The women’s freestyle portion of the World Championships kicks off Oct. 27 at Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan, where the United States will feature a new-look lineup with just three wrestlers locking down the same weight classes they occupied a year ago. 

Here’s a look at how the United States stacks up at each weight class. 

50 kilograms: Morgan Turner 

UWW ranking: Unranked 

World Championships Experience: This is Turner’s first trip to the Senior World Championships. 

Outlook: Fresh off capturing bronze medals at the U23 and U20 World Championships, Turner now sets her sights on her third World Championship tournament of the season and her Senior-level World debut after assembling a decorated age-group resume. In addition to her 2026 medals, she won U17 World titles in 2023 and 2025 and a U17 bronze in 2024. The competition steps up in Kazakhstan, where Turner will encounter a field that includes five-time World and Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan. 

Susaki outscored her opposition by a combined 41-0 count on her way to Olympic gold in Tokyo but got knocked off in the opening round in Paris by India’s Vinesh Phogat. Susaki pinned U20 World champ Rinka Ogawa to make Japan’s World Team this year. 

Returning World silver medalist Zhang Yu of China — a 2024 U20 World champ — and Turkey’s Evin Demirhan Yavuz are back in the weight class after capturing medals last year in Zagreb. Yavuz is a two-time World bronze medalist (2019 and 2025) and a six-time European medalist. 

Four-time European finalist Oksana Livach of Ukraine, three-time World medalist Otgonjargal Dolgorjav of Mongolia, two-time World finalist Emilia Gregore Vuc of Romania and Russia’s Elizaveta Smirnova, a 2025 World bronze medalist, have also stood on the World podium.  

53 kilograms: Cristelle Rodriguez 

UWW ranking: 12  

World Championships Experience: This is Rodriguez’s second trip to the Senior World Championships. She placed 10th at 55 kilograms in 2025.  

Outlook: The three-time NAIA champion for Doane University returns to the Senior World Championships at a new weight this year — 53 kg — after cutting down from 55 kg, where she made the USA World Team a year ago. Rodriguez is coming off a dominant U23 World  Championship run last week in Las Vegas, where she outscored the field 24-5 before notching a 55-second pin in the finals. It was Rodrigez’s second age-group World title — she also won gold in 2024 at the U20 level. 

The cut down to the Olympic weight provides Rodriguez with several highly credentialed potential opponents. The field features Japan’s Moe Kiyooka, who ran through the 2024 World Championships at 55 kilograms without allowing a point. Kiyooka capped her title run two years ago with a win over China’s Zhang Jin, who has also dropped down from 55 kg. 

But Jin defeated Kiyooka earlier this year at the Asian Championships on her way to gold. India’s Nishu Bhanwala also owns a win over Kiyooka. She knocked off the World champ at the 2025 U23 World Championships. 

Ecuador’s Lucia Yepez also figures to be a factor here. The three-time World and Olympic medalist won her fourth Pan Am gold earlier this year. 

55 kilograms: Everest Leydecker

UWW ranking: 32

World Championships Experience: This is Leydecker’s first trip to the Senior World Championships. 

Outlook: The Iowa freshman is set to take the mat for her third World Championship of the season. Leydecker won her second U20 World title earlier this year and recently took bronze at the U23 level. In five matches in Las Vegas, Leydecker won four by technical superiority and led the other 3-0 in the semis against Hungary’s Gerda Terek when she got cradled and pinned. She’s certainly capable of making another run to the podium in her debut on the World stage at the Senior level. 

Though the bracket isn’t as deep as the surrounding Olympic weight classes, it features North Korea’s Oh Kyong-ryong, who cruised to the World title last year. Russia’s Ekaterina Verbina, last year’s World silver medalist, is back as well. Verbina is coming off a seventh-place showing at the European Championships, where she lost to Turkey’s Tuba Demir, who ultimately took bronze. 

57 kilograms: Helen Maroulis

UWW ranking: 2

World Championships Experience: This is 13th trip to the World Championships for Maroulis, who has also made three Olympic Teams. She has won eight World medals and three more at the Olympics. Her medal count includes five golds, two silvers and four bronzes. 

Outlook: Maroulis is looking to add to her legendary career in her pursuit of a 12th World-level medal. She pondered retirement after becoming the first American woman to win Olympic gold in 2016, and a decade later she’s still a title favorite. Only China’s Kexin Hong, a 2025 World bronze medalist, has accumulated more ranking points than Maroulis this year at 57 kg. 

Another legend at the weight class — Japan’s Akari Fujinami — won’t be in the field. After 155 consecutive wins to start her career, Fujinami lost for the first time at the Asian Games to North Korea’s Son II-sim. Neither wrestler is entered in the World Championships. Japan will instead send Sena Nagamoto, a 2023 U23 World silver medalist. 

There’s a host of others at the weight who have fared well on the World stage, including Mongolia’s Khulan Batkhuyag (2022 silver at 53 kg), India’s Neha Sharma (2023 silver at 55 kg, 2024 bronze at 57 kg, 2025 bronze at 57 kg) and both of this year’s European finalists — Poland’s Magdalena Glodek and Turkey’s Elvira Suleyman Kamaloglu.    

59 kilograms: Abigail Nette

UWW ranking: 10

World Championships Experience: This is the second trip to the World Championships for Nette on the Senior level. She placed 10th in 2022. 

Outlook: Nette secured her spot the USA World Team for the second time by taking out 2025 U23 World bronze medalist Alexis Janiak in two straight bouts at Final X, winning by pin and a 10-0 technical superiority. Her 2026 season has also included a Pan Am gold and a silver at the UWW Rankings Series event in Budapest, where she notched a 10-0 win against returning World silver medalist Mariia Vynnk of Ukraine, the reigning European champ. 

