Lilledahl and Haines Capture U23 World Championships

On the final full day of action at the U23 World Championships, a pair of Penn State teammates won gold medals. Luke Lilledahl started the afternoon with a world title at 57 kg and Levi Haines followed with one at 79 kg.

Lilledahl took the mat first in the medal round portion of the day, putting the finishing touches on a remarkable tournament. In the gold medal match, Lilledahl blanked Japan’s Yuta Kikuchi, 4-0.

Kikuchi was put on the shot clock in both, the first and second periods, and couldn’t convert during either incident. That resulted in a 2-0 lead for the American. Lilledahl got the only takedown of the contest in the second period, when he extended his lead to 4-0 after finishing a sweep single. That’s all Lilledahl needed for the win.

With this most recent championship, Lilledahl has now won world titles at three different age groups (U17, U20 and U23). He has also made age-group world finals six different times.

Haines captured his second world medal in just over a month’s time. In September, he captured a silver medal at the Senior World Championships.

On Sunday, Haines got down early to Turkiye’s Ibrahim Yaprak after he was pushed out of bounds. Haines didn’t wait long to respond. At the edge of the cylinder, Haines threw Yaprak for four points and to take the 4-1 lead. Still in the first period, Haines added another four points to his tally as he locked up a double leg on Yaprak. The Turkish opponent tried a chest wrap, but ended up exposing himself for four points. Before the end of the period, Haines racked up another takedown and a step out to earn an 11-1 victory.

In the other two weight classes where medals were awarded, the United States had a pair of wrestlers in bronze medal matches. PJ Duke (70 kg) ended up coming home with hardware, while Daniel Herrera (125 kg) came up just short. Duke raced the buzzer at the end of the first period of his bronze medal match with Armenia’s Davit Margaryan. He drove Margaryan to his back in the final seconds and the official called the fall as the buzzer sounded. After a review, the call was confirmed.

During the offseason, Duke has competed at three different age-group world championships. He won a gold medal at the U20 division and a bronze at U23’s.

Iowa State’s Daniel Herrera ran into a buzzsaw in Hakan Buyukcingil. The Turkish wrestler exploded for eight points in the second period and a 14-3 tech.

Of the final four weight classes, which started competition on Sunday, only Jax Forrest remains alive. He has already clinched a medal after making the 61 kg finals. Forrest led Japan’s Akito Mukaida 5-2 at the break, but pushed the match out of reach quickly in the second period with a ten-point surge to win 15-5.

The high school senior, Forrest, was fifth at the Senior World Championships in September. Forrest will meet Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Asan Uulu for the gold medal tomorrow.

The other three wrestlers whose tournaments started on Sunday (Marcus Blaze/65 kg, Rocco Welsh/86 kg, Garavous Kouekabakilaho/97 kg) have already been eliminated from medal contention.