Stacked U.S. Team Set for IWF Senior World Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS - Eighteen of the best weightlifters in the United States are set to compete Dec. 6-15 in Manama, Bahrain, in the IWF Senior World Championships. The team features standouts in 2020 Olympic gold medalist Olivia Reeves, Tokyo Olympians Mattie Rogers & Caine Wilkes, and 2024 junior world medalists Caden Cahoy and Katie Estep. The championships will stream live via Weightlifting House TV.

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At the 2023 Senior World Championships, Team USA’s women finished second overall with a team that secured seven medals from Jourdan Delacruz (bronze in clean and jerk and total), Mary Theisen-Lappen silver in C&J and total), and Reeves (bronze in snatch and total, silver in C&J). The men’s team finished 18th overall and was highlighted by Hampton Morris earning gold in the clean and jerk after setting a junior world record with his 168 kg lift - a number he went on to best on back-to-back lifts months later at the IWF Phuket World Cup (172 kg, 176 kg).

This time around Reeves is expected to draw a crowd as the lone Paris Olympic champion on the women’s side competing in Bahrain. The United States’ second woman to ever win gold at the Olympics will compete alongside longtime friend, teammate and 2021 World Championships C&J and total champion Meredith Alwine in the women’s 71 kg A session.

Also expected to draw eyes is the women’s 76 kg A session where Tokyo 2020 Olympian Mattie Rogers will compete. 2024 junior world champion Ella Nicholson was also scheduled to lift in the session but pulled out due to injury. Rogers, one of the most well-known names in the sport, was sidelined for the final meets of the Paris Olympic qualifying cycle due to injury but has looked excellent in training in recent weeks. Rogers lifted 106/134/240 at the USAW North American Open Series 2 in August and comes to Bahrain as the American record holder at 76 kg in the C&J (141 kg) and total (252 kg). Rogers has the third highest entry total of all 76 kg women, 245 kg, after Kuk Hyang Song (265) of North Korea and Miyareth Mendoza Carabali (250) of Colombia. Nicholson was coming off a gold sweep at the Leon Junior World Championships in September where she lifted 113/131/244 to win the 76 kg session by 12 kg, setting junior (110kg) and senior (112kg) American snatch records in the process while also breaking the junior total record.

Katie Estep and Sophie Shaft are both slated to compete at 64 kg. Both are coming off the Leon Junior World Championships where Estep set the junior 64 kg snatch record with her 100 kg lift and tied the total record of 222 kg en route to claiming three silver medals on a 5-for-6 day. Shaft finished fourth overall in the competition after lifting 97/120/217 and has been on fire in training lately. She’s snatched 103 kg multiple times in recent sessions and holds the 64 kg junior American clean and jerk record (123 kg).

The men’s team is highlighted by Wilkes, 2024 Junior World Champion Caden Cahoy, 2023 Pan-American Champions Ryan Sester (102 kg) and Alejandro Medina (+109), and 81 kg Preston Powell.

Cahoy has brought home gold medals in back-to-back competitions. He swept the podium at the 2024 Pan-American Junior Championships (143/182/325) and followed that with C&J and total crowns in Leon after lifting 146/180/326 to best the competition by three kilos. Wilkes’ last international trip was the final Paris Olympic qualifier, the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, where he finished 11th in the competition and 21st overall in the men’s super heavyweight Olympic qualifying rankings. Medina also last competed internationally at the World Cup alongside Wilkes and finished 13th. He’s lifted in five competitions since then, including the USAW National Championships where he was a runner up at +109 kg.

Sester has lifted some of the best numbers in his career in recent meets, topping out at 165/205/370 as a 109 at the PNW WSO Championships in October. His career bests are 166/207/372, with the snatch high coming from the 2022 World Championships and the C&J and total coming at the 2023 Pan-American Championships. The 21-year-old Powell earned a bronze snatch medal at the 2023 Junior World Championships en route to a fourth place overall finish. This will be just his second meet since that world championship.

Aaron Williams and Brandon Victorian round out the group of men who have been on an international team for the U.S. Victorian finished seventh overall at the 2023 Pan-American Games (150/185/335) as an 89 kg. He lifted 156/189/345 at the USAW North American Open Series 2 in August to sweep gold. Williams comes in with lifetimes bests of 182/230/411 and most recently competed in August at NAOS2 where he took silver in the snatch (173 kg) but gold in the clean and jerk (207 kg) and total (380 kg). His lone international competition was the IWF Grand Prix I in June 2023 where he finished fourth overall after lifting 175/215/390.

Four athletes are making their international debuts at this competition: Edward Ginnan, Kolbi Ferguson, Sarah Barnett, and Kayla Kass. Ferguson made headlines weeks ago after clean and jerking 227kg/500 lbs in a local showcase.

Cici Kyle opens competition for the U.S. on December 6 in the women’s 45 kg A session. Kyle’s lifetime best numbers are 75/96/170. Her C&J max is the senior American record at 45 kg and was set back in 2021.