Photo: Kaela Belingon / Wrestlers Are Warriors
Saturday at the U23 World Championships in Las Vegas brought three medals for the U.S. men, a World title for Ben Davino, a trip to the final for Justin Rademacher and a tough afternoon for the rest of the Final Five. Here's how it all played out.
The Medal Round: Gold, Silver and Bronze
Ben Davino (61kg, Ohio State) is a U23 World champion. Leading Kyrgyzstan's Iukhan Dokturbek Uulu 4-1, Davino put him on his back right at the buzzer, and UWW ruled it a fall at 6:00. It capped one of the most dominant runs of the week: 7-1 over Iran's Ebrahim Khari, an 11-0 tech over Japan's Akito Mukaida, a 10-0 tech over Oregon State's Gabe Whisenhunt (wrestling for Romania) and the pin in the final. That's 32-2 on the scoreboard across four matches for the 2026 NCAA runner-up.
Jayden James (74kg, Penn State) took silver. The Penn State freshman pinned his way through qualification, beat Uzbekistan 8-0 and Moldova 7-4, and pinned Iran's Ali Karampour in 2:48 in the semis before falling 5-3 to Russia's Magomed Baitukaev in a tight final. It's his second World silver in two months after U20 silver in Bratislava in August.
Coby Merrill (125kg, Iowa State) won bronze. After a quarterfinal loss to Georgia's Aleksandre Abramishvili, Merrill was pulled into repechage when Abramishvili reached the final, then teched his way onto the podium: 10-0 over Canada's Karanveer Singh Mahil and 10-0 over Hungary's Milan Gellen for bronze. Three of his four matches ended in tech falls.
Seth Shumate (92kg, Ohio State) and Aeoden Sinclair (86kg, Missouri) were eliminated when the wrestlers who beat them lost in the semifinals.
The Final Five: Rademacher Into the Final
The second group of men's freestyle weights took the mat Saturday afternoon, and it was a grind.
Justin Rademacher (97kg, Oregon State) was the lone American to reach the semis from this group, and he made the most of it: a 4-0 shutout of Belarus' Uladzislau Kazlou, a 10-9 thriller over Ukraine's Ivan Prymachenko and a 5-1 win over Georgia's Konstantine Petriashvili. He wrestles Russia's Mukhamed Khaniev for gold on Sunday at 4 PM ET.
Luke Lilledahl (57kg, Penn State), the defending champion, was upset 3-1 by Kazakhstan's Merey Bazarbayev in the Round of 16. Bazarbayev went on to reach the final, which pulls Lilledahl into repechage on Sunday against France's Rassoul Galbouraev, with the winner facing Japan's Daito Katsume for bronze.
Bo Bassett (65kg, Virginia Tech) pinned Ohio State freshman Karson Brown, wrestling for Canada, in 1:43 in a Hokie vs. Buckeye Round of 16 matchup, then fell 6-3 to India's Jaskaran Singh in the quarterfinals. Jaskaran lost his semi, ending Bassett's tournament. He heads to Senior Worlds in Kazakhstan next.
Jordan Williams (70kg, Iowa) won his first two World Championships matches, 3-1 over Spain and 6-4 over India, before falling to Moldova's Alexandr Gaidarli in the quarters. Joe Sealey (79kg, Penn State) drew India's Chandermohan, who teched all three of his opponents on the way to the semis. Neither Gaidarli nor Chandermohan reached the final, so both Americans are done.
Other Flags: College Wrestlers Abroad
Oregon State's Gabe Whisenhunt, wrestling for Romania, reached the 61kg semifinals and finished 5th. Nebraska's Chris Minto, wrestling for Jamaica at 79kg, is alive in Sunday's repechage after Russia's Said Saidulov, who beat him in the Round of 16, made the final. North Carolina freshman Dunia Sibomana (Democratic Republic of the Congo) teched his way into the 57kg quarterfinals before falling to Japan's Daito Katsume.
Sunday: The Final Day
Lilledahl and Minto wrestle repechage at 1:30 PM ET, with medal matches at 4 PM ET, headlined by Rademacher's shot at gold. Follow every American live on our Team USA U23 Worlds tracker.