Hawkeyes Gonzalez/Welker head to U23 World Championships

Come this Saturday (October 25), we’ll have finally arrived at the end of the 2024-25 season for Iowa wrestling.
(Seriously.)
But what’s that, you say – doesn’t the 2025-26 college season begin in less than two weeks?
Yes, it does!
And that’s what makes this all so mind-boggling.
Mere days before two Hawkeye women can turn their attention toward the inaugural NCAA Championship season, they’ve got some business to attend to in Novi Sad, Serbia first.
There, the 2025 U23 World Championships await Brianna Gonzalez and Kylie Welker.
For Welker, she’s looking to pair U23 gold with a Senior World bronze medal – just as she did a year ago. And for Gonzalez, this week represents an opportunity to reach her first podium at a World Championship event.
But before they get things started in Serbia, I’m here to set the table for the tournament ahead.
So, let’s get right to it – starting with the schedule for the week’s events.
How to watch
Unless you’re able (and willing) to procure a transatlantic flight to Serbia on short notice, the only way for you to watch the U23 World Championships is via livestream on FloWrestling.
And as for dates/times to keep an eye on for these two Hawkeyes, USA Wrestling’s Mike Smit is once again the man to go to:
**all times Central Daylight Savings**

Kylie Welker will compete on the 22nd and 23rd (Wednesday/Thursday). Meanwhile, Brianna Gonzalez will follow on the 24th and 25th (Friday/Saturday).
As a reminder of international tournament procedure, in order to wrestle on Day 2 an athlete must either A) advance as far as the semifinals, or B) lose to an athlete who goes on to reach the final.
Here’s hoping both Welker/Gonzalez reach Day 2 in some manner – which would guarantee them a chance to wrestle for a medal.
Brianna Gonzalez – 53 kilograms
As a reminder of the spring/summer that was for Brianna Gonzalez, the Hawkeye suffered a trio of upset and/or controversial losses en route to taking fifth/third at NCWWCs and U23 Nationals respectively.
A few weeks later, she responded with an incredible run to win the US Open, defeating former Iowa teammate Felicity Taylor in the championship bout.
The two Hawkeyes met again in mid-June for a spot on the Senior World Championship team, with Taylor prevailing in a razor-thin best-of-three series at Final X.
(Gonzalez’s runner up status and age qualification earned her the U23 spot on Team USA.)
Most recently, Gonzalez competed in Paraguay in August at the Junior Pan-American Games – where she took third place in a bracket that includes a pair of notable competitors who’ll join her this week in Serbia.
These U23 World Championships represent her second ever appearance on the World stage. Her first – at U20s a year ago – ended in controversial fashion, an unfortunate theme of late for the 21-year-old.
This week, Gonzalez will be among a 20-woman field at 53 kilograms. If she wrestles at her best (and maybe finally catches a break of her own at some point), a spot on the podium feels within reach.
The Competition – 53 kilograms
As for her chief competitors, we’ll start with athletes who’ve previously medaled at a World Championship event.
The list includes:
- Elnura Mamadova, Azerbaijan (U23 bronze in 2023)
- Serena Di Benedetto, Canada (U23 silver in 2024)
- Carla Jaume Soler, Spain (U20 silver in 2024)
- Haruna Morikawa, Japan (U20 silver in 2024)
- Nataliia Klivchutska, Ukraine (U23 bronze in 2024)
Three others may not have a medal to their name yet, but all have previously represented their country at Senior Worlds.
Most notable among them are Zeinep Bayanova (Kazakhstan) and Christianah Ogunsanya (Nigeria).
Bayanova went 0-1 at Senior Worlds this September but also lost to the aforementioned Felicity Taylor via 8-7 decision at a July Ranking Series event in Hungary.
Meanwhile, Ogunsanya has both World and Olympic experience – going 0-1 in Paris last summer.
The Nigerian transferred to in-state NAIA program William Penn mid-semester last season, where she rolled to a national title.
And finally, an under-the-radar athlete who bears monitoring is Venezuela’s Alexa Alvarez Valenzuela.
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She’s yet to make an appearance at any World Championship event. However, in August at Junior Pan-Ams she defeated Gonzalez via 6-0 decision in a match in which the Hawkeye really struggled to threaten the seemingly much larger South American.
(At that same tournament, Gonzalez decisively beat the reigning U23 World silver medalist – Canada’s Serena Di Benedetto, 7-1.)
Kylie Welker – 76 kilograms
What more need really be said about Kylie Welker at this point?
This time a year ago, the first-ever Hawkeye doubled up on the World stage – earning Senior bronze and U23 gold down at 72 kilograms. Now, a month after taking home Senior bronze at 76kg, she returns to Europe looking to run the U23 table once again.
During the past 356 days, the 21-year-old has just one loss on her resume – in the 2025 Senior World quarterfinals.
In that same time span, she’s posted an undefeated/unscored upon college season, then ran through events like the US Open, Pan-American Championships and Final X.
She’s the class of the field at 76 kilograms this week – just as she proved to be a year ago at 72kg.
Wrestling is still wrestling, of course. So, anything can happen.
Having said that, it’ll take one hell of an effort for one of the other 13 women in the bracket to keep her from going back-to-back.
The Competition – 76 kilograms
Three other athletes at 76kg share Welker’s Senior World Championship experience.
None of them, however, shares her success.
Both Vanesa Georgieva (Bulgaria) and Elmira Yasin (Türkiye) actually faced the Hawkeye last month in Croatia. They combined to tallied zero total points to Welker’s 16, losing by fall and technical fall respectively.
Yasin is among five previous age-level World medalists in the field (in addition to Welker).
The others include:
- Priya Priya (India)
- Alina Yertostik (Kazakhstan)
- Kaiyrkul Sharshebaeva (Kyrgyzstan)
- Valeriia Trifonova (UWW)
Of that group, India’s Priya Priya is the only wrestler who’s (age-level) accolades compare with the American’s.
The 20-year-old Indian owns three World titles across the U20/U17 age divisions – plus another pair of silver medals. She finished seventh at this event in 2024, and fifth at Senior Worlds last month.
Barring a complete unknown upsetting the apple cart, it’d be a real surprise if Welker/Priya wasn’t the gold medal match on Thursday – assuming they’re drawn into opposite halves of the bracket.
Short time
With the seven-hour difference between Novi Sad, Serbia and my own glorious Central time zone, coverage will once again be a chore this week – albeit one I gladly accept.
As best as I can, I’ll provide up-to-the-minute coverage on my social media. I’ll also be on the Hawkeye Report message boards with updates throughout the tournament, and then close things out with a comprehensive recap article upon its conclusion.
After this preview, I hope you guys all feel prepared for the week ahead. It’s always fun to watch these athletes chase their dreams of a World title. And it’s doubly exciting when they’re Hawkeyes.
So, enjoy the action over the next few days and I’ll talk to you again real soon.