Forrest Reaches U23 World Championships Men's Freestyle Finals

NOVI SAD, Serbia – A fourth finalist in men’s freestyle is on the board for Team USA at the 2025 U23 World Championships. Jax Forrest picked up his third technical fall of the day to advance to the 61 kg gold medal final.

Two-time age-group World champion Marcus Blaze at 65 kg, Rocco Welsh at 86 kg and Garavous Kouekabakilaho at 97 kg were dealt a bad hand in the semifinal round and were not pulled back into the tournament. Forrest will be the only group three wrestler for Team USA to advance to Monday’s medal round.

Olympic Champions Maroulis, Varner Among RAF 02 Winners at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The second Real American Freestyle card delivered 10 top-tier bouts featuring past and present U.S. wrestling icons, international headliners and even some influencer flavor on Saturday night at Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University.

Mesenbrink Strikes Gold, Janiak Bronze

NOVI SAD, Serbia – The U.S. secured its second individual title of the week at the 2025 U23 World Championships with Mitchell Mesenbrink’s remarkable run through the 74 kg men’s freestyle field.

Also scoring a medal for Team USA was Alexis Janiak, who kept her cool throughout a 17-17 win in the 59 kg women’s freestyle bronze medal match against returning bronze medalist Olha Padoshyk of Poland.

Lilledahl, Haines to Men's Freestyle Finals at U23 World Championships

NOVI SAD, Serbia – After a flawless morning session, Team USA punched two athletes through to the men’s freestyle finals on Saturday night at the U23 World Championships—two-time age-group World champion Luke Lilledahl at 57 kg and World silver medalist Levi Haines at 79 kg. 

Team USA Sweeps Saturday Morning Session at U23 World Championships

NOVI SAD, Serbia – Team USA stood out on every front during the Saturday morning session at the 2025 U23 World Championships. The six Americans in action went undefeated, building an 11-0 record as a unit, with four men’s freestylers advancing to the semifinals and two women qualifying for the bronze medal round. 

Mesenbrink Stuns World champ to Reach U23 World Finals; Barr, Gonzalez, Janiak to Repechage

NOVI SAD, Serbia – Wisconsin native Mitchell Mesenbrink continued his hot streak on Friday evening at the U23 World championships with a memorable last-second win over Senior World champion Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan to book a spot in the 74 kg men’s freestyle final. 

Three Americans were granted new life following the semifinal round, getting pulled into tomorrow’s repechage—Brianna Gonzalez at 53 kg and Alexis Janiak at 59 kg in women’s freestyle, plus Josh Barr at 92 kg in men’s freestyle. All three need one win tomorrow morning to qualify for the bronze medal round.

Mesenbrink Reaches U23 World Championships Men’s Freestyle Semifinals

NOVI SAD, Serbia – Mitchell Mesenbrink blitzed his three opponents en route to the 74 kg men’s freestyle semifinals. Three Americans joined Mesenbrink in the quarterfinal round but were unable to notch the breakthrough win. On the women’s freestyle side, Adaugo Nwachukwu and Brianna Gonzalez dropped hard-fought quarterfinals while Alexis Janiak battled to a 4-2 loss in the round-of-16 and Isabella Mir was unable to pull through in repechage at 65 kg.

Welker Repeats at U23 Worlds, Team USA Adds Three More Medals

NOVI SAD, Serbia – Team USA picked up its first champion at the 2025 U23 World Championships with Wisconsin’s own Kylie Welker completing her quest for a second-straight gold medal on Thursday night at SPENS in downtown Novi Sad. 

Finishing with silver medals for the U.S. women were Audrey Jimenez at 50 kg and Jasmine Robinson at 72 kg. Both women came up just short in competitive gold medal matches after holding early leads.