The fun in men’s freestyle at the U20 World Championships continued on Saturday as the final five members of the team took the mat for the first time. Like the first five, they were perfect through the quarterfinals - this time going 13-0 and putting all five in the semis. 
Of course, that is too much of a start to continue through the semifinals, but the US team did manage to put three more wrestlers in Sunday’s gold medal matches (Ladarion Lockett - 74 kg, Josh Barr - 86 kg, and Ben Kueter - 125 kg). Those three combined with Friday’s results mean that half of the men’s freestyle team earned a berth in the U20 world finals. 
One of those wrestlers who earned a berth in the finals on Friday was Luke Lilledahl at 57 kg. The incoming freshman at Penn State locked up an age-group medal for the fourth consecutive year. Lilledahl followed the pattern from his U17 days, making the finals one year and winning the next. Lilledahl made the 2023 U20 finals and claimed the gold this time. 
Lilledahl’s gold medal came against a relatively familiar opponent, Russia’s Lev Pavlov. The two met in the Round of 32 at last year’s tournament and Lilledahl prevailed, 9-2. 
In this edition between the two, Lilledahl got on the board with a point from a shot clock violation on Pavlov. That accounted for the only scoring in the opening stanza. 
The match continued to be tactical in the second period as the roles were reversed and Pavlov earned a point from a shot clock violation on Lilledahl. Shortly thereafter, with criteria in his back pocket at the time, Pavlov was put on the shot clock for a second time. Lilledahl prevented him from scoring in the :30 seconds that followed resulting in a point for Lilledahl. 
The shot clock violations accounted for the only scoring in the contest. Lilledahl was able to keep Pavlov at bay during a final push in the closing moments of the bout. 
Lilledahl’s win marks the second time in three years that the American squad has produced a U20 world champion at 57 kg, as Jore Volk won gold in 2022. 
The other wrestler in the finals on Saturday was Lilledahl’s Penn State classmate Zach Ryder. Ryder could never solve the defensive riddle that was Turkmenistan’s Alp Begenjov. Ryder was close to earning a takedown and making things interesting in the second period. Still, Begenjov was able to prevent a potential Ryder score though his leg was elevated at the edge. 
Ryder has now won three age-group world medals with two U17 bronze medals and a silver this year at U20’s. 
The three wrestlers from Friday who lost in the semifinals and dropped down to bronze medal matches all got their hands raised on Saturday - winning bronze medals, Bo Bassett (65 kg), PJ Duke (70 kg), and Justin Rademacher (97 kg). 
Bassett only needed a portion of the first period to tally three takedowns and ten points against Georgia’s Nikoloz Beshidze. 
Duke fell in an early four-point hole to Kazakhstan’s Aikyn Bolatuly, but quickly made up for it…and more. He posted 13 straight points in the opening period to lead 13-7 at the break. In the second, Duke continued to pour it on and ended the match early with a tech, 18-7. There’s a good chance we see Duke on the 2025 team as he is just starting his final year of high school. 
Rademacher’s opponent, Nikolaos Karavanos (Greece), also didn’t make it to the second period. Rademacher continued to use stellar defense and timely re-attacks to systematically dismantle his Greek opponent. He’ll be a sophomore at Oregon State during the 2024-25 school year. 
The only returning U20 world champion for the United States is on track for title number two. Iowa two-sport star, Ben Kueter picked up where he left off in 2022 with a dominant run to the finals. Kueter needed less than :30 seconds to pin his Russian opponent in the quarterfinals before posting a 13-3 tech over Mongolia’s Nambardagva Batbayar in the semi’s. 
Tomorrow’s gold medal match at 125 kgs will be a massive showdown between the last two U20 champions, Kueter and Iran’s Amirreza Masoumi Valadi. Within the last year, Masoumi Valadi has beaten American’s Mason Parris and Christian Carroll, along with Olympic bronze medalist Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan). 
2023 U17 world champion, Ladarion Lockett, will try to go back-to-back at two different age groups as he’s made the 74 kg finals. The normally high-scoring Lockett had to grind out a semifinals win Saturday over Azerbaijan’s Aghanazar Novruzov. 
Lockett got the scoring started with a point from a shot clock violation and led 1-0 at the break. In the second, he added a point via a step-out, as he elevated a single leg and ran Novruzov out of bounds. After Novruzov earned a point from a shot-clock violation. The bout would end at 2-1; however, the Azerbaijani corner challenged the final seconds, presumably for Lockett not engaging; however, that ruling was confirmed. 
