Team USA sweeps Saturday morning session at U23 World Championships

NOVI SAD, Serbia – Team USA stood out on every front during the Saturday morning session at the 2025 U23 World Championships. The six Americans in action went undefeated, building an 11-0 record as a unit, with four men’s freestylers advancing to the semifinals and two women qualifying for the bronze medal round.

The standout victory of the session came at 79 kg with World silver medalist Levi Haines tuning up defending champion Mahdi Yousefihajivar of Iran, 7-0. Haines controlled every aspect of the match, collecting three takedowns and stifling the few attacks Yousefihajivar could muster.

Haines took his quarterfinal match with ease, 10-0 over Aykan Seid of Bulgaria. His semifinal opponent is UWW athlete Davud Daudov who won by pin and technical fall in his two preliminary matches.

Two-time age-group World champion Luke Lilledahl, reigning U20 World champion and Senior World Team member PJ Duke, and heavyweight Daniel Herrera also moved to the semifinals with impressive performances.

Lilledahl scored a signature win over Senior Asian silver medalist Milad Valizadeh of Iran in the 57 kg quarterfinals. His pacing and re-attacks were on point throughout the 11-5 contest. Up next is UWW athlete Aiandai Ondar.

Duke powered through three opponents without breaking much of a sweat. His three wins—7-1 over Begijon Kuldashev of Uzbekistan, 10-0 over Rostislav Leicht of Germany and 9-3 over Kaito Morita of Japan—were the most of any American on Saturday. Three-time age-group World medalist Kanan Heybatov of Azerbaijan is Duke’s semifinal opponent.

Another huge bright spot came at the end of the session with Herrera executing a flawless double leg to the back to pin 2024 U20 World bronze medalist Nambardagva Batbayar of Mongolia in the quarterfinals. He was down 5-2 before grabbing the pin. Herrera will face 2024 U20 World silver medalist Khetag Karsanov of Azerbaijan in the semifinals.

The two U.S. women competing in Saturday morning’s repechage round pulled through with gritty victories and will wrestle for bronze this evening.

Brianna Gonzalez fought to a tight, 2-1, decision over 2024 U23 World bronze medalist Nataliia Klivchutska of Ukraine at 53 kg. She will face 2024 Olympian Christianah Ogunsanya of Nigeria in the bronze medal match.

Two-time U20 World medalist Alexis Janiak separated herself late in a 9-2 win over 2023 Senior World bronze medalist Othelie Hoeie of Norway at 59 kg. Janiak’s bronze medal opponent is returning bronze medalist Olha Padoshyk of Poland.

The tournament continues at 5 p.m. local time on Saturday with the men’s freestyle group two (57-70-79-125 kg) semifinals, followed by the women’s freestyle group three (53-59-62 kg) and men’s freestyle group one (74-92 kg) medal matches at 6 p.m. 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.

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.