Welker's wondrous run leads Iowa at hometown Pan-Ams
Iowa wrestlers – be they past, present or future Hawkeyes – nearly achieved perfection at the 2026 Senior Pan-American Championships.
All five entries reached the final of their respective brackets, each of them doing so with ease.
And after Everest Leydecker, Kylie Welker, Austin DeSanto and Real Woods all got their hand raised following their championship bout(s), a 5/5 Hawkeye sweep felt destined to occur.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Stephen Buchanan fell to a dynamic Cuban opponent in one of the tournament’s last matches.
Even so, it was a heck of a weekend for the Hawkeyes in Coralville – competing just down the road from their collegiate stomping grounds.
Four gold medals and one silver isn’t too shabby, after all. Especially when it comes against some of the best wrestlers from across North/South America.
In fact, prior to Buchanan’s defeat, the pro-Iowa crowd at Xtream Arena had been treated to a 14-0 showing from their Hawks.
The combined score in those matches?
134-9 – including nine technical falls and two pins.
So yeah, not too shabby at all.
As for the wrestling behind those numbers, well that was pretty darn impressive too. And it all starts with the standout performer of the entire tournament.
Kylie conquers all comers
There were two ways to look at Kylie Welker’s road at these Pan-Am Championships:
Either she had to run the gauntlet at 76 kilograms, or she was the gauntlet at 76 kilograms.
As it turns out, the latter of those options proved (emphatically) to be the case.
Iowa’s two-time World bronze medalist found herself in similarly credentialed company – joined by a trio of World/Olympic medalists in the marquee field of the tournament:
- Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) – Olympic bronze (2024), World bronze (2023)
- Milaimy Marin Potrille (Cuba) – World bronze (2025), Olympic bronze (2024)
- Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) – World champion (2025)
Welker not only faced all three of them in consecutive matches, but she defeated each of them.
And she didn’t merely defeat each of them, but she teched/pinned all three in a performance not only worthy of the Outstanding Wrestler Award, but one that was about as impressive as you’ll see at any major international tournament.
The competition was that steep, and her performance was that sublime.
Put it all together and you’d be hard pressed to argue there’s a better wrestler in the world at 76kg than the Hawkeye right now.
A title run worth talking about
Welker’s day began by hopping on the proverbial ‘treadmill’ at full speed – facing Olympic bronze medalist Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) in the quarterfinals.
And after settling into the match, the Hawkeye found her footing to the tune of 10 points in a 1:53 span bridging the first/second periods.
Before you knew it, she’d rolled up an 11-0 tech. fall.
As it turned out, Welker’s semifinal match played out in a similar cadence.
An early feeling out period saw the Iowa senior-to-be leading 1-0 before a takedown made it 3-0 at the break. Shortly thereafter, the floodgates opened – and there was nothing back-to-back World/Olympic medalist Milaimy Marin Potrille (Cuba) could do about it.
Welker didn’t just counter a shot attempt by Potrille but punished it by whipping the Cuban to her back. Now leading 7-0, Welker countered another errant shot for an easy go-behind, then ran a bar-arm for the fall like it was the first round of the Iowa Girls High School State Tournament – hosted in the very same Xtream Arena venue three months ago.
The victory set the stage for an epic final – featuring the red-hot Hawkeye against the reigning World champion, Ecuador’s Genesis Reasco Valdez.
These two had met three previous times in international competition.
- A pin by Welker in the 2021 U23 World bronze medal match.
- A 9-7 win by Reasco Valdez at the 2023 Pan-Am Games.
- A 10-0 tech. fall by Welker at last year’s Pan-Am Championships.
As for their latest clash, a heavy-handed slugfest bore out with Welker scoring first via an activity point.
Early in the second period, the Hawkeye was put on the clock herself but would keep her shutout streak going – barely.
Facing double underhooks by her Ecuadorian foe, Welker countered with a throw/takedown that just beat the 0:30 clock.