Lockett moves on to the finals against Iran’s Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh. That name might sound familiar to American fans as he was the opponent that defeated in last year’s 70 kg gold medal match, 11-6. 
The last finalist for the Americans is Penn State redshirt freshman Josh Barr. Barr posted three consecutive 10-0 first-period techs on his way to the finals. In tomorrow’s gold medal match, Barr will face a returning U20 world champion in Russia’s Ibragim Kadiev. Kadiev also had three techs to clinch a spot in the finals. 
Marcus Blaze (61 kg) and Connor Mirasola (92 kg) both fell in the semifinals and will wrestle in a bronze medal match.

Competition in women’s freestyle wrapped up on Friday at the U20 World Championships, but not before another American woman came away with a gold medal. Yesterday, we saw Cristelle Rodriguez and Alexis Janiak compete for world titles. Rodriguez became the first American to win gold this year and Janiak settled for silver. 
Today, the attention fell solely on the shoulders of Jasmine Robinson in the 72 kg gold medal match. Robinson’s three matches leading up to the finals didn’t combine for more than three minutes. In those bouts, Robinson simply destroyed the competition. The same could be said for her opponent, China’s Yuqi Liu. Liu ended her first three matches with first-period techs. 
If you just looked at the final score, you might assume that Robinson rolled like in her previous bouts, but that wasn’t the case. She was tested on multiple occasions by Liu and even worked back from an early deficit before getting a fall. 
Liu struck first with a takedown and quickly looked for a quick leg lace - her weapon of choice in her first three wins. Robinson was able to limit any additional damage and did not allow any exposure points and the two were brought back to their feet. Rather than rely on counter-offense, Robinson decided to strike but was thwarted by Liu with some heavy hips and a whizzer. Robinson used that whizzer to throw Liu to her back for four points and then earned an additional four points from exposure after a chin whip. 
The two big moves gave Robinson a 9-4 advantage at the break. In the second period, Liu continued to attack, earning another second, and seemed to gain momentum. With hopes of a comeback on her mind, Liu got in on another leg attack but was greeted by another chip whip. This one was very tight and Liu was unable to get off her back and surrendered a fall. 
With Robinson’s gold medal, the US women finished the tournament with four medals - two of which were gold. This was actually the first time since 2019 that the women’s team did not win at least five. The women’s team had multiple champions, which was a feat they hadn’t accomplished since 2021. 
The United States has now produced a U20 world champion at 72 kg in four straight tournaments - with Amit Elor winning the last two and Kennedy Blades winning in 2021. 
Robinson now has a pair of age-group world medals as she earned a bronze medal at the U17 level last year. 
Before Robinson took center stage, the men’s freestyle team participated in the semifinals. All five of the American men who started their tournament today advanced to the semis; 14 straight wins. Of course, a crazy run like that at a world-level tournament can’t last forever and the semifinals is where the Americans suffered their first losses. 
The session started with Luke Lilledahl taking the mat at 57 kg. The top recruit in the high school Class of 2024 and an incoming freshman at Penn State, Lilledahl looked to add to an already-impressive international resume. Standing in his way of a second consecutive U20 finals berth was Armenia’s Hayko Gasparyan. 
The opening period was a very tactical affair with Lilledahl’s lone point coming via a shot clock violation from Gasparyan. Lilledahl added to that lead in the second period with a low leg attack he finished after a fun flurry. With Gasparyan opening up late in the match, Lilledahl was able to put an additional point on the board via a step out and he’d win, 4-1. 
Lilledahl has now made four straight world finals across two age groups. In 2021 and 2022, he made the U17 finals - taking silver and then gold. Last year, Lilledahl fell in the U20 finals. Does the pattern repeat itself? Speaking of repeating, Lilledahl will need to replicate his 2023 performance against Russia’s Lev Pavlov. Lilledahl defeated the Russian, 9-2, in the 2023 Round of 32 and will face him tomorrow with a gold medal on the line. 
Also advancing to the finals is fellow Penn State classmate, Zach Ryder at 79 kg. Ryder had another gritty win, this time over Russian Said Saidulov. In the opening period, Ryder controlled the mat and the action earning two points for Saidulov stepping out of the cylinder. 
In the second period, Saidulov briefly held the lead after Ryder exposed his back during a scramble. A few seconds later, the shot clock expired on Ryder. That meant Saidulov had a 3-2 advantage. It would be short-lived as Ryder blew through Saidulov with a double leg. During the final seconds, Saidulov went all-out trying for a winning score. That allowed Ryder to counter and score himself with a takedown to win, 6-3. 
Ryder now has earned three age group world medals. He had two bronze medals at the U17 level before making the U20 finals. 
