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2024 U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials (Men's)

U20 World Team Trials Preview & Predictions

U20 World Team Trials Preview & Predictions

A breakdown of all 10 men's freestyle weights at this weekend's U20 World Team Trials wrestling tournament in Geneva, Ohio.

May 30, 2024 by JD Rader
U20 World Team Trials Preview & Predictions

One of my favorite age-level tournaments of the year has arrived - the Junior World Team Trials. The nation’s best high school upperclassmen and college underclassmen will put it on the line for a chance to represent their country overseas. 

May 31-Jun 2, 2:00 PM UTC

2024 U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials (Men's)

Schedule | More Content

57 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Luke Lilledahl
  2. Vinny Kilkeary
  3. Anthony Knox
  4. Seth Mendoza


Others To Keep An Eye On


This might be the deepest bracket of the tournament with a handful of guys with a legitimate shot at knocking off the person sitting out and a handful more who could do some damage. Luke Lilledahl earned a massive advantage by winning in the US Open and earning the right to sit out. These guys will have to win at least four hard matches just to get to Lilledahl. 

Jax Forrest is probably the guy most people will pick to make it out of the challenge tournament due to his senior-level and college-open results. However, while I think it was an off-performance for him that occurred a week after the Olympic Trials, it should be noted that he was teched 12-1 by Seth Mendoza at the Open.

Mendoza would go on to get tech by Vinny Kilkeary in the semis and Kilkeary would then go on to get teched by Lilledahl in the finals. 

The Lilledahl - Forrest rivalry is arguably the best in high school wrestling currently. The two have met four times with an even 2-2 split. Lilledahl got the last one with a 2-1 victory in the Ironman finals.

Don’t sleep on Anthony Knox. He lost 3-1 to Kilkeary at the US Open, but that kid is a gamer. If he makes it to Lilledahl, it would be a rematch from 2021 Who’s Number One where Knox won 10-3.


Prediction: Lilledahl over Forrest

61 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Cael Hughes
  2. Kyler Larkin
  3. Billy Dekraker
  4. Jake Hockaday


Others To Keep An Eye On


This bracket is right up there with 57 kg. Cael Hughes will be sitting to the finals because he won the US Open, but unlike 57 kg and Lilledahl, many top contenders did not attend the Open. Ben Davino, Marcuse Blaze, and Nasir Bailey all chose no to compete at the US Open. Hughes defeated Larkin 6-3 in the US Open finals.

Blaze is coming off a great run at the Olympic Trials where he took 3rd place at 57 kg, making the National Team. This means he could choose to automatically be on the U23 World Team at that weight. However, seeing how difficult it is for him to make 57 kg, he would likely rather be on the U20 Team at 61 kg.

Blaze will likely receive the #1 seed based on his senior-level results and have to go through Little Rock true freshman All-American Nasir Bailey in the semis before taking on the winner of Larkin - Davino.

Davino is a great pick to win as he has wins over Blaze, Larkin (X2), and Jax Forrest (X2) in the past 13 months.


Prediction: Bailey over Hughes

65 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Bo Bassett
  2. Aden Valencia
  3. Pierson Manville
  4. Koy Buesgens


Bo Bassett is the clear favorite at 65 kg as he ran the gauntlet at the US Open in a bracket that included all top contenders. Bassett didn’t walk through the US Open. However, his closest match - a crazy 14-12 quarterfinal barnburner, came to Sergio Vega who is dropping down to 61 kg this weekend. Bassett then defeated Aden Valencia 5-2 in the finals. Bassett also defeated Valencia at the Last Chance Olympic Qualifier.

Watch Bassett and Valencia’s Open final below.

65kg Aden Valencia vs Bo Bassett

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The last time Bassett represented Team USA at a World Championships in 2022, he brought home a 16U World title.

Prediction: Bassett over Valencia

70 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. PJ Duke
  2. Kody Routledge
  3. Kannon Webster
  4. Landon Robideau


Others To Keep An Eye On


PJ Duke was crazy impressive at the US Open. He teched/pinned his way through the bracket outside of a 6-2 win over Cooper Hilton. That includes a 12-1 win over Kannon Webster in the semis and a 10-0 win over Kody Routledge in the finals. However, Tyler Kasak, Antrell Taylor, and Brock Mantanona were not there. While Mantanoa is currently ranked #1 at 150 lbs, both Kasak and Taylor were NCAA All-Americans this year. Kasak lost to Mendez at 65 kg and Taylor to Shapiro at 70 kg in the best-of-three series at this tournament a year ago.

If Kasak makes his way to the finals, we’ll get an all Penn State final as Duke is committed to the Nittany Lions.

