2026 U17 World Championships

U17 World Championships 2026 Day 4 Women's Wrestling Results & Highlights

By Vinay Siwach

BAKU, Azerbaijan (July 30) -- The U17 World Wrestling Championships will see Women's Wrestling in 40kg, 46kg, 53kg, 61kg and 69kg. Here are the storylines for Women's Wrestling.

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WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 3 RESULTS

The semifinals will begin at 17:00 hours local time

13:45: Taina FERNANDEZ (USA) with a second fall of the day to enter the semifinal at 69kg. She gets the pin over Sophia ANASTASE (ROU) and is now two wins away from history.

13:35: Wrestlers from neither Tunisia nor Colombia had ever wrestled for a medal at the U17 World Championships. With Rahma REZGUI (TUN) and Alejandra SERRANO (COL) in the 53kg quarterfinals, that was about to change. For most of the bout, it seemed that Rezgui will go to the semifinal as she had a comfortable 6-0 lead. But Serrano with the turnaround in the second period against a tiring Rezgui and she win 7-6 with points in the final five seconds!

13:31: Marlee SOLOMON (USA) with a fall over Fatima BAYRAMOVA (AZE) at 53kg! The match was in balance at the break with Solomon leading only 2-1 but she changed the approach in the second period, leading 8-1 before getting the fall

13:29: Graciela ENINGO (ESP) with a surprise win over Waka AWANO (JPN) at 69kg and that too with a fall. Eningo was leading 3-1 when Awano hit a four-pointer but Eningo recovered and put Awano in danger with a headlock. The fall was called with 15 seconds left.

13:24: Aruzhan BAKYTNUR (KAZ) ends Mariama KABA (GUI) dream run at 61kg. Kaba reached the quarterfinals but could not get past Bakytnur who won 6-2.

13:22: Zaytuna SAPAROVA (UZB) was leading Sophia VALDEZ (USA) 2-2 and she tried to spin behind and tried to fling Valdez who landed on top of Saparova and got the fall.    

13:20: Azerbaijan was close to getting its first semifinalist as Gulkhanim SHIRINOVA (AZE) was leading 4-2 in the 40kg match against Tasmin ATHIMNI (TUN). But the Tunisia wrestler hits a bog throw and then gets the fall over Shirinova who has been reduced to tears.

13:15: Natsumi SASAKI (JPN) with her quick low single attacks to unsettle Rohini DEVBA (IND) who had no gameplan against Sasaki who wins the 40kg bout, 10-0.

13:14: Sandhya VISHNOI (IND) counters everything that Alina BARANOVA (RUS) threw at her in the 46kg quarterfinals. She wins the bout 10-0 and advances to the semifinals.

13:08: Kamila TEMIRAEVA (RUS) threw Landri VON GONTEN (USA) for four points and lead 4-2 at the break in their 61kg bout. She then scored a takedown to extend her lead to 6-2. But as the time ticked, Von Gonten scored a four-pointer to take a 6-6 criteria lead and win the bout. After a long challenge, the result does not change but Von Gonton gets two points for the late go-behind, making her an 8-6 winner.

13:02: Madison HEALEY (USA) a counter lift for exposure and two points against Kokona MAKINO (JPN) but that was all Makino allowed her. Makino brought out those low singles and completed an 8-2 win over Healey at 46kg.

12:47: Hibiki IIDA (JPN) needed to defend only for six more seconds as Khuslen MUNKHBAYASGALAN (MGL) was trying to pin for over a minute. But Munkhbayasgalan put so much pressure that Iida could not defend and gave up the fall with 2:06 left.  

12:33: Two-time U17 world champion Taina FERNANDEZ (USA) opens her campaign and a historic chase of third gold with a fall over TANIYA (IND). A very quick fall for the American which has left Taniya in shock.

12:22: Returning bronze medalist Mariia ZHYTOVOZ (HUN) is left in shock after Marlee SOLOMON (USA) beats her 5-4 at 53kg in the final 2 seconds. Zhytovoz took a 4-0 but Solomon scored a takedown in the second period to cut the lead to 4-2. Zhytovoz was backing away in the final 10 seconds when Solomon scored a front exposure for two points and take the 4-4 criteria win. Zhytovoz challenged the call but there was change in the result, only a point was added to Solomon's score for lost challenge.

12:20: Mariama KABA (GUI), the first-ever U17 wrestler from Guinea, is now into the 61kg quarterfinals after a 12-2 win over Marharyta OVCHARENKO (ISR).

12:10: Landri VON GONTEN (USA) with another dominant win. She beats Marisa ITURRINO (PUR) at 61kg and advances to the quarterfinals.

12:05: Alejandra SERRANO (COL), hoping to becoming Colombia's first world medalist in Women's Wrestling at U17 level, gets a fall over Nomin SHINEBAYAR (MGL) at 61kg. Serrano with a powerful takedown and keep Shinebayar on the mat till the fall is called.

11:53: Much better day for Japan so far. Kokona MAKINO (JPN) gut wrenches Mungunchimeg GAVAA (MGL) to win her 46kg bout, 10-0. At 61kg, Waka AWANO (JPN) (EST) wins 12-1 against Karol TAMSON (EST).

