U20 World Championships

The 2025 U20 Men's Freestyle World Championships took place over the past four days in Samokov, Bulgaria. To say that the performance of the young Nittany Lions was outstanding is an understatement. Five Nittany Lion wrestlers (making up half of the men's freestyle team) competed, and all five won world medals! In addition, the U.S. team won the U20 World Championship!

Marcus Blaze (61 kg) won the gold medal with a 5-0 mark, winning an incredible four matches by technical fall and one by disqualification! In the gold medal match, Marcus won by 10-0 technical superiority over Iran's Ahora Khateri! 

PJ Duke (70 kg) also won the gold medal with a 5-0 mark, including two technical falls and a fall. In the finals, PJ scored an exciting 7-5 victory over Alexandr Gaidarl of Moldova! 

Will Henckel (79 kg) won 4 straight matches to advance to the finals where he dropped a hard-fought 8-6 decision to Iran's Mahdi Yousefi Hajivar. 

Connor Mirasola (92 kg) won his first match by technical fall but lost his second match by a close 7-5 decision to a wrestler from Kasakhstan. He then wrestled back for bronze, defeating Azerbaijan's Ana Jafarli 10-0 in the bronze medal match. 

Cole Mirasola (125 kg) had two wins to advance to the semifinals where he lost to a wrestler from Kasakhstan. In the bronze medal match, Cole defeated Narantulga Darmaabazar of Mongolia by 12-2 technical fall. 

Congratulations Marcus, PJ, Will, Connor, Cole, and Team USA!!!