Skip to main content
Iowa
Join Now

Iowa wrestlers prepped & ready for Senior Pan-Am Championships

by: Tanner Lafever05/06/26TannerLafever

Iowa wrestling’s summer season continues in a big way this (extended) weekend – and in its own backyard no less.

That’s because the 2026 Senior Pan-American Championships are on tap, this Thursday-through-Sunday (May 7-10) in Coralville.

Over four days, Xtream Arena will play host to more the 220 athletes from North/South America – many of them among the very best in the world.

Be it Men’s/Women’s Freestyle or Greco-Roman disciplines, numerous World/Olympic medalists (and champions) will be among the competitors converging on WrestleTown, USA for this weekend’s festivities.

Five past/present/future Hawkeyes will join that convergence – including a pair of reigning World bronze medalists.

  • Everest Leydecker (55kg)
  • Austin DeSanto (61kg)
  • Real Woods (65kg)
  • Kylie Welker (76kg)
  • Stephen Buchanan (97kg)

Each of them will be a part of a powerful, 30-person roster representing Team USA.

Each could also quite conceivably stand atop the podium at the conclusion of this weekend’s action, though they’ll certainly be tested along the way.

But before any of them take the mat, please allow me to set the stage for what’s to come.

How to watch

May 8-10 (Thurs-Sat) – 2026 Senior Pan-American Championships

  • Location: Coralville, IA (Xtream Arena)
  • Time: All day
  • TV/streaming: live on FloWrestling (subscription required)
  • Brackets/results/etc: available at UWW Arena

Iowa wrestling fans won’t just be familiar with the locale and the competitors taking part in this week’s festivities.

Those unable to make it to Xtream Arena – where tickets remain on sale spanning everything from the single day to four-day (full tournament) variety – can stream the action live on FloWrestling.

Meanwhile, most of the other pertinent information can be found HERE.

As for the schedule, there will be no Hawkeyes wrestling on Day 1 (May 7th) – which will solely feature Greco-Roman competition.

But on each of the remaining days (May 8-10) there will be at least one Hawkeye in action.

Friday, May 8th

Greco-Roman: 72kg, 97kg

Women’s Freestyle: 50kg, 55kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, 72kg

  • 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Qualification Rounds)
  • 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (Semifinals)
  • 2:00 p.m. (Repechages)
  • 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. (Finals & Awards Ceremonies)

Saturday, May 9th

Women’s Freestyle: 53kg, 59kg, 65kg, 76kg

Men’s Freestyle: 61kg, 74kg, 86kg

  • 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Qualification Rounds)
  • 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (Semifinals)
  • 2:00 p.m. (Repechages)
  • 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. (Finals & Awards Ceremonies)

Sunday, May 10th

Men’s Freestyle: 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 92kg, 97kg, 125kg

  • 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Qualification Rounds)
  • 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (Semifinals)
  • 2:00 p.m. (Repechages)
  • 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. (Finals & Awards Ceremonies)

Welker welcomes formidable foes

Without question, the weight of the weekend is 76 kilograms in the women’s freestyle division.

Even better, that’s where reigning champion (and Hawkeye) Kylie Welker awaits.

The two-time World bronze medalist will be joined in the field by three other women who’ve previous medaled at the World Championships and/or Olympic Games:

  • Tatiana Renteria (Columbia) – 2024 Olympic bronze, 2023 World bronze
  • Milaimy Marin Potrille (Cuba) – 2024 Olympic bronze, 2025 World bronze
  • Genesis Reasco (Ecuador) – 2025 World champion

A year ago, at this very tournament, Welker teched Reasco (10-0 in the first period) en route to gold.

A few months later, the Hawkeye watched Reasco win a world title while she was forced to ‘settle’ for bronze for the second-consecutive year.

Processing that result was among several topics I covered with Welker following Wednesday’s pre-tournament press conference:

As for the other two top contenders – Renteria and Potrille – I don’t believe Welker has experience against either entering the weekend.

(FWIW: I’ve been told both are on her half of the bracket, meaning Welker will likely have to run through each of the other top three contenders to stand atop the podium.)

Simply put, 76kg alone is worth the price of admission – especially if you’re rooting on the Iowa superstar.

World Championships rematch highlights possibilities for Woods

Among the four remaining Hawkeyes, I’d say the most compelling field involves Iowa’s other returning World medalist – Real Woods.

A surprise just to make the 2025 World Team for the United States, Woods proved it was no fluke when he went on to earn a historic bronze medal:

And it just so happens the man whom he defeated to secure said bronze medal will be in his bracket this weekend – Canada’s Peiman Biabani.

Woods won a tactical 3-1 bout when they last met in September of 2024. And a rematch could very well be on tap depending on how things shake out this weekend.

Aside from Biabani (and Woods), five other athletes in the field have previous Senior World Championships experience – including four-time (61kg) Senior Pan-Ams runner up Joseph Silva (Puerto Rico).

Buchanan looks to keep the momentum rolling

For Stephen Buchanan, Sunday will mark the first time he’s ever represented the United States at a Senior World/Continental championship.

A winner of two Rankings Series events already this year – and a US Open champion just two weeks ago – Pan-Ams offers Buchanan a chance to continue to build his freestyle confidence in some friendly confines.

The 2025 NCAA champ spoke with reporters after Wednesday’s press conference and detailed his whirlwind freestyle career to this point:

As for the field in front of him at 97kg, most of the nine other competitors will have far more experience than the Iowa graduate – among them 2024 Olympians Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba), Luis Perez Sosa (Dominican Republic) and Pool Ambrocio Greifo (Peru).

Even so, if Buchanan continues his recent run of form he’ll be considered the favorite in every single match.

Desanto/Leydecker prep for paired down fields

The last two wrestlers with Iowa ties are a men’s graduate (Austin DeSanto) and an incoming women’s freshman (Everest Leydecker).

Both competed in Las Vegas at the recent US Open.

But while the super recruit (Leydecker) continued her rapid rise with a first-place finish, DeSanto fell to a frustrating fourth.

Now, both have another opportunity to get back on the mat with hardware just a few wins away.

And in this case, I mean it when I say ‘a few’ as DeSanto and Leydecker are each part of one of the tournament’s smaller fields.

DeSanto joins a six-man field at 61kg – highlighted by returning Canadian World teamer Garette Sanders (10th at 57kg) and former Nebraska All-American Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico).

Meanwhile, Leydecker’s 55kg field is only half that size – featuring the 18-year-old American and two other competitors.

And while neither Amber Wiebe (Canada) nor Josefina Ramirez Duarte (Mexico) figures to offer much resistance for the U20 World champion, this will still be the first time local Iowa fans get a chance to watch the burgeoning superstar in-person since Leydecker committed to the Hawkeyes this past December.

(And I’d highly encourage folks to take advantage of it.)

Short time

That’s a wrap from me.

I’ll have boots on the ground at Xtream Arena for all three days of competition involving the Hawkeyes (May 8-10).

Amidst the action, you can stay in the loop with updates on both Twitter and Instagram. And at the end of the weekend, I’ll have a full Iowa-centric recap to sum up everything that happened.

Thanks as always for reading, and I’ll catch you again real soon!

You may also like