Leydecker, Fowler make semis, Turner, Whiting to bronze match at U20 World Championships

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – The momentum shifted for Team USA on Wednesday morning at the 2026 U20 World Championships, with two U.S. women advancing to the semifinals, and another duo qualifying for the bronze medal round.

Defending 55 kg champion Everest Leydecker was as advertised. She ran through 2025 U23 World silver medalist Hansika Lamba of India and 2021 U17 World silver medalist Valeryia Mikitsich of Belarus, pinning both. Leydecker is on to the semifinals against 2026 U20 Asian silver medalist Meilin Zhou of China.

Joining Leydecker in the women’s freestyle group two semifinals is 2023 U17 World champion Piper Fowler at 76 kg. She posted a pair of technical falls against continental medalists—11-1 over 2026 U20 European bronze medalist Evelin Ujhelji of Serbia and 10-0 over 2026 U20 Pan American silver medalist Sophia Perez Bassino of Brazil—to book her spot in the semifinals. Up next is returning U20 World champion Kajal of India. Kajal owns gold medals from two Senior-level Ranking Series events this year and is a two-time U20 Asian champion.

Two Americans navigated to the quarterfinals before suffering an initial loss. At 62 kg, Bella Williams earned a technical fall over 2025 U20 European bronze medalist Gabriela Rudoi of Moldova before falling to 2025 Senior World champion and returning U20 World champion Sakura Onishi of Japan. At 65 kg, Riley Hanrahan took a tough 4-0 decision over Vasiliki Karavanou of Greece, before being pinned by U20 European runner-up Saga Svensson of Sweden. Both Williams and Hanrahan are on repechage watch this evening.

The two U.S. women in group one repechage—Morgan Turner at 50 kg and Taylor Whiting at 53 kg—dominated with 10-0 wins. Turner put on a five-takedown performance against Josephine Wrensch of Germany. Whiting ended Muskan of India in 40 seconds with a takedown-to-leg lace combination.

Turner is a win away from securing her fourth age-group World medal. Her bronze medal match opponent is 2026 U20 Pan American silver medalist and 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals champion Kayla Batres of Guatemala, who resides in Connecticut.

It is the first World Championships appearance for Whiting. She goes for bronze against two-time Senior Asian silver medalist Yuxuan Li of China.

Additionally, the Greco-Roman group three medal matches were determined on Wednesday morning. No U.S. Greco-Roman athletes remain in the competition.

Read More: U20 World Championships Day Four Match Notes

The action continues from A4 Studio at 5 p.m. local time with the women’s freestyle group two (55-62-65-76 kg) semifinals, followed by the Greco-Roman group three (60-82 kg) and women’s freestyle group one (50-53-72 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.