Turner, Whiting, Donally await repechage fate at U20 World Championships

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Women’s freestyle athletes Morgan Turner, Taylor Whiting and Gretchen Donally are still in the mix for repechage after Tuesday’s morning session at the 2026 U20 World Championships.

Turner, the two-time U17 World champion, went 1-1 at 50 kg for the U.S. women. She opened the event with a first-period pin against 2026 U20 Asian champion Parveen of India, before dropping her quarterfinal contest to 2024 U17 World champion Yuu Katsume of Japan by 11-0 technical fall.

Katsume is the only athlete who has defeated Turner in international competition. The two also wrestled at the 2024 U17 Worlds in Amman, Jordan, with Katsume winning 13-2. Katsume went on to win gold, while Turner rebounded for bronze. A Katsume win in tonight’s semifinals would give Turner an opportunity for bronze once more.

Whiting and Donally both dropped tough matches in their openers. Whiting was pinned in the second period by 2024 U17 World champion Kaura Coles of Canada at 53 kg. Donally dropped a 4-3 contest against two-time U17 European bronze medalist Khrystyna Demchuk of Ukraine in the 72 kg quarterfinals, giving up the go-ahead takedown in the final moments. Like Turner, both Whiting and Donally need help in the semifinals to earn a wrestle-back opportunity.

On the Greco-Roman front, Amryn Nutter went 1-1 in the 67 kg repechage, finishing one win shy of a bronze medal match. He began the day with a solid 5-2 win over Sebastian Wagner of Germany before falling to 2025 U23 World champion Mohamed Abdelrehim of Egypt on criteria, 1-1. Both of Nutter’s losses in Slovakia were 1-1 contests, with only passivity points awarded.

Greco-Roman group three competitors Manuel Saldate at 60 kg and Arvin Khosravy at 82 kg both lost competitive round one matches and were not pulled into repechage. Saldate was upended by Magomed Varaev of France, 6-4, in large part due to a four-point lift in the second period from Varaev. Khosravy was defeated, 8-6, by U20 Asian bronze medalist Bekmurod Rustamov of Uzbekistan, with parterre defense and a defensive leg foul biting the American.

The U.S Greco-Roman run in Slovakia came to an end with one bronze medal performance from Aidan Squier at 87 kg. Final Greco-Roman team rankings will be decided after the Wednesday evening medal round.

Read More: U20 World Championships Day Three Match Notes

The action continues from A4 Studio at 4:45 p.m. local time with the Greco-Roman group three (60-82 kg) and women’s freestyle group one (50-53-72 kg) semifinals, followed by the Greco-Roman group two (55-67-72-97 kg) medal matches at 6 p.m. Bratislava, Slovakia, is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

Fans can watch the U20 World Championships live or on-demand at FloWrestling.org. Brackets and live results are available through UWW Arena.

USA Wrestling will provide continued updates from the U20 World Championships on TheMat.com and its social media platforms.