by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
LIMA, Peru – The United States dominated the men’s freestyle competition at the U20 Pan American Championships on Saturday, winning eight gold medals, two bronze medals and claiming the team championships by a whopping 77 points.
Team USA finished the day with an impressive 31-2 record, with 27 bonus point wins, including 25 technical falls and two pins.
All five of the 2025 U.S. U20 World Team members competing in Lima won individual gold medals: Luke Stanich (65 kg), William Henckel (79 kg), Connor Mirasola (92 kg), Justin Rademacher (97 kg) and Cole Mirasola (125 kg).
Stanich, who attends Lehigh, won the Golden Boot as the Outstanding Wrestler in the men’s freestyle division, winning all four of his matches by technical fall and outscoring his opponents, 40-0. In the championship finals, Stanich secured a 10-0 technical fall over Yandro Soto Rivera of Puerto Rico,10-0 in 4:01. His other three technical falls were all in the first period, with the quickest ending in 48 seconds.
The Mirasola brothers, who attend Penn State, both won three matches in a round-robin competition. Every match by the Mirasola brothers ended as a 10-0 technical fall, and all of their matches were finished in the first period. Connor’s fastest technical fall came in 32 seconds, while Cole’s fastest technical fall was in 51 seconds.
Rademacher, who attends Oregon State, won four matches in a five-athlete round robin. He secured two technical falls, a pin and an injury default win. Rademacher was a 2024 U20 World bronze medalist. Earlier this season, he also won a gold medal at the Senior Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico.
Henckel, who will be a freshman at Penn State, won his first two matches by technical fall. In the finals, Henckel secured a 9-0 decision over Leandro Araujo of Brazil.
The other three U.S. champions were Kyler Larkin (61 kg), William Denny (74 kg) and Adam Waters (86 kg).
Larkin, who will be a freshman at Arizona State, won his first two matches by technical fall. In the finals, he stopped Omar Ayoub of Puerto Rico, 7-4.
Denny, who will be a freshman at NC State, won three bonus point matches, a pin and two technical falls. He finished off his gold-medal match with an 11-0 technical fall over Kevin Aleman Gomez of El Salvador.
Waters, who has committed to Ohio State, won four times, with three technical falls and an injury default win. Waters stopped Max Franca Magalhaes de Almeida of Brazil, 15-4 in 1:58 in the finals.
The two U.S. bronze medalists were Antonio Mills (57 kg) and Jaxon Joy (70 kg). Both lost close matches in the semifinals, but powered back with wins in the bronze-medal round. Mills scored an 11-0 technical fall in his bronze-medal match over Ethan Rivera of Puerto Rico. Joy secured a 10-0 technical fall over Josuel Medina Ocasio of Puerto Rico to claim his bronze medal.
The United States won the tournament with 230 points, followed by runner-up Canada with 153 points and third-place Brazil with 128 points.
The United States swept all three team titles in Lima, with the U.S. Greco-Roman Team winning the U20 Pan American title on Thursday and the U.S. women’s freestyle team winning the U20 Pan American title on Friday.