In the wildest match of the round. 70 kg representative PJ Duke came up just short in a 5-5 loss on criteria to Magomed Baitukaev (Russia). Baitukaev had an early lead, but the constant pressure from Duke led to Baitukaev tiring and Duke to mount a comeback. In the final ten seconds, trailing by a point, it appeared as if Duke may have won the match with a high-amplitude throw at the edge of the mat; however, it was just ruled a step-out. 
Duke along with Bo Bassett (65 kg) and Justin Rademacher (97 kg) each dropped to a bronze medal match on Saturday after their semifinal losses today. Bassett was stunned with a takedown and leg laces by Makoto Hosokawa (Japan) in a :45 second tech fall. Rademacher went toe-to-toe win 2023 Senior World Champion Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan) in a match that was closer than a 9-1 final score might indicate. 
On Saturday, the final five members of the men’s freestyle team will start their tournaments. They are Marcus Blaze (61 kg), Ladarion Lockett (74 kg), Josh Barr (86 kg), Connor Mirasola (92 kg), and Ben Kueter (125 kg). 

Expectations couldn’t be higher for the 2024 U20 men’s freestyle team. Just a few days after its team members secured a spot on the team, InterMat wrote an article comparing this year’s squad to great U20 teams of the past. 
As it turns out, there are plenty of reasons for such high expectations. The kids are good. They’re really good!
Friday morning the U20 men’s freestyle team took the mat for the first time in Pontevedra, Spain, and the team got off to a blazing start. All five of the wrestlers who started on Friday won their quarterfinal matches and will wrestle in the semifinals in a few hours. 
There were different types of performances - as some of the Americans crushed their competition, while others had to grind out their wins. Either way, the US men went 14-0 during the morning session. 
Two that blew through their opposition were PJ Duke and Zach Ryder. Ryder, an incoming freshman at Penn State, did not surrender a point in his three matches and posted three wins via tech. The deepest he needed to go in one single match was in the Round of 16 - a bout that made it :40 seconds in the second period. 
In the semifinals, Ryder will face Russia Said Saidulov. Saidulov was a gold medalist at the 2024 European U20 Championships. 
Duke, the #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2025, showed why he is so highly thought of as he also teched all three of his opponents. Mongolia’s Ankh Erdene Altangerel was the only wrestler to score on him and that came in the second period of a 12-1 match. 
Duke’s semifinal opponent is also a European U20 gold medalist in Magomed Baitukaev. Baitukaev might be familiar as he was the foe that Meyer Shapiro defeated last year (8-0) at this tournament in the 70 kg quarterfinals. The Russian eventually rebounded for a bronze medal. 
One of two returning U20 world medalists on the team, Luke Lilledahl, needed to use his grit to move into the semifinals. Trailing on criteria in the second period of his quarterfinal match, Lilledahl secured a go-ahead takedown on U20 Asian champion Ankush of India. Lilledahl held off Ankush’s late attacks and was penalized with a caution, but still held on to win, 4-3. 
Lilledahl will face Hayko Gasparyan (Armenia) in the semifinals. Gasparyan blitzed one of the tournament favorites, Iranian Milad Valizadeh in a 10-0 tech barely made it to the second period. 
At 65 kg, Bo Bassett was deadlocked with India’s Nikhil Pilanagoila at four, though he trailed on criteria, early in the second period. During a scramble, Bassett found a cradle and took Pilanagoila to his back for the lead, but more importantly, it would result in a match-ending fall. 
Bassett moves on to face Japan’s Makoto Hosokawa in the semifinals. This is the first world-level event for Hosokawa, but he has claimed Asian U20 silver and bronze medals in the past. 
The largest member of the American contingent to compete today was Oregon State’s Justin Rademacher at 97 kg. Rademacher’s stout defense came into play repeatedly on Friday. In a Round of 16 match that was closer than the score may indicate, Radmacher continually stuffed Japan’s Genki Hoki and scored off of his counterattacks. 
In the quarterfinals against an opponent that didn’t offer much in the way of offense, Rademacher played the tactical game against Ramini Gulitashvili (Georgia) and earned the first two points of the contest after shot clock violations. He put an emphatic exclamation point on the win with a big double leg late in the contest - sealing a 4-0 win. 
Rademacher has perhaps the toughest semifinal match of the crew. He’ll face 2023 world champion Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan). Aitmukhan won his Senior world title at 92 kg and was a U20 silver medalist last year. In 2024, Aitmukhan made the Asian Senior finals. 
Action from Pontevedra resumes at 10:45 am Eastern.