William Jakeway (55 kg, Unattached) and Duncan Nelson (67 kg, Air Force/WCAP) have yet to taste defeat at this year’s edition of Thor Masters and 2023 Final X runner-up Christian DuLaney (NYAC/Southern Illinois RTC) recorded a solid victory in his opener before falling via decision. DuLaney is still alive in the tournament as are nearly every other American who took the mat on Friday.
Day 1 of Thor Masters 2026 began at 1:30pm local time from Nykobing Falster, Denmark (7:30am ET) and streamed live on BK Thor’s YouTube channel.
Jakeway decisioned Swede Pontius Stahl 7-4 in Round 1 — and it is Stahl who Jakeway will face in the proceeding round as they are the only two wrestlers in the 55 kg bracket. In other words, if Jakeway can down Stahl once more on Saturday, he will walk away with gold.
As for Nelson, he operates in the considerably-deep 67 kg bracket and got going earlier today with a win over Jonathan Jednell (SWE). It was not a first-time affair. Nelson VSU’d Jednell at last year’s Thor Masters en-route to placing 5th. On Friday, Nelson converted a takedown to go up 2-0 and received the first period passivity/par terre opportunity. From top, Nelson looked to yank Jednell’s face upwards, a common tactic that is employed so that offensive wrestlers can force space to acquire their locks. Except in this case, the mat official immediately halted the action from par terre and stood the wrestlers up before levying a warning on Nelson. There was no further scoring in the bout and Nelson prevailed 3-0. When wrestling resumes tomorrow morning, Nelson will greet Witalis Lasovski of Germany.
DuLaney operated against noted Swedish upper-weight Aleksandar Stjepanetic and, shortly after the whistle, reeled a lightning-fast arm drag that yielded takedown points. Nothing was doing from par terre and they returned standing. In the second period, Stjepanetic benefited from the passivity call and was able crank a front headlock to inch ahead 3-2 but, as they reset, DuLaney bumped him off the line to regain the lead via criteria. He would add to his margin. With just over a minute to go, Stjepanetic arched to throw but DuLaney saw it coming and landed on top for two more points in what eventually became a 5-3 triumph. DuLaney was defeated by Austrian Daniel Gastl in the next round and has another tough assignment in the morning. Standing across the mat will be Mindaugas Venckaitis (LTU). Venckaitis, who was an Olympian in ’24, was ousted by Michial Foy (Army/WCAP) in the qualification round of the ’25 World Championships.
’21 World Team member Jesse Porter (82 kg, NYAC) got his hand raised on Friday, but perhaps not for the reason he would have preferred. Porter was dealing with ’25 World bronze Karlo Kodric (CRO) and trailed 2-0 (on a step-out and passivity) entering Period 2. Then, Porter was dinged again, thus allowing Kodric another chance from top PT. Kodric executed a four-point lift — but upon impact, was injured, and could not continue. The outcome puts Porter at 1-0 entering Saturday morning when he will meet Oliver Kruger (DEN), who defeated American Fritz Schierl (Minnesota Storm) earlier in the tournament.
Lomenick & Schierl
It was tough pill to swallow for Riley Lomenick (63 kg, Unattached) in part because it was his own move that did him in. Lomenick was working from top par terre against Jonathan Hallen (SWE) and had locked for a reverse lift that Hallen defended by cartwheeling over the top and catching Lomenick on his back. Lomenick fought for as long as he could but eventually succumbed to the position and the signal for the fall arrived soon after. But he (along with six other USA athletes in Nykobing Falster) is not done yet. Lomenick will next face off with Mark Loitto (SWE), who was defeated by ’25 World Team member Max Black (NYAC/NTS) for bronze at Thor Masters two years ago. After that, Lomenick will see experienced Fin Tino Ojala. Ojala won U23 European Championships gold in ’23, Thor Masters the year prior, and this past November came away with silver at the Bill Farrell Memorial in New York City.
The aforementioned Schierl had lost to Kruger and is scheduled to see Kodric; but since Kodric injury defaulted, his next opponent may in fact be Porter. Schierl and Porter have a long history of matches between them domestically but the pair have yet to compete against one another in an overseas event.
Below are full boxscore results from Day 1 for Team USA. Going into Saturday nine Americans are at press time still alive in their respective medal chases. They are Jakeway (who is guaranteed at least silver), Lomenick, Nelson, Drew Allgeyer (77 kg, NMU/NTS), Porter, Schierl, Hank Baronowski (87 kg, NMU/NTS), Christian Rouleau (87 kg, Minnesota Storm), DuLaney, and Jimmy Hustoles (130 kg, NMU/NTS). Each of their opponents in the proceeding round(s) are listed in italics following results/scores with the exception of Hustoles, whose heavyweight bracket requires additional matches to determine the next pool match-ups.
Day 2 begins at 10:30am local time (4:30am ET) with bronze rounds scheduled for 2:30pm (8:30am ET) and finals later at 6:30pm (12:30pm ET). The live broadcast is available on BK Thor YouTube.
2026 Thor Masters
March 20-21 — Nykobing Falster, DEN
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
55 kg: William Jakeway (Unattached)
WON Pontius Stahl (SWE) 7-4
(Best-of-three round robin)
63 kg: Riley Lomenick (Unattached)
LOSS Jonathan Hallen (SWE) via fall
vs. Mark Loitto (SWE)
vs. Tino Ojala (FIN)
67 kg: Duncan Nelson (Air Force/WCAP)
WON Jonathan Jednell (SWE) 3-0
vs. Nilton Sito (PER)
77 kg: Drew Allgeyer (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Rasmus Ulriksen (DEN) 8-0, TF
vs. Tigran Galustyan (FRA)
82 kg: Jesse Porter (NYAC)
WON Karlo Kodric (CRO) via injury def.
vs. Oliver Kruger (DEN)
82 kg: Fritz Schierl (Minnesota Storm)
LOSS Oliver Kruger (DEN) 9-1, TF
vs. Karlo Kodric (CRO)
vs. Jesse Porter (NYAC)
87 kg: Hank Baronowski (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Matej Mandic (CRO) 9-0, TF
vs. Arkadiusz Kulynycz (POL)
87 kg: Christian Rouleau (Minnesota Storm)
LOSS Erik Loeser (GER) 9-0, TF
vs. Damian Von Euw (SUI)
97 kg: Christian DuLaney (NYAC/Southern Illinois RTC)
WON Aleksandar Stjepanetic (SWE) 5-3
LOSS Daniel Gastl (AUT) 6-0
vs. Mindaugas Venckaitis (LTU)
97 kg: Cody Kwak (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Fadi Rouabah (ALG) 9-0, TF
LOSS Filip Smetko (CRO) 9-0, TF
97 kg: Keith Miley (NYAC/Arkansas RTC)
LOSS Tyrone Sterkenburg (NED) 8-0, TF
LOSS Anton Vieweg (GER) 8-0, TF
130 kg: Jimmy Hustoles (NMU/NTS)
LOSS Romas Fridrikas (LTU) 8-0, TF
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