Women’s team finish first overall; men take third

BRASILIA, BR – It was a successful tournament for Canadian wrestlers at the 2026 FISU World University Combat Championships, June 8-12, in Brasilia, Brazil, as they came away with 10 individual medals (two gold, four silver and four bronze), along with a first-place women’s team title and third place men’s team title.

Women’s Results

The two Canadian gold medals came on the women’s side. The first was won by Calgary’s Annika Fines at 62kg. Fines scored wins over Poland in the quarterfinal, Slovakia in the semifinal and Brazil in the final to claim the medal. The second gold came from Brock’s Mia Friesen at 57kg. Friesen was in a round robin where she went 3-0 with wins over Germany, Turkiye and Brazil. She won her semifinal over Spain, before defeating Brazil for a second time to win gold.

 “I had an incredible time at the FISU World University Combat Championships,” said Friesen, after winning the medal. “Brazil put on a great event. Winning both a gold medal and the team title was an honour and I’m grateful to have been able to share it with all of my Team Canada teammates as well as my teammates from Brock that were on the team as well.”

Canadian women captured three silver medals. They were won by: Francesca Lo Greco, Brock, at 55kg; Angelina Ellis-Toddington, Calgary, at 68kg; and Cassie Corbett, Brock, at 72kg.

They also added three bronze medals from: Madison MacKenzie, Simon Fraser, at 50kg; Serena Di Benedetto, McMaster, at 53kg; and Macy Malysiak, McMaster, at 59kg.

The rest of the women’s results were: Jonelle Clarke, Western, fourth at 65kg and Nyla Burgess, Gannon, fifth at 76kg.

The women finished with 117 points in the team competition to edge out Turkiye by four for the top spot.

Men’s Results

The men captured a pair of medals. Magnus McCrackin, Simon Fraser, earned a silver at 74kg; while Blayne Helou, McMaster, took bronze at 61kg.

Other men’s results were: Javier Tonita-Charriez, Brock, fourth at 57kg; Omogbai Asekome, McMaster, fourth at 97kg; Ryder Church, Concordia, fifth at 70kg; Elias Wile, Alberta, fifth at 79kg; Taran Goring, Alberta, fifth at 86kg; Tejvir Dhinsa, Simon Fraser, fifth at 92kg; Roger Li, Brock, fifth at 125kg; and Callan Beggs, Western, seventh at 65kg.

The men’s team accumulated 117 points in the team competition good enough for third place. They finished one behind Turkiye, who finished second, while Iran took top spot with 230.

For complete tournament information visit the tournament site. For more information about the 2026 FISU World University Combat Championships visit the Championships site.