Blades listed at 68kg on UWW U23 Worlds entry list
Tanner Lafever spotted the entry, Ross Bartachek says the 68kg spot could still come down to Final X.
Kennedy Blades is listed on United World Wrestling's entry list for the U23 World Championships, per @tannerlafever. She is one of five Hawkeyes on the Team USA entry, alongside Everest Leydecker, Reese Larramendy, Kylie Welker and Jordan Williams. USA Wrestling had previously announced that Blades was one of two options under consideration at 68kg, so seeing her name posted is the first public sign of which way it is leaning.
It is not locked. @rossbchek replied to the post pointing out that the list itself says entries are subject to change, and read the situation as USA Wrestling needing to submit a name now with the actual decision still to come.
What Bartachek said
His read was that the 68kg spot could still be settled at Final X rather than by the entry deadline. Nobody has said publicly who the other option at 68kg is or when a final call gets made.
The event
UWW lists the U23 World Championships for Las Vegas, October 12 to 18. A U23 Worlds on American soil is already a draw, and the entry list is the first hard document fans have on who the United States is actually putting in.
The Iowa presence is the other headline here. Five names from one women's program on a single Team USA entry list is the kind of number that says where the talent has pooled, with Blades, Leydecker, Larramendy, Welker and Williams all appearing.
Our take: until Final X plays out or USA Wrestling says otherwise, treat the 68kg line as a placeholder rather than a roster decision, because that is exactly how Bartachek framed it.
What to watch: whether USA Wrestling confirms Blades at 68kg or sends the spot to Final X, and the October 12 start in Las Vegas.
Per UWW’s entry list for U23 Worlds, Kennedy Blades will join four other Hawkeyes on Team USA - Everest Leydecker, Reese Larramendy, Kylie Welker and Jordan Williams.
It does say entries subject to change so guessing USAW had to submit a name and then it will potentially be decided at Final X