11:45: U17 European champion at 46kg Alina BARANOVA (RUS) outclasses Kateryna HOZHELOVA (UKR), 10-0, in her opening bout. Baranov's gut-wrench completely unsettled Hozhelova

11:35: Rion OGAWA (JPN) starts her 53kg campaign with a 10-0 technical superiority win over Ecrin SALIK (TUR). Ogawa is younger sister of Rinka, a U20 and U17 world champion

11:20 Mariia ZHYTOVOZ (HUN), the returning bronze medalist at 53kg, starts with a 10-0 technical superiority win over Zuzanna SOKOLOWSKA (POL). The Hungary wrestler used the gut-wrench to score her points.

11:15: Landri VON GONTEN (USA) and AVANSHIKA (IND) were going toe-to-toe before Von Gonten got an armbar and pinned Avanshika to advance at 61kg.

11:05: Waka AWANO (JPN) was no where in the bout against Yuliia HOLHOVSKA (UKR) at 61kg. But in the second period, she managed to take a 4-4 criteria lead. Holhovska lost her balance and Awano scored a go-behind for a 6-4 lead. She transitioned into a lace and won the bout 14-4.

10:30: The repechage bouts will kick off the day with at least three matches on each mat. The qualification rounds begins after.

#WrestleLA

UWW Announces New Olympic Qualification Process for LA 2028

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- United World Wrestling has overhauled the qualification process for the Olympic Games.

Beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the 16 wrestlers who qualify per weight class will earn their spots through four routes: the World Championships, Continental Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the UWW Rankings.

The first phase of qualification will be the 2027 World Championships that will award 72 quotas for the Olympics. Each medalist [gold, silver, two bronzes] in the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn LA 2028 spots for their respective National Olympic Committees (NOC).

The second phase will be the UWW Rankings in which the first three wrestlers of the rankings, not qualified in the first phase, will obtain one quota place for their NOC for the LA28 Olympic Games. The UWW Rankings will include the seven main events organized before the LA28 Olympic Games:

- 2027 Senior Continental Championships*
- 2027 Ranking Series (3 events)
- 2027 Senior World Championships
- 2028 Ranking Series (1 event)
- 2028 Senior Continental Championships*

*UWW may include Continental Games for ranking but will only consider best two out of three continental results.

This means that 54 more wrestlers will earn Olympic quotas for their respective NOCs.

Phase three for qualifying will include the Continental Qualifiers -- Europe, Asia, Pan-America, and Africa & Oceania. These tournaments will award two quotas per weight class.

Top two wrestlers, the finalists, in each of the 18 Olympic weights will earn LA 2028 quotas for respective NOCs. A total of 144 wrestlers will be awarded at these continental events.

The fourth and final phase of qualification will be the World Olympic Qualifier which will offer 18 quotas. The gold medal winners in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn the spot for their respective NOCs.

Only the countries that did not obtain a quota place during the previous three phases may participate in the World Olympic Qualifiers. The participating countries may only send two wrestlers across all styles at the World Qualifier.

LA 2028

For the LA 2028 qualifying cycle, UWW will award quotas at the following events:

4 quotas - 2027 World Championships
3 quotas - Ranking Series UWW Rankings
8 quotas - Continental Qualifiers (2 Europe, 2 Asia, 2 Pan-America, 2 Africa & Oceania)
1 quota - World Olympic Qualifier

Furthermore, the 2028 Continental Championships will be held before the Continental Qualifiers, ensuring that the three quotas via ranking are finalized before continental qualification events begin.

Ranking Series Participation Guidelines

Each country may enter a maximum of two wrestlers per weight class and a two-kilogram weight allowance will apply for Ranking Series events, but not for Continental or World Championships where standard weight rules apply.

The point allocation for these Ranking events will also be reviewed.

Seeding Changes

During the Olympic cycle, seeds will be assigned based on the following event tiers:

Four-seed events:
Continental Championships
Continental Qualifiers
World Qualifier

Eight-seed events:
Ranking Series
World Championships
Olympic Games

Seeding for the 2028 Olympic Games will be based on results from:

- Three 2027 Ranking Series events
- 2027 Continental Championships (or Continental Games, if applicable)
- 2027 World Championships
- One 2028 Ranking Series event
- 2028 Continental Championships

These same events will be used to seed wrestlers throughout the 2028 season, including the Ranking Series, Continental Championships and Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the Olympic Games.

For the 2027 Ranking Series events, 2027 Senior Continental Championships and the 2027 Senior World Championships, the results of 2026 Senior World Championships will also be considered to seed the athletes.

As is the rule, the ranking points obtained at the 2026 Senior World Championships will be removed after the 2027 Senior World Championships.

A key change is that at the Olympic Games, the seed belongs to the country, which keeps the seed even if it replaces the athlete who earned it. In all other events, the seed belongs to the wrestler, and a nation loses that seed if a different athlete competes.

For clarification regarding the new Olympic qualification process, all NFs and NOCs can contact sports@uww.org.