Team USA has returned from Albania, medals in hand. Thirty U.S. athletes across men's freestyle, women's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman competed at the U23 world championships, and six of those thirty were active college wrestlers who finished in the top three. Between four men's freestyle world champs, two men's freestyle bronze medals, two women's freestyle wrestlers earning wins and a lone Greco athlete picking up a W, the college wrestlers on the U23 world team made quite a statement.
Here's what you need to know about specific results and accolades of the college wrestlers who competed in this event and what their performances tell us about their potential title quests this year on the folkstyle scene.
Keegan O’Toole, Aaron Brooks and Wyatt Hendrickson will now chase a 2024 NCAA title after winning U23 gold
Let's start with Aaron Brooks. The three-time NCAA champion proved that he was on an elite level when he advanced to Final X earlier this year and took on Olympic gold medalist David Taylor in a best two-of-three series at 86kg for the senior world team spot. Though Brooks lost those matches, his competitive performance against the Penn State legend showed that he was ready to be a U.S. rep and compete for medals. So that's exactly what he did. Brooks took advantage of the opportunity to represent the U.S. at the U23 World Championships, and roared through his bracket. He gave up just five points in five matches, shutting out three of his opponents and teching his foe in the finals, Tatsuya Shirai of Japan. Brooks looks big, strong and tough. He's ready to make his mark now at 197 pounds and chase his fourth national championship alongside his Penn State teammates.
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Brooks is a winner, but it's safe to say that his style is more traditional than some of his U23 teammates. Keegan O'Toole and Wyatt Hendrickson, on the other hand, the other two U23 gold medalists, have become defined by their funk, and both are consistently among the top pinners in the country at their respective weight classes in college. Both picked up pins at the world championships as well, with O'Toole pinning his semifinalist opponent, Sonny Santiago of Puerto Rico and Hendrickson pinning his opponent in the opening match.
O'Toole looked in control in all of his matches, even beyond the pin, as he beat Vadym Kurylenko, Krisztian Biro, Hikaru Takata of Japan and Imam Ganishov to clinch another world medal. The Missouri star had previously won a world title at the U20 world championships, so his win in Albania only adds to his legacy and cements him as a favorite once again collegiately, though he'll still lead a deep weight class that includes 2021 NCAA champion David Carr, a fellow Junior world champ.
Wyatt Hendrickson wins by tech 13-3 over Adil Misirci of Turkey to win U23 GOLD 🥇! Wyatt is the Air Force Academy's first-ever World Champion! GO FALCONS! #FlyFightWin #DoHardThings pic.twitter.com/w7kG5C23dB
— Air Force Wrestling (@AF_Wrestle) October 24, 2023
Hendrickson also had world experience coming into this tournament, as he took fifth at the 2021 Junior World Championships, but a gold medal sends a very different message. Hendrickson is coming for a national title now. He's ready. The only hiccup to this plan for Hendrickson might be the knee injury he sustained during the tournament, but if he can heal and recover well, he could be on track for his third Wade Schalles Award — the honor presented to the nation's top pinner — and his first national title.
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N.C. State’s Isaac Trumble also won gold at 97kg, though Trumble is slated to take a redshirt this year and return in 2024-2025 to pursue his first All-American honor and national title. If Trumble slots back into 197 pounds following this redshirt year, he’ll be a serious contender in a weight class that will clear out after this season following the graduation of Brooks, NCAA finalist Trent Hidlay, NCAA finalist Tanner Sloan, Senior Greco World Team Member Zac Braunagel and All-American Gavin Hoffman. If Trumble elects to move up to heavyweight — a reasonable option given that his international weight class is 213 pounds — he’ll also be someone to watch in a weight that will certainly be less deep than it has been in previous seasons. Hendrickson, Lucas Davison and Zach Elam will all move on after this season, and Trumble will have options as he considers his NCAA title quest next season. A gold medal at the U23 World Championships can only help his confidence too.
All-Americans Brock Hardy and Jacob Cardenas sent a message about their improvement and competitiveness with U23 bronze medals
Nebraska’s Brock Hardy made a splash last season when he finished sixth in his weight class as a freshman, but Hardy’s results at U23s show that he’s jumped even more levels. The young star finished third in a competitive, international 65kg bracket where he notched wins over current Oklahoma State wrestler Sammy Alvarez of Puerto Rico as well as victories over Artem Kryvenko, Pavel Graur and Goga Otinashvili. Though his performance did not yet qualify him for the Olympic Trials, a bronze medal at the U23 world championships is a good sign for Hardy that he can compete with the best in the world at this particular level.
🥉 ICYMI last week, @HuskerWrestling's 141-pounder Brock Hardy claimed bronze at the U23 World Championships.
— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) October 30, 2023
Hardy was USA's first medalist at 65kg since 2017 & helped the U23 team claim their first world title ever.@theebrockhardy x #GBR 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/kQt1Z3KAQA
Battling for the U.S. spot at 65kg though is another challenge, and quite a challenge at that. If he qualifies for the Trials and looks to earn the Olympic spot this cycle, Hardy would have to overtake a growing list of exceptionally-credentialed athletes including four-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis, two-time NCAA champion and 2023 senior world team member Nick Lee and NCAA finalist and Olympic Trials finalist Joey McKenna among others.
