Recap: How did Penn State wrestlers Josh Barr, Mitchell Mesenbrink, do on Day 1 of U23 Worlds?
Day one of the U23 World Wrestling Men’s Freestyle Championships is over. Seven Penn State wrestlers are on the 10-man Team USA contingent competing in the four-day event in Novi Sad, Serbia. Two of them, Mitchell Mesenbrink and Josh Barr, were on the mat today. The action started at 4 a.m. ET. It continues through early this afternoon. Mesenbrink is in the 74-kilogram bracket. He will wrestle for gold on Saturday. And, Barr is in the 92-kilogram bracket. He lost in the quarterfinals and appeared to be hurt at the end of the match. But, the foe who beat him is in the 92kg finals, meaning Barr is in tomorrow’s repechage tournament to compete for bronze if he is able to. You can see updated brackets on FLO here. And a full play by play of the day is below.
Barr is pulled into repechage
10/24/2025 10:15:54 AMIran’s Azimi just won his 92-kilogram semi by tech fall. That means Josh Barr will be in repechage to go for bronze tomorrow if he is able to compete after suffering some kind of injury in his quarterfinal loss to Azimi.
Who will Mesenbrink face in the finals?
10/24/2025 10:13:37 AMWe now know that Mesenbrink will face Turkey’s Muhammed Ozmus in the 74-kilogram U23 Worlds gold medal match. He teched his way to the semis before winning by decision in his semifinal.
Mesenbrink will wrestle for gold
10/24/2025 10:03:58 AMMitchell Mesenbrink will wrestle for the U23 74-kilogram gold medal on Saturday. He earned a spot in the finals by taking out World champ Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan, 7-4, in the semifinals. With the match tied at four with less than 30 seconds to wrestle, the Penn State star put his signature gas tank to work. He got in on a low shot with about 12 seconds left and was awarded the takedown with less than a second to go to make it 6-4. Japan’s challenge was denied, which gave Mesenbrink an extra point and ultimately a 7-4 victory.
The semifinals are about to start
10/24/2025 09:42:23 AMIt’s just about time for the semifinals. Mitchell Mesenbrink will be up when the session starts at 10:45 a.m. ET opposite Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan. After that, the foe who beat Josh Barr in the quarterfinals, Mohammadmobin Azimi of Iran, will be on the mat in his 92kg semi. If he wins, Barr will be in repechage tomorrow for a chance at bronze.
Mesenbrink-Aoyagi will be first on Mat C
10/24/2025 08:20:28 AMWhen the next session starts at 10:45 a.m. ET, Mitchell Mesenbrink’s 74-kilogram semifinal with Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan will be first up on Mat C.
U23 Worlds morning session recap
10/24/2025 07:44:38 AMPenn State has one wrestler alive in the championship bracket after session one of the U23 World Championships in men’s freestyle. Mitchell Mesenbrink is set for a marquee matchup with Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan in the 74-kilogram semifinals sometime after 10:45 a.m. ET Mesenbrink earned his way there with a fall and two technical falls to start his time in Serbia. Aoyago, meanwhile, rolled into the semifinals, as well.
The other Nittany Lion who is in action today, Josh Barr, is waiting to see if he gets pulled into Saturday’s repechage bracket for a chance to wrestle for bronze. For that to happen, he’ll need Mohammadmobin Azimi of Iran to reach the 92-kilogram finals. As of the time of this writing, the Iranian is in the semifinals after beating Barr by technical fall, 13-3, in the quarters. The bigger story coming out of that match, however, is that Barr appeared to be hurt. There was no immediate update on his status.
Mesenbrink has his semifinal opponent
10/24/2025 07:32:16 AMLater this morning, the Penn State star will face Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan in one of the tournament’s most anticipated matches. It is one of the 74-kilogram semifinals.
Josh Barr loses, may be hurt
10/24/2025 07:29:17 AMPenn State All-American Josh Barr led Azimi of Iran 3-1 at one point of their 92-kilogram U23 Worlds quarterfinal. However, after the Iranian challenged a Barr scoring sequence that wiped away more points for the American, he dominated the action from there en route to a 13-3 technical fall, and the Nittany Lion appeared to suffer an injury. There was no immediate update on that, however. Barr’s tournament is over unless Azimi wins his semifinal later, which would pull Barr back into repechage on Saturday morning if he’s able to compete.
