The U20 World Championships are right around the corner, and NCAA wrestling fans will have plenty to pay attention to as they weight for the collegiate season to begin. 

You can find a list of all the entries here. There are many names of wrestlers on that page, and the vast majority of them are not NCAA scholar-athletes. However, perhaps less surprising is that most of the entries for Team USA do have collegiate connections. 

Below is a list of U20 World Championship entries grouped by their affiliated institution of higher learning. 

Penn State

57kg: Luke Lilledahl

70kg: PJ Duke

79kg: Zackary Ryder

86kg: Joshua Barr

92kg: Connor Mirasola

The Nittany Lions faithful will have much to cheer for when the men's freestyle divisions get underway, as Penn State-affiliated wrestlers comprise half of Team USA's lineup. 

Josh Barr is a redshirt freshman who went undefeated last season at 184 pounds, spot-starting but mostly wrestling unattached at tournaments. 

Luke Lilledahl, Zack Ryder, and Connor Mirasola are all blue-chip recruits entering their first year as students in Happy Valley. Lilledahl is the projected starter while Mirasola and Ryder will likely don redshirts. Notably, Lilledahl already has three age-level world medals, including a U17 gold, but will be looking for his first U20 gold medal this week. 

PJ Duke is currently the number one ranked high school wrestler at 157 pounds and a rising senior at Minisink Valley High School in New York. He's won Super 32, Fargo, and just about every other tournament you can think of. 

Iowa

125kg: Benjamin Kueter

63kg: Otto Black

53kg: Brianna Gonzalez

62kg: Cadence Diduch

65kg: Reese Larramendy

76kg: Naomi Simon

Ben "Mr Iowa" Kueter will be taking a year off of Football, his other varsity sport at the University of Iowa, and commit 100% to wrestling this season. Kueter will try and add a second U20 gold, having won a U20 title in 2022 as well. 

Otto Black is an Iowa commit from Colorado who will be competing in Greco-Roman wrestling in Spain. 

The other four Hawkeyes on this list are members of the women's team. Brianna Gonzalez and Reese Larramendy were integral parts of Iowa's championship-winning inaugural squad, while Cadence Diduch and Naomi Simon are entering their first season on campus in Iowa City. 

Iowa is the only program with an affiliated competitor in all three wrestling styles.

Oregon State

97kg: Justin Rademacher

130kg Aden Attao

The Beavers have two student-athletes in Spain, Justin Rademacher, who was an NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds last March, and Aden Attao, who is on his third consecutive U20 world team seeking his second trip to the podium, having won a bronze in 2022. 

Rademacher will compete in freestyle, while Attao will be bombing opponents in Greco. 

Oklahoma State

74kg: Ladarion Lockett

The Cowboys will be represented by commit Ladarion Locket, who won a U17 gold medal last summer and is currently ranked #2 high school in the nation at 165 pounds (though he will be ranked #1 when the next set of rankings are released with last season's seniors removed). 

Ohio State

87kg: Ryder Rogotzke

Ryder Rogotske has successfully applied his trademark funk to all styles of wrestling. He qualified for the 2024 NCAA Tournament for the Buckeyes at 184 pounds and has made his second age-level world team in Greco-Roman wrestling. 

Michigan

67kg: Joel Adams

A native of Nebraska, Joel Adams is a Michigan commit who has made his second U20 Greco-Roman world team in a row. He also earned a gold medal at the 2022 U17 World Championships in Greco. 

Cornell

55kg: Isaiah Cortez

Isaiah Cortez made the Greco-Roman team from Gilroy, California, where he is the 6th ranked 132 pound high schooler in the nation. 

Northern Iowa

60kg: Cory Land

Originally from Alabama, Cory Land will make his third age-level World Championship appearance, all in Greco-Roman wrestling. Land won a silver medal at the 2021 U17 Worlds and is entering his third season as a Panther in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Northern Colorado

77kg: Aydin Rix-McElhinney

Rix-McElhinney is also entering his third season on a college campus, in his case in Greeley, Colorado for the UNC Bears. 

Air Force

97kg: Soren Herzog

Soren Herzog will be soaring into Spain on Team USA's Greco-Roman squad. Herzog is in his second year at the Air Force Academy. 

Rutgers

65kg: Alessandro Nini

Alessandro Nini is a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy in New Jersey but represents Italy internationally. He will be a freshman for Rutgers this season and is listed at 141 pounds on the Scarlet Knights' roster. 

Nini is the only NCAA rostered athlete I could locate in the international entries for U20s but please let me know if I've missed anyone!

UPDATE: I missed someone!

Chattanooga

125kg: Ethan Vergara

Ethan Vergara will represent Puerto Rico and is coming off a redshirt freshman season at heavyweight for the Mocs of Chattanooga. 

UPDATE PART II: I missed someone else!

Nebraska

79kg: LJ Araujo

Araujo will represent Brazil and the Huskers in Spain. LJ hails from Bismark, ND and is entering his first season at Nebraska. 

Update PART III: One more to add!

California Baptist

57kg: Caio Aron

Aron is representing Brazil, making him world teammates with Araujo, and will be a true freshman for the Lancers this fall. 

Uncommitted Bluechips

Two other members of Team USA who I didn't yet mention but you may still be interested in as a college wrestling fan are Marcus Blaze and Bo Bassett, who will be competing in men's freestyle at 61 and 65kg respectively. Both wrestlers are uncommitted but their services are highly sought after on the collegiate level. 

Blaze's top 6 schools are Penn State, Michigan, Cornell, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, and Iowa, while Bo Bassett has a mere 26 schools on his list. You find more info on Bo's unique recruiting process here, updated weekly!

Additional Affiliations

Those were all the NCAA D1 Affiliations I could find, but several other members of Team USA have collegiate connections. Here's what my research yielded: 

59kg women's freestyle: Alexis Janiak, Aurora NCAA DIII

55kg women's freestyle: Cristelle Rodriguez, Doane NCAA DIII

68kg women's freestyle: Caitlyn Davis, Southern Oregon NAIA

Additionally, Tommy Brackett is at the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and Jasmine Robinson has joined the Army World Class Athlete Program. I couldn't find anything on where Arian Khosravy, Anaya Falcon, and Carissa Qureshi are training or matriculating at the moment but would happily include it if provided the information!