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Iowa wrestling: 2025 U20 World Championships Preview

by: Tanner Lafever08/18/25TannerLafever
Wrestling U20 World Championships 2025
Over the next few days, a pair of Iowa Hawkeyes will look to stand atop the podium in Samokov, Bulgaria. (Photo Credit: Kadir Caliskan/United World Wrestling)

Another World Championships event is underway, and per usual, that means several Iowa Hawkeyes are in the mix.

This latest edition happens to be of the Under-20 (U20) variety.

As of early Sunday morning, action began in Samokov, Bulgaria (with Team USA’s men’s freestyle team already off to a hot start). But for the purposes of this preview, we train our gaze to the near future.

There, a pair of Hawkeyes will take the mat in the Women’s Freestyle and (Men’s) Greco-Roman discipline(s).

For sophomore Naomi Simon, it represents an opportunity to one-up her bronze medal from a year ago. And for freshman Leister Bowling IV, this’ll be his first-ever chance to compete on the world stage.

Both athletes earned their spot on Team USA with dominant performances earlier this summer.

Simon pinned six consecutive foes en route to her Trials title at 76 kilograms. Meanwhile, Bowling went 7-0 spanning the US Open and Trials, winning every single match via bonus points at 77kg.

If they can carry that form into Bulgaria who’s to say how far it could take them amidst two brackets loaded with elite competition from around the globe.

This is your Iowa wrestling 2025 U20 World Championships preview. So, sit back, relax, and we’ll get you ready for days ahead.

Schedule/viewing details

Before the on-the-mat details, it’s probably best to lay out the forthcoming itinerary – especially given the eight-hour time difference between Iowa and Samokov.

As always, the great Mike Smit has Team USA fans covered with a handy layout of the entire tournament:

You’ll find Simon’s competition dates on Wednesday/Thursday (8/20-8/21). So long as she reaches the semifinals – or loses to an eventual finalist – on Wednesday, she’s guaranteed to take the mat again on Thursday.

The same principle applies to Bowling on Saturday/Sunday (8/23-8/24).

You’ll also notice that the times on the above graphic are already converted to God’s…I mean, the Central Time zone.

So, there’s no need to do any advanced mathematics yourself – other than a minor adjustment if you reside elsewhere in the US.

(Again, thank you Mike Smit!)

Of additional note, the entirety of the action will be streamed live (and archived) on FloWrestling.

You can also find everything from brackets to results to photos on the UWW event page.

USA Wrestling will also be tweeting out live up-to-the-minute updates throughout the tournament. So, in the event that I can’t do so myself in real time – which may be the case for several of the early morning matches – that’s the best place to follow for any of you (lovable) sickos who are tuning in live.

(I will otherwise provide my own live updates whenever possible over on Twitter.)

Now with all of that out of the way, let’s dive into the fun stuff.

Naomi Simon – Women’s Freestyle, 76 kilograms

A 2024 bronze medalist, Naomi Simon won’t even turn 19 years old until the 2025 edition concludes.

And still, the Decorah native enters U20s with expectations to not only perform well but perhaps win the whole thing.

Last year, in a small bracket Simon dropped a razor thin opener (9-8) to the eventual silver medalist. Because of the small field, her lone repechage match was for a bronze medal – which she’d earn in dominate fashion with a 9-0 defeat of a reigning U17 World champ from Japan.

This time around, a larger – and incredibly formidable – field awaits.

Including Simon, seven entries at 76kg are previous U20 and/or U17 World medalists.

Four of them – including past World champions Priya Priya (India) and Ayano Moro (Japan) – are on the opposite half of the bracket from the Hawkeye.

On paper, those are the two favorites entering the week.

Priya owns two U17 World titles at 73kg (2021-22), plus U20 silver/gold at 76kg in 2022-23.

Her 2022 U20 finals loss came against Moro (3-1). Meanwhile, her run 2023 U20 gold included a 10-0 tech. fall over Hawkeye Kennedy Blades.

