Five takeaways from collegians at U23 Worlds

The women’s wrestling competition at the 2026 U23 World Championships concluded Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The tournament gave several of the top women’s college wrestlers in the United States a chance to test themselves against the world’s best young talent. For some, it reinforced their status among the sport’s elite. For others, it offered valuable lessons heading into the 2026-27 college season.

Below are five takeaways from collegians at the U23 World Championships.

Kylie Welker is building a case as one of the greatest of all time

Kylie Welker is building a resume that could eventually place her among the greatest American women’s wrestlers ever. The Iowa star made history in Las Vegas, becoming the first women’s freestyle wrestler to win three consecutive U23 world titles and the first American to win three U23 world crowns. What made the accomplishment even more impressive was her dominance at 76 kilograms. Welker did not surrender a single point, rolling through four opponents with three technical superiorities and a fall, and none of her matches went the full six minutes. She opened with an 11-0 technical superiority over Poland’s Patrycja Cuber, pinned Türkiye’s Elmira Yasin in 1:05 in the quarterfinals and blanked Russia’s Mariia Silina 11-0 in the semifinals. Welker then needed just 47 seconds to dispatch Serbia’s Evelin Ujhelji 10-0 in the finals, scoring a quick takedown and turning Ujhelji four times with a leg lace. The 22-year-old Welker’s resume was already loaded before she arrived in Las Vegas. She is a three-time national champion and a two-time senior world bronze medalist, having reached the podium at the 2024 and 2025 World Championships after placing 10th at the 2021 Senior Worlds. Her age-group career dates back to a U17 world bronze medal in 2019. Two years later, she captured a U20 world title and added a U23 world bronze medal in 2021 before winning U23 world titles in 2024 and 2025. With her latest crown, Welker is now a four-time age-group world champion and six-time age-group world medalist. At this point, the question is no longer whether Welker belongs among the world’s best young wrestlers. It’s how high she can climb in the years ahead.

Adaugo Nwachukwu is must-see TV

Few wrestlers in the country are more entertaining to watch than McKendree’s Adaugo Nwachukwu. Her explosiveness, athleticism and willingness to go for big moves make nearly every one of her matches worth watching. That was on display in Las Vegas, where Nwachukwu delivered one of the most memorable highlights of the tournament. Leading Mongolia’s Khulan Byambasuren 4-0 in the second period of their 62-kilogram quarterfinal, Nwachukwu fired off a double-leg attack. Byambasuren countered with a whizzer, but Nwachukwu locked around her waist and launched her through the air, slamming her to the mat with one hand for five points. Nwachukwu added a turn to close out an 11-0 technical superiority, and United World Wrestling quickly shared the clip of her one-handed, five-point move. Nwachukwu opened the tournament with three straight shutout technical superiorities before grinding out a 3-1 win over Mexico’s Melanie Jimenez Villalba in a semifinal decided by the activity clock and a successful U.S. challenge. Her run ended with a 10-0 technical superiority loss to Ukraine’s Iryna Bondar, a two-time age-group world champion, in the finals. The silver medal is Nwachukwu’s second age-group world medal after she won bronze at the 2022 U20 World Championships. The loss in the finals shouldn’t overshadow her performance. Nwachukwu remains one of the country’s most dynamic wrestlers, capable of producing a highlight at any moment.

Everest Leydecker’s confidence should remain unshaken

Everest Leydecker isn’t accustomed to losing at age-group world events. The highly touted Iowa freshman won her second U20 world title in August, but she suffered a rare setback in Las Vegas, getting pinned by Hungary’s Gerda Terek in the 55-kilogram semifinals. Leydecker appeared to be in control early, taking a 3-0 lead before Terek locked up a cradle and secured the fall at 1:56. Leydecker was not the only victim of that cradle. Terek won three of her four matches by fall, including a cradle pin of Japan’s Yuna Sawatani in the finals, to become Hungary’s first women’s U23 world champion. Leydecker refused to let the loss define her tournament. She bounced back with an 11-0 technical superiority over Uzbekistan’s Ulmeken Esenbaeva to capture bronze, putting the match away with a series of leg-lace turns. Before the semifinal setback, Leydecker had posted three straight shutout technical superiorities over opponents from Moldova, Colombia and China. The defeat was a reminder of how quickly an international match can change, even when one wrestler appears to be in control. One mistake shouldn’t diminish what has already been an extraordinary age-group career. Leydecker, who made the U.S. senior world team at age 18, will compete at the Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, later this month before beginning her college wrestling career with the Hawkeyes.

Reese Larramendy is jumping levels

Iowa’s Reese Larramendy added a new line to her resume in Las Vegas: world medalist. The Hawkeye captured bronze at 65 kilograms, the first world championship medal of her career after placing fifth and 10th at the U20 World Championships. Larramendy opened with a 6-4 win over Colombia’s Nicoll Parrado Osorio, a 2023 senior world team member, building a 6-0 lead before holding off a late rally. She ran into China’s Yuqi Rao, the 2025 U23 world silver medalist, in the semifinals and fell 10-0, but she bounced back to top Türkiye’s Ayse Erkan 10-4 in the bronze-medal match, grabbing the early lead with a four-point move off a strong double-leg attack and never looking back. The medal capped a resilient stretch for Larramendy. In March, she entered the finals of the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships as the top seed at 145 pounds with a 33-0 record, only to be pinned in 2:26 by former Iowa teammate Bella Mir. It was her only loss of the season. Larramendy wasted little time moving forward on the freestyle circuit. She placed third at the U.S. Open and third at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, then claimed the No. 3 spot on the U.S. National Team at 65 kilograms at Final X in June. In July, she won gold at the Polyák Imre, Varga János & Kozma István Memorial in Budapest, Hungary, defeating fellow American Jennifer Page 7-1 in the finals. Larramendy also appears to have a genuine love for the sport. She stepped in on late notice to face training partner Kennedy Blades at Real American Freestyle 12 in Cleveland in August, falling 11-0 to the Olympic silver medalist. She has also appeared in a media role for FloWrestling and has even posted breakdowns of RAF matches on social media. A three-time All-American and 2024 NCWWC national champion, Larramendy heads into the 2026-27 season looking to finish the job in March.

Bella Mir wrestled well despite missing the podium

North Central’s Bella Mir left Las Vegas without a medal, but her performance offered reasons for optimism after a difficult stretch. The reigning NCAA champion at 145 pounds opened the 68-kilogram competition with a convincing 10-2 victory over Ukraine’s Oleksandra Rybak, converting two of Rybak’s leg attacks into takedowns. Mir then gave Japan’s Ray Hoshino all she could handle in a back-and-forth quarterfinal. Mir battled back from a 4-3 halftime deficit to take a 5-4 lead, but Hoshino came out of a late scramble with the go-ahead takedown and added a point off an unsuccessful U.S. challenge to win 7-5. Hoshino lost in the semifinals, which eliminated Mir from the repechage, before pinning Venezuela’s Gilbery Garcia to win bronze. The result was disappointing, but Mir showed she can compete with a world medalist. Her trip to Las Vegas came on the heels of her first professional MMA loss. In August, Mir dropped a unanimous decision to Alex Apodaca on Dana White’s Contender Series despite entering as one of the biggest favorites in the show’s history. For an athlete accustomed to winning, the past few months have brought some adversity. Still, Mir’s performance against Hoshino was encouraging. The three-time All-American has already proven she can win at the highest level of college wrestling, and her international experience should only make her more dangerous.