Two Penn State wrestling freshmen are one win away from becoming U20 world champs.
At 57 kg, the No. 1 pound for pound wrestler in the Class of 2024, Luke Lilledahl, went 3-0 Friday.
At 74 kg, Zack Ryder went 4-0.
PENN STATE WRESTLING: LUKE LILLEDAHL
Lilledahl started his day with a 10-0 technical superiority over Kabe Matjanov of Turkmenistan that took a whopping 65 seconds. His quarterfinal bout with India’s Ankush Ankush was much closer but Lilledahl managed a 4-3 win. He then capped off his day with 4-1 win over Armenia’s Hayko Gasparyan. In the finals, Lilledahl will face Lev Pavlov of the Independent Neutral Athletes Team.
PSU WRESTLING: ZACK RYDER
Ryder started out in the Round of 32 against Aden Sakybaev of Kyrgyzstan and, like Lilledahl’s first bout, he won 10-0. But this match went into the second period, unlike Lilledahl’s. He then won his next matches each 11-0, meaning he scored 32 points over his first three wins and allowed zilch. In the semis, he finally had a close bout but was too much for Indonesia’s Said Saidulov, winning 6-3. Ryder will now face Alp Arslan Begenjov of Turkmenistan in the finals.
Elsewhere in Penn State wrestling, PJ Duke, the top pound-for-pound wrestler in the 2025 Class is still alive for a Bronze Medal although he lost his semifinal match in particularly frustrating fashion.
Like Lilledahl and Ryder, Duke, competing at 70 KG, won his first bout 10-0 by technical superiority, beating Aden Sakybaev of Kyrgyzstan in 4:16. He beat Zelimkhan Mutsukhaev of Poland by the same score in just 47 seconds to advance to the quarters, where he slaughtered Ankh Altangerel of Mongolia 12-1 in a match that lasted 4:39. In the semis, he battled Indonesia’s Magomed Baitukaev but fell 5-5 on criteria, meaning Baitukaev had the highest-scoring individual points. Ryder will now wrestle a third-place bout at a time to be determined.
Two Penn State wrestler’s who haven’t competed yet, Josh Barr (86 KG) and Connor Mirasola (92 KG) will start competing Saturday beginning at 4 a.m. eastern time.
