Blades to go for gold, Rodriguez, Kilty & Hays for bronze in women’s freestyle at Ranking Event in Hungary

BUDAPEST, Hungary – 2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades will compete for a gold medal at 68 kg in women’s freestyle at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Event on Saturday night. Team USA also has three athletes who have qualified for bronze-medal matches, Cristelle Rodriguez (55 kg), Macey Kilty (65 kg) and Brooklyn Hays (68 kg).

Blades won all three matches on Saturday, to qualify for the gold-medal finals against Noemi Szabados of Hungary.

She opened with a pair of technical falls, stopping Alina Shevchenko of UWW, 10-0, then putting away Karolina Pok of Hungary, 12-1. In the semifinals, Blades hit a big four-point move early in the match and scored the first six points, on the way to a 6-2 win over 2024 Olympian Yuliana Yaneva of Bulgaria.

Rodriguez, a 2024 U20 World champion, went 1-1 in her Group competition, beating Pushpa of India, 8-3, then losing to 2022 World bronze medalist Karla Godinez Gonzalez of Canada, 4-1. This qualified her for the semifinals, where she was beaten by 2025 European champion Ekaterina Verbina of UWW in a 10-0 technical fall. Rodriguez draws Amory Andrich of Germany in her bronze-medal match.

Kilty, a two-time Senior World medalist, will battle Kadriye Kocak Aksoy of Turkiye for the bronze medal.

Kilty opened with a solid 6-0 quarterfinal win over Aleah Nickel of Canada. In the semifinals, she got into a high-scoring shoot out with 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Grace Bullen of Norway. The first period was especially active, with both wrestlers getting a four-point move and Kilty leading 9-6 at the break. In the second period, Bullen tied it up at 9-9. In a throw action, Kilty scored four points, but Bullen was able to secure a headlock and pinned Kilty in 5:37.

Hays opened up with an impressive 6-5 victory over 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Buse Tosun of Turkiye. Her quarterfinals win was against Kendra Dacher of France, 4-3. In the semifinals, Hays was defeated in a 10-0 technical fall by Noemi Szabados of Hungary. Hays has drawn Hyeonyeong Park of Korea in the bronze-medal round.

Rodriguez, Kilty and Blades will all represent Team USA at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in September. For Rodriguez and Blades, it will be their first Senior Worlds appearance.

Three U.S. women were eliminated in the first session, when the athlete who beat them failed to reach the finals: 2025 Senior World Team member Adaugo Nwachukwu (62 kg) plus Aine Drury (65 kg) and Dymond Guilford (76 kg).

Guilford, a 2022 Senior World Team member, won her opening bout against Vianne Rouleau of Canada, 7-0. In her second bout, she was pinned by Medet Kyzy Aiperi of Kyrgyzstan in 5:53. Kzyz was defeated in the semifinals, so Guilford was not eligible for repechage.

Nwachukwu dropped a close 6-5 decision to Ana Godinez Gonzalez of Canada. Godinez was defeated in the semifinals, eliminating Nwachukwu.

Drury was pinned in her opening bout by Eniko Elekses of Hungary and was not pulled back into repechage.

The USA had five wrestlers compete on the first day of the Greco-Roman competition on Saturday morning, and all five were eliminated when the opponent who beat them failed to reach the semifinals.

Winning their first matches were 2025 Senior World Team member Colton Schultz (130 kg) and Denzel Freeman (130 kg). Schultz stopped 2019 World bronze medalist Mihail Kajaia of Serbia, 5-1, then was beaten by Elias Kuosmanen of Finland, 2-1. Freeman pinned Assylbek Abdikalyk of Kazakhstan in 3:54 then was edged by Sarkhan Mammadov of Azerbaijan, 4-3.

U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers with 0-1 records in the session were Aliaksandr Kikiniou (72 kg), 2024 Olympian and 2025 Senior World Team member Payton Jacobson (86 kg) and Aden Attao (130 kg).

The finals will be held at 5:00 p.m. local time in Budapest, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.

The event will be broadcast live by FloWrestling, with results on UWW Arena.

