Leister Bowling IV (77 kg, Hawkeye WC) closed out his debut at a World event with a 5th-place finish following action on Sunday.
The medal round for the fourth and final day of Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2025 U20 World Championships began at 11:15am local time from Samokov, Bulgaria and streamed live on FLOWrestling.
Earlier on Sunday, Bowling trailed Akzhan Ykylassov (KAZ) 1-2 midway through the second period of their repechage bout when the American stormed back with two separate two-point sequences (plus another two points from a late caution) to prevail 8-4, which thereby punched his ticket into the bronze-medal round. But it was a rocky start for Bowling against Belarusian Kiryl Valeuski, who wove through the ties to execute an inside arm-throw that resulted in four points. Later in the first period, Bowling was cited for passivity and Valeuski converted a pair of gutwrenches to collect the win and emerge with the bronze medal, thus relegating Bowling to 5th place.
On Saturday, Bowling went 1-1 in the championship bracket with a win over Azis Atansov (BUL) and a loss against eventual gold Anri Putkaradze of Georgia.
Landon Drury (63 kg, NYAC/NTS) had also earned a repechage victory on Sunday after downing Hao Yang (CHN) on criteria 3-3. That triumph put Drury in the second heat of repechage where, if successful, he would then have moved on into the bronze round. But his run was cut short. Drury was defeated Mohammad Aboutalebi Navid (IRI) and closed out his time in Bulgaria in 12th place.
U20 World Championships Notes
— Iran won the team title with 117 points (two golds, two silvers, and two bronze); Armenia came in 2nd with 98 points followed by Azerbaijan (90).
— Team USA finished in 17th place with 16 points behind Hungary (20) and ahead of Croatia (14).
— Team USA’s combined individual record at the 2025 U20 World Championships was 6-12 including one pin and one VSU.
2025 U20 World Championships
August 21-24 — Samokov, BUL
TEAM USA FULL RESULTS
55 kg: Caleb Noble (Toss ‘Em Up) — 16th
LOSS Nazarii Babinskyi (UKR) 8-0, TF
60 kg: Isaiah Cortez (Daniel Cormier WC) — 9th
WON Kristin Petrov (BUL) via fall
LOSS Papik Dzhavadian (UWW) 8-5
63 kg: Landon Drury (NYAC/NTS) — 12th
LOSS Aleks Margaryan (ARM) 8-0, TF
WON Hao Yang (CHN) 3-3 (criteria)
LOSS Mohammad Aboutalebi Navid (IRI) 11-0, TF
67 kg: Otto Black (NYAC/NTS) — 17th
LOSS Takaku Suzuki (JPN) 8-4
72 kg: Joel Adams (Beaver Dam RTC) — 10th
WON Rabil Askerov (UWW) 12-4, TF)
LOSS Arionas Kolitsopoulos (GRE) 4-1
77 kg: Leister Bowling IV (Hawkeye WC) — 5th
WON Azis Atanasov (BUL) 3-1
LOSS Anri Putkaradze (GEO) 9-0, TF
WON Akzhan Ykylassov (BUL) 8-4
LOSS Kiryl Valeuski (UWW) 9-0, TF
82 kg: Arvin Khosravy (West Point WC) — 11th
WON Yrisbek Kalyev (KGZ) 7-2
LOSS Seyed Azarshab (IRI) 11-0, TF
87 kg: Nick Nosler (Southern Illinois RTC) — 21st
LOSS Isshin Onitsuka (JPN) 8-0, TF
97 kg: Soren Herzog (Air Force RTC) — 13th
LOSS Vendel Vitai (HUN) 2-1
130 kg: Shilo Jones (Bison WC) — 13th
LOSS Koppany Laszlo (HUN) 8-1
