Lilledahl, Haines to U23 World finals in men’s freestyle

NOVI SAD, Serbia – After a flawless morning session, Team USA punched two athletes through to the men’s freestyle finals on Saturday night at the U23 World Championships—two-time age-group World champion Luke Lilledahl at 57 kg and World silver medalist Levi Haines at 79 kg.

Lilledahl got the ball rolling for Team USA during the semifinal session at SPENS in downtown Novi Sad. He converted three timely takedowns, and displayed some incredible mat savvy, to oust Aiandai Ondar of UWW, 7-1. His opponent in the gold medal match, which will be his fifth age-group World final, is Yuta Kikuchi of Japan.

Haines continued to be a bulldog in a punishing 11-4 win over UWW athlete Davud Daudov. Haines trailed 2-1 early but maintained consistent pressure and physicality that eventually broke Daudov down. Daudov was dinged for multiple unsportsmanlike cautions, putting his frustrations on full display. Haines chipped away with several step outs, a takedown and a set of neutral exposure points in the win. It’ll be 2023 U20 World bronze medalist Ibrahim Yaprak of Turkiye against Haines for the title.

Two men’s freestyle athletes came out on the wrong end of semifinal results. Reigning U20 World champion PJ Duke got caught in a trapped arm gut in an otherwise competitive match to wind up losing to three-time age-group World medalist Kanan Heybatov of Azerbaijan by technical fall, 14-4, at 70 kg. At 125 kg, Daniel Herrera was also hit by the gutwrench bug, coming up short to 2024 U20 World silver medalist Khetag Karsanov of Azerbaijan, 12-2. Both men drop into the bronze medal round with opponents yet to be decided.

The tournament continues at 6 p.m. local time on Saturday with the women’s freestyle group three (53-59-62 kg) and men’s freestyle group one (74-92 kg) medal matches. Novi Sad, Serbia, is located six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

Mitchell Mesenbrink will appear in his third age-group World final tonight, this time against Muhammed Ozmus of Turkiye at 74 kg in men’s freestyle. U.S. women Brianna Gonzalez and Alexis Janiak will go for bronze in women’s freestyle.

The U23 World Championships are streaming live on FloWrestling.com to the U.S. market. Brackets and updated results can be found on UWW Arena.

• Live stream and archived matches
• Brackets and results
• Event photo gallery
• Team USA interviews

57 kg – Yuta Kikuchi (Japan) vs. Luke Lilledahl (United States)

70 kg – Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan) vs. Sina Khalili (Iran)

79 kg – Ibrahim Yaprak (Turkiye) vs. Levi Haines (United States)

125 kg – Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad (Iran) vs. Khetag Karsanov (Azerbaijan)

Yuta Kikuchi (Japan) dec. Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan), 6-1

Luke Lilledahl (United States) dec. Aiandai Ondar (UWW), 7-1

Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan) tech. fall PJ Duke (United States), 14-4

Sina Khalili (Iran) dec. Alexandr Gaidarli (Moldova), 8-2

Ibrahim Yaprak (Turkiye) dec. Nikita Dmitrijevs Mayeuski (UWW), 5-2

Levi Haines (United States) dec. Davud Daudov (UWW), 11-4

Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad (Iran) dec. Khabib Davudgadzhiev (UWW), 5-0

Khetag Karsanov (Azerbaijan) tech. fall Daniel Herrera (United States), 12-2

WIN Honghang Liao (China), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Milad Valizadeh (Iran), 11-5

WIN Aiandai Ondar (UWW), 7-1

VS Yuta Kikuchi (Japan)

WIN Begijon Kuldashev (Uzbekistan), 7-1

WIN Rostislav Leicht (Germany), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Kaito Morita (Japan), 9-3

LOSS Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan), tech. fall, 14-4

VS Cole Coghill (Canada), Muhammad Abdurachmanov (Belarus) or Davit Margaryan (Armenia)

WIN Mahdi Yousefihajivar (Iran), 7-0

WIN Aykan Seid (Bulgaria), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Davud Daudov (UWW), 11-4

VS Ibrahim Yaprak (Turkiye)

WIN Ryusei Fujita (Japan), 10-2

WIN Nambardagva Batbayar (Mongolia), fall, 4:44

LOSS Khetag Karsanov (Azerbaijan), tech. fall, 12-2

VS Pavel Dziatlau (UWW), Abdelrahman Sheyatan (Egypt) or Hakan Buyukcingil (Turkiye)