Penn State's PJ Duke to Wrestle for Gold at U20 World Championships

Duke gets off to a strong start in Bulgaria, where five Nittany Lions are competing.

PJ Duke from Minisink Valley High competes in the 170-pound semifinal match at the 2025 NYSPHSAA Boys Wrestling Championships. | John Meore/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State freshman PJ Duke will wrestle for a world title, and redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola will compete for bronze as the U20 World Wrestling Championships are underway in Bulgaria. Duke and Mirasola opened the men's freestyle competition Sunday, leading off for a group of five Nittany Lions at the world championships.

Duke, who will join the Penn State wrestling roster next season, shined in opening-round competition in the 70 kg weight class Sunday. He opened the tournament with two technical decisions and a pin before winning a tense bout over Ebrahim Elahi Chouran of Iran in the semifinals.

After giving up an inactivity point in the first period, Duke scored the only takedown of the match. Elahi also picked up a point on a stepout to tie the match at 2-2, but Duke led on criteria. According to United World Wrestling, Elahi didn't realize that Duke held the criteria advantage and didn't attack in the final minute. Duke, who won a bronze medal at U20 worlds last year, thus advanced to the 70 kg final.

Duke has been the biggest U.S. story of the freestyle season, earning spots on three world teams. Duke also will compete at Senior Worlds in October, a spot he earned with a dramatic pin at Final X. Duke will meet Moldova’s Alexandr Gaidarli in Monday's championship match. Gaidarli, who won a 7-4 decision in the semifinals, placed fifth at the 2025 U20 European Championships.

PJ Duke won a wild U20 World semifinal! He’ll compete in the finals tomorrow LIVE on FloWrestling! pic.twitter.com/fc6pJ6FveB

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) August 17, 2025

Cole Mirasola, Penn State's projected heavyweight next season, went 3-0 with two technical decisions in reaching the 125 kg freestyle semifinals. There he ran into Kazakhstan'a Yedige Kassimbek, the Asian U20 champion who scored an 11-0 technical superiority. Mirasola will wrestle for bronze against either Baejoon Jang of Korea and Narantulga Darmaabazar of Mongolia.

Three more Penn State wrestlers are competing at the U20 World Championships. Marcus Blaze, a returning U20 medalist, is among the favorites at 61 kg. Connor Mirarsola (92 kg) brings a U20 Pan American title to Bulgaria, as does William Henckel at 79 kg.

The U.S. team seeks to defend its title at the U20 World Championships. Flowrestling is streaming coverage from Bulgaria throughout the tournament, as is United World Wrestling. Both options require subscriptions.

Penn State returns two NCAA champs (Mitchell Mesenbrink in 2025 and Levi Haines in 2024) and a total of seven All-Americans from the team that won its fourth consecutive NCAA title.

Watch Duke's semifinal victory here, courtesy of Flowrestling.