Draws set for Men’s Freestyle competition at U20 World Championships in Bulgaria

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria – The 10-wrestler men’s freestyle continent from the United States now knows who their opponents will be in their opening matches at the U20 World Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria. United World Wrestling released the full draws on Saturday afternoon at the Rila Hotel in nearby Borovets.

Returning U20 world silver medalist and 2023 U17 world champion Ladarian Lockett will open up with Mongolia’s Toliu Munkhbat in the opening round. Munkhbat’s best international finish is a fifth-place finish at the U17 Asian Championships in 2022. Lockett is the top returning finisher on the squad from last year.

Returning bronze medalist and 2023 U17 world champion Marcus Blaze opens up with Switzerland’s Sandro Hungerbuehler at 61kg, a fifth-placer at the 2025 U20 European Championships. He competed at last year’s U20 World Championships, finishing 13^th.

P.J. Duke will open up with Turkiye’s Umut Uslu at 70kg. Duke was a U20 bronze medalist last year, while Uslu won a bronze medal at last year’s U17 World Championships. The winner will face Mexico’s Gabriel Sanchez Zepeda in the second round. It’s one of four matches where the U.S. draws Turkiye to start.

The other returning U20 bronze medalist - Justin Rademacher at 97 kg – will face Ibrahim Benekli of Turkiye to start his competition. Benekli competed in one previous world championship, finishing 16^th at the 2022 U17 World Championships. He was 11^th at this year’s U20 European Championships.

Max McEnelly, a U17 world bronze medalist from 2022, will open up with Razmik Yepremyan of Armenia in the opening round at 86kg. Yepremyan was also a 2022 U17 world bronze medalist, medaling at 71kg, while McEnelly medaled at 92kg. Yepremyan won a bronze medal at this year’s U20 European Championships.

At 57kg, Anthony Knox will draw Ukraine’s Mykola Bratov in the first round in a matchup of two wrestlers making their international championship debuts. The winner will face Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov, a 2021 U17 world bronze medalist.

At 65kg, Luke Stanich will face Turkiye’s Abdullah Toprak, a two-time age-group world medalist in the opening round. Toprak won bronze medals in 2023 at both the U20 and U23 World Championships. In 2024, he was fifth at both the U20 and U23 world championships. Stanich was the 2025 U20 Pan American champion.

At 79kg, 2025 U20 Pan American champion William Henckel will face Kyrgyzstan’s Maksat Tabyldyev. Tabyldyev has one previous world championships appearance, where he finished 22^nd in in 2022 at the U17 World Championships.  Returning U20 world champion Alp Arslan Begenjov of Turkmenistan is in the bottom half of the draw, away from Henckel as is Iran’s Mahdi Yousefi Hajivar, last year’s U23 world champion.

Connor Mirasola will man the spot at 92kg and will look to improve upon last year’s fifth-place finish. The 2025 Pan Am champion in both U20 and U23 age groups will take on Zixu Yuan of China. Yuan was 21^st at the 2024 U17 World Championships.

Twin brother Cole Mirasola will go at 125kg and open up with Turkiye’s Sertac Aksoy first. Mirasola won the 2025 Pan Am Championships, while Aksoy was eighth at the 2025 U20 European Championships.

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 Samokov. 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.

• U.S. men’s freestyle athlete bios
• Event entry list
• Live stream and archived matches
• Brackets and results

vs. Mykola Bratov (Ukraine)

vs. Sandro Thomas Hungerbuehler (Switzerland)

vs. Abdullah Toprak (Turkiye), two-time age-group world medalist

vs. Umut Uslu (Turkiye), 2024 U17 world bronze medalist

vs. Tolui Munkhbat (Mongolia)

vs. Maksat Tabyldyev (Kyrgyzstan)

vs. Razmik Yepremyan (Armenia), 2022 U17 world bronze medalist

vs. Yuan Zixu (China)

vs. Ibrahim Benekli (Turkiye)

vs. Sertac Aksoy (Turkiye)

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