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IWBF Information
OTTAWA – A number of men’s and women’s UT Arlington Wheelchair Basketball players will take part in the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships set to begin Wednesday and continue through Sept. 19 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The tournament features numerous Movin’ Mavs from both the past and present.
On the women’s side, two current Lady Movin’ Mavs made the roster for the world championships. Junior Mercy Nyakundi will represent Canada at the event in what is set to be her first world championship appearance.
Laura Davoli will similarly make her first IWBF world championship appearance at this year’s tournament. The UTA sophomore will compete for Australia at the event. Davoli is coming off a strong showing in the Australian Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League where she averaged 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists per game.
A number of former Lady Movin’ Mavs will make their way to Ottawa for the championships as well. Five former UTA women’s wheelchair basketball players are set to feature on three different nation’s rosters.
Zoe Voris, a one-time paralympian at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games , will be making her first appearance at the IWBF World Championships. Voris — who graduated this past spring — is one of three former Lady Movin’ Mavs who will be competing for Team USA.
Joining Voris in representing the USA are Rose Hollermann and Josie Aslakson. Aslakson competed in the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympics, earning bronze and silver respectively.
Hollerman is the most experienced Lady Movin’ Mav in international competition. The 2019 graduate has been to the past four Paralympic games, including Rio 2016 where she won gold for Team USA. 2026 will also be her fourth world championship appearance, competing previously at Toronto in 2014, Hamburg in 2018 and Dubai in 2022.
Grace Wembolua is set to make her world championship debut in 2026. Wembolua will play for France.
Élodie Tessier rounds out the former Lady Movin’ Mavs featuring in the IWBF World Championships. The 2025 graduate is playing for Canada and has competed in the past two Paralympics as well as the last pair of world championships.
As for the men’s program, the Movin’ Mavs have one current player set to compete at the world championships. Lionel Tamoki, a senior, will compete for Team Canada at the event.
Three former standouts for the UT Arlington Movin’ Mavs – Fabian Romo, Jorge Sanchez and Paul Schulte – will compete for the U.S. at the event.
Romo previously represented Team USA at the 2025 IWBF Americas Cup and helped the Americans capture gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. He has been a key contributor on other U.S. championship teams, including gold-medal runs at the 2023 Parapan American Games, 2022 IWBF World Championship and 2022 Americas Cup.
As a college player, Romo secured All-America honors and helped lead the Movin’ Mavs to a national championship in 2017. He is a 2020 graduate of UTA with a degree in exercise science.
Sanchez was selected to the roster after helping Team USA capture gold at the 2025 IWBF Americas Cup. He also represented the United States in gold-medal placements at the 2023 Parapan American Games and 2022 IWBF World Championship.
Sanchez made his Paralympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, where he earned a gold medal. His decorated international résumé also includes gold medals at the 2017 IWBF Americas Cup and 2019 Parapan American Games along with a silver medal at the 2018 IWBF World Championship. He graduated from UTA in 2014 with a degree in marketing.
Schulte, one of the most decorated athletes in wheelchair basketball history, is a three-time Paralympic medalist, earning a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games as well as bronze at both the Sydney 2000 and London 2012 Paralympic Games. He also is a four-time IWBF World Championship medalist, netting gold (1998, 2002), silver (2006) and bronze (2010). He also helped Team USA capture gold at the 2025 IWBF Americas Cup.
A 2022 inductee into the NWBA Hall of Fame and a member of the Michigan Wheelchair Sports Hall of Fame, Schulte is a five-time NWBA National Champion and three-time MVP.
During his college career, Schulte led the program to the 2002 National Intercollegiate Championship and was a First-Team All-American and national tournament MVP. His jersey, No. 20, was retired by UT Arlington. A 2005 UTA graduate in mechanical engineering, he has designed high-performance basketball wheelchairs for TopEnd Wheelchairs.
More information on the IWBF World Championships can be found on both the IWBF’s official website and the official tournament website.
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