First though, Hardy will look to conquer the college scene. He’ll come into the year ranked fourth at 141 pounds, though the rest of the weight is no doubt aware of his international performance and skill improvement. Hardy and the Huskers start the collegiate schedule on November 4, though this quick turnaround for the sophomore middleweight might be tough. Nebraska has not yet released the probable starters, but if Hardy takes the mat, he could meet redshirt freshman Gavin Drexler of the Bison in a match where the U23 bronze medalist will be heavily favored.
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Hardy, though, isn’t the only collegiate bronze medalist looking to make a mark on the NCAA scene. Cornell’s Jacob Cardenas also had a stellar year in 2022-2023 and only added to his resume with his standout third-place performance at U23s. Cardenas notched wins at this tournament over Alan Bagaev, Satoshi Miura and Pruthviraj Patil by scores of 4-3, 6-0 and 4-3 respectively, battling tough in each of these contests by gutting out the win. He’ll now enter his junior year with Cornell and look to build on his 20-6 sophomore record and eighth-place performance in last year’s NCAA tournament.
“I think I wrestled alright, again a lot of stuff to work, but I’m kind of focused on this season towards March, so that’s my next pinnacle tournament,” Cardenas said in his interview with USA Wrestling after his bronze medal match. He also suggested that he’d like to return to U23s next year and compete for a gold, a goal that he came up short of by one match.
Individual match wins for Nichole Moore, Adaugo Nwachukwu and Cade Lautt are stepping stones to more potential success
The three active women’s college wrestlers competing in freestyle and the three active men’s college wrestlers competing in Greco did not bring home any medals, but three of those six total athletes did pick at least one match win at the U23 tournament. While the performance may have left these athletes wanting more, breaking down these matches can offer some insight about what to expect from these athletes on the collegiate stage this year.
Senior World medalists @AmitElor and @_macethegreat_ lead a U.S. U23 World Team in women’s freestyle which features eight current Senior National Team members and seven past age-group World medalists. #WrestleTirana
— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) October 24, 2023
Nichole Moore, now a senior at McKendree University, won her opening bout at the World Championships against Wiktoria Karwowska of Poland 9-0. The win was methodical and smooth from the start, as Moore pulled ahead early with a pushout point and then turned up the offense, scoring a takedown, a lace and a final second takedown to secure the victory. Moore’s tournament, however, was ultimately ended in the following match by Canada’s Michaela Rankin 7-0 in the quarterfinals. Rankin also competes at the collegiate level in Canada, though she and Moore will not meet at the NCWWC this year as Rankin’s University, Brock, competes in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) events and championships. Moore is part of a McKendree team known for producing international-caliber wrestlers, so while she left empty-handed from Albania this year, she’s part of a program that has a history of helping athletes like her take the next step.
Adaugo Nwachukwu, a junior at William Penn is in a similar situation to Moore, as she returns from the U23 championships with a single match win and will now also start her collegiate season with a new collegiate team after transferring programs last year. Nwachukwu moved from Iowa Wesleyan to William Penn after Iowa Wesleyan shut down, and she now enters collegiate competition as the reigning NAIA athlete of the year with even more international experience under her belt. A California native, Nwachukwu had World-level success prior to competing on this year’s U23 team, winning a bronze at the 2022 U23 World Championships and finishing 7th this year at the U20 World Championships. Her tenth-place finish in this year’s U23 world championships meant Nwachukwu came home without a medal, but she still recorded a solid victory over Mexico’s 2022 Pan American Senior silver medalist Ameyalli Jessel Rojas 6-2.
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At 62kg, Nwachukwu is currently a member of the U.S. 2023 senior national team and second in line after Olympian Kayla Miracle at 62kg, though Miracle put notable separation between her and Nwachukwu by sweeping the U23 rep in both of their matches at Final X. Miracle did not medal in Tokyo, but, as the caliber and expectations of Team USA rise following podium success at other weights, the U.S. rep at 62kg in 2024 will come in hungry for hardware. Nwachukwu has improvements to make before she competes for that spot, but she’s certainly in the conversation.
On the Greco side, Cade Lautt was the only active college wrestler to notch a victory, and he was also one of only four Team USA Greco wrestlers to earn a win overall. Lautt, a junior at North Carolina, beat Juan Diaz Blanco of Venezuela by fall in the Round of 16 before dropping 8-0 to Hayk Khloyan of Armenia in the quarterfinals. Khloyan went on to finish fifth, an improvement from his 14th-place finish last year in this tournament, while Lautt and Diaz Blanco finished 7th and 19th respectively. Lautt is not expected to compete for North Carolina this year at 197 pounds, as two-time national qualifier Max Shaw will likely hold down that spot, but there are reasons to be optimistic about Lautt’s potential on the Greco side. Lautt is a member of the senior national team at 97kg in Greco, and while the leader of the weight is veteran Joe Rau, Lautt is young and capable of rising up the ranks.
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