Penn State Wrestling: Nittany Lions Shine at U20 World Championships

Penn State freshman Luke Lilledahl won a world wrestling title, leading an impressive group of Nittany Lions in Spain.

A general view from above as wrestlers compete during the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The future of Penn State wrestling won some world hardware this past weekend in Spain, including a championship run by a really promising freshman lightweight. Luke Lilledahl, a top recruit of Penn State's freshman class, won gold in the 57 kg freestyle weight class at the U20 World Wrestling Championships.

Three current and one future wrestler for the Nittany Lions won medals at the championships in Pontevedra, Spain. Redshirt freshman Josh Barr (86 kg) and true freshman Zack Ryder (79 kg) claimed silver medals, and 2025 recruit PJ Duke (70 kg) earned bronze. Another incoming freshman, Connor Mirasola, lost a close bout at 92 kg for bronze.

Lilledahl, who won silver at the 2023 U20 World Championships, went 4-0 in this tournament with several tight victories. After a 10-0 technical-superiority win in the opening round, Lilledahl claimed wins with scores of 4-3 and 4-1 to reach the final. In the championship bout, Lilledahl scored both points against Lev Pavlov (wrestling as an individual neutral athlete) on passivity calls for the title.
The victory was Lilledahl's second striaght over Pavlov at the U20 worlds.

According to USA Wrestling, Lilledahl scored wins over the reigning U20 Asian champ and the reigning U20 European champion in Spain. Lilledahl already has an accomplished international resume, having made age-gorup finals for four straight years. He added a U20 gold to his 2022 U17 world title. Lilledahl was the only champion for Team USA, which claimed nine medals at U20 worlds.

Watch out, the forecast is predicting a⚡️storm is in the area🌩️

Luke Lilledahl captures the United World Wrestling U20 World Championship title! 🌍🏆#WrestlePontevedra pic.twitter.com/O1QtmC7Awg

— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) September 7, 2024

Ryder reached the final with three consecutive technical-superiority victories and a 6-3 decision. In the final, Ryder fell 5-0 to Alp Begenjov of Turkemistan. Ryder also won two bronze medals wrestling in the U17 classification.

Barr opened his tournament with three technical-superiority wins to earn a championship bout against neutral athlete Ibragim Kadiev. Barr fell behind 3-1 early and evenutally lost the bout 8-2.

Duke, a senior from Minisink Valley High School in New York, advanced to the semifinals by defeating his first three opponents by a combined score of 32-1. After a tight semifinal loss, Duke rolled to the bronze medal with an 18-7 win over Aikyn Bolatuly of Kazakhstan.

Mirasola also opened with three straight wins to reach the semifinals, where he lost a tough 5-4 decision. Mirasola was called for passivity with 6 seconds remaining, which resulted in the losing point. Mirasola then fell 6-2 to Anar Jafari of Azerbaijan for the bronze medal.

Lilledahl, Duke, Mirasola and Ryder all won gold medals at the U20 Pan American Championships in July.

Penn State returns a loaded lineup from its NCAA-championship team for head coach Cael Sanderson. The Nittany Lions bring back three NCAA champs, two other finalists and a total of six All-Americans. NCAA champs Carter Starocci, Greg Kerkvliet and Levi Haines return, and Starocci seeks to become the first five-time national champ in college wrestling history.

The Nittany Lions have won three straight NCAA wrestling titles and 11 under Sanderson. Last season, Penn State set NCAA tournament records for scoring and margin of victory, became the first college wrestling program with two four-time champions and put eight All-Americans on the podium.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.