POLYAK IMRE & VARGA JANOS MEMORIAL RANKING SERIES EVENT

At Budapest, Hungary, July 18

Women’s freestyle finals pairings

55 kg - Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) vs. Ekaterina Verbina (UWW)

62 kg - Amina Tandelova (UWW) vs. Alina Kasabieva (UWW)

65 kg - Irina Ringaci (Moldova) vs. Grace Bullen (Norway)

68 kg - Kennedy Blades (USA) vs. Noemi Szabados (Hungary)

76 kg - Thamires Martins Machado (Brazil) vs. Priya (India)

Women’s freestyle semifinals

55 kg

Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) dec. Amory Andich (Germany), 9-1

Ekaterina Verbina (UWW) tech fall Cristelle Rodriguez (USA), 10-0, 2:35

62 kg

Amina Tandelova (UWW) tech fall Kryssina Sazykina (UWW), 11-0, 2:55

Alina Kaabieva (UWW) dec. Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada), 12-9

65 kg

Irina Ringaci (Moldova) tech fall Eniko Elekes (Hungary), 10-0, 0:49

Grace Bullen (Norway) pin Macey Kilty (USA), 5:37

68 kg

Kennedy Blades (USA) dec. Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria), 6-2

Noemi Szabados (Hungary) tech fall Brooklyn Hays (USA), 10-0, 4:14

76 kg

Thamires Martins Machado (Brazil) dec. Medet Kyzy Aiperi (Kyrgyzstan), 10-5

Priya (India) tech fall Valeriia Trifonova (USS), 11-1, 2:41

U.S. women’s freestyle results

55 kg – Cristelle Rodriguez (Clovis, Calif./Tiger WC/Titan Mercury WC), going for bronze medal

WIN Pushpa (India), 8-3

LOSS Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada), 4-1

LOSS Ekaterina Verbina (UWW), tech fall, 10-0, 2:35

Bronze bout – Vs. Amory Andich (Germany)

62 kg – Adaugo Nwachukwu (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), eliminated

LOSS Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada), 6-5

 65 kg – Macey Kilty (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), going for bronze medal

WIN Aleah Nickel (Canada), 6-0

LOSS Grace Bullen (Norway), pin 5:37

Bronze medal – Kadriy Kocak Aksoy (Turkiye)

65 kg – Aine Drury (Westminster, Calif./New York AC), eliminated

LOSS Eniko Elekes (Hungary), pin 1:26

 68 kg – Kennedy Blades (Chicago, Ill./Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC), going for gold medal

WIN Alina Shevchenko (UWW), tech fall 10-0, 1:17

WIN Karolina Pok (Hungary), tech fall 12-1, 4:40

WIN Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria), 6-2

Gold medal bout – Vs. Noemi Szabados (Hungary)

68 kg – Brooklyn Hays (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC), going for bronze medal

WIN Buse Tosun (Turkiye), 6-5

WIN Kendra Dacher (France), 4-3

LOSS Noemi Szabados (Hungary), tech fall, 10-0, 4:14

Bronze medal bout – Vs.  Hyeonyeong Park (Korea)

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

WIN Vianne Rouleau (Canada), 7-0

LOSS Medet Kyzy Aiperi (Kyrgyzstan), pin 5:53

Greco-Roman semifinal results

72 kg

Abdullo Aliev (Uzbekistan) dec. Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan), 5-3

Iuri Lomadze (Georgia) dec. Giorgi Chkhikvadze (Georgia), 1-1

87 kg

David Losonczi (Hungary) dec. Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan), 4-0

Turpal Bisultanov (Denmark) dec. Tamas Levai (Hungary), 7-2

130 kg

Darius Vitek (Hungary) pin Sarkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan), 1:16

Marat Kamparov (UWW) dec. Elias Kuosmanen (Finland)

U.S. Greco-Roman results

72 kg: Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Poway, Calif./New York AC), eliminated

LOSS Merey Maulitkanov (Kazakhstan), 7-2

87 kg: Payton Jacobson (Marquette, Mich./New York AC/NMU-NTS), eliminated

LOSS Exauce Mukubu (Norway), 4-1

130 kg: Aden Attao (Boise, Idaho/New York AC), eliminated

LOSS Sarkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan), tech fall 9-0, 1:59

130 kg: Courtney Denzel Freeman (Richland, N.C./U.S. Marine Corps), eliminated

WIN Assylbek Abdikalyk (Kazakhstan), pin 3:54

LOSS Sarkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan), 4-3

130 kg: Colton Schultz (Tempe, Ariz./Atreus WC), eliminated

WIN Mihail Kajala (Serbia), 5-1

LOSS Elias Kuosmanen (Finland), 2-1