Maroulis gets No. 1 seed, Kilty gets No. 2 in women’s freestyle at 2025 Senior World Championships

United World Wrestling has released its women’s freestyle seeds for the 2025 Senior World Championships based upon the preliminary entry list for the competition.

One U.S. women’s freestyle wrestler received a No. 1 seed, 2016 Olympic champion, three-time Olympic medalist and three-time Senior World champion Helen Maroulis at 57 kg. Maroulis has won 10 World or Olympic medals in her historic career.

Another U.S. star, two-time Senior World medalist Macey Kilty, is the No. 2 seed at 65 kg. 2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades came in as the No. 4 seed at 68 kg. Both have been age-group World champions, Kilty at the U17 level and Blades at the U20 level, and have multiple age-group World medals.

2024 World bronze medalist Kylie Welker will earn a No. 8 seed at 76 kg. Welker has won two age-group World titles, a 2023 U23 World gold and a 2021 U20 World gold, and will be competing in her third Senior World Championships.

Two other U.S. women’s freestyle wrestlers who will be competing in their first Senior World Championships, appear in the seeds, No. 7 seed Audrey Jimenez at 50 kg, and No. 8 seed Cristelle Rodriguez at 55 kg. Jimenez is a five-time age-group World medalist, while Rodriguez is a two-time age-group World medalist, including a 2024 U20 World gold.

The remaining four U.S. entrants — Felicity Taylor (53 kg), Jacarra Winchester (59 kg), Adaugo Nwachukwu (62 kg) and Alexandria Glaude (72 kg)— will enter the women’s freestyle tournament unseeded. Winchester is a two-time Senior World medalist, including a 2019 World gold medal, and competed in the 2020 Olympic Games. Taylor, Nwachukwu and Glaude are in their first Senior World Championships.

Seeds are determined based upon the aggregation of ranking points for the year, which are earned by placements at the previous year’s World Championships, plus continental championships and ranking series events.

A complete list of women’s freestyle entries for the Senior World Championships is available at uww.org. Entries are subject to change up to 72 hours prior to the official draw.

The Senior World Championships will be held September 13-21 at Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia. The women’s freestyle portion of the competition is in the middle of the week, Sept. 15-18.

2025 Senior World Championships

At Zagreb, Croatia, September 13-21

Women’s Freestyle Seeds

50 kg

1. Oksana Livach (Ukraine)

2. Evin Demirhan (Turkiye)

3. Gabija Dilyte (Lithuania)

4. Madison Parks (Canada)

5. Svetlana Ankicheva (Kazakhstan)

6. Munkhnar Byambasuren (Mongolia)

7. Audrey Jimenez (USA)

8. Remina Yoshimoto (Japan)

53 kg

1. Lucia Yepez Guzman (Ecuador)

2. Hyogyong Choe (North Korea)

3. Zeynep Yetgil (Turkiye)

4. Antim (India)

5. Natalia Malysheva (UWW)

6. Annika Wendle (Germany)

7. Maria Prevolaraki (Greece)

8. Jonna Malmgren (Sweden)

55 kg

1. Tatiana Debien (France)

2. Oleksandra Khomenets (Ukraine)

3. Karla Godinez (Canada)

4. Ekaterina Verbina (UWW)

5. Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkiye)

6. Kyong Ryong Oh (North Korea)

7. Amory Andrich (Germany)

8. Cristelle Rodriguez (USA)

57 kg

1. Helen Maroulis (USA)

2. Kexin Hong (China)

3. Luisa Valverde (Ecuador)

4. Olga Khoroshavtseva (UWW)

5. Tamara Dollak (Hungary)

6. Bolortuya Khurelkhuu (Mongolia)

7. Youngjin Kwon (Korea)

8. Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan)

59 kg

1. Elena Brugger (Germany)

2. Erika Bognar (Hungary)

3. Laurence Beauregard (Canada)

4. Anastasiia Sidelnikova (UWW)

5. Sakura Onishi (Japan)

6. Bediha Gun (Turkiye)

7. Jumoke Adekoye (Nigeria)

8. Altjin Togtokh (Mongolia)

62 kg

1. Sakura Motoki (Japan)

2. Ana Godinez (Canada)

3. Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria)

4. Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia)

5. Johanna Lindborg (Sweden)

6. Manisha (India)

7. Amina Tandelova (UWW)

8. Esther Kolawole (Nigeria)

65 kg

1. Miwa Morikawa (Japan)

2. Macey Kilty (USA)

3. Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal (Mongolia)

4. Kadriye Kocak Aksoy (Turkiye)

5. Irina Ringaci (Moldova)

6. Elma Zeidlere (Latvia)

7. Grace Bullen (Norway)

8. Iryna Koliakenko (Ukraine

68 kg

1. Buse Tosun (Turkiye)

2. Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)

3. Sol Gum Pak (North Korea)

4. Kennedy Blades (USA)

5. Noemi Szabados (Hungary)

6. Kateryna Zelenykh (Romania)

7. Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan (Mongolia)

8. Adela Hanzlickova (Czechia)

72 kg

1. Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan)

2. Bolortungalag Zorigt (Mongolia)

3. Alexandra Anghel (Romania)

4. Pauline Lecarpentier (France)

5. Alla Belinska (Ukraine)

6. Nesrin Bas (Turkiye)

7. Kseniia Burakova (UWW)

8. Masako Furuichi (Japan)

76 kg

1. Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)

2. Milaimy Marin (Cuba)

3. Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador)

4. Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia)

5. Anastasiya Alpyeyeva (Ukraine)

6. Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan)

7. Nodoka Yamamoto (Japan)

8. Kylie Welker (USA)