Which College 'Won' U20s & U23s?
Which College 'Won' U20s & U23s?
Which college program did the best at the 2024 U20 Freestyle World Team Trials and U23 Freestyle Nationals?
The Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio hosted one of the largest competitions of elite collegiate wrestlers in the country last weekend.
In the U23 division featured eight place-winners in ten weight classes, while competitors in the smaller U20 brackets had five placements (except at 61kg where there were just four placements as there was no one sitting out in the best 2 of 3 series to determine the world team spot).
More U20 & U23 Content from Geneva, Ohio
Armed with that information, we thought it would be a good idea to calculate which college "won" U20s and U23s. To do so, we assigned point values to the placements roughly in accordance to NCAA tournament scoring, without accounting for bonus points. Any wrestler who attends, is committed to, or graduated from a college scored points for that school.
U20 Freestyle World Team Trials College Team Scores
| RANK | COLLEGE | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penn State | 72.5 |
| uncommitted | 33 | |
| 2 | Iowa | 21 |
| 3 | Cornell | 20.5 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 18 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 17.5 |
| 6 | Michigan | 16 |
| 7 | Oregon State | 15.5 |
| 8 | Nebraska | 15 |
| 9 | Missouri | 12.5 |
| 10 | Minnesota | 12 |
| 11 | Arizona State | 9.5 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | 9 |
| 12 | Stanford | 9 |
| 12 | Illinois | 9 |
| 15 | NC State | 5.5 |
| 16 | Purdue | 3.5 |
| 16 | Michigan State | 3.5 |
| 18 | South Dakota State | 0.5 |
| 18 | SIUE | 0.5 |
| 18 | Iowa State | 0.5 |
| 18 | Bucknell | 0.5 |
Watch Luke Lilledahl clinch a spot on another age-level world team:
Penn State ran away with this hypothetical competition by notching five world teammers. Luke Lilledahl, PJ Duke, Zack Ryder and Connor Mirasola made the team at 57, 70, 79 and 92kg respectively, and are all PSU commits, while Josh Barr just completed his freshman year at Penn State and earned a spot on the U20 world team at 86kg. Half the Team USA's freestylers at the U20 World Championships in Albania will be current or future Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State also led all colleges with eight placers, while Cornell and Minnesota had the next most with five and four, respectively.
Marcus Blaze and Bo Bassett made the world team at 61 and 65kg respectively and are both uncommitted, which has only enhanced their blue-chip credentials.
Oklahoma State's Cael Hughes was sitting out in the 61kg finals thanks to his US Open Championships earlier this year but he did not make weight on Saturday morning and thus was ineligible to compete for a world team spot, which is why there were only four placements at 61kg.
U23 Freestyle Nationals College Team Scores
| RANK | COLLEGE | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Iowa | 107 |
| 2 | Cornell | 61.5 |
| 3 | Iowa | 60 |
| 4 | Stanford | 47 |
| 5 | Indiana | 45.5 |
| 6 | Army | 42.5 |
| 7 | NC State | 40.5 |
| 8 | South Dakota State | 37.5 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 32.5 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 32 |
| 11 | Penn | 30 |
| 12 | Penn State | 25 |
| 12 | Northern Colorado | 25 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 22.5 |
| 14 | Lock Haven | 22.5 |
| 14 | Nebraska-Kearney | 22.5 |
| 17 | Little Rock | 22 |
| 18 | Bucknell | 21.5 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 20 |
| 19 | Michigan | 20 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech | 16 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | 16 |
| 21 | Lehigh | 16 |
| 24 | Nebraska | 14.5 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 13.5 |
| 25 | Minnesota | 13.5 |
| 27 | Utah Valley | 12.5 |
| 27 | App State | 12.5 |
| 29 | Wyoming | 10 |
| 29 | Citadel | 10 |
| 31 | Campbell | 9 |
| 31 | Cal Poly | 9 |
| 33 | Oregon State | 6.5 |
| 33 | George Mason | 6.5 |
| 35 | Pitt-Johnstown | 5.5 |
| 35 | Parkside | 5.5 |
| 35 | Northern Illinois | 5.5 |
| 35 | Bellarmine | 5.5 |
Watch Paniro Johnson win a U23 National Championship:
Northern Iowa, with eight placers and a champ at 86kg in John Gunderson, had the best performance of any college at U23 Nationals in freestyle.
Iowa, Indiana, and Cornell tied for the second-most placers with five.
Cornell's performance was especially impressive considering 92kg champ Jacob Cardenas was scoring theoretical points for Michigan, where he will wrestle next season. Cardenas was a two-time All-American at Cornell but could not use his final year of eligibility in Ithaca due to Ivy League rules.
Wisconsin picked up big points from their champ, Massoma Endene, who won the 97kg weight class. Endene is transferring to Wisconsin in the offseason from Division III Wartburg College.
It should also be noted that Waylon Cressell, a high schooler at Warren Central in Indiana, placed eighth at 79kg, but (to our knowledge) is currently uncommitted.