Taina Fernandez didn’t just win another world title in Baku. She turned a rare feat into a line all by herself.
The Archbishop Spalding High School standout captured her third straight U17 World freestyle championship Friday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Azerbaijan, becoming the first non-Japanese female wrestler ever to win three U17 World titles. The run also helped lift Team USA to its first U17 Women’s Freestyle team championship since 2021, with the Americans finishing ahead of India, 167-132. Japan took third with 126 points.
Fernandez’s march through the bracket was as ruthless as it was brief. She started by pinning India’s Taniya in 1:45, then handled Romania’s Sophia Anastase in 1:03. The semifinal ended even faster, with Fernandez pinning Poland’s Maja Wejechan in 33 seconds after an early takedown and an immediate arm bar.
In the final, she faced Türkiye’s Kiymet Tezcan, the reigning U17 European champion, and finished the job in 1:25. Fernandez hit a low single-leg takedown, flowed straight into a cradle and secured the pin to close out one of the tournament’s most dominant championship runs.
"Winning a world title by pin was such an incredible feeling," Fernandez said. "As soon as the ref slapped the mat, I just felt a flood of emotions rush in as I realized in that same moment that my goal had just come true. I think back to all those hours of hard work I put in, just for the ref to call a pin in seconds, and my heart instantly becomes full."
Fernandez said the pressure never changed how she approached the tournament. She kept her focus on the next bout instead of the bigger picture, a mindset she said helped her stay loose as the rounds rolled on.
"Reflecting on my dominant run through the tournament, I remember telling myself to take it one match at a time and to do my very best I could every time I stepped on the mat," Fernandez said. "As the tournament progressed, the more I believed in that and truly let myself let loose and give it everything I had in every single match."
For Fernandez, the title was the end of one chapter and the start of another. In a little more than two weeks, she’ll be back on the international mat as a U20 competitor when the U20 World Championships begin Aug. 16 in Slovakia. The soon-to-be Archbishop Spalding senior will chase her first U20 world championship there.
"My mindset coming into the tournament, understanding all that was on the line, was simply staying positive," Fernandez said. "I knew that I couldn't think about the outcome.
I had to focus on staying present and enjoying every second of this opportunity. I kept reminding myself that it's a blessing to be able to go out there and compete and do what I love to do, and I wouldn't allow myself to look at it as a burden."
"Becoming a three-time World Champion feels, in a way, unreal," Fernandez said. "Each world title has felt so special and has come with its own highs and lows.
Honestly, all I can do is thank God for being there with me every step of the way. I'm so grateful for the people and the places He has put around me because accomplishing this has definitely not been all on my own doing.
"Overall, I feel so incredibly blessed, and I know this was just the end of my U17 chapter, and it's on to the next."
Fernandez was one of four U.S. wrestlers to win gold in Azerbaijan. California’s Epenesa Elison took the 57-kilogram title, Michigan’s Kaili Manuel won at 73 kilograms and Pennsylvania’s Marlee Solomon claimed gold at 53 kilograms.
Team USA also picked up a silver from Texas’ Landri VonGonten at 61 kilograms and bronze medals from Pennsylvania’s Madison Healey at 46 kilograms and Isla Silva at 49 kilograms, along with Colorado’s Sophia Valdez at 40 kilograms.
The full U.S. results included Lilly Lundy of Monument, Colo., finishing 14th at 43 kilograms after a 10-0 technical fall loss to Uzbekistan’s Mukhlisa Masharipova, Eve Skrocki of Phoenix placing 10th at 65 kilograms, and the rest of the medalists spread across the bracket as Team USA closed out a championship weekend in Baku.
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