U.S. men’s freestyle draw set at 2025 U23 World Championships

2025 U23 World Championships Men's Freestyle Brackets

NOVI SAD, Serbia – The U.S. men’s freestyle team has received its draw for the 2025 U23 World Championships following the bracket reveal on Thursday afternoon at SPENS in downtown Novi Sad.

2025 Senior World silver medalist Levi Haines is pitted against reigning Senior Asian champion Mahdi Yousefihajivar of Iran in the premier round one matchup of the freestyle tournament. Haines is looking to build upon his strong performance in Zagreb, Croatia, last month and solidify himself atop the 79 kg weight class as he gains more international experience.

Fellow Senior World Team members PJ Duke and Jax Forrest are looking to bounce back after coming up just short of the medal stand in Zagreb. Duke, the reigning 70 kg U20 World champion, starts his run against U23 Asian bronze medalist Begijon Kuldashev of Uzbekistan. Forrest will see Vasile Marcu of Moldova first at 61 kg.

Two-time age-group World champion Marcus Blaze gets a top contender in round one at 65 kg. His opponent is Bilol Sharip Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, who is a two-time age-group World medalist and finished with a bronze medal at this year’s Muhamet Malo UWW Ranking Series event.

Another pair of Americans have stood atop an age-group World podium in recent years—two-time age-group World champion Luke Lilledahl at 57 kg and 2023 U20 World champion Mitchell Mesenbrink at 74 kg. Both have favorable openers, Lilledahl against Honghang Liao of China and Mesenbrink versus UWW athlete Aliaksandr Hulnik.

2024 U20 World silver medalist Josh Barr awaits the winner between 2024 U20 World silver medalist Sali Saliev of Bulgaria and Alperen Tokgoz of Turkiye at 92 kg.

Rounding out the U.S. entrants are Rocco Welsh at 86 kg, Garavous Kouekabakilaho at 97 kg and Daniel Herrera at 125 kg. Initial opponents for each American can be found below.

Men’s freestyle is the third and final style up in Novi Sad. Athletes will compete in three waves over the course of the event—group one (74-92 kg) starting October 24, group two (57-70-79-125 kg) on October 25 and group three (61-65-86-97 kg) on October 26. 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. Novi Sad, Serbia, is in the GMT +2 time zone, which is six 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 U23 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.