Walters Captures U23 National Title at 92kg, Wolverines Place Seven
6/1/2026 2:35:00 PM | Wrestling
GENEVA, Ohio -- University of Michigan redshirt junior Hayden Walters captured the U23 freestyle title at 92kg/202 pounds at USA Wrestling's 2026 U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials on Sunday (May 31) at the SPIRE Academy.
Michigan boasted seven total placewinners across the two divisions. Redshirt freshman Brock Mantanona took second place at 86kg in the U20 division, while incoming freshmen Kellen Wolbert and Haakon Peterson claimed third at 65kg and 74kg, respectively, and Henry Askliyan placed fifth at 57kg. Freshman Eren Sement and junior Sergio Lemley also placed eighth at 65kg and 70kg, respectively, in the U23 field to round out the contingent.
Walters posted a 7-0 record over two days and swept Indiana's Gabe Sollars in the best-of-three champion final. He earned a second-period pin in the first finals bout, going feet to back on a single leg while on the shot clock to secure the touch fall at 3:44. He earned a 6-1 victory in the second match, using a single leg and gut wrench midway through the second period to break the tie and icing it with a late stepout.
His biggest win came Friday night in the Round of 16 when he edged Pittsburgh's Mac Stout, an All-American and three-time NCAA qualifier, 2-1 on a second-period stepout. Walters also defeated Penn State's Mason Ellis and Bucknell's Dillon Bechtold in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Walters previously took third place at 92kg at last year's U23 Nationals.
Mantanona fell to Missouri's Aeoden Sinclair, 6-0 and 10-0, in the 86kg U20 best-of-three. He won a pair of wild matches back-to-back to advance to the championship final, using second-period comebacks and criteria to defeat South Dakota State's Jarrett Wadsen, 13-13, and Northern Iowa's Waylon Cressell, 10-10, in the challenge tournament.
He trailed by eight points in the second period of the former bout after a Wadsen trap arm put him just two points from the tech. Mantanona scored on a four-point chest lock with :90 left, gave up a reversal point -- and the lead -- in the same sequence but got it back after a failed challenge from Wadsen's corner. He trailed six points in the second period against Cressell but finished on three unanswered takedowns in the final :90, including a go-ahead single leg with just 23 seconds left.
Wolbert and Peterson both bounced back from semifinal losses to take third place. Wolbert cruised to an 8-0 win over Cornell commit Arseni Kikiniou in his medal match, highlighted by a four-point chest lock on the edge of the mat early in the second period. Peterson earned two wins over Wisconsin commit Rocco Cassioppi, including a 4-1 decision -- on a takedown, stepout and shot-clock point -- in the medal round.
