Team USA is packed with Penn State wrestlers. Luke Lilledahl, Marcus Blaze, PJ Duke, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, Rocco Welsh, and Josh Barr were all named to the 10-person team. On July 17, Lilledahl represented the Nittany Lions well and brought home the gold for Team USA.
At the Budapest Ranking Series, Lilledahl won the 57 kg weight class in a 3-1 decision over Islam Bazarganov. His teammate, Haines, was not as successful and did not make the top three in his weight class, according to On3.
57 KG MFS Gold Medal Match - Luke Lilledahl 🇺🇸 dec. Islam Bazarganov 🇦🇿, 3-1 #WrestleBudapest
— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) July 17, 2025
Bazarganov received back-to-back bronze medals at the European championships, according to USA Wrestling. However, the rising sophomore was up to the challenge and took down Bazarganov with 20 seconds left of the match to break a 1-1 tie. First place for Lilledahl was already secured as he was the final point-scorer, but the last-second efforts confirmed his place on the podium.
Leading up to the gold medla match, Lilledahl defeated Germany's Niklas Stechele and India's Rahul. The opening match was finalized by decision, giving the Nittany Lion a 4-2 win over the fifth-place European champion. A 7-6 ending to the semifinals pushed Lilledahl to the last match over the 2019 U23 Asian champion.
Lilledahl adds this win to his 2024 U20 World Champion win and silver medal at the 2023 U20 championship.
As for Haines, his 1-1 record in the 79 kg weight class wasn't enough to compete in the "wild card" rounds with other wrestlers who did not win their matches. The rising senior had a five-point win over Khidir Kurban A Saipudinov in the opening round, but later fell 7-3 to Greece's Olympian Georgios Kougioumtsidis.
Only two other Team USA members moved on to podium-level matches. Jay Aiello and Demetrius Thomas competed in the 97 kg and 125 kg weight classes, respectively.
Aiello lost 6-6 to Poland's Zbigniew Baranowski, but won to India's Vicky by fall 5:25 into the match. Against Korea's Juhwan Seo in the bronze medal match, the Team USA wrestler took a technical fall win, 10-0.
As for Thomas, he opened with a win over Turkey's Efe Anil Al by fall 5:47 into the match and followed it up with a 7-2 deciding win over Bulgaria's Georgi Lyubomirov Ivanov. By technical fall, 13-1, Dzianis Khramiankou beat Thomas. In the bronze medal match, Poland's Robert Baran got the best of Thomas and put him fifth in the competition overall. Baran won 6-0.