Prediction: Kasak over Duke

74 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Ladarion Lockett
  2. Joe Sealey
  3. Cam Steed
  4. Vince Bouzakis


Others To Keep An Eye On


Ladarion Lockett looked lights out at the US Open. His closest match was a 9-7 win over Vince Bouzakis where he came back after giving us the first five points. This came one week after Lockett defeated Meyer Shapiro 12-1 at the Olympic Trials. Lockett was also able to get revenge on Joe Sealey in the US Open finals after Sealey defeated him at the Ironman finals in December.

Watch Lockett and Sealey's Open final below

74kg Ladarion Lockett vs Joseph Sealey

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Prediction: Lockett over Sealey

79 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Zack Ryder
  2. Noah Mulvaney
  3. Will Henckel
  4. Lorenzo Norman


Others To Keep An Eye On


A potential Penn State vs Iowa match is what most fans are hoping for at 79 kg. Zack Ryder eanred the bye to the finals by beat Noah Mulvaney, Will Henckel, Lorenzo Norman, and Simon Ruiz en route to the US Open title. However, Iowa freshman Gabe Arnold wasn’t there. Ryder is currently ranked #6 in the high school pound-for-pound rankings and he beat Arnold the one time they met in high school (2022 US Open). However, Arnold has shown a lot of improvement in his time in Iowa City.

Watch Arnold and Ryder’s 2022 US Open match below.

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Prediction: Arnold over Ryder

86 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Aeoden Sinclair
  2. Josh Barr
  3. Max McEnelly
  4. Daschle Lamer


Others To Keep An Eye On


Aeoden Sinclair dominated the US Open. His closest match was a 10-3 win over Ryder Rogotzke in the quarters. He teched his way through the tournament otherwise only giving up one point. Barr will likely earn the two-seed as he defeated McEnelly in the other semifinal. But 10-0 is going to be a tough deficit to flip, especially in a best-of-three series.

Watch Aeoden Sinclair tech Josh Barr in the US Open finals below.

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Prediction: Sinclair over Barr

92 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


With only five total entrants and Mirasola sitting to the finals, I think we'll get a round-robin mini-tournament.

Connor Mirasola is as big a favorite as anyone at this tournament. He’s the #7 overall recruit in the class of 2024 and he didn’t give up a single point at the US Open including beating Michael Dellagatta 10-0 and Justin Rademacher 5-0. You have to go back to Who’s Number One last year when he lost to AWA teammate Aeoden Sinclar to find a loss that wasn’t on the senior-level. Even then, he only lost to NCAA champions while also beating Max Dean, Evan Wick, and David McFadden.


Prediction: Mirasola over Dellagatta

97 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Camden McDanel
  2. Cole Mirasola
  3. Steven Burrell Jr
  4. Thomas Dineen


Others To Keep An Eye On


It’s not often I get this excited about an upperweight that isn’t heavyweight. We have two potential excellent match-ups between the challenge tournament finals and the best-of-three finals. Cody Merrill beat Cole Mirasola 11-0 in the Fargo finals last year, but with the improvement I’ve seen from the Mirasola twins, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at least closer this time around. 

The year out at the OTC has clearly helped Camden McDanel quite a bit. After losing to Cole Mirasola 16-14 at Fargo in 2022, he beat him at both the Last Chance Qualifier and the US Open this spring. And only gave up 1 point combined in both matches. But is he ready for the Merrill - the #7 P4P high school wrestler in the country? If he can beat the challenge tournament champion can he improve upon his bronze finish last year at the World Championships?

Watch Cody Merrill tech fall Cole Mirasola in the Fargo finals below


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Prediction: Merrill over McDanel

125 kg

Sitting To Finals


Top Contenders


US Open Results

  1. Jimmy Mullen
  2. Nicholas Sahakian
  3. Koy Hopke
  4. Aden Attao


Others To Keep An Eye On


The heavyweight bracket is super deep. Jimmy Mullen has a real advantage over the field by sitting out. Mullen defeated both Koy Hopke and Nicholas Sahakian en route to his US Open title. Mullen was a dual sport athlete his freshman year at Virginia Tech playing both football and wrestling. Ben Kueter, potentially Mullen’s biggest opposition in Geneva, is also a dual sport athlete. 

Kueter also played football and wrestled this past year as a freshman at Iowa. Kueter is interesting because we haven’t seen him against a lot of these top heavyweights as he was always a little lighter in high school and didn’t attempt to make a team his senior year. In 2022 he won U20 World gold at 97 kg. Kueter shouldn’t be coming with too much ring rust this weekend as he competed in four duals for the Hawkeyes this season. He went 3-1 only losing to Greg Kerkvliet.


Prediction: Kueter over Mullen