USA Greco

2026 U23 Worlds: Better Than You Think for Team USA

By Timothy Hands

Posted on October 16, 2026

kenny crosby, 2026 u23 world championships

Kenny Crosby -- Photo: David Pastoriza/USA Wrestling

The 2026 U23 World Championships, a rare home event for Team USA, came to an end on Wednesday. Not one American was counted among the 40 combined medal-winners.

Optics influence perspectives and drive narratives, hence the disappointment. In ’24, the US had finally claimed a U23 World medalist when Beka Melelashvili (82 kg, NYAC) marched to the final and eventually finish with silver. A year ago ushered in as much, if not more, confidence with the country gaining two U23 World medals thanks to the great good work of Otto Black (67 kg, NYAC) and Olympian Payton Jacobson (87 kg, NYAC/NTS), both of whom captured bronze.

Two years, three total medals and, suddenly, a World-level age division that had previously provided the United States with plenty of frustrating moments since its inception no longer appeared so daunting. U23 World tournaments dating back to Year 1 (’17) were akin to competitive black holes for the US. Individual wins were sparse, at best, and medal hopes were often eradicated for all involved in relatively short order. The results from ’24 altered the perception for Team USA in part due to Melelashvili’s performance, but it wasn’t just him alone. Billy Sullivan (55 kg, Army/WCAP) and Jacobson likewise appeared in medal matches and both finished 5th.

Then ’25 arrived and the results were even better. In addition to the medals for Otto Black and Jacobson, Max Black (60 kg, NYAC) had placed 5th while Aden Attao (130 kg, NYAC), despite going 1-1, made his presence felt by recording a dominant win over Mikhailo Vyshnyvetskyi of Ukraine, who was a U20 World gold and had beaten Attao amid that title-clinching run in ’22.

Therefore, it was understandable why entering this week in Las Vegas so many were expecting either a replication of ’25’s haul of hardware or even an increase. Both Max and Otto Black were returning World Team members. So too were Kenny Crosby (55 kg, NYAC) and Attao. ’23 U17 World champ Joel Adams (77 kg, Beaver Dam RTC) also qualified for a roster spot — and altogether, the ’26 U23 World Team consisted of two current Senior World representatives (Otto Black and Adams), one previous Senior World rep (Max Black), and three Senior National Team members (Drury, Brett Back, and Attao). An extremely solid lineup, to say the least. That the competition would unfold at home was seemingly another boost.

But, again, no medals. Not only that, but not even one American became eligible for repechage, which by extension means that not even one American made it to a medal round. No one was in the argument for a podium appearance.

All of this is why there might be a detectable air of dejection in the wake of a World tournament that should have-could have gone so much better for the US. It feels like a failure, of sorts, an opportunity missed for the program to stand strong on its own turf one year out from a Senior Worlds which will take place in the same general location except with the added wrinkle of Olympic qualifying potentially hanging in the balance.

But here’s the thing: the ’26 U23 Worlds for Team USA was not a bad tournament. At all. It was, in actuality, quite a very strong effort that simply did not break right for the collective.

Facts & Comparisons

— Crosby, Drury, Back, Mike Altomer (87 kg, Curby 3-Style), and Attao each advanced to the quarterfinal rounds of their respective weight categories. Five quarterfinalists at a World tournament, for any country, is excellent — even with recognizing that three of the five (Crosby, Drury, and Back) got to start in the round-of-16. If you were to inform coaches from any other national federation that they would have five guys in the quarters, they would all enthusiastically take it. Five quarterfinalists means five potential semifinalists. Five quarterfinalists also suggests that, in a worst-case scenario, at least one or two athletes would be defeated by eventual finalists. That zero of the five wound up being “pulled back in” for their brackets’ respective repechage rounds defies probability.

joel adams, 77 kg, 2026 u23 world championships

Joel Adams (red) attempts to get behind Sergey Stoev (BUL) in the 77-kg round-of-16 during the 2026 U23 World Championships in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo: David Pastoriza/USA Wrestling).

— Crosby defeated returning U23 World bronze Fardi Sadikhli (AZE), Otto Black beat Imed Khudzhadze (UKR), who was a few years ago gold at U17, and Adams downed Lars Strandner of Norway, who has amassed a nice collection of Senior medals (to include a couple of titles). These were quality wins (especially in Crosby’s case) in the opening round for Team USA that should have received a little more attention than they perhaps did.

— Although no American lost to an eventual finalist, six of them were felled by opponents who later earned bronze medals. They are:

Max Black (Kubanych Arinov, KGZ)
Drury (Servet Angi, TUR)
Back (Ibrahim Ozdemir, TUR)
Altomer (Martin Ljosaak, NOR)
Ryder Rogotzke (Darius Kiefer, GER)
Attao (Jokhar Uzarov, KAZ)

Year-by-Year

Foolish it would be to discount the successes for the United States in ’24 and ’25, particularly when considering how mightily the program struggled at the U23 World Championships throughout the first six iterations of the event. The silver earned by Melelashvili was momentous, just as it was when the duo of Otto Black and Jacobson brought back bronze. Which, again, is why some in the US — ever since Tuesday night — have opined that ’26 turned out to be a “down” year for the country on the U23 level. The issue with such a perception is that it tends to revolve around an obsession with medals. Medals do hold value, and lots of it. But consistency matters, too. And for a program like the United States, consistency is just as valuable because it is a hallmark of effective development.

— For example, the ’26 U23 World Team roster finished with a combined record of 11-10 — which is the first time in history that Team USA exited a U23 World tournament with a record above .500. In other words, in the two previous U23 Worlds — which saw the US boast one medalist in ’24 and two more in ’25 — the roster as a whole did not produce a winning record. ’25’s squad was right at the .500 mark and the ’24 roster was at one below .500.

2024 — 12-13
2025 — 12-12
2026 — 11-10

— In addition, the ’26 Team received wins from nine of ten athletes. Meanwhile, six USA wrestlers earned victories in ’24 and only five got their hands raised in ’25.

A hypothetical worth pondering: what the perception might have been if the US did have a single medalist — but with no other wrestler on the roster recording a win. At the Senior level, it would be welcomed. After all, the higher the level, the higher the value of hardware. But that is not an outcome the US should ever desire beneath Senior.

The majority of the those who were on the ’26 USA U23 World Team are positioned to represent the future of the program. When it comes to Max Black (Senior World Team member in ’25), as well as Otto Black and Adams (both of whom are SR WT members this year), that future might already be staring them in the face, yet all three are still exceedingly early in their careers. As such, the expectation — even for a returning U23 medalist like Otto Black — should be consistency and growth. The US is currently not in a place to measure either concept based on medals alone, never mind multiple medals. The most notable athletes from the most potent programs in the sport do not necessarily excel in each major event. Sometimes, they fail to advance past their opening-round matches.

That was not Team USA’s story in Las Vegas. Rogotzke was the only American to go winless and he was inserted into the lineup mere days before the tournament. Instead, the story is altogether simpler, and more positive than many might comprehend. The US had a winning record at the U23 World Championships for the first time and received contributions from multiple athletes in achieving that distinction. But because the tournament is extremely difficult, and because the sport itself is by nature dynamic and challenging — and because it just so happened that not one vanquisher of an American made a final — there weren’t any medal chances. The circumstances are bereft of complexity.

It is strange for a tournament to end and leave those who care with having to balance disappointment and encouragement. Or, frustration and optimism. But that’s what we saw in Nevada. What we also saw is another glimpse at some of the finest USA athletes whose best is yet to come — which is precisely what the U23 age division is supposed to be about, anyway.