Team USA Named for Senior World Championships, October 4-11

(Colorado Springs, CO) – Eighteen athletes have been selected to represent Team USA at the 2026 Senior World Championships from October 4-11 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The squad brings a lot of experience, with 11 returning members from past Senior World Championship Teams and a strong core of international medalists leading the tournament, which is expected to feature 473 athletes from 73 countries and serve as a key qualifier for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Three U.S. Olympic Team members from the Paris 2024 Games are on the roster for Baku: Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, N.J. / NYAC / Cranford Judo & Karate Center), Maria Laborde (Kenosha, Wis. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) and John Jayne (Chicago, Ill.).

Yonezuka, 23, is ranked 6th in the world in the 73 kg division. He will be competing in his fifth straight Senior World Championships. A two-time medalist at the Junior World Championships, he won his first Grand Slam medal in June in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Yonezuka also took silver at the Lima Grand Prix in August and bronze at the Upper Austria Grand Prix in March.

Laborde is the most seasoned member of the team at 36 years of age and with six Senior World Championships under her belt. A medalist in the individual event at the 2014 Senior Worlds and the team event at the 2013 Senior Worlds for her native Cuba, Laborde earned her U.S. citizenship in 2022 and has ascended to No. 7 in the women’s 48 kg world rankings with a series of finishes that included her first Grand Slam medal in February in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Jayne, 29, will be competing in his sixth consecutive Senior World Championships this year. He finished with a silver medal at the Panamerican Senior Championships in Panama City in April.

Other U.S. team members with multiple Senior World Championship appearances heading into Baku include six-time team member Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo) at 57 kg, four-time team member Ari Berliner (Schenectady, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) at 66 kg, three-time team member Dominic Rodriguez (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) at 81 kg and two-time team member Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center) at 70 kg.

The U.S. squad includes 11 athletes under 25, including two athletes still competing as juniors, and has great depth at both 60 kg and 81 kg with four athletes ranked in the top 30.

Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Yang (Los Angeles, Calif. / NYAC / USA Judo National Resident Team) and 21-year-old Christopher Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) are ranked 16th and 27th, respectively, at 66 kg. Yang is the 2024 Cadet World Champion and a bronze medalist at the 2025 Junior World Championships. He will be competing in his second straight Senior World Championships in October and is coming off his first career Grand Prix medal, a silver at the Lima Grand Prix in August. Velazco also won his first career Grand Prix medal at that event, earning bronze, and will compete at his second Senior Worlds.

Johan Silot (Salem, Mass. / NYAC / Pedro's Judo Center), 23, and the 22-year-old Rodriguez are currently ranked 16th and 22nd, respectively, in the 81 kg division. Silot got his first taste of Senior World Championships action last year and has earned two medals at the Lima Grand Prix in the past year...a silver medal last October and a bronze medal this August. Rodriguez made history in 2022 as the youngest U.S. man to win gold at the Senior Pan American Championships, where he claimed the 73 kg title less than a month before his 18th birthday. He now has six Pan American titles to his credit, three at the cadet level, one at the junior level and two in the senior competition.

The complete athlete roster, including days of competition, is as follows:

Sunday, October 4
Women’s 48 kg
Maria Laborde (Kenosha, Wis. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
Men’s 60 kg
Jonathan Yang (Los Angeles, Calif. / NYAC / USA Judo National Resident Team)
Christopher Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

Monday, October 5
Women’s 52 kg
Toni Pepia (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Colton Brown Training Center)
Monica Reyes (Aiea, Hawaii / Hawaii Judo Academy)
Men’s 66 kg
Ari Berliner (Schenectady, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Tuesday, October 6
Women’s 57 kg
Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo)
Men’s 73 kg
Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, N.J. / NYAC / Cranford Judo & Karate Center)

Wednesday, October 7
Women’s 63 kg
Karlee Carrouth (Oklahoma City, Okla. / NYAC / USA Stars)
Emily Jaspe (Hialeah, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
Men’s 81 kg
Johan Silot (Salem, Mass. / NYAC / Pedro's Judo Center)
Dominic Rodriguez (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

Thursday, October 8
Women’s 70 kg
Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center)
Isabella Garriga (Richmond, Texas / Westlake Judo / USA Judo National Resident Team)
Men’s 90 kg
Alexander Knauf (Yorkville, Ill. / NYAC
John Jayne (Chicago, Ill.)

Friday, October 9
Women’s 78 kg
Lotanna Onua (Atlanta, Ga. / Black Ice Judo)

Saturday, October 10
Men’s +100 kg
Alex Semenenko (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Generation Judo Club)