling/New York AC)

77 kg – Joel Adams (Omaha, Neb./Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC)

82 kg – Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)

87 kg – Beka Melelashvili (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/New York AC)

97 kg – Timothy Young (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)

130 kg – Cohlton Schultz (Tempe, Ariz./Southwest WC/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 (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 – Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

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

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Roster 

57 kg – Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

61 kg – Marcus Blaze (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

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

70 kg – Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

74 kg – James Green (Blacksburg, Va./Tech WC/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg – Levi Haines (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

86 kg – Kyle Dake (Port Matilda, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

92 kg – Trent Hidlay (Raleigh, N.C./Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC)

97 kg – Kyle Snyder (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Air Force WCAP)

U.S. Support Staff and Delegation 

U.S. Greco-Roman Coach – Herb House 

U.S. Greco-Roman Coach – Joe Warren 

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Coach – Terry Steiner  

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Coach – Tonya Verbeek 

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Coach – Bill Zadick 

U.S. Men’s Freestyle Coach – Joe Russell 

Personal Coach – Spenser Mango

Personal Coach – Sam Hazewinkel

Personal Coach – Ike Anderson

Personal Coach – Eric Thompson

Personal Coach – Bryan Medlin

Personal Coach – Brandon Kaylor

Personal Coach – Nore Turner

Personal Coach – Dana Vote

Personal Coach – Randy Leydecker

Personal Coach – Sarah Hildebrandt

Personal Coach – Nate Engel

Personal Coach – Bruce Robinson

Personal Coach – Lee Pritts

Personal Coach – Izzy Martinez

Personal Coach – Kevin Black

Personal Coach – Desiree Ramos

Personal Coach – Brandon Sorensen

Personal Coach – Cody Sanderson

Personal Coach – Jared Frayer

Personal Coach – Cael Sanderson

Personal Coach – Mark Manning

Personal Coach – Adam Lynch

Personal Coach – Casey Cunningham

Personal Coach – Jamill Kelly

Personal Coach – Jake Varner

Personal Coach – Lee Roper

Coach – Meredith Suess 

Coach – Nicole Tyson 

Video – David Taylor 

Training Partner – Billy Sullivan 

Training Partner – Zane Richards 

Training Partner – Ildar Hafizov 

Training Partner – Max Black 

Training Partner – Jace Koezler 

Training Partner – RaVaughn Perkins 

Training Partner – Britton Holmes 

Training Partner – Payton Jacobson 

Training Partner – Michial Foy 

Training Partner – Ben Szuba  

Training Partner – Ashlee Palimoo 

Training Partner – Bella Williams  

Training Partner – Samara Chavez 

Training Partner – Claire DiCugno 

Training Partner – Riley Hanrahan 

Training Partner – Jessica Mendez  

Training Partner – Nina Makem 

Training Partner – Maddie Sandquist 

Training Partner – Dean Peterson 

Training Partner – Jordan Conaway 

Training Partner – Sam Herring 

Training Partner – Peyton Robb 

Training Partner – Connor Pierce  

Training Partner – Joe Sealey 

Training Partner – Christian Knop 

Training Partner – Cole Mirasola 

Training Partner – Konner Doucet 

ATC – Andrew Ernst 

ATC – Terry Grindstaff 

ATC – Shelby Hoppis 

DC – Sam Nelson 

DC – Jason Durnas 

DC – Dawn Hacker

MT – Aaron Pavlechko

MT – Mike Berkal

MT – Amy Murry

MD – David Haight 

Dietitian – Nuwanee Tamaki 

Dietitian – Rob Skinner 

S&P – Alex LaRochelle 

Psych – Blake Pindyck  

Psych – Peter Haberl 

Official – Samuel Julian 

Official – Susanna Sylstad 

 Team Leader – Andy Barth

 Team Leader – Jamie Dinan

 Team Leader – Cody Bickley

 NF Sec. General – Rich Bender 

 NF President – Bruce Baumgartner

 NF Media – Ava Fricke 

 NF Media – Richard Immel 

 NF Media – Tony Rotundo

 NF Official – Jose Campo

 NF Official – Andrea Shuler

 NF Official – Ken Honig 

 NF Official – Tony Robie