'26 U20 World Championships (8/16 - 23) thread

Tryingtodoitright

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
795
1,360
93
Things that surprised me throughout the tournament.

How awful the officiating was on days with both Greco and Womens.

The difference in replay between the younger guy and DJ Slow

James' strategy in the finals.

Boyle's strength.

Taina Fernandez running into issues against strong hips.

The gap between some of Japanese women and the field Kasume and Onishi especially

That no one commented on me renaming Landon Robideau to Lewan Robideau in pbp
I figured me, perhaps like most, were afraid to say anything 😉
 

Lil Nicky Scarfo

All-American
Jul 1, 2025
1,818
5,229
113
Probably because everybody agrees.
Cody Merrill (not) catching strays.

Not to mention Dee, Ryder and Facundo.

Not the most active bonus point scorers.

Currently they are holding onto the notion that we score so many BPs because our eAsY sChEdUlE gives us artificially inflated seeds and we can feast on 32/33 in the bracket. As if bonusing, say, seed 28/29 (and 11/12 in round 2) instead of 32/33 and 16/17 is near impossible. None of those guys I named convinced me that they would all of a sudden turn into bonus point machines with better seeds
 

Coastal2

All-Conference
Dec 19, 2025
837
2,783
93
He does have two more U20s available, but he turned 18 in June per USA Wrestling.

I would wager that he does U20 next year and '28 depends upon the Olympic qualification schedule and how it may conflict with U20 qualification.

I see James as the only U20 eligible that will be competitive for the Olympic team. Boyle will still be U20 eligible but I can't see him being competetive with Snyder or Brooks.

The only other one would be if Wax grew enough to be competitive in GR.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Psalm 1 guy

Psalm 1 guy

All-American
Nov 3, 2019
1,366
5,310
113
I think it is sad that Iowa's HR U20 thread and Oklahoma State's 34 and counting U20 thread only have a combined 124 posts compared to the 936 posts here. Intermat's U20 thread did rack up nearly 800 posts, but it would be nice to see more freestyle interest among college wrestling fans in general.
 

Sir Pin Alot

All-Conference
Jun 25, 2025
429
1,193
93
I think it is sad that Iowa's HR U20 thread and Oklahoma State's 34 and counting U20 thread only have a combined 124 posts compared to the 936 posts here. Intermat's U20 thread did rack up nearly 800 posts, but it would be nice to see more freestyle interest among college wrestling fans in general.
Iowa does have 400 posts on sugar cereals. It was a very guilty pleasure of mine as a kid so I also indulged in the conversation. :ROFLMAO:
 

Coastal2

All-Conference
Dec 19, 2025
837
2,783
93
I think it is sad that Iowa's HR U20 thread and Oklahoma State's 34 and counting U20 thread only have a combined 124 posts compared to the 936 posts here. Intermat's U20 thread did rack up nearly 800 posts, but it would be nice to see more freestyle interest among college wrestling fans in general.
Intermat only gets that high because D3 doesn't edit pbp. Every move is a different post. This thread would have hit 5k if I did it that way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Psalm 1 guy

TwoJoints

Senior
Feb 2, 2025
195
655
93
Cody Merrill (not) catching strays.

Not to mention Dee, Ryder and Facundo.

Not the most active bonus point scorers.

Currently they are holding onto the notion that we score so many BPs because our eAsY sChEdUlE gives us artificially inflated seeds and we can feast on 32/33 in the bracket. As if bonusing, say, seed 28/29 (and 11/12 in round 2) instead of 32/33 and 16/17 is near impossible. None of those guys I named convinced me that they would all of a sudden turn into bonus point machines with better seeds
Does having 6 or 7 tournament champions in the best wrestling conference in the country have any impact on our NCAA tournament seeds?
 

Headlock

All-Conference
Dec 28, 2023
730
1,552
93
I wrote about Yoshida's underhook prior to the match along with his conditioning. Unfortunately, both came back to bite Jayden. I am confused, though, that in that last sequence Jayden let go of his grip on Yoshida's leg to go to the chest wrap. It looked like keeping his grip was the better option at that time.
Absolutely correct!
 

vhsalum

All-Conference
Nov 14, 2002
1,764
4,234
113
I still am stunned as to how high Japan has elevated their freestyle excellence in such a relatively short time.

2013 U17s.

From what it sounds like, from people who would know - they figured out weightlifting.

So combine that with their absolutely samurai -like training, they’ll now be consistently a team threat.

These guys are practicing 363-365 days a year. And it’s not replicable by any modern nation. Practices are 1 to 1.5 hour of drilling, 1.5 hours of live. Every day.

Don’t expect long careers, but they will always be ready out of the gate.
 

Nitlion1986

All-American
Apr 13, 2024
1,914
5,657
113
Cody Merrill (not) catching strays.

Not to mention Dee, Ryder and Facundo.

Not the most active bonus point scorers.

Currently they are holding onto the notion that we score so many BPs because our eAsY sChEdUlE gives us artificially inflated seeds and we can feast on 32/33 in the bracket. As if bonusing, say, seed 28/29 (and 11/12 in round 2) instead of 32/33 and 16/17 is near impossible. None of those guys I named convinced me that they would all of a sudden turn into bonus point machines with better seeds
Missouri kids have historically been granted seeds, that at the tournament have been proven too high. The Missouri records that earned those seeds were obtained wrestling in the same conference as Okie St.

Cael's teams typically wrestle pretty darn close to their seeds.

PSU's 20 bonus point advantage only widens the gap between PSU and OkieSt. If they only awarded advancement and placement points PSU still finishes first and OkieSt finishes somewhere behind PSU.

As Spencer so famously stated, excuses are for wusses. Spencer was letting us know what to expect when Oklahoma State finally stepped up to fill the position of second best program.

Facts are a pain in the rear for stupid arguments presented by stupