Team USA closed out the women's freestyle competition at the 2026 U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, with two bronze medals Friday evening. McKendree incoming freshman Caley Graber and top senior recruit Taina Fernandez both reached the podium while Iowa's Karlee Brooks finished fifth.

Graber, a Minnesota native, capped an impressive World Championships debut with a fall in the 59 kilograms bronze-medal match, using an arm bar to pin U20 Asian silver medalist Gundegmaa Enkhbaatar of Mongolia in the second period. She finished the tournament 3-1 with two falls. Her only loss came in the quarterfinals, a 2-2 criteria decision to eventual world champion Sae Noguchi of Japan.

Fernandez continued to add to an already decorated international resume at just 17 years old, shutting out U20 European bronze medalist Evangeliia Berezhnova of Russia 4-0 in the 68 kilograms bronze-medal match. The medal is Fernandez's fourth at the age-group World Championships. A three-time U17 world champion, she entered the U20 tournament only weeks removed from capturing another U17 world title earlier this month in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Brooks, a 2026 NCAA All-American, came up short in her bid for a medal at 57 kilograms. U20 Asian champion Xinyu Wang of China caught Brooks for a first-period fall in the bronze medal match, leaving the two-time age-group world team member with a fifth-place finish. The Hawaii native also placed fifth at the 2023 U17 World Championships.

The United States finished fourth in the women's freestyle team standings with 118 points, producing a world champion and three bronze medalists. Japan claimed the team title with 167 points, followed by India with 133 and China with 132. Despite finishing fourth in the team race, the U.S. was the only nation to place a wrestler inside the top 10 at all 10 weight classes.