Olympic medalists Maroulis, Blades, World champ Winchester lead U.S. Women’s Freestyle Team to 2025 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia

2016 Olympic champion, three-time Olympic medalist and three-time Senior World champion Helen Maroulis is the most experienced member of the 2025 U.S. Senior World Team in women’s freestyle at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Maroulis has one of the greatest careers of any women’s wrestler from any nation. Her 10 combined World and Olympic medals, 15 Senior World Teams and three age-group World medals puts her among some of the sport’s greatest. She enters her competition at 57 kg as the No. 1 seed.

2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades dropped to 68 kg and will compete on her first Senior World Team. 2019 World champion, 2023 World silver medalist and 2020 Olympian Jacarra Winchester returns to the World Championships at 59 kg. Blades is seeded No. 4, while Winchester is unseeded.

Other past Senior World medalists on the women’s team are Macey Kilty at 65 kg and Kylie Welker at 76 kg. Kilty has won a 2023 World silver medal and 2024 World bronze medal, while Welker was a 2024 World bronze medalist. Kilty has a No. 2 seed, while Welker checks in with a No. 8 seed.

The other five U.S. team members are on their first Senior World Team, Audrey Jimenez (50 kg), Felicity Taylor (53 kg), Cristelle Rodriguez (55 kg), Adaugo Nwachukwu (62 kg) and Alexandria Glaude (72 kg).

The women’s team has extensive age-group World success. Past age-group World champions include Rodriguez (U20), Kilty (U17), Blades (U20) and Welker (U20 and U23), all who have also won additional age-group World medals. Jimenez, Maroulis, Winchester, Nwachukwu, Kilty and Glaude have won age-group World medals. Taylor has been on two past age-group World Teams.

The USA was second in the women’s freestyle medal count at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris behind Japan, and was also second in the unofficial team standings in Paris, using UWW team scoring rules. In the three World Championships during the 2021-2024 Olympic cycle, the USA was also second behind Japan all three years. U.S. wrestling fans are hoping that this is the year that the Team USA women take the next step to the top of the podium.

Team USA Storylines

Nine U.S. women entries are past U.S. college champions

Except for 50 kg World Team member Audrey Jimenez, who took a redshirt year last season for Lehigh, the other nine U.S. team members have all won at least one U.S. college national title. Leading the pack is Helen Maroulis, who was a four-time WCWA national champion (three for Simon Fraser, one for Missouri Baptist). Winning three college national titles was Adaugo Nwachukwu, who won three NAIA national titles (two for Iowa Wesleyan and one for William Penn). Two-time college champions were Felicity Taylor with two NCWWC titles (one for McKendree and one for Iowa), Alexandria Glaude of McKendree (one WCWA title and one NCWWC title), Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane (two NAIA titles) and Kylie Welker of Iowa (two NCWWC titles). One-time college champions are Jacarra Winchester of Missouri Valley (WCWA), Macey Kilty of Iowa (NCWWC) and Kennedy Blades of Iowa (NCWWC).

Girls wrestling hotbed California produced four World Team members

California has long been a hotbed for girls and women’s wrestling, one of the first states with an official girls state tournament, and a major producer of college and international wrestling stars. The Golden State boasts four members of the 2025 U.S. Women’s World Team: Jacarra Winchester, Cristelle Rodriguez, Adaugo Nwachukwu and Alexandria Glaude. They hailed from a variety of different high schools, Winchester for Arroyo High School, Rodriguez for Clovis High School, Nwachukwu for Silver Creek High School and Glaude for Christian Brothers High School. All went to college in different states, Winchester in Missouri, Nwachukwu in Iowa, Rodriguez in Nebraska and Glaude in Illinois. All were age-group World medalists: Winchester (University), Rodriguez (U17, U20), Nwachukwu (U20) and Glaude (U23). Winchester is the only past Senior World team member, a 2019 World champion and 2020 Olympian. Of the group, Glaude is the only one who is currently living full-time in California, residing in Menlo Park.

