Maryland Represents at U17 World Championships!

The three Marylanders that made the voyage to Baku, Azerbaijan returned home filled with pride as all tasted success of varying degrees.

Archbishop Spalding’s Taina Fernandez brought home her third consecutive U17 World Championship, making history by becoming the first non-Japanese Girl to accomplish the feat. Blair Academy’s Salah Tsarni marched to the Freestyle Finals before being upended. Chesapeake’s Corey Brown was pulled into the Repechage and came up one match short of battling for a bronze in Greco Roman.

That’s quite a showing for our local heroes!

FERNANDEZ DOMINATES THE WORLD

Taina Fernandez has taken the last two U17 World Titles, but the 2026 history making performance was her most dominant yet, with the soon to be senior pinning all four opponents – in the first period.

The finals bout at 69 kilograms seemed like it could be her toughest, at least on paper, as she was facing off with 2026 U17 European Champ, Kiymet Tezcan of Türkiye. In actuality, Tezcan met an early demise like the other ladies in Fernandez’s path. Following a single leg, Fernandez worked to a cradle and stuck her foe in 1:25.

"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."

The Cavalier’s quickest foray to the mats occurred in the half-final with Poland’s Maja Wejehan, whom she decked in just 33 seconds with an Arm Bar. A 1:03 ending was dished to Sophia Anastase of Romania in the quarterfinals. Fernandez opened by planting India’s Taniya in 1:45.

"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."

Fernandez ends her time in the U17 realm maxed out with three crowns, but she won’t have to wait until next year to test the U20 waters, as she earned that World Team Spot at the Women’s Nationals as well. The turnaround is quick, too. The Champ will soon be boarding a plane headed to Slovakia when the U20 Worlds start on August 16th.

"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."

When asked specifically about the upcoming foray into the U20 realm, Fernandez offered this, “As I look forward to the upcoming U20 World Championships, I understand that it’s a quick turnaround. However, it’s one that I know I’m more than ready for. U17 is already done with, but I’m going to use it as a steppingstone and a guide to continue maintaining the same positive mindset that led to my success, and, of course, to trust in my Lord leading me.”

TSARNI’S SILVER SUCCESS

Obviously, the goal of any athlete is to win whatever competition or game they are in. For Tsarni, that has been happening a lot for him in recent times as he claimed crowns at prestigious in-season tournaments, PowerAde and Escape the Rock, and then added a National Prep Crown during his junior season.

Once the Freestyle Season arrived, Tsarni kept the winning ways going as he won the U17 PanAm Trials and then went to the PanAm Championships and locked that title down. The senior to be earned his world team spot by winning the U.S. Open in April and went unscathed at the Freestyle Junior National Duals.

Tsarni added three more wins to that streak on the World Stage as he took a bonus point ride to 92-kilogram finals, accumulating two pins and two technical falls. The tech falls were both of the 11-0 variety with one in the semis against India’s Saksham and the other in his first match with Artem Zalvovskyi (Ukraine).

After teching the Ukrainian, Tsarno pinned Iran’s Mohammed Iszadeh with 12 seconds remining in the match, 3:48, and made quick work of Japan’s Shu Yoshida with a 55 second fall.

“I felt good the whole way through,” Tsarni said. “I was moving fast and the technique I've been drilling all summer showed up exactly when I needed it. That's the part I'm most happy about, the work carried over.”

Things started off splendidly for Tsarni in the finals as he built a 3-0 lead over Russia’s Abdurazak Shabanov. Tsarni garnered a step-out point and picked up a takedown on the edge of the mat. One big sequence changed it all in the second frame as Shabanov came up big and took a 7-3 lead that would eventually end with a 9-4 final.

“It was a rough one.” Remarked Tsarni. “I'm still proud of how I got there and I'm not beating myself up about it. It was a great experience. Good people, and Baku is a beautiful city, the architecture especially. I'd go back in a heartbeat if I get the chance.”

BROWN KEPT COMING

Corey Brown’s return trip home didn’t come with a medal in hand, but he was as close as you can get to having a shot as he lost in what would be considered the blood round to Romania’s Vlad Ioan Trip by a 3-1 count. Brown, who will be a junior this fall, was pulled back into the Repechage and won his first battle with Brazil’s Lavozier Wadik Marubo by decking his rival in 1:29.

Brown went 1-1 in the championship rounds, coming back from a late deficit to take out Abdullah Hasson Ahmed of Egypt, 7-5, in the final seconds. Brown lost to Hungary’s Keve Vazul Kovacs 5-1 to drop him out of gold medal contention.