Mesenbrink rolls into the semifinals
10/24/2025 07:29:09 AMPenn State standout Mitchell Mesenbrink is into the semifinals at the U23 World Championships. He beat Omar Mourad of Egypt by technical fall, 12-2, in the quarters. It was his third early stoppage of the morning after winning by fall and technical fall prior to the quarters. The semis are later this morning.
Barr has his quarterfinal opponent
10/24/2025 06:32:26 AMIt’s Mohammadmobin Gholamali Azimi of Iran. He is the 2023 U20 World champ in this weight class. It should be a good match. It’s a ways away, though, and likely to take place sometime in the eight o’clock hour. Probably between 8-8:30 a.m. ET. Mesenbrink, meanwhile, should be in action in about 30-45 minutes as of the time of this post.
Results for Mesenbrink and Barr as of 7:15 am
10/24/2025 06:12:02 AMBoth are into the quarterfinals. We’re awaiting a start time for those and also Barr’s opponent.
Barr cruises to a round one win
10/24/2025 06:08:46 AMHe beats Tokgov of Turkey by technical fall, 11-1, in 3:54 to advance to the quarterfinals at 92 kilograms.
Barr gets Tokgov in Round 1
10/24/2025 06:01:38 AMThat match is up in a bit.
Mesenbrink starts the morning 2-0
10/24/2025 05:53:53 AMMitchell Mesenbrink earned a fall while leading 12-2 at the 2:11 mark of his first bout and a 10-0 technical fall to set up a quarterfinal bout with Omar Mourad of Egypt.
Mesenbrink should take the mat first
10/23/2025 05:08:01 PMThere’s no guarantee. But, it’s unlikely that the 92-kilogram weight class will make it through the qualification round matches and then to Barr’s first round match before Mesenbrink is on the mat for his qualification round match.
Bracket draw info, predicts for Penn State wrestlers Mitchell Mesenbrink and Josh Barr
10/23/2025 05:07:06 PMPenn State junior Mitchell Mesenbrink (74 kilograms)
First match: Aliaksandr Hulnik of UWW in the qualification round
Prediction: We expect Mesenbrink to make the semis on the bottom half of this half-bracket. The same is likely on the top half of it for Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan. Assuming they meet in the semis, it will be one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament, regardless of weight class. Aoyagi already won Senior Worlds at 70 kilograms this year. He is a multi-time age group medalist otherwise in that weight class. We’ll give Mesenbrink the edge based on the bump in weight for Aoyagi, and he’ll win in the finals to take gold after finishing third a year ago.
Nittany Lions redshirt sophomore Josh Barr (92 kilograms)
First match: Sali Saliev of Bulgaria OR Alperen Tokgoz of Turkey in round one
Prediction: Saliev is a 2024 U20 Worlds silver medalist and the likely winner of the qualification round clash that will set up Barr’s opening match, though Tokgoz did qualify for Senior Worlds and is no pushover. I have Barr exiting the championship bracket at the hands of Iran’s Mohammad Mobin Azimi in the quarters. But, the Iranian will push through to the finals, giving Barr a chance to win bronze.
Full U23 Worlds rundown
10/23/2025 05:06:20 PMThe men’s freestyle action is broken up over four days.
Early matches, plus the semifinals, all take place on day one for each weight class. Repechage, which helps set the third place matches, and the finals then take place on Day 2. Here is the breakdown for Penn State:
Friday/Saturday: Mitchell Mesenbrink at 74 kilograms (163.1 pounds) and Josh Barr at 92 kilograms (202.8)
Saturday/Sunday: Luke Lilledahl at 57 kilograms (125.6 pounds), PJ Duke at 70 kilograms (154.3), Levi Haines at 79 kilograms (174.1)
Sunday/Monday: Marcus Blaze at 65 kilograms (143.3 pounds) and Rocco Welsh at 86 kilograms (189.5).