And then, for the third time in as many matches, she ended things early – even though it took an officials’ conference to sort through (and confirm) what was an obvious pin to just about everyone in the arena, especially the Iowa fans cheering loudly for their local superstar.
“Kind of just muscle memory,” said Welker of the sequence during her post-match interview.
“Sometimes that position gets me in trouble, but sometimes it works. So, I’m glad it worked out.”
“I’ve been working really hard at pinning the last couple months, especially leading into college nationals…because it’s extra points and whatnot. So, it’s cool to see it pay off on the world stage, too.”
When asked about the entire Pan-Ams experience – featuring both a familiar environment and as challenging a bracket as one could’ve made – Welker, who visited with her cats (and friends) between the semis and final, had this to say:
“I knew it was going to be hard, but that’s what I train for.”
“I tell myself there’s no harder matches than what I have in the Iowa room wrestling my teammates. So, to be able to go out and beat those three opponents was really huge – and it’s good information moving forward.”
Welker may’ve gained some valuable information from the weekend, but she also sent a message:
Namely, that the rest of the world had better bring its ‘A-game’ if it wants to hang with the Hawkeye.
Leydecker laces way to 55kg gold
It was a rinse-and-repeat performance for the crown jewel of Iowa’s 2026 recruiting class.
Two matches and two technical falls – all in less than two minutes.
Everest Leydecker was operating at peak efficiency en route to a gold medal at 55 kilograms.
In both matches of a three-person round-robin – first against Amber Wiebe (Canada) and second versus Josefina Duarte (Mexico) – the soon-to-be Hawkeye scored an early takedown, locked up a leg lace and rolled to a lightning-quick victory.
Neither foe was expected to provide major resistance based on their past credentials. And Leydecker left little time/doubt for anything different to occur.
Wiebe held on for a 1:06 before succumbing, 10-0. And Duarte couldn’t prevent an even quicker demise, 11-0 in a mere 0:52.
“I know I can lace anybody,” said Leydecker. “It’s just figuring out different ways to get there.”
That lethal leg lace stems from consistent exploration of her wrestling skillset – and allows the 18-year-old to adjust (and strike) at a moment’s notice.
“I just love playing in positions. I really don’t like starting from par terre at practice…I always like going from a takedown (and) working transitions because we’re going to be in different positions every time we land. So, it’s just figuring out how to switch off to your turns in every position.”
Leydecker’s summer is far from over despite a torrid start featuring U20/U23 national titles, a US Open crown and now Pan-Am gold – all within the span of a month.
But until her next major event, she has a message sure to pump up Iowa fans eagerly awaiting her Hawkeye debut:
DeSanto dominates 61kg field
The next Hawkeye in this recap only takes third billing because he merely went unscored upon during his Pan-Am title run – missing out on an all-bonus effort by a single point.
That man, 61kg champion Austin DeSanto, outscored his four opponents by a combined margin of 39-0.
The first of those efforts came against Canada’s Garette Saunders – a 10th-place finisher at last year’s World Championships (at 57kg).
38 seconds later it was over. And identical 10-0 tech. falls would follow for DeSanto – lasting 1:06 and 0:40 respectively.
All that remained was the final, which pitted the Iowa alum against a former Cornhusker – two-time NCAA All-American Caleb Smith (Puerto Rico).
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Smith handled DeSanto’s onslaught better than any of the prior foes, making it to intermission (trailing 4-0). But an early single leg by the Hawkeye after the break extended his lead, and a subsequent leg lace added to it.
From there, DeSanto mostly coasted for the remaining two minutes – tacking on one more point for the 9-0 final margin.
“You know me, I want to keep scoring,” said Desanto when he met with the media post-tournament.
“But I slowed it down and that’s not me, so I’ve got to keep on building.”
Besides that, he was largely pleased with his overall performance, and appreciative of the opportunity to compete at a critical juncture of the summer schedule.
“I love that I got accepted here to wrestle (at Pan-Ams). We have (World Team) Trials Thursday/Friday, and this was just a stepping stone for that to keep getting better.”
