Skip to main content
Penn State

Penn State wrestling All-Americans set for International competition this Thursday, next week: See the details here

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel07/16/25GregPickel
Penn State wrestler Luke Lilledahl. (© Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Penn State wrestler Luke Lilledahl. (© Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Two Penn State wrestling returning All-Americans will represent the program in a pair of International events over the next five days. First up is the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Event in Budapest, Hungary. It is one of the United World Wrestling tournaments that helps “determine the seeds for the Senior World Championships as well as determine the winners of major UWW awards each season,” according to USA Wrestling.

Nittany Lion senior Levi Haines, who is a starter for the 2025 U.S. Senior World Team, will compete in the 79-kilogram (174.1 pounds) men’s freestyle division. Sophomore Luke Lilledahl, who is No. 2 on the U.S. Senior World Team behind Spencer Lee at 57 kilograms (125.6 pounds), will represent his country in that weight class at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Event. It starts at 4:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. FLO Wrestling will stream it.

“Haines opens against 2025 Asian Championships silver medalist Khidir Kurban Saipudinov of Bahrain,” Gary Abbott writes for USA Wrestling. “If he wins, he could face 2016 Olympian Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France in the quarterfinals. Also in his half-bracket is 2025 Asian bronze medalist Magomed Evloev of Tajikistan.”

As for Lilledahl, he opens his tournament with the winner of a bout between Abzal Okenov of Kazakhstan and Niklas Stechele of Germany.

The tournament concludes on Thursday in Budapest. The finals start at 11 a.m. ET. Visit The Blue-White Illustrated Wrestling Room forum for updates throughout the morning.

Read more Penn State wrestling news from Blue-White Illustrated here!

Once the Ranking Event concludes, Lilledahl will stay in Budapest to compete for Team USA in a freestyle dual meet with Russia next Monday, July 21. It is part of the Professional Wrestling League. It will feature 10 matches, all of which you can see below. The Penn State sophomore will face Musa Mekhtikhanov of Russia in the bout’s 57-kilogram match. FLO calls him the No. 4 57kg wrestler in the world. It has Lilledahl at No. 5.

“I think this is a great opportunity for us to develop dual meet concepts for our athletes,” Bruce Baumgartner, the president of USA Wrestling, said in a statement. “This could lead to even more excellent opportunities in the future. I was involved in some of the early USA vs. Russia dual meets in the 1980’s. They were beneficial for both nations and for our sport. We are in a different time right now, and we have not done one of these duals for a number of years. These duals not only help promote wrestling, but also provide quality matches for our athletes to help prepare for future competitions.”

Here is the bout sheet as of July 16, courtesy of USA Wrestling:

57 kg. Luke Lilledahl (USA) vs. Musa Mekhtikhanov (Russia)

61 kg. Seth Gross (USA) vs. Muslim Mekhtikhanov (Russia)

65 kg. CJ Composto (USA) vs. Abasgadzhi Magomedov (Russia)

70 kg. Bryce Andonian (USA) vs. Saiyn Kazyryk (Russia)

74 kg. Joey Blaze (USA) vs. Magoma Dibirgadzhiev (Russia)

79 kg. Dean Hamiti (USA) vs. Mokhmad Nasirkhaev (Russia)

86 kg. Marcus Coleman (USA) vs. Amanula Rasulov (Russia)

92 kg. Mike Macchiavello (USA) vs. Amanula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia)

97 kg. Jay Aiello (USA) vs. Konstantin Pshenichnikov (Russia)

125 kg. Trent Hillger (USA) vs. Zelimkhan Khizriev (Russia)

You may also like