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Team USA is sending a strong 10-man Greco-Roman side to the 2026 U17 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Greco-Roman competition starts the World Championships and takes place at the National Gymnastics Arena, July 27-29.

The U17 Greco-Roman World Team was set based on the results from the U17 World Team Trials, which was a part of the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., in April.

Leading the U.S. squad is returning U17 World bronze medalist Arseni Kikiniou. He collected two medals last summer in Athens, Greece, winning bronze in Greco-Roman and collecting silver in men’s freestyle. Kikiniou had a strong 2025 competing for Team USA and won two gold medals at the U17 Pan American Championships.

Kikiniou, who is competing at 65 kg, is the only member of the team with experience at an age-group World Championship, as the rest of the squad will make their debut this year.

Rylen Wax (45 kg), Cooper Mathews (60 kg) and Aiden Arnett (71 kg) represented the U.S. earlier this year at the U17 Pan American Championships. Wax and Mathews both came away with gold medals in Greco-Roman and men’s freestyle. Arnett finished with silver in both disciplines. Along with his two medals this year, Wax collected a gold and a silver medal at the 2025 U15 Pan American Championships.

The U17 World Team members have had strong showings in recent years at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals. Ivan Ivanov, who is competing at 80 kg, won the 16U Greco-Roman national title in 2024 and 2025. Last week in Fargo, N.D., he won his third straight Greco-Roman national title and first in the Junior division. Ivanov was also named the Outstanding Wrestler in the Junior Greco-Roman division at Fargo. Arnett also competed at Fargo this past week and placed eighth in Greco-Roman and fourth in freestyle, finishing as a double All-American.

Wyatt Dannegger (51 kg) is also a Greco-Roman Fargo champ after winning at 16U last season. William Etu (92 kg) was a runner-up at 16U, with Arav Pandey (48 kg) and Corey Brown (55 kg) placing third at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals. Bruno Pallone (110 kg), who is a two-time Folkstyle Nationals champion, placed fourth in Greco-Roman at Fargo in 2025.

For the second straight year, Kikiniou will pull double duty at the World Championships, and this year he is joined by Wax, who will also compete in both Greco-Roman and men’s freestyle.

Upon the initial entries released by United World Wrestling, the U.S. is one of 13 countries that has a wrestler at each weight class. Argentina, Bulgaria, Georgia, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan all have 10 individuals entered in the World Championship. In total, 231 athletes from 40 countries are slated to compete in Baku next week.

The 2025 edition of the U17 Worlds featured Iran winning the team title with 125 points and six medals. Uzbekistan finished second with 118 points and a tournament-best four gold medals. The U.S. finished 10th in the team standings with 53 points, paced by three bronze medals.

Competition at the 2026 U17 World Championships begins on Monday, July 27, with the first of two Greco-Roman groups.

The full Greco-Roman event schedule is available below.

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