Here’s how Penn State’s wrestlers fared at U20 World Championships
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State wrestlers earned five medals at the 2025 U20 World Championships.
- True freshmen Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke won gold, powering Team USA's success.
- Connor and Cole Mirasola added bronzes as Team USA secured the team title.
When the freestyle wrestling portion of the U20 World Championships came to a close on Wednesday in Bulgaria, Penn State saw all five of its wrestlers that competed for the United States come away with a medal.
True freshmen Marcus Blaze (61 kg), PJ Duke (70 kg) and William Henckel (79 kg) all made the finals, with Blaze and Duke coming away with titles.
Redshirt freshmen Connor Mirasola (92 kg) and Cole Mirasola (125 kg) added bronze medals as Team USA won the team title.
Duke was the first to earn his title when he edged Moldova’s Alexandr Gairdarl, 7-5, on Monday.
He opened his tournament on Sunday by topping Turkey’s Umut Uslu, 11-0, in the qualification round. Duke pinned Mexico’s Gabriel Zepeda in 43 seconds of their round of 16 match.
He reached the semifinals by racking up a 14-4 technical superiority on France’s Abdoullah Nakaev. In the semifinals, Duke edged Iran’s Ebrahim Elahichouran on criteria, 2-2.
Blaze was the final wrestler to compete for Penn State and claimed his title on Wednesday by earning a 10-0 technical superiority over Iran’s Ahora Khateri. It was his fourth technical superiority of his title run.
Blaze began his tournament on Tuesday by hanging a 10-0 technical superiority on Switzerland’s Sandro Hungerbuehler in the qualification round. In the round of 16, he topped Armenia’s Sargis Begoyan, 8-3, in a match that Begoyan was disqualified from.
Blaze made the semifinals by earning an 11-1 technical superiority on Kyrgyzstan’s Askat Toktomatov. In the semifinals, he had his third technical superiority, 15-4, over Russia’s Magomedkhan Magamedkhanov.
Henckel worked his way to the finals, where he suffered a heartbreaking, 8-6, loss to Iran’s Mahdi Yousefihajivar.
He wasn’t as dominant as his other Nittany Lions teammates, only tallying one technical superiority. Henckel was methodical, and earned win after win, using a 5-4 edging of India’s Amit Amit in the semifinals to make the championship match.
This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 4:11 PM.
