Lilledahl, Haines grab gold, Duke bronze at U23 World Championships
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Luke Lilledahl celebrates with the American Flag after winning the 2025 U23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.
NOVI SAD, Serbia – Two Americans topped the U23 World podium on Sunday night in downtown Novi Sad—Luke Lilledahl brought home the 57 kg gold medal to become the first in U.S. history to claim a U17, U20 and U23 World title in men’s freestyle, and Levi Haines collected his first age-group World title with a powerful performance at 79 kg.
Lilledahl wrestled his match against Japan’s Yuta Kikuchi, who made a name for himself this tournament. Lilledahl forced Kikuchi to go on the shot clock twice, taking a 2-0 lead into the back half of the match. Lilledahl iced things with a single leg score going off the mat in the final minute to get the 4-0 win. It’s the third age-group World gold and fifth World final for one of the top lightweight prospects in the country.
The 79 kg final had slightly less dramatic effect. Haines wrapped things up early with a pair of four-pointers—an overhook toss going off the mat and a double leg to the back—to surge past 2023 U20 World bronze medalist Ibrahim Yaprak of Türkiye by technical fall, 11-1. Haines backed up his silver medal outing from last month’s Senior World Championships with an upgraded result in Serbia.
The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club added a third athlete to the medal stand with PJ Duke pulling off a dramatic pin in his bronze medal match at 70 kg. Duke leveraged a lat-pull, whipping Armenia’s Davit Margaryan to his back for a pin with one second left in the first period. Duke collected his third age-group World medal, adding to his U20 World bronze from last year and his U20 World title from earlier this summer. He was also a member of the Senior World Team, along with Haines.
Coming up one win shy of a bronze medal was Daniel Herrera, who wound up in fifth place at 125 kg. Herrera was unable to find his stride in the medal round, falling by 14-3 technical fall to Hakan Buyukcingil of Türkiye.
The U.S. and Iran are currently tied atop the team ranking with 102 points apiece, well ahead of third-place Azerbaijan. Heading into the final day of wrestling, Jax Forrest is the last man standing for Team USA. He goes for gold at 61 kg. Iran has two wrestlers eligible for bronze. Expect a down-to-the-wire team finish between the two wrestling powers.
The tournament continues at 4 p.m. local time on Monday with the men’s freestyle group three (61-65-86-97 kg) repechage, followed by the last batch of medal matches at 6 p.m. Novi Sad, Serbia, is located five hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.
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.
1. United States, 102
2. Iran, 102
3. Azerbaijan, 55
4. Türkiye, 55
5. Japan, 35
6. Uzbekistan, 30
7. Armenia, 30
8. Ukraine, 28
9. Moldova, 27
10. India, 22
Gold – Luke Lilledahl (United States)
Silver – Yuta Kikuchi (Japan)
Bronze – Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan)
Bronze – Milad Valizadeh (Iran)
5th – Vladyslav Abramov (Ukraine)
5th – Aiandai Ondar (UWW)
7th – Norik Harutyunyan (Armenia)
8th – Ivaylo Tisov (Bulgaria)
9th – Mukhammadrasul Saliev (Kyrgyzstan)
10th – Luka Gvinjilia (Georgia)
Gold – Luke Lilledahl (United States) dec. Yuta Kikuchi (Japan), 4-0
Bronze – Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan) dec. Vladyslav Abramov (Ukraine), 5-0
Bronze – Milad Valizadeh (Iran) dec. Aiandai Ondar (UWW), 10-1
Gold – Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Sina Khalili (Iran)
Bronze – PJ Duke (United States)
Bronze – Alexandr Gaidarli (Moldova)
5th – Davit Margaryan (Armenia)
5th – Maiis Aliyev (Kazakhstan)
7th – Muhammad Abdurachmanov (Belgium)
8th – Adis Rakhat Uulu (Kyrgyzstan)
9th – Naveen Kumar (India)
10th – Junbin Yue (China)
Gold – Kanan Heybatov (Azerbaijan) dec. Sina Khalili (Iran), 9-4
Bronze – PJ Duke (United States) fall Davit Margaryan (Armenia), 2:59
Bronze – Alexandr Gaidarli (Moldova) dec. Maiis Aliyev (Kazakhstan), 10-3
Gold – Levi Haines (United States)
Silver – Ibrahim Yaprak (Türkiye)
Bronze – Geannis Garzon Tamayo (Cuba)
Bronze – Mahdi Yousefihajivar (Iran)
5th – Nikita Dmitrijevs Mayeuski (UWW)
5th – Davud Daudov (UWW)
7th – Luka Chkhitunidze (Georgia)
8th – Mateusz Pedzicki (Poland)
9th – Gregor Eigenbrodt (Germany)
10th – Hayk Papikyan (Armenia)
Gold – Levi Haines (United States) tech. fall Ibrahim Yaprak (Türkiye), 11-1
Bronze – Geannis Garzon Tamayo (Cuba) dec. Nikita Dmitrijevs Mayeuski (UWW), 4-0
Bronze – Mahdi Yousefihajivar (Iran) tech. fall Davud Daudov (UWW), 13-3
Gold – Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad (Iran)
Silver – Khetag Karsanov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Khabib Davudgadzhiev (UWW)
Bronze – Hakan Buyukcingil (Türkiye)
5th – Khachatur Khachatryan (Armenia)
5th – Daniel Herrera (United States)
7th – Volodymyr Kochanov (Ukraine)
8th – Nambardagva Batbayar (Mongolia)
9th – Abdelrahman Sheyatan (Egypt)
10th – Dmitrii Duscov (Moldova)
Gold – Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad (Iran) tech. fall Khetag Karsanov (Azerbaijan), 11-0
Bronze – Khabib Davudgadzhiev (UWW) dec. Khachatur Khachatryan (Armenia), 9-5
Bronze – Hakan Buyukcingil (Türkiye) tech. fall Daniel Herrera (United States), 14-3
WIN Honghang Liao (China), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Milad Valizadeh (Iran), 11-5
WIN Aiandai Ondar (UWW), 7-1
WIN Yuta Kikuchi (Japan), 4-0
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
WIN Davit Margaryan (Armenia), fall, 2:59
WIN Mahdi Yousefihajivar (Iran), 7-0
WIN Aykan Seid (Bulgaria), tech. fall, 10-0
WIN Davud Daudov (UWW), 11-4
WIN Ibrahim Yaprak (Turkiye), tech. fall, 11-1
125 kg – Daniel Herrera (Ames, Iowa/Cyclone RTC), 5th place
WIN Ryusei Fujita (Japan), 10-2
WIN Nambardagva Batbayar (Mongolia), fall, 4:44
LOSS Khetag Karsanov (Azerbaijan), tech. fall, 12-2
LOSS Hakan Buyukcingil (Türkiye), tech. fall, 14-3
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