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Returning medalists Blaze, Duke, Lockett, Rademacher lead U.S. men’s freestyle team at U20 World Championships

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

PJ Duke in action at the 2024 U20 World Championships.

PJ Duke in action at the 2024 U20 World Championships.

The U.S. will send a star-studded men’s freestyle group to the 2025 U20 World Championships being held August 17-24 in Samokov, Bulgaria. Six-of-10 American entrants have earned at least one medal at a prior age-group World Championships, with two possessing multiple World medals.


Five freestylers return from last year’s U20 World Team—Marcus Blaze at 61 kg, PJ Duke at 70 kg, Ladarion Lockett at 74 kg, Connor Mirasola at 92 kg and Justin Rademacher at 97 kg. Lockett finished with a silver medal, Blaze, Duke and Rademacher earned bronze medals, and Mirasola came in fifth place in Pontevedra, Spain.


Both Blaze and Lockett stood atop the podium at the 2023 U17 World Championships, earning gold medals for Team USA. Also coming to Bulgaria with a U17 World medal in tow is Max McEnelly at 86 kg, who earned bronze at the 2022 U17 Worlds in Rome, Italy.


Several U20 World Teamers have seen tremendous success on the Senior level at a young age. Duke won Final X and qualified for this year’s U.S. Senior World Team that will compete next month in Zagreb, Croatia. Blaze has earned spots on the U.S. Senior National Team the past two years as a high school athlete. Lockett and Rademacher were gold medalists at this year’s Senior Pan American Championships.


There are four first timers on the World stage in this bunch—Anthony Knox at 57 kg, Luke Stanich at 65 kg, William Henckel at 79 kg and Cole Mirasola at 125 kg. Stanich, Henckel and Mirasola gained solid international experience at the 2025 Pan American Championships, grabbing gold all around.


The U.S. men’s freestyle team for the U20 World Championships was determined at the U20 World Team Trials held at Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio. Each champion from the Trials earned a berth on the U20 World Team.


All ten members of the team are tied to NCAA Div. I programs. Penn State sports the most athletes on the roster with five—incoming freshmen Blaze, Duke and Henckel, plus the redshirt freshmen Mirasola twins. Two have already earned NCAA All-America status—Stanich at Lehigh and McEnelly at Minnesota. Rademacher is a NCAA qualifier for Oregon State. Knox is heading to Cornell and Lockett to Oklahoma State this fall.


The U.S. finished in first place as a team in the men’s freestyle division at the 2024 U20 World Championships with 175 total team points and nine medalists. The expectation is for the U.S. to contend for the team title once again in 2025.


Men’s freestyle leads off the tournament next Sunday at Arena Samakov. Athletes will compete in three waves over the course of the event—group one (70-74-97-125 kg) starting August 17, group two (57-65-79-92 kg) on August 18 and group three (61-86 kg) on August 19. Each bracket will be contested over a two-day stretch, running through semifinals on day one, followed by repechage and medal matches on day two.


Those seeking to follow along in real time can reference the event schedule below. Samokov, Bulgaria, is in the GMT +3 time zone, which is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time. USA Wrestling will provide regular updates on TheMat.com and its social media platforms throughout the event.


The U20 World Championships will be live streamed on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. Brackets and updated results will be provided by United World Wrestling on UWW Arena.



10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)

5:15 p.m. – Opening Ceremony

6 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)


10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg), Repechage (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)

5 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 70-74-97-125 kg)


10 a.m. – Qualification Rounds (MFS 61-86 kg), Repechage (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg)

4:45 p.m. – Semifinals (MFS 61-86 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 57-65-79-92 kg)


10 a.m. – Repechage (MFS 61-86 kg)

6 p.m. – Medal Matches (MFS 61-86 kg)


*Listed times reflect local time in Samokov, Bulgaria, which is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time


57 kg – Anthony Knox (Freehold, N.J./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

61kg – Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg WC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Luke Stanich (Succasunna, N.J./Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC)

70 kg – PJ Duke (Slate Hill, N.Y./KD Training Center)

74 kg – Ladarion Lockett (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg – William Henckel (Southbury, Conn./Blairstown WC)

86 kg – Max McEnelly (Waconia, Minn./Minnesota RTC)

92 kg – Connor Mirasola (Jackson, Wis./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

97 kg – Justin Rademacher (West Linn, Ore./ Beaver Dam Wrestling RTC)

125 kg – Cole Mirasola (Jackson, Wis./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

 

National Developmental Coach – J’den Cox

USA Wrestling Assigned Coach – Scott Green

USA Wrestling Assigned Coach – BJ Futrell

Personal Coach – Mike Grey

Personal Coach – Cody Sanderson

Personal Coach – Zach Rey

Personal Coach – KD Dassan

Personal Coach – David Taylor

Personal Coach – Gino Fluri

Personal Coach – Brandon Eggum

Personal Coach – Casey Cunningham

Personal Coach – Cael Sanderson

Personal Coach – Cory Crooks

ATC – Judi Tekautz

ATC – Randi Boswell 

MD – Matthew Weirath

Medical – Zo El Ouarraqe

Medical – Derek Sikora

Official – Nick Mancini

Official – Cody Goessl 

Official – Jason Salley

Team Leader – Kelli Shuffler 

USA Wrestling President – Bruce Baumgartner

NF Official – Darryl Colbert

NF Official – Kerry McCoy

NF Media – Richard Immel

NF Media – Jason Bryant