Penn State wrestling is off to a good start at the U20 World Championships. Here's what lies ahead for the Lions.
Penn State wrestlers have secured medals already at the U20 World Championships. And, more hardware could be added to the team’s haul before the four-day event ends Wednesday evening in Serbia.
New Nittany Lion PJ Duke, a standout freshman and the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025, won gold at 70 kilograms on Monday. It capped off a perfect tournament for the New York prep star that saw him outscore his opponents 34-9 in addition to one victory by fall. Duke toppled Aleksandr Gaidarli of Moldova in the finals by a final score of 7-5. He will next try to win senior-level gold at the World Wrestling Championships later this year.
Redshirt freshman Nittany Lion Cole Mirasola also hit the medal stand Monday. He won his third place match by technical fall, 12-2, over Narantulga Darmaabazar of Mongolia at 125 kilograms. It’s his first world medal as he prepares to man head coach Cael Sanderson’s team’s starting heavyweight spot this fall.
The tournament is now over for that pair, obviously. But, two other Lions go for medals on Tuesday while one Penn State connection on Team USA will start his tournament.
What’s next for Penn State at U20 Worlds?
Tuesday will bring with it the tournament debut day for Penn State freshman Marcus Blaze. The new Nittany Lion is Team USA’s 61-kilogram rep and is favored to win his bracket.
Tomorrow, the Perrysburg, Ohio native will aim to wrestle his way into Wednesday’s finals. That will all take place in sessions one and two, which start at 3 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., ET, respectively. Penn State redshirt freshman Connor Mirasola will also wrestle in the repechage tournament in that session. He is looking to get into the evening session where he’d wrestle for third place at 92 kilograms after losing in the quarterfinals on Monday to a multi-time World age group medalist in Kamil Kurugliyev of Kazakhstan, who beat the Nittany Lion 7-5.
After that, session three will feature medal matches. Two Nittany Lions will be involved in them. Freshman William Henckel will go for 79-kilogram gold opposite Mahdi Yousefi Hajivar of Iran. The new Penn State wrestler went 4-0 on Monday to reach the finals, including a 5-4 win over Amit of India in the semifinals.
Wednesday is the final day of the tournament. Blaze will be hoping to be wrestling then with a gold medal in addition to pushing Team USA toward the team title in his sights.
Category: General Sports
