For football, the NCAA is the breeding ground for the future NFL stars. The same is true for basketball. But for international wrestling, one of the biggest pools of talent is inarguably the Junior World Championships.

Starting next Tuesday, UWW's Junior World Championships will get underway in Macon, France (LIVE ON FLO). 

In all likelihood, a number of future world/Olympic champions will be taking the mat. Don't believe me? Check out the list of athletes who have competed at Junior Worlds and gone onto Olympic glory.



Note: This is far from an all-encompassing list. There have been many other Junior World participants who have gone on to world/Olympic success. These are just a few that stood out in recent memory.

Jordan Burroughs, USA 

The four-time world and Olympic champion tested his chops at Junior Worlds back in 2008. While he only managed a 10th-place finish, recall Burroughs was a freestyle novice at that point. Polish wrestler Magomedmurad Ghadziev (of Russia at the time) took the title that year. You might remember him--he wrestled Frank Molinaro in the first round of the Rio Olympics. Other medalists include 2015 world finalists Purejav and Navruzov, and multi-world medalist Jabril Hasanov. Burroughs went on to become the most credentialed of the bunch.

Kyle Snyder, USA

The 2016 Olympic champion launched himself into the stratosphere during his Junior Worlds debut. As a first-year junior, he steamrolled his way to a title. The following year, he made the team again, and won bronze. Consider this, as well: When Snyder won the senior world title, he was still junior-eligible! Mull over Snyder's career trajectory for a moment: 2014, junior world bronze; 2015, senior world champion.

Snyder goes down in 2014 to Gogaev of Russia a year before becoming senior world champion:

Toghrul Asgarov, Azerbaijan

The brow got his slide-by on in the Junior World Championships back in 2010 and 2011. He was a finalist in 2010, and then he downed Logan Stieber to win his title in 2011. A year later, Asgarov stunned Besik Kudukhov of Russia in the 2012 Olympic final at 60kg (RIP to Besik and that fantastic weight class). At that point, Besik was regarded as one of the pound-for-pound bests. Of note, Coleman Scott gave Asgarov the toughest challenge of his 2012 Olympic run.

Asgarov takes out Stieber in Junior World Championships:

Vladimir Khinchegashvili, Georgia

He may be among the most credentialed guys on this list, which is elite company, considering they've all won the Olympics. Khinchegashvili won Junior Worlds not once, but twice, in 2010 (over Asgarov!) and 2011 respectively at 55kg. He wrestled in Junior Worlds a whopping four times! He placed fifth, third, first and first. After that, Khinchegashvili went on to make two Olympic finals, and he won just a week ago in Rio. He also was a world runner-up in 2014 and a world champion in 2015.  

Taha Akgul, Turkey

In 2010, Akgul made the finals of Junior Worlds at 120. It would be a couple years before the leg-lace machine made a strong dent on the senior level, but once he did, he never looked back. In 2013, he won his first senior-level world medal when he took bronze. Since then, 120/125 have been all Akgul. He won Worlds in  2014 and 2015, as well as the Olympics in 2016.

Hassan Yazdanichariti, Iran 

The Yazmanian devil has been running roughshod through anyone who can't handle his pace for some time now. He put the United States on notice when he downed prodigy and cadet world champion Aaron Pico in the 2014 final. The next year, Yazdanichariti made it to the Senior Worlds final. The year after that, he became the Olympic champion at 74kg.

Yazdanichariti downs Pico:

Other Junior World Hammers:

Denis Tsargush - 2007 junior world champion, three-time senior world champion, Olympic bronze medalist
Hassan Rahimi - Fifth, second and first at Junior Worlds, 2013 senior world champion, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, three other senior world medals
Selim Yasar - 2009 junior world champion. 2015 senior world runner-up, 2016 Olympic silver medalist
Alireza Karimi - 2014 junior world champion, 2015 senior world bronze medalist

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