Penn State Fan Guide To U20 World Championships
Penn State Fan Guide To U20 World Championships
Nittany Lion wrestling fans have five current and future Penn Staters to cheer for at U20 Worlds. Here's what you need to know.
As mentioned in our College Fan Guide to U20 Worlds, Penn State wrestlers, coaches and fans will be quite busy during the men's freestyle portion of this year's age-level championship event.
Fully half of Team USA's freestyle squad in Pontevedra, Spain have an affiliation with PSU.
Nittany Lions At U20s
Here's a look at those five wrestlers.
57kg: Luke Lilledahl - incoming freshman
70kg: PJ Duke - high school senior commit
79kg: Zack Ryder - incoming freshman
86kg: Josh Barr - redshirt freshman
92kg: Connor Mirasola - incoming freshman
Lilledahl has the most accomplished international record of the quintet, as he is already a three-time age-level world medalist. The Missouri native's haul from World Championships includes a U17 gold, a U17 silver, and a U20 silver from last year's World Championships. He also has a three-piece of Pan-Am gold medals. Additionally, Lilledahl was the #1 recruit on the class of 2024 Big Board.
Watch Lilledahl make the 2023 U20 finals in dramatic fashion:
PJ Duke is entering his senior year of high school; the only member of the group that has yet to graduate. He's won Super 32 and Fargo titles while at Minisink Valley High School in New York. Duke is one of the top recruits in the class of 2025 and will be ranked #1 in his weight class when the next set of national high school rankings is released.
Zack Ryder is, like Lilledahl, entering his first year of college in Happy Valley. Also like Lilledhal, Ryder was a top blue-chip recruit, slotting in at #5 on the Big Board. Like Duke, Ryder attended Minisink Valley High School, though he spent his senior year in State College, PA to train at the M2 Wrestling Club.
Josh Barr is the only wrestler here who has actually competed in a Penn State singlet. While redshirting, Barr completed a perfect 15-0 campaign, winning a dual meet over Roman Rogtzke of Indiana (true freshmen can now wrestle at 5 varsity events each year and still retain their redshirt) and won several tournaments. Like many of his teammates, current and future, Barr was a top prospect, registering at #7 on the final Class of 2023 Big Board.
Watch Barr win a Black Knight Invite title in the fall of 2023:
Finally, Connor Mirasola is yet another blue-chip recruit headed to Happy Valley. The Wisconsin native was #7 on the 2024 Big Board and committed along with his twin brother, Cole Mirasola, who checked in at #15 on the same big board.
When To Watch
You can find the full U20 World Championship schedule here.
Men's freestyle competition is spread out over three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 6 through 8.
Here's a quick summary of the times the Penn Staters will take the mat, all in eastern.
Friday, September 6
4:00 AM: Prelims 57, 70, 79kg (Luke, PJ & Zack)
12:45 PM: Semifinals 57, 70, 79kg
Saturday, September 7
4:00 AM: Repechage 57, 70, 79kg & Prelims 86, 92kg (Josh & Connor)
12:45 PM: Semifinals 86, 92kg
2:00 PM: Medal Matches 57, 70, 79kg
Sunday, September 8
12:00 PM: Repechage 86, 92 kg
2:00 PM: Medal Matches 86, 92kg
Because Pontevedra is six hours ahead of Eastern time in the US, you're going to want to start preparing for two very early mornings. Also, request Friday off of work. With the week shortened by Labor Day already there's a good chance most everyone not on vacation will be working from home anyway. Just let me know if you need me to write you a note, I'd be happy to.
And the good news is you get to sleep in for the final day of the competition. And then the tournament is over and you get to nap the rest of the day while Team USA gets to fly home.
Penn State Lineup Implications
For Penn State fans, this U20 World Championship will be a glimpse into the future of Nittany Lion wrestling. Just how soon the future arrives will depend on several factors, chief among them being the wrestlers who currently represent the present of Nittany Lion wrestling.
Our very own Jon Kozak took a stab at predicting the 2024-25 Nittany Lion lineup back in April, which you can read here. Naturally, many of the questions not yet answered in Kozak's blog remain at the time of the publication of this blog. Kozak is good but he is not clairvoyant.
125 Pounds: Luke Lilledahl is penciled in as the starter for this upcoming season, as it's been rumored that making 125-pounds was very difficult for last year's starter, true freshman Braeden Davis. Davis performed admirably last season, winning a Big Ten title and qualifying for the NCAAs.
If Davis does not return to 125, Lilledahl would be the leading contender for the starting job, though he will be challenged by 2023 starter Gary Steen and two-time U17 world champ Kurt McHenry.
165 pounds: It will be at least a year from now before anyone sees PJ Duke in a Penn State singlet. In the 2025-26 season, Duke will likely redshirt, as Mitchell Mesenbrink and Tyler Kasak will still be juniors and Levi Haines will be a senior.
Things thin out for 2026-27, but only slightly. Haines will be out of eligibility but Kasak and Mesenbrink will be back. There's not much room to bump up either as Zack Ryder will be in contention at 174, among others. Which neatly segues into our next wrestler.
Watch PJ Duke rip through 2024 U20 Pan-Ams on his way to a gold:
174 pounds: It's almost certain that Zack Ryder will at least start this season in redshirt, as he will be able to wrestle up to 5 varsity competitions while still deferring eligibility. Next season he'll have some combination of senior Haines and juniors Mesenbrink and Alex Facundo to contend with. Bumping up won't offer much relief, as Ryder has yet another U20 world teammate at 184. Which brings us too...
184 pounds: Josh Barr competed at 184 all last season, but Carter Starocci's injury in the last dual of the season had Barr contemplating a drop to 174. Starocci healed in time to enter Big Tens and then win NCAAs for the fourth time in his career so that decision was mooted. Starocci is back for a fifth varsity season thanks to covid, which means Barr could spend another year on the bench or else bump up to 197, which is the projected weight class for yet another U20 world teammate.
197 pounds: Connor Mirasola is a contender to start this season as a true freshman, as evidenced by his recent freestyle wins over Evan Wick at the 2023 Bill Farrell, Max Dean at 2023 Senior Nationals, and David McFadden at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials.
Mirasola, though, has the ability to redshirt, so expect to see him stay in one at least during the fall semester, with either Barr or Lucas Cochran in the starting role at 197. After the holidays the PSU coaching staff will likely have a decision on their hands involving those three wrestlers.
Watch Mirasola defeat NCAA champ and fellow Nittany Lion Max Dean at 2023 Senior Nationals:
Though starting spots are rarely won during overseas competitions, however these tournaments are another excellent opportunity for the Penn State coaching staff to evaluate their athletes and learn how to get the best results from them as competitors.
So Penn State wrestlers will compete, Penn State coaches will teach and Penn State fans will cheer. And then everyone does all those things again when the college season officially begins in November. Not a bad deal!