It was a difficult opening day for Team USA at the Junior Worlds, though returning roster member Leister Bowling IV (77 kg, Hawkeye WC) and top upper-weight prospect Aidan Squier (87 kg, NMU/NTS) both have opportunities to still make something big happen.
Day 1 of the 2026 U20 World Championships began at 10:30am local time from Bratislava, Slovakia (4:30am ET) and streamed live in the US on FLOWrestling.
The US had four competitors take the mat on Sunday — the aforementioned duo of Bowling and Squier plus young Nick Sorrow (63 kg, Simmons Academy) and ’25 U17 World Teamer Travyn Boger (Protos WC) — and all four were unable to record a win on Day 1.
Sorrow was downed by Taiga Hibarino (JPN) in the round-of-16, and Hibarino himself was defeated in the quarterfinals. Similarly, Bowling was ousted in the round-of-16 by one of Armenia’s best young athletes, Samvel Terteryan via 6-0 decision. Terteryan advanced to the 77 kg finals to pull Bowling in for repechage tomorrow. First up for the native Coloradan will be Mohamed Ibrahim (EGY). If successful, Bowling will then face Zalan Toplak (HUN) in the next repechage round and finish with Gogi Gogelashvili (GEO) for bronze.
Squier had a tough match-up in the form of Taizo Yoshida — who last year earned World bronze on both the Senior and U20 levels. And he performed admirably. Squier trailed Yoshida 3-0 early in the first period after surrendering a step-out and off-balance takedown. Yoshida collected a 4th point from passivity — and each time Squier found himself on bottom par terre, he defended. Then later in the opening frame, Squier see-sawed a position near the edge and got behind Yoshida for a takedown to make the score 4-2. Yoshida answered back with a pair of takedowns before the end of the period and earned one more soon into the second to force a halt to the proceedings. Squier in repechage on Monday will greet ’24 Cadet bronze Vladyslav Soldochuk of Ukraine. A win versus Ukraine for Squier will put him against Luka Kochalidze (GEO) with Gabrial Stan (ROU) waiting in the bronze round.
Boger fought valiantly in his lone appearance opposed by ’23 U17 bronze Amirhossein Abdevali (IRI). Abdevali carried an early 1-0 passive lead but Boger defended the follow-up par terre. Midway through the period, Abdevali got to the body and Boger responded with a counter salto attempt. It didn’t land and Abdevali had, seemingly, sewn up the match via fall. But a successful US challenge wiped that result away and Boger was given a point on account of an IRI caution. In the second period, Abdevali was able to convert, mainly from the feet, and accumulated the points required for a VSU stoppage. Abdevali was eventually edged by Essam Hussein (EGY) to eliminate Boger from re-entry in tomorrow’s repechage.
Day 2
Four more Americans are scheduled to compete on Monday alongside the repechage duo of Bowling and Squier. They are: Ezekiel Witt (55 kg, Bison WC), Amryn Nutter (67 kg, NMU/NTS), Eli Esguerra (Beast Mode), and Cittadino Tuttle (97 kg, PINnacle). Wrestling resumes at 10:30am local time/4:30am ET and can be viewed live in the US on FLOWrestling.
2026 U20 World Championships
August 16-18 — Bratislava, SVK
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
63 kg: Nick Sorrow (Simmons Academy of Wrestling)
LOSS Taiga Hibarino (JPN) 10-5
77 kg: Leister Bowling IV (Hawkeye WC)
LOSS Samvel Terteryan (ARM) 6-0
vs. Mohamed Ibrahim (EGY — Repechage Rd. 1, Monday)
87 kg: Aidan Squier (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Taizo Yoshida (JPN) 10-2, TF
vs. Vladyslav Solodchuk (UKR — Repechage Rd. 1, Monday)
130 kg: Travyn Boger (Protos WC)
LOSS Amirhossein Abdevali (IRI) 9-1, TF
TEAM USA DAY 2 DRAWS
55 kg: Ezekiel Witt (Bison WC)
vs. Khojiakbar Kuchkarov (UZB)
67 kg: Amryn Nutter (NMU/NTS)
vs. winner between Sebastian Wagner (GER) & Kazybek Kalmagambetov (KAZ)
72 kg: Eli Esguerra (Beast Mode)
vs. Jorge Gomez Garcia (MEX)
97 kg: Cittadino Tuttle (PINnacle)
vs. Dimitrios Pappas (GRE)
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