Everything to know about the college wrestlers competing in the U23 World Championships 

The United States brought home 14 medals in the 2023 Senior World Championships, headlined by golds from Amit Elor, Cornell's Vito Arujau and Penn State alums Zain Retherford and David Taylor.

Now it’s time for the U23 world team members to have their shot.

Here’s what NCAA wrestling fans need to know about this team, their collegiate credentials and their potential against world-level competition.

First, let's break down where all of these athletes went to school or currently attend school: 

MEN'S FREESTYLE

WOMEN'S FREESTYLE

MEN'S GRECO 

The journey for these athletes to qualify for this U23 world championship team varied slightly. Some qualified by winning the U23 national championship in Geneva, Ohio on June 4, but over half the roster actually qualified via their performance at the U.S. Open and Final X. Any U23-eligible athlete who qualified for Final X by winning the U.S. Open could claim the spot on the U23 World Team if their Final X opponent was not U23 eligible. If two U23 eligible wrestlers met at Final X, the winner would get to represent the United States at both the senior and U23 world championships. Lastly, if qualified for the senior national team either though wins at the U.S. Open and Final X or the World Team Trials that athlete could also be eligible for the U23 World Team. 

In men's freestyle, Sammy Sasso, Keegan O'Toole, Aaron Brooks and Isaac Trumble all qualified via wins at the U.S. Open, ultimately bumping U23 national champions Doug Zapf, Julian Ramirez, Dylan Fishback, and Nick Stemmet off the roster. Zapf, however, will ultimately wrestle in place of Sasso at 70kg anyway as Sasso is unable to compete in the world championships because he is still recovering from a gunshot wound earlier this fall. 

In women's freestyle, Audrey Jimmenz, Katie Gomez, Xochitl Mota-Pettis and Kennedy Blades all qualified by winning the U.S. Open and earned their spots over U23 national champions Emily Shilson, Felicity Taylor, Montana DeLawder and Ashley Lekas. Michaela Beck also won her weight at the U.S. Open to qualify, though she was replaced by Nichole Moore after an injury. Amit Elor qualified for her spot by winning her Final X bout against Joye Levendusky. Katerina Lange qualified at 68kg by winning her true third match at Final X. The remainder of the team — Alisha Howk, Adaugo Nwachukwu and Macey Kilty — won both the U.S. Open and the U23 World Team Trials to earn their spots. 

In Greco, U23 national championship wins for Phillip Moomey, Jordan Hamdan, Payton Jacobson, Tyler Eischens, Michael Altomer and Kaleb Reeves were enough to qualify them for the World Team. Yufief Lillie, David Stepanian, Hunter Lewis and Tereus Henry, on the other hand, lost their spots to Camden Russell, Robert Perez, Justus Scott and Cade Lautt after performances at Final X and the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. 

This is a stacked team with a history of success and great potential for victory at this year's world championships, though three specific storylines stand out. 

1. National champions Aaron Brooks and Keegan O'Toole look to add international accolades before chasing their fourth and third NCAA titles respectively

Amongst a credentialed roster of men's freestyle U23 world team members, two names stand out: Aaron Brooks and Keegan O'Toole. These two wrestlers are the only athletes with national titles to their name, and they are both expected to return this year to add more hardware to their trophy case. 

Brooks, who finished second at Final X at 86kg to fellow Penn State national champion David Taylor this year, is moving up to 197 pounds for the collegiate season and looking to become just the fifth four-time NCAA champion in program history. He'll come into the year ranked No. 1 and an undisputed favorite, but the international competition he could see a Worlds will be a different caliber of athlete. 

The 2022 U23 world champion Tatsuya Shirai of Japan will be back looking to repeat his championship performance at the weight, and bronze medalist Ivan Ichizli will also return to the bracket. The U.S. took silver at this weight last year via N.C. State's Trent Hidlay — another athlete who will be moving up to 197 pounds for the collegiate season — and Brooks will look to place one better. The Penn State upperweight has performed well on the world stage previously, winning silver as a junior and gold as a cadet. but he's looking for his first U23 international gold. Given the toughness and poise Brooks showed against 2023 senior world champion David Taylor in Final X, he's capable of bringing home top honors this year, and doing so would no doubt give him momentum and confidence as he heads into this NCAA season and the Olympic qualification process this spring. 

Like Brooks, O'Toole has also won on the international stage previously, taking home gold as a junior athlete in 2021. Now up in the U23 bracket, O'Toole will be expected to be a similar threat to the world competition. One of his top competitors will be Vasile Diacon of Moldova, a 2022 U23 bronze medalist and a 2023 senior world team member. Vadym Kurylenko of Ukraine also took bronze in last year's tournament and is expected to return and compete for the podium once again. O'Toole, though, is funky and slick, and he has a history of dominance, even against these elite competitors. The Missouri champ rolled through his bracket in 2021, winning by technical superiority, pin, pin and technical superiority. These are finesse to O'Toole game that will make him hard to stop. 

O'Toole and Brooks are not the only college wrestlers competing in this event, as All-Americans Brock Hardy, Dustin Plott, and Wyatt Hendrickson will also be in the mix along with starters Julian Chlebove, Doug Zapf and Jacob Cardenas. Cooper Flynn and Isaac Trumble are expected to redshirt but do still have eligibility remaining. The expectations will be high for this year's men's freestyle team, but the U.S. has a history of bringing home medals at this event, particularly when the team's reps are as accomplished on the collegiate level as O'Toole and Brooks. 

