Reigning U17 World Silver Medalist Kikiniou Returns to Lead U.S. Men’s Freestyle Squad at 2026 U17 World Championships
Share:
by David Gerhart, USA Wrestling
Arseni Kikiniou competing at the 2025 U17 World Championships in Athens, Greece
After winning two medals at last year’s U17 World Championships, Arseni Kikiniou leads a strong men’s freestyle squad into the 2026 U17 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, at the National Gymnastics Arena. The championships begin Monday, July 27, and the first day of men’s freestyle competition is Friday, July 31.
Kikiniou, who is competing at 65 kg, finished as a silver medalist last summer in men’s freestyle and won bronze in Greco-Roman. He also captured two gold medals on the continental circuit at the 2025 U17 Pan American Championships. For the second consecutive year, Kikiniou is slated to represent Team USA in both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Kikiniou is the only member of the men’s freestyle team who has competed at an age-group World Championship and looks to help pace the U.S. to its third-straight team title at U17 Worlds. In 2025, Team USA compiled 154 points to edge out Iran by four. At the 2024 event, the U.S. racked up 152 points to win the title.
At 45 kg, Rylen Wax is joining Kikiniou and is competing in both disciplines at U17 Worlds in his first appearance on the World stage. Wax is a four-time age-group Pan American Championships medalist, which includes two gold medals at U17 Pan Ams earlier this year.
Evan Restivo (51 kg), Chase Karenbauer (55 kg), Camryn Howard (71 kg) and Salah Tsarni (92 kg) have also donned the Team USA singlet at past age-group Pan American Championships. Each of the four has swept gold medals at each of their Pan Am appearances. Restivo and Karenbauer lead the quartet with four gold medals apiece.
The 10-man squad has produced strong results on the domestic circuit, with five individuals winning U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals titles. Kooper Deputy (48 kg), Jayden O’Farrill (80 kg) and Howard all claimed 16U Fargo titles in freestyle, with Kikiniou and Peter Mocco (110 kg) winning Greco-Roman titles. Mocco finished as a double Fargo All-American in 2025 after placing third in freestyle. Tsarni is a U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals runner-up, while Karenbauer is a two-time bronze medalist at Fargo.
Jojo Burke is set to represent Team USA at 60 kg after rolling through the U17 World Team Trials with three pins and a technical fall.
The men’s freestyle U17 World Team was set based on the results from U17 World Team Trials, which were part of the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., in April.
En route to its second straight U17 team title in Athens, Greece, last year, the U.S. collected four gold medals, which was the most in the field. Team USA also compiled seven medals across the 10 weight classes.
This year’s edition of the U17 World Championships currently has 243 entrants from 49 different countries. Team USA, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan all have 10 individuals currently entered in the championship.
Competition at the 2026 U17 World Championships kicks off on Monday, July 27 with Greco-Roman action, followed by women’s freestyle. The first day of men’s freestyle action is set for Friday, July 31.
The complete event schedule is available below.
FloWrestling will provide a live stream of the action in the U.S. market. Brackets and results will be hosted on UWW Arena.
2026 U17 World Championships
At Baku, Azerbaijan, July 27-August 2
Reference Links
Men’s Freestyle Event Schedule
Friday, July 31
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 48 kg, 55 kg, 65 kg, 80 kg, 110 kg)
5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 48 kg, 55 kg, 65 kg, 80 kg, 110 kg)
Saturday, August 1
10:30 a.m. – Repechages (MFS 48 kg, 55 kg, 65 kg, 80 kg, 110 kg)
10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 45 kg, 51 kg, 60 kg, 71 kg, 92 kg)
5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 45 kg, 51 kg, 60 kg, 71 kg, 92 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 48 kg, 55 kg, 65 kg, 80 kg, 110 kg)
Sunday, August 2
4:30 p.m. – Repechage (MFS 45 kg, 51 kg, 60 kg, 71 kg, 92 kg)
6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 45 kg, 51 kg, 60 kg, 71 kg, 92 kg)
*All times local. Azerbaijan, Baku, is located eight hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time Zone.
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Roster
45 kg – Rylen Wax (Chillicothe, Ohio/Beast Mode Wrestling)
48 kg – Kooper Deputy (New Paris, Pa./Orchard WC)
51 kg – Evan Restivo (State College, Pa./M2 Training Center)
55 kg – Chase Karenbauer (Mercer, Pa./Bad Karma WC)
60 kg – Jojo Burke (Park Ridge, N.J.)
65 kg – Arseni Kikiniou (Escondido, Calif./Poway Wrestling)
71 kg – Camryn Howard (Bellport, N.Y./KD Training Center)
80 kg – Jayden O’Farrill (State College, Pa./M2 Training Center)
92 kg – Salah Tsarni (Montgomery Village, Md./Blairstown WC)
110 kg – Peter Mocco (Parkland, Fla./ATT/Mocco Wrestling Academy)
U.S. Men’s Freestyle Support Staff & Delegation
U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Joe Russell
U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Chance Marsteller
U.S. men’s freestyle coach – Wynn Michalak
Personal Coach – Michael Carbonaro
Personal Coach – Cory Cooperman
Personal Coach – Khaled Dassan
Personal Coach – Josh Deputy
Personal Coach – Aliaksandr Kikiniou
Personal Coach – Mark McKnight
Personal Coach – Steve Mocco
Personal Coach – Jordan Oliver
Personal Coach – Chris Ramos
Medical (ATC) – Kyle Southall
Medical (ATC) – Cora Ohnstad
Medical (MD) – Andrew Peterson
Official – Cody Goessl
Official – Rich Schwab
Official – Nick Mancini
Team Leader – Kelli Shuffler
Secretary General – Rich Bender
NF Media – Ava Fricke
NF Media – David Gerhart
NF Media – Justin Hoch
NF Official – Tim Hess
OC Guest – Michelle Bender