“I’ve got adjustments to make and that’s why I come here. It’s awesome.”
Woods wins World Championships rematch to claim gold at 65kg
It didn’t take a genius to identify the marquee matchup at 65 kilograms leading into Pan-Ams.
One half was Real Woods – the reigning World bronze medalist.
The other half was Canada’s Peiman Biabani – the man whom Woods defeated (3-1) in that bronze medal bout.
Situated on opposite sides of the bracket this weekend, they’d both have to reach the finals first.
Woods did his part on the back of a 14-4 tech. fall and a 9-0 decision – the latter against Shannon Hanna of the Bahamas.
Hanna placed 13th at the 2025 World Championships (at 70kg) but couldn’t hang with the explosive American in their semifinal match on Sunday.
With Biabani also taking care of business, the stage was set for the clash everyone wanted to see.
Much like their previous meeting some eight months ago, a tactical/low-scoring theme emerged. And just like their previous meeting, it was Woods who executed in the critical moment.
This time, that meant hitting a low shot shortly after intermission – elevating Biabani’s leg above the shoulder and doggedly pursuing the pivotal takedown:
Now leading 3-0, Woods closed things out in a controlled, calculated manner – surrendering only an activity point and a last-second step out for the 3-2 victory.
Following the win, the Iowa alum spoke about the weekend that was:
“I’ve got a really soft spot in my heart for the Hawkeye fans just because of the experience they gave to me,” said Woods – whose Iowa career spanned the 2023-24 seasons.
“It was unmatched and I’ve never really experienced a community that supported the wrestlers and wrestling as a whole like the Hawk fans…so it was the coolest thing ever to come back and compete for the fans that came.”
A lesson learned for Buchanan
As I mentioned in the introduction, Iowa’s lone defeat of the weekend came during Stephen Buchanan’s 97kg final.
Up until that point, the recent US Open champion had looked good.
A 12-2 tech. fall victory over Jamaica’s Steven Burrell Jr. got things started – punctuated by a nifty foot sweep takedown.
More bonus points followed in the semis thanks to an 11-1 win over Cristian Sarco Colmenarez (Venezuela), who placed 13th at Worlds last year.
Having reached the final, all that remained between Buchanan and Pam-Am gold was 2024 Olympian Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba).
The Cuban had similarly bonus’d his way through the tournament, posting 11-0 and 12-0 victories – neither of which lasted beyond the first period.
That point-scoring prowess manifested in the final too, with Torres hitting a four-point arm throw that appeared to catch the Iowa alum completely off guard.
Soon after, Buchanan responded with four points of his own courtesy of a double-leg takedown and a subsequent turn. But the momentum was short lived.
Torres scrambled to his feet, and with Buchanan wrapped around the body struck with double overs for another feet-to-back throw. A leg lace increased the damage and left the Hawkeye in a 10-4 hole at intermission.
Coming out of the break, Buchanan found himself in an eerily familiar position with both arms around his opponent. And once again, it was Torres who capitalized with a counter throw – this one a match ender.
“I mean that’s wrestling, right?” said Buchanan.
“You try to do everything right, work hard, try to be on your offense (and) sometimes you get thrown for four (points) – a few times.”
“It’s a position that he was better than me in and I kept going back to it. (I) probably could have wrestled it smarter.”
Short time
Three days, five Hawkeyes and four gold medals later (plus a silver), the 2026 Senior Pan-Am Championships have officially come to an end.
Each of the athletes mentioned will move on from the experience the same having won or lost their final match – seeking improvement and looking ahead to what’s next.
As for what’s next, that’ll be Final X on June 19th for each of Buchanan, Leydecker, Welker and Woods.
Meanwhile, DeSanto will head to the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament this Thursday – along with several other Iowa wrestlers/alums.
But that’s ground to be covered in the next few days. For now, Iowa fans should bask in the weekend that was in their own backyard.
Because the Hawkeyes that competed there were pretty darn good.