** It should be noted that 2023 US team was ravaged by food poisoning in the leadup to the World Championships. Among several of the athletes, Blades looked far from her best at that tournament. **

Simon faces a manageable opener against Canada – a U20 Pan-Am silver medalist in 2024-25.

Next, she’d get either Kazakhstan or Mongolia in the quarters – who finished 11th/5th respectively at 2024 U20 Worlds.

The most credentialed of Simon’s possible semifinal foes is Turkiye’s Elmira Yasin. Like Simon, Yasin won U20 bronze last year, plus U17 bronze in 2023.

As always, upstarts can emerge, and no outcome is guaranteed.

That said, I’m bullish on this Hawkeye’s outlook in Bulgaria.

Leister Bowling IV – Greco-Roman, 77 kilograms

The other Hawkeye hopeful headed eastward does not have the same World Championships experience to fall back on.

But that isn’t to say he’s short on positive momentum, either.

Leister Bowling IV (pronounced LEE-stir) made Team USA for the first time by annihilating his domestic competition to the tune five technical falls and two pins.

A month later, he trekked south to the U20 Pan-American Championships in Peru and showed no signs of slowing down.

Foes from Paraguay, Mexico and Colombia all fell via bonus-point defeats, putting Bowling’s combined 2025 scoring margin at a whopping 92-5.

Not one of the Colorado native’s matches has lasted the full six minutes.

What does that mean for his prospects this week? It’s hard to say – especially with the Greco-Roman discipline in which Asian/European athletes tend to dominate on the World stage.

Of the 19 other entries at 77kg, at least 12 of them have prior U17/U20 World Championships experience. Among that group are trio of past gold medalists.

Georgian Anri Putkaradze earned U20 bronze in 2023 and U17 gold/silver in 2022 and 2021. Meanwhile, UWW (United World Wrestling) athletes Zuar Beslekoev (2024 U20 gold, 2023 U17 gold) and Kiryl Valeuski (2024 U17 gold, 2023 bronze) have multiple medals/titles to their names as well.

Throw in Iran’s Ahoura Bouveiri Piani – 2023 U17 silver – and there’s no shortage of potentially daunting roadblocks.

Having said that, at the time of this story Greco brackets have yet to be drawn. So, we don’t yet know where Bowling or the top competitors will be situated when the action begins.

(Brackets will likely be released sometime on Wednesday.)

Look, I’m far from a Greco expert. But I do know that Bowling is red hot right now, and that could make him very dangerous for his competition this week.

One more name to watch

If the world’s best young wrestling talent – including a pair of Hawkeyes – weren’t reason enough to watch this week, how about one more carrot for Iowa fans?

Her name is Everest Leydecker, She’s the #1 pound-for-pound recruit in America. And she definitely has the Iowa program on her radar.

The high school senior was always viewed as a top-tier prospect, but her profile took a massive leap this summer.

The 17-year-old Arizona native narrowly missed making the Senior World team, defeating several older, more credentialed opponents along the way.

(For more on Leydecker’s rise/accomplishments, check out my recent Class of 2026 recruiting rundown.)

One of just two Team USA entries wrestling this week (out of 30 total) who isn’t already part of a collegiate/post-graduate program in 2025-26, Leydecker will compete at 55kg – on the same days as Naomi Simon.

Iowa fans would do well to keep an eye on her, I think…

Short time

There you have it, folks. Your 2025 Iowa wrestling U20 World Championships preview is now complete.

Thanks as always for reading along. And don’t be a stranger throughout the new few days on either social media or the Hawkeye Report forums – where I’ll be providing updates on every Hawkeye result.

Also, check back at some point this weekend for my full recap article – which I’ll try to publish ASAP once Leister Bowling IV has concluded his tournament run (hopefully with a medal around his neck).

‘Till then, enjoy the wrestling!

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