2. Current DI collegiate wrestlers Phillip Moomey, Jordan Hamdan and Cade Lautt could inspire increased enthusiasm around the US Greco program 

The U.S. Greco team struggled at the senior world championships, failing to bring home a medal or qualify a weight. The U23 team, though, has the potential to turn things around. Of the athletes on the current Greco roster, only three currently compete in college, while others have graduated, opted to participate in the Army World Class Athlete Program or pursued another alternative training situation to prepare. 

Phillip Moomey, the lightest of these four athletes, enters his senior season this year with the Cornell Big Red, and is expected to back up NCAA champion Vito Arujau at 133 pounds in the lineup this year. His specialty, however, is more Greco than folkstyle. Moomey's been a staple in the Greco scene since he won Fargo in Greco in 2017 and then qualified for the World Championships as a Cadet in 2018. Last year, Moomey took ninth at the U23 world championships after a win against Georgios Scarpello and a loss against Nurmukhammet Abdullaev. Both of these athletes return to the field this year, meaning Moomey could have a shot for redemption against Abdullaev depending on how the brackets play out. 

Like Moomey, North Carolina’s Cade Lautt is expected to serve as a backup for his team this year, and he’ll likely be sitting behind two-time national qualifier Max Shaw at 197 pounds. Beyond the NCAA though, Lautt has the chance to make some noise 97kg this month in his first U23 world championship appearance, though he'll also have a returning champ in his weight in Alex Szoke of Hungary. 

The U.S. Greco rep at 63kg Jordan Hamdan is looking to be  a starter for his respective program this year and return to folkstyle full-time, at least during the college season, following his U23 world championship Greco competition. Hamdan is projected to slot in at 141 pounds for Michigan State, and the former national qualifier and will come into the season with two years of eligibility remaining.

Hamdan is in a particularly deep Greco bracket for the world championships, as both the 2022 U23 gold and silver medalists — Iman Mohammadi of Iran and Giorgi Shotadze of Georgia — return. Medaling is no easy task in men’s Greco Roman, as the senior world team proved earlier this fall, but these athletes are worth watching, regardless of the competition. They’ll be representing the Ivy League, the Big Ten and the ACC as well as the United States when they take the mat, and their development in Greco is paramount for the future of the U.S. Olympic pipeline in this style. 

3. Three active women's college wrestlers make their U23 World Team debuts

Varsity women's college wrestling continues to grow around the country, and three current collegiate wrestlers — Adaugo Nwachukwu, Nichole Moore and Katerina Lange — will represent their schools in Albania at the end of October.

Nwachukwu's story is particularly interesting, as she won two NAIA national titles with Iowa Wesleyan before the school announced it would be closing its doors permanently last spring. The junior world bronze medalist has now followed her coaches to William Penn, where she'll look to continue her development and add to her stellar resume. Earlier this year, Nwachukwu finished seventh at the U20 World Championships, and her international experience should serve her well from a confidence standpoint at U23s.

Like Nwachukwu, Nichloe Moore, the U.S. rep at 59kg, is also a transfer athlete, moving from Baker to McKendree to finish out her college career. At Baker, Moore finished fifth and sixth respectively in the 2021 and 2022 NAIA championships. She also racked up a number of accolades beyond the college mats, as she took fourth at U23 nationals in 2021 and won that same tournament in 2022. Now representing the United States on the world stage, Moore could run into some particularly credentialed foes including 2022 U23 world bronze medalist Solomiia Vynnyk of Ukraine, among others, in her bracket.

Nwachukwu and Moore will be joined on the world team by another college wrestler, Katerina Lange, whose competition in her weight class may be even more fierce. Lange will be in one of the two women's weight classes with a returning champ, as 2022 U23 world champion Nesrin Bas of Turkey returns fresh from competing at the 2023 senior world championships up at 72kg. Manola Skobelska of Ukraine, a bronze medalist from a year ago, will also be entered in Lange's weight. Lange's path to the podium will not be easy, but after winning an NCWWC title for Augsburg this year before capturing her U23 national championship, Lange is riding some good momentum. Competing against the best in the world is the next step for this Minnesota native.

In addition to those three active college wrestlers, the other big storyline to follow is senior world champ Amit Elor looking for another title. Elor dominated the senior world championships earlier this fall and has won every international tournament that she has entered since she took bronze in the 2019 Cadet World Championships. Elor is currently a frontrunner for the 2024 Olympic team, though she'll have to make a decision about whether to drop down to 68kg and try to fill the shoes left behind by 2021 Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock or go up to 76kg and challenge Olympic silver medalist Adeline Gray. Before she makes that call though, Elor has this tournament to tackle. At just 19, Elor is quickly becoming one of the biggest names to know in the sport, and her quest for yet another championship will be a major theme to watch later this month.

Another athlete in a similar situation is 2023 senior world silver medalist Macey Kilty who will compete for her first U23 title in Albania. Kilty wrestled at 65kg earlier this fall in Belgrade and is expected to drop down to 62kg for the Olympic Trials, much like she did for 2021, but her story will also be interesting to follow both at U23s and throughout the lead-up to the Trials, as she aspires to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Team.