National Coach Terry Steiner is coaching in his 22^nd Senior Worlds, Hildebrandt in her first

In 2002, Terry Steiner was hired as USA Wrestling’s first Women’s National Coach and has served in this position ever since. As we head into Zagreb, Steiner will be coaching in his 22^nd Senior World Championships, one of the most successful women’s wrestling coaches in history. During his previous 21 Senior Worlds, Steiner has coached Team USA to 71 medals, including 19 gold medals. That does not include the six Olympic Games which Steiner has coached Team USA (with 13 medals including four golds). On the other hand, Assistant National Women’s Coach Sarah Hildebrandt will be coaching in her first Senior World Championships. She is no stranger to the Senior World Championships, having competed in six of them (winning four medals), plus two Olympic Games (with a gold and a bronze to her credit). Both are seeking their first Senior World Team Title as coaches. The only time the USA women have won the team title was in 1999 in Boden, Sweden, beating Japan by one point. At the time, Steiner was still an athlete and college coach and Hildebrandt was six years old.

International Storylines

2024 Olympic medalists/World medalists in the field

48 kg Olympics – None

53 kg Olympics – Lucia Yepez Guzman of Ecuador (silver), Hyogyong Choe of North Korea (bronze)

55 kg Worlds – Jin Zhang of China (silver) is now at 53 kg, Iryna Kurachkina of UWW (bronze) is now at 57 kg, Tatiana Debien of France (bronze)

57 kg Olympics – Helen Maroulis of the USA (bronze), Kexin Hong of China (bronze)

59 kg Worlds – Elena Brugger of Germany (bronze)

62 kg Olympics -Sakura Motoki of Japan (gold), Iryna Koliadenko of Ukraine (silver) is now at 65 kg, Grace Bullen of Norway (bronze) is now at 65 kg

65 kg Worlds – Jia Long of China (gold) is now at 68 kg, Katerina Zelenykh of Romania (silver) is now at 68 kg, Macey Kilty of the USA (bronze), Miwa Morikawa of Japan (bronze)

68 kg Olympics – Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan (silver),

72 kg Worlds – Ami Ishii of Japan (gold) is now at 68 kg, Zhamila Bakbergenova of Kazakhstan (silver), Kylie Welker of the USA (bronze) is now at 76 kg, Adela Hanzlickova of Czechia (bronze)

76 kg Olympics – Kennedy Blades of the USA (silver) is now at 68 kg, Milaimy Marin of Cuba (bronze)

Maroulis, Okuno among 15 past World or Olympic champions set for Zagreb

Including the three 2024 gold medalists (Olympic champion Sakura Motoki of Japan and World champions Jia Long of China and Ami Ishii of Japan), there are a total of 15 past World or Olympic gold medalists who are on the entry lists for the 2025 Senior Worlds in Zagreb.

Helen Maroulis of the USA, a 2016 Olympic champion and three-time Senior World champion, will compete at 57 kg and seek her fifth career gold medal. Haruna Murayama Okuno of Japan, a three-time World champion who is now competing at 53 kg, will seek her fourth World title.

All of the other returning gold medalists are one-timers, and will be seeking their second title. They are (with their current weight class): Orkhan Purevdorj of Mongolia (62 kg), Jacarra Winchester of the USA (59 kg), Remina Yoshimoto of Japan (48 kg), Bilyana Dudova of Bulgaria (62 kg), Irina Ringaci of Moldova (65 kg), Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan (68 kg), Masako Furuichi of Japan (72 kg), Miwa Morikawa of Japan (65 kg), Yu Zhang of China (50 kg) and Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Turkiye (68 kg).

Four World champions and an Olympic finalist makes 68 kg very loaded

There is a lot of depth in the women’s freestyle field at the 2025 Worlds in Zagreb, but one weight class seems especially loaded, the 68 kg field. The weight features four past Senior World champions, a 2024 Olympic silver medalist, and a number of other intriguing challengers. The two top seeds are both past World champions, No. 1 Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Turkiye and No. 2 Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan. Tosun won her World title at this weight class in 2023 and boasts a 2024 Olympic bronze and two Senior World bronze medals. Zhumanazarova was a 2021 World champion at this weight class, and won a 2024 Olympic silver medal and a 2020 Olympic bronze medal.

There are two 2024 World champions who are unseeded after changing weights and may break this bracket to pieces. Ami Ishii of Japan, a 2021 World champion at 72 kg, was also a Senior World silver medalist at 68 kg in 2022. Jia Long of China, a 2024 World champion at 65 kg, claimed a 2022 World silver medal at 65 kg. Add in the 2024 Olympic silver medalist at 76 kg, Kennedy Blades of the USA, who has dropped down in weight, and received the No. 4 seed.

