Roman Bravo-Young

Roman Guillermo Bravo-Young is a Mexican–American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, he represented Mexico at the 2024 Summer Olympics and was the [2025 2025 Pan American Wrestling Championships|Pan American Wrestling Championships|Pan American] champion in 2025.
In folkstyle, Bravo-Young was the 2021 and 2022 NCAA Division I National champion at 133 pounds and a four-time All-American for the Pennsylvania State University.

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Career

High school

Bravo-Young attended Sunnyside High School in Tucson, Arizona, where he was an undefeated four-time state champion with a 182–0 record. Also a US U17 World Team member in freestyle, Bravo-Young committed to the Pennsylvania State University.

Pennsylvania State University

2018–2019

Before the folkstyle season started, Bravo-Young placed second at the US U23 National championships in freestyle.
As a true freshman at 133 pounds, he earned a Keystone Classic title and placed third at the Southern Scuffle. After placing fifth at the Big Ten Championships, Bravo-Young became an All-American with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA National Championships, closing out the year with a 25–7 record.
Bravo-Young then placed second at the U20 US Open and grabbed a gold medal from the U20 Pan American Championships in freestyle.

2019–2020

As a sophomore, Bravo-Young won the Black Knight Invitational and Wilkes Open and only lost one match during regular season, to top-ranked Seth Gross. After improving to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, the NCAA National Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cutting his season short with a 20–2 record.

2020–2021

During the pandemic, Bravo-Young competed in freestyle, taking out NCAA finalist Jack Mueller at FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo, Shelton Mack at the NLWC II, and eventual UFC champion Aljamain Sterling at the NLWC IV.
Going back to folkstyle, Bravo-Young had an undefeated regular season, and claimed his first Big Ten title with a win over rival Austin DeSanto from Iowa. At the NCAA Championships, Bravo-Young became a national champion with a hard-fought win in sudden-victory over NCAA finalist Daton Fix from Oklahoma State, after an undefeated tournament. He closed out the season with a 14–0 record and was named the Penn State Male Athlete of the Year.

2021–2022

After another undefeated regular season, Bravo-Young claimed his second Big Ten title with another win over Austin DeSanto. At the NCAA Championships, Bravo-Young became a two-time national champion with another win over Daton Fix, capping yet another perfect season with a 22–0 record.

2022–2023

In his extra season, granted to athletes due to the 2020 season being cut short, Bravo-Young once again went undefeated during regular season and claimed his third Big Ten title. At the NCAA Championships, he advanced to the finals, but was defeated by Vito Arujau from Cornell to claim runner-up honors, ending his season with a 20–1 record. Bravo-Young graduated as a two-time NCAA national champion, four-time All-American, and three-time Big Ten champion, with an overall record of 100–10.
In June, Bravo-Young competed in submission grappling against UFC veteran Alex Perez at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4, with the match ending in a draw.

Mexico

2023

In July, Bravo-Young announced he would transfer and represent Mexico in freestyle, his grandparents' native country. By the end of the month, Bravo-Young claimed the Mexican National Qualifier title, wearing the Mexican singlet for the first time.
In December, Bravo-Young claimed the Mexico Grand Prix title down at 57 kilograms, defeating all three opponents by technical fall.

2024

To start off January, Bravo-Young claimed a gold medal from the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane, scoring wins over African champion Diamantino Iuna Fafé and US National Team member Daniel Deshazer.
In March, Bravo-Young competed at the Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament, in an attempt to qualify Mexico for the Summer Olympics. After victories over Enrique Herrera and Pedro Mejías to make the semifinals, Bravo-Young was able to defeat Óscar Tigreros to become a 2024 Summer Olympian.
In June, Bravo-Young competed at the Poland Open, where he grabbed wins over African champions Gamal Mohamed and Diamantino Iuna Fafé on his way to a championship.
In August, Bravo-Young made his Olympic debut at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where after dropping his opening match to four-time European champion and two-time U23 World champion Arsen Harutyunyan from Armenia, he was eliminated from the tournament.
In November, Bravo-Young competed at the Korea Open, defeating his two Japanese opponents to claim the championship.

2025

To start off 2025, Bravo-Young competed at the prestigious Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin in January, where he went 1–1. Next, he claimed a bronze medal at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, earning three victories over international competition and a loss to three-time NCAA champion and Olympic finalist Spencer Lee in a highly anticipated contest.
In May, after three victories over foreign opposition, Bravo-Young claimed the gold medal at the Pan American Championships. He gave Mexico its first gold medal performance in 32 years at the tournament.
Bravo-Young competed at the Ulaanbaatar Open in June, in Mongolia. After a win over Turkey, he pinned India's Olympic bronze medalist Aman Sehrawat in the semifinals before suffering a loss to Mongolia.

Wrestling style

Bravo-Young is known for his fancy footwork, speed, and ability to explode from a relaxed and elusive stance into a takedown. Defensively, he is known for employing explosive acrobatic flips to get out of dangerous situations. Bravo-Young trains with former UFC champion Dominick Cruz from time to time, who has some of the most versatile footwork in mixed martial arts.

Personal life

Bravo-Young got engaged to soccer player Ellie Bravo-Young at CPKC Stadium on March 15, 2025. He proposed to her on the field after her game with the Kansas City Current. The couple married in Tucson, Arizona, on December 27, 2025.

Freestyle record

! colspan="7"| Senior Freestyle Matches
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Zagreb, Croatia
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Monterrey, Mexico
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Zagreb, Croatia
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Krasnoyarsk, Russia
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Sangju, Korea
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Paris, France
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Warsaw, Poland
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Acapulco, Mexico
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Nice, France
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Mexico City, Mexico
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Oaxtepec, Mexico
State College, Pennsylvania
Austin, Texas
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
Las Vegas, Nevada

NCAA record

! colspan="8"| NCAA Division I Record
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2022–2023 Season
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2023 NCAA Championships at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2023 Big Ten Conference at 133 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2022–2023 Season
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2021–2022 Season
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2022 NCAA Championships at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2022 Big Ten Conference at 133 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2021–2022 Season
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2020–2021 Season
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2021 NCAA Championships at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2021 Big Ten Conference at 133 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2020-2021 Season
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2019-2020 Season
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2020 Big Ten Conference at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Wilken Open at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Black Knight Invite at 133 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2019-2020 Season
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2018-2019 Season
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 NCAA Championships 8th at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Big Ten Conference 5th at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Southern Scuffle at 133 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Keystone Classic at 133 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2018-2019 Season

Stats

! Season
! Year
! School
! NCAA
! Weight Class
! Record
! Win