Luis Orta Headlines Cuban Wrestling Squad Ahead of 2026 World Championships in Astana

September 25, 2026

Cuba has confirmed a nine-wrestler delegation for the World Wrestling Championships, set for October 24 through November 1, 2026, in Astana, Kazakhstan. The headline name is Luis Alberto Orta Sánchez, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and 2023 world champion in Belgrade in the 67-kilogram Greco-Roman division, who will look to add another individual title in the Kazakh capital.

Alongside Orta, Cuba's Greco-Roman lineup includes Gabriel Rosillo (97 kg, world champion in Belgrade 2023 and Olympic bronze medalist at Paris 2024), Kevin de Armas (63 kg) and Daniel Gregorich (87 kg), both reigning Central American and Caribbean champions. In men's freestyle, Cuba will send Arturo Silot (97 kg) and Geannis Garzón (74 kg), a U-23 world bronze medalist. The women's team features Milaimy Marín (76 kg, Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist), Yaynelis Sanz (55 kg) and Greilis Bencosme (50 kg, gold medalist at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo), according to Cuban sports outlets including Radio Rebelde, Radio Progreso and Directorio Cubano.

The squad, guided by coaches Mario Olivera (Greco-Roman), Jesús Rodríguez (freestyle) and Filiberto Delgado (women's), is aiming to improve on Zagreb 2025, where Cuba managed only one medal — Marín's bronze — and finished 27th in the overall medal standings.

With Orta and Rosillo as the standard-bearers of an Olympic cycle that already produced three Cuban medals between Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, Cuban wrestling arrives in Astana hoping to reaffirm its tradition in a sport that has long delivered some of the country's most consistent international titles.