Graber, Seidel, Sinclair qualify for U20 World semifinals

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – A trio of Americans—Caley Graber, Aaron Seidel and Aeoden Sinclair—advanced to the day five semifinals of the 2026 U20 World Championships with inspiring efforts on Thursday morning at A4 Studio.

Seidel set the tone for Team USA, slapping a first-round technical fall on returning U20 World silver medalist Ahora Khateri of Iran at 61 kg. The international newcomer continued with a 47-second pin on Marian Kret of Slovakia and a 13-2 technical fall over 2023 U17 World bronze medalist Jamal Abbasov of Azerbaijan.

Sinclair, a two-time age-group World Team member, posted a pair of impressive wins against one of the tougher on-paper draws at 86 kg. He controlled things 12-2 against U20 Asian bronze medalist Askhab Khajiyev of Kazakhstan before edging 2024 U17 World champion and current U20 Asian champion Abolfazl Shamsipour Hajivand of Iran on criteria, 4-4.

Semifinal opponents for the men’s freestyle group one duo include U20 Pan American bronze medalist Moses Mendoza Garza of Mexico for Seidel and U20 Asian bronze medalist Natsura Okazawa of Japan for Sinclair.

On the women’s freestyle side, Graber picked up wins at opposite ends of the spectrum on her way to the 59 kg semifinals. She opened with a 9-8 barn burner win over U20 Asian champion Jiayi Huang of China, then pinned 2025 U17 World bronze medalist Alina Baroeva of Russia in a 26-second quarterfinal.

Up next for Graber is 2024 U17 World silver medalist Sae Noguchi of Japan. Noguchi was defeated by American Taina Fernandez in the 2024 U17 World finals. She was the U20 Asian champion last year.

Speaking of Fernandez, she and Karlee Brooks are on repechage watch during tonight’s semifinal round. Fernandez was stopped by 2024 U17 World champion Mansi Lather of India in her opener at 68 kg, 10-2. Brooks notched a couple of technical falls before coming up short to 2023 U17 World silver medalist Konami Ono of Japan in the 57 kg quarterfinals.

Two-time age-group Pan American champion Bella Williams was pinned by Barbara Bager of Hungary in the 62 kg repechage, ending her run in Slovakia.

This evening’s women’s freestyle group two medal round features Everest Leydecker in the 55 kg gold medal match and Piper Fowler in the 76 kg bronze medal match. Leydecker aims to defend her U20 crown against 2024 U17 World silver medalist Nana Kozuka of Japan. Fowler seeks her second age-group World medal against three-time age-group World medalist Elmira Yasin of Türkiye.

Read More: U20 World Championships Day Five Match Notes

The action continues at 4:45 p.m. local time with the women’s freestyle group three (57-59-68 kg) and men’s freestyle group one (61-86 kg) semifinals, followed by the women’s freestyle group two (55-62-65-76 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.