Macey Kilty drives for a takedown in the U23 World semifinals.

Macey Kilty drives for a takedown in the U23 World semifinals.

USAWWomenInternationalCollege2024 U23 + Senior Worlds

Kilty, Welker on to finals, Macaluso in bronze match at U23 World Championships

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

TIRANA, Albania – The Team USA women added two more finalists to its tally at the U23 World Championships on Thursday evening. Headliners Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker marched on with great efforts in the semifinal round at Tirana’s Feti Borova Sports Hall.


Kilty picked up a punishing, 12-2, technical fall against U23 European bronze medalist and 2021 U20 World bronze medalist Viktoria Vesso of Estonia in the 62 kg semifinals. It was her fourth bonus point win in as many matches on the day.


Now a six-time age-group World medalist, Kilty looks for gold tomorrow night against Iryna Bondar of Ukraine, who won this year’s U20 Worlds and is a two-time U23 World medalist. Kilty was a Senior World runner-up in 2023 and will compete at the Senior World Championships next week in Albania.


It was a much closer contest for Welker, who was tested for the first time this tournament by three-time U23 World medalist and 2021 U23 World champion Anastasiya Alpyeyeva of Ukraine. Welker scored a clutch single leg with 55 seconds left in the match to overtake Alpyeyeva, 3-1.


Welker is up against Vianne Rouleau of Canada in the 72 kg gold medal match and should be considered the favorite. Welker has clinched her third age-group World medal and is looking for her second gold. She will also compete on the Senior team alongside Kilty next week.


Kilty and Welker will be teammates at the University of Iowa this upcoming college season.


Falling to the bronze medal match at 55 kg was 2022 U20 World runner-up Sofia Macaluso. The New York native was pinned by returning U23 World finalist and current U23 European champion Zhala Aliyeva of Azerbaijan with six seconds left in the first period of their semifinal.


It was a rough session for U.S. repechage hopefuls Elena Ivaldi at 53 kg and Adaugo Nwachukwu at 65 kg. Both women had their repechage bids dashed by tight semifinal results and will not continue in the tournament.  


The U23 World Championships continue at 6 p.m. local time with the women’s freestyle group one (50-55-59-68-76 kg) medal matches. For those following along live, Tirana, Albania, is located six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.


Updated brackets and match-by-match results are available on UWW Arena. A live broadcast of the event is available for the U.S. market at FloWrestling.com.


Revisit the details of each match from today in our day four match notes article.

2024 U23 World Championships | At Tirana, Albania, October 24

Women’s Freestyle Results

Gold Medal Match Pairings (Group Two)
53 kg

Yu Sakamoto (Japan) vs. Serena Di Benedetto (Canada)


57 kg

Ruka Natami (Japan) vs. Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan)


62 kg

Macey Kilty (United States) vs. Iryna Bondar (Ukraine)


65 kg

Irina Ringaci (Moldova) vs. Alina Kasabieva (Individual Neutral Athlete)


72 kg

Kylie Welker (United States) vs. Vianne Rouleau (Canada)


Semifinal Results (Group Two)
53 kg

Yu Sakamoto (Japan) dec. Otgontuya Chinbold (Mongolia), 4-4

Serena Di Benedetto (Canada) dec. Xiaomin Xie (China), 10-5


57 kg

Ruka Natami (Japan) dec. Neha Sharma (India), 3-2

Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) fall Sofia Macaluso (United States), 2:04


62 kg

Macey Kilty (United States) tech. fall Viktoria Vesso (Estonia), 12-2

Iryna Bondar (Ukraine) dec. Hanying Zhang (China), 2-1


65 kg

Irina Ringaci (Moldova) tech. fall Shiksha Shiksha (India), 10-0

Alina Kasabieva (Individual Neutral Athlete) dec. Kateryna Zelenykh (Romania), 3-2


72 kg

Kylie Welker (United States) dec. Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine), 3-1

Vianne Rouleau (Canada) tech. fall Viktoryia Radzkova (Individual Neutral Athlete), 10-0

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Results (Group Two)

53 kg – Elena Ivaldi (Rocklin, Calif.), eliminated

WIN Yusmy Chaparro Urrego (Colombia), 8-8

LOSS Otgontuya Chinbold (Mongolia), 10-8


57 kg – Sofia Macaluso (Otisville, N.Y./West Point WC), bronze medal match

WIN Bertha Rojas Chavez (Mexico), 11-9

WIN Anastasia Kozlova (Individual Neutral Athlete), 4-1

LOSS Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan), fall, 2:04


62 kg – Macey Kilty (Stratford, Wis./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal match

WIN Tynys Dubek (Kazakhstan), fall, 2:33

WIN Esther Kolawole (Nigeria), fall, 5:30

WIN Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Viktoria Vesso (Estonia), tech. fall, 12-2

VS Iryna Bondar (Ukraine)


65 kg – Adaugo Nwachukwu (Fountain, Colo./Army WCAP), eliminated

LOSS Kateryna Zelenykh (Romania), 5-5


72 kg – Kylie Welker (Franksville, Wis./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal match

WIN Anastassiya Panassovich (Kazakhstan), tech. fall, 11-0

WIN Haticenur Sari (Turkey), tech. fall 10-0

WIN Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine), 3-1

VS Vianne Rouleau (Canada)

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