The tremendous depth at 68 kg includes four other past Senior World medalists, 2021 World silver medalist and three-time age-group World champion Khanem Velieva of UWW, 2024 World silver medalist Katerina Zelenykh of Romania, 2023 World silver medalist Delgermann Enkhsaikhan of Mongolia and 2024 World bronze medalist Adela Hanzlickova of Czechia. The No. 3 seed Sol Gum Pak of North Korea was a 2024 World Military champion and fifth at the 2024 Olympics. Add in six past age-group World medalists:  Yuliana Yaneva of Bulgaria, Sophia Schaefle of Germany, Radhika of India, Tindra Sjoeberg of Sweden, Manola Skobelska of Ukraine and Nabira Esenbaeva of Uzbekistan. It will be a power-packed bracket.

How To Follow The Action

Women’s freestyle is the second style to take the mats at Arena Zagreb. Athletes will compete in three waves over the course of the event—group one (55-59 kg) starting September 15, group two (50-57-65-76 kg) on September 16 and group three (53-62-68-72 kg) on September 17. Each bracket will be contested over a two-day stretch, running through semifinals on day one, followed by repechage and medal matches on day two.

Those seeking to follow along in real time can reference the event schedule below. Zagreb, Croatia, is in the GMT +2 time zone, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. USA Wrestling will provide regular updates on TheMat.com and its social media platforms throughout the event.

The Senior World Championships will be live streamed on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. Brackets and updated results will be provided by United World Wrestling on UWW Arena.

2025 Senior World Championships

At Zagreb, Croatia, September 13-21

Quick Links

Event entry list and seeds

Live stream

Brackets and results

Women’s Freestyle Event Schedule

Monday, September 15

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 55-59 kg)

4:30 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 55-59 kg)

Tuesday, September 16

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg), Repechage (WFS 55-59 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 55-59 kg)

Wednesday, September 17

10:30 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg), Repechage (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 50-57-65-76 kg)

Thursday, September 18

10:30 a.m. – Repechage (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (WFS 53-62-68-72 kg)

*Listed times reflect local time in Zagreb, Croatia, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Roster

50 kg – Audrey Jimenez (Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

53 kg – Felicity Taylor (Titan Mercury WC)

55 kg – Cristelle Rodriguez (Fresno, Calif./Tiger WC)

57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Titan Mercury WC)

59 kg – Jacarra Winchester (USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)

62 kg – Adaugo Nwachukwu (U.S. Army WCAP)

65 kg – Macey Kilty (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

68 kg – Kennedy Blades (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

72 kg – Alexandria Glaude (Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

76 kg – Kylie Welker (Iowa Women's WC/Titan Mercury WC)

U.S. Women’s Freestyle Delegation

U.S. National Team Head Coach – Terry Steiner

U.S. National Team Head Coach – Sarah Hildebrandt

Personal Coach – Kerry McCoy

Personal Coach – Dylan Carew

Personal Coach – Dana Vote

Personal Coach – Angel Cejudo

Personal Coach – Jordin Humphrey

Personal Coach – Bruce Robinson

Personal Coach – Izzy Martinez

Personal Coach – Sean Gray

Personal Coach – Tonya Verbeek

Training Partner – Kendra Ryan

Training Partner – Abigail Netti

Training Partner – Ashlee Palimo’o

Training Partner – Kyler Larkin

Training Partner – Kaylynn Albrecht

Training Partner – Jasmine Robinson              

Training Partner – Alara Boyd

Training Partner – Dymond Guilford

Training Partner – Joye Levendusky

Training Partner – Nanea Estrella

USA Wrestling National Teams Staff – Cody Bickley

National Teams – Jaimie McNab 

MD – David Haight  

ATC – Andrew Ernst 

ATC – Terry Grindstaff 

ATC – Rae Martin 

DC – Jason Durnas

DC – Jessica Kapungulya

DC – Sam Nelson 

MT – Aaron Pavlechko 

MT – Amy Murry

MT – Allison Anderson

Nutrition – Rob Skinner 

Nutrition – Nuwanee Tamaki 

Official – Susanna Sylstad 

Official – Sammy Julian 

Team Leader – Steve Silver

Secretary General – Rich Bender 

President – Bruce Baumgartner

NF Media – Richard Immel 

NF Media – Ava Fricke  

Photographer – Tony Rotundo

WFS Chaplain – Andrea Schuler

NF Official – Ken Honig