Penn State wrestling U23 Worlds Day 1 results: Mesenbrink to go for gold, Barr is hurt but bronze is still possible, Day 2 preview

Two Penn State wrestlers will compete for medals on Day 2 of the U23 World Wrestling Men’s Freestyle Championships on Saturday, while three others will be starting their tournament in Serbia. Nittany Lions Mitchell Mesenbrink and Josh Barr kicked things off for Team USA at 74 kilograms (163.1 pounds) and 92 kilograms (202.8), respectively, on Friday. Luke Lilledahl at 57 kilograms (125.6 pounds), PJ Duke at 70 kilograms (154.3), Levi Haines at 79 kilograms (174.1) take the mat on Saturday.

A review of the latest results, plus a look ahead to what’s next, is below.

Mesenbrink will go for gold

Mitchell Mesenbrink will be the first member of Team USA men’s freestyle contingent to compete for a medal in Novi Sad. He earned a spot in Saturday’s 74-kilogram gold medal match by winning a thrilling semifinal over 2025 70-kilogram Senior Worlds champ Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan 7-4.

With the bout tied at four and 20 seconds left on the clock, Mesenbrink’s famed gas tank came into play. He shot and connected on a low double that he eventually powered through for the winning points. The head referee signaled for a takedown, which gave the Penn State star a 6-4 lead, with less than a second to go. Japan challenged the call. It lost, giving Mesenbrink another point to reach the final margin of victory. The Nittany Lion was the aggressor throughout.

Mesenbrink finishes day one with a record of 4-0. After securing a fall in his first match of the day, he won his next two bouts by technical fall. The combined scores were 22-2 in less than five minutes of total mat time.

Turkey’s Muhammed Ozmus is Mesenbrink’s gold medal match opponent. He won two of his matches Friday by technical fall before reaching the finals via a 7-3 win in the semifinals.

Ozmus does not have much of an International resume. He is a surprise finals entrant. Mesenbrink was one of the favorites to win this weight. Thus, he will be favored in the finals.

Will Barr be able to wrestle for bronze?

Penn State All-American Josh Barr won his first match of the day by technical fall, 11-1, in 3:53. The win set up a quarterfinals match with Iran’s Mohammad Mobin Azimi. The Nittany Lion initially led the match 3-1. He briefly grew that lead larger before an Iranian challenge wiped out the previously awarded points. Azimi dominated from there. He went on to win by technical fall, 13-3, in 4:30. Barr was hurt late in the match. He appeared to be waving for injury time as Azimi closed in on the stoppage. It was not given. He was then very slow to get up from the mat and exit.

Azimi went on to win his 92-kilogram semifinal, which means he is in Saturday’s gold medal match. That means Barr is in the repechage tournament tomorrow for a chance at bronze. Wrestlers from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan will battle for the right to face Barr. The winner of that match then goes on to face Ivan Chornohuz of Ukraine in the third-place bout.

It’s unclear if Barr will be able to wrestle on Saturday. A final outcome is unlikely to come until very early Saturday morning on the East Coast. It is obviously a situation to watch closely, not just for the U23 team medal count race but also for the 2025-2026 Penn State wrestling season. A returning All-American, Barr is the Lions’ starter at 197 pounds.

Day 2 schedule and preview for Penn State wrestlers

The repechage round starts at 4 a.m. ET on Saturday. Barr, if he can compete, will be on the mat sometime between 4 and 5 a.m.

After that, there will be no Penn State wrestlers in action until the men’s freestyle qualification rounds for 57, 70, 79, and 125 kilograms start. An exact time for that is not available. But, it will likely be 7 a.m. ET or later. The semifinals for those weight classes, then, go off at 11 a.m. ET.

Last but certainly not least, the medal matches for Mesenbrink and potentially Barr start at Noon ET.

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Predictions for Lilldahl, Duke, and Haines

In case you did not see our tournament preview, find bracket info and predictions for the three Penn State wrestlers who start their tournament on Saturday below.

Penn State sophomore Luke Lilledahl (57 kilograms)

First match: Honghang Liao of China in the Round of 16

Prediction: Lilldahl, who already has gold medals at U17s and U20s on his resume, projects to face Iran’s Milad Valizadeh, the 2025 Senior Asian silver medalist who previously competed at both U20s and Senior Worlds, in the quarterfinals. If he gets by him, a date with U23 Russian champ Aiandai Ondar of UWW in the semis. It’s not the best or worst draw for Lilledahl, who will either win gold or bronze. We’ll go with the former.

Nittany Lions freshman PJ Duke (70 kilograms)

First match: Begijon Kuldashev of Uzbekistan in the qualification round

Prediction: Duke starts his tournament with 2025 U23 Asian bronze medalist Kuldashev. The winner faces 2024 U20 Worlds participant Rostislav Leicht of Germany. Kanan Heybatov of Azerbaijan projects as a possible semifinal opponent. They are the favorites, meaning a gold or silver following a win in the semis is the best-case result, with a path to bronze via repechage likely available otherwise. We will predict Duke to take first.

Penn State senior Levi Haines (79 kilograms)

First match: Mahdi Yousefihajivar of Iran in the first round

Prediction: This is an absolutely brutal draw for both wrestlers. The Iranian already won gold at U20 Worlds this year. And, he also took first at the 2024 U23 Worlds in this weight class. Haines, of course, finished second at Senior Worlds earlier this year. This is a true coin flip. I don’t like taking the easy way out, but I will: The winner of this match goes on to win gold. The loser winds up wrestling his way to bronze.