Photo: Tony Rotundo
For the first time since 1999, the United States is the best women's wrestling team in the world. Team USA won the women's freestyle team title at the 2026 Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, edging Japan 137-135 on the official UWW standings, with China third at 121.
The parallel to 1999 is hard to miss. That year the U.S. women won their first and, until now, only World team title by a single point over Japan, 47-46. Twenty-seven years later, they did it again over Japan, by two.
Six Medals, Two World Champions
- Everest Leydecker (55kg), GOLD: went 4-0, beating Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) 2-1, pinning Anastasia Blayvas (Germany), beating Nagisa Harada (Japan) 6-1 in the semifinals and Nataliia Klivchutska (Ukraine) 4-1 in the final.
- Adaugo Nwachukwu (62kg), GOLD: went 4-0, capped by a takedown at the buzzer to beat Japan's Nonoka Ozaki, an Olympic bronze medalist and two-time World Champion, 12-11 in the final.
- Abigail Nette (59kg), SILVER: pinned her way through two of her three wins, including a fall over Ukraine's Mariia Vynnyk in the semifinals, before falling 8-6 to India's Manisha in the final.
- Helen Maroulis (57kg), BRONZE: beat Kazakhstan's Nilufar Raimova 5-2 for the 12th World or Olympic medal of her career.
- Kennedy Blades (68kg), BRONZE: pinned Mongolia's Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan for her second straight World bronze.
- Dymond Guilford (76kg), BRONZE: beat Turkey's Kadriye Kocak Aksoy 7-2 for her first Senior World medal.
Every Point Counted
A two-point margin means the whole roster mattered. Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler (53kg) and Precious Wieser (72kg) both reached the semifinals and finished fifth, worth 10 team points each. Kayla Miracle's 10th-place finish at 65kg added two points, exactly the margin over Japan.
Team scoring at the World Championships awards 25 points for gold, 20 for silver, 15 for bronze and 10 for fifth, then 8, 6, 4 and 2 points for seventh through tenth. The U.S. team scored in nine of the 10 weights.
Japan's Run Ends
Japan has owned the women's team race for most of the sport's history, and came to Astana with two World Champions of its own at 50kg and 53kg. It wasn't enough this time.