The United States’ mission to end the Junior Worlds on a positive note took a step in the right direction today as Landon Drury (63 kg, NYAC/NTS) prevailed in the opening round of repechage while Leister Bowling IV (77 kg, Hawkeye WC) triumphed in the second round of the consolation bracket, thus advancing to his weight category’s bronze medal match.
The fourth and final day of Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2025 U20 World Championships began at 4:15pm local time from Samokov, Bulgaria (9:15am ET) and is streaming live on FLOWrestling.
Drury faced Hao Yang of China and was trailing 0-3 heading into the second period. Passivity was called on Yang, giving Drury an opportunity from top par terre. And he capitalized. Drury worked for a gutwrench and executed the hold near the edge to garner two exposure points; he then attempted a second rotation, and subsequently stepped for a lift, but Yang defended and a reset was ordered. Drury held strong through the remainder and garnered the win by way of criteria by the same 3-3 score.
Drury has to clear one more hurdle in order to have a chance at bronze. He will face Mohammad Aboutalebi Navid (IRI) in the next round of repechage; if successful, he will battle Kristiyan Milenkov (BUL) in the bronze-medal match. Drury, who is set to begin his second year at Northern Michigan University, finished in 5th place at the 2023 U20 World Championships.
Bowling was forced to come back in his first match on Sunday, and he did so in impressive style. The score was 2-1 for Akzhan Ykylassov (KAZ) deep into the second period with Ykylassov set to assume top par terre; Bowling defended the lift attempt and then reversed to put Yklassov on his back for exposure points to take a 3-2 lead. After the reset, Yklassov unfurled an arm spin attempt and spun around in back of Bowling, coming close to securing a takedown. But — the American remained poised and soon scrambled his way to a takedown and a 5-2 cushion. Kazakhstan challenged the call, the call was upheld, and Bowling’s margin had increased to 6-2. However, Yklassov wasn’t done. He zipped a throw attempt to grab two points and the score, with under a minute left in the contest, was 6-4. As the race to the finish unfolded, Bowling, in command, received two more points from a caution on Yklassov and emerged victorious on the heels of a thrilling 8-4 decision that now puts him on the cusp of a World bronze medal. Bowling, who hails from Colorado, will take on Kiryl Valeuski (UWW) in the medal round.
NOTE: Drury will be competing again imminently whereas the bronze-medal round, for which Bowling has already qualified, will begin at 11:00am ET on FLOWrestling.
2025 U20 World Championships
August 21-24 — Samokov, BUL
TEAM USA DAY 4 RESULTS
63 kg: Landon Drury (NYAC/NTS)
LOSS Aleks Margaryan (ARM) 8-0, TF
WON Hao Yang (CHN) 3-3 (criteria)
vs. Mohammad Aboutalebi Navid (IRI) — repechage rd. 2
77 kg: Leister Bowling IV (Hawkeye WC)
WON Azis Atanasov (BUL) 3-1
LOSS Anri Putkaradze (GEO) 9-0, TF
WON Akzhan Ykylassov (BUL) 8-4
vs. Kiryl Valeuski (UWW) — bronze-medal match
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