The bracket includes Japan’s Natskui Yamaguchi, who claimed a bronze earlier this year at the U23 World Championships, and Canada’s Laurence Beauregard, a World bronze medalist in 2025 and four-time Pan Am champ. India’s Manisha Bhanwala could be a factor here. She won a pair of Rankings Series events at 57 kilograms and pinned 2025 World silver medalist Son Il-sim (PRK). Bhanwala is down from 62 kg, where she took 13th last year.  

62 kilograms: Adaugo Nwachukwu

UWW ranking: 5

World Championships Experience: This is the second trip to the World Championships for Nwachukwu on the Senior level. She placed seventh in 2025. 

Outlook: Nwachukwu is coming off of a U23 World silver medal in Las Vegas, following up a summer in which she notched a pair of wins against two-time World medalist Macey Kilty at Final X to secure her second trip to the Senior World Championships. 

The competition ramps up in Astana, where the field is headlined by two-time World champ Nonoka Ozaki of Japan. Ozaki won gold in 2022 at 62 kilograms and another in 2023 at 65 kg. She also claimed an Olympic bronze in 2024 at 68 kg. 

Ozaki isn’t the only Olympic medalist in the bracket. Norway’s Grace Bullen also reached the podium in Paris and has placed twice at the World championships (silver in 2022, bronze in 2023). She’s also a five-time European medalist. 

Two other past World champions — Zhang Qi of China and Bilyana Dudova of Bulgaria —  round out this incredibly deep weight. 

65 kilograms: Kayla Miracle

UWW ranking: 35

World Championships Experience: This is the fifth trip to the World Championships for Miracle on the Senior level in addition to her two trips to the Olympics. She won silver medals at the World Championships in 2021 and 2022. 

Outlook: After locking down the USA women’s freestyle spot at 62 kilograms for the better part of the past decade, Miracle is taking her first shot at the World Championships at 65 kg. She won a Pan Am gold this spring at 65 kg. 

Miracle is stepping into a weight class that includes World champ Irina Ringaci, a four-time World medalist. Ringaci won a pair of those medals at 68 kg before dropping back down to 65, where she claimed a bronze last year. 

Russia’s Alina Kasabieva took silver at last year’s World Championships, losing in the finals to Japan’s Miwa Morikawa. Nana Ikehata, a 2024 U20 World champ, is occupying the 65 kg spot for Japan this year. 

Mongolia’s Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal is also back after claiming a bronze last year at the World Championships. 

68 kilograms: Kennedy Blades

UWW ranking: 6

World Championships Experience: This is the third trip to the World Championships for Blades. She also made the 2024 Olympic Team, capturing a silver medal. 

Outlook: Blades just turned 23, but she’s still one of the most experienced wrestlers on the American women’s freestyle team on the World stage. She claimed a bronze last year at the World Championships after grabbing a silver in Paris at the 2024 Olympics at 76 kg. 

Blades will have to contend with a bracket that includes returning World champion Ami Ishii of Japan. Ishii downed Blades 12-1 in the quarterfinals of last year’s World Championships. Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova has been another consistent force in recent years. She took silver at the 2024 Olympics, bronze at the 2020 Olympics and won a World title in 2021. China’s Long Jia is the third Senior World champ entered at this weight. She won her World gold in 2024 at 65 kg. 

Additionally, Turkey’s Nesrin Bas, a 2025 World silver medalist at 72 kg, notched a win against Blades earlier this year. All together, there are eight World and Olympic medalists entered here. 

72 kilograms: Precious Wieser

UWW ranking: 31

World Championships Experience: This is her first trip to the World Championships. 

Outlook: Wieser became a late addition to the USA Women’s freestyle team, taking the place of Olympic champion Amit Elor. Wieser was third on the American ladder this year. She reached the finals of the U.S. Open in April when she lost to Alexandria Glaude, who suffered an injury and is also unable to compete in Kazakhstan. But Wieser has had some success on the international stage this year. She won a Pan Am title in May and took fifth at the Zagreb Open. 

Turkey’s Buse Tosun Cavusoglu is a four-time World and Olympic medalist. She won World gold in 2023 and claimed bronzes in 2018, 2021 and 2024. The hometown entry here is Kazakhstan’s Zhamila Bakbergenova, a three-time World silver medalist (2021, 2022, 2024) who also grabbed a bronze in 2023. 

Kyrgyzstan’s Nurzat Nurtaeva is a returning World bronze medalist at this weight and also won a U23 World title in 2025. China’s Li Zelu is the other returning World bronze medalist here.

76 kilograms: Dymond Guilford

UWW ranking: 31

World Championships Experience: This is Guilford’s second trip to the World Championships. 

Outlook: Guilford claimed the 76-kilogram spot on the USA squad by coming back to win the last two matches of the best-of-three Final X series against two-time World medalist Kylie Welker. It’ll be Guilford’s second appearance at the Senior World Championships and first since 2022. She also won a U23 World silver that year. She’s entering a field with five past World medalists. 

Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy is a three-time World medalist (silver in 2023 and 2025, bronze in 2021). Medet Kyzy most recently took bronze at the Asian Games. Cuba’s Milaimys Marin is back after taking bronze in 2025, a follow-up to her bronze at the Paris Olympics. 

Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh-Amar, the Asian champion this year, was a 2023 World medalist at 72 kg. India’s Kajal Dhochak could be a factor here. She won U20 World titles each of the past two years. Also keep an eye out for Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva. She won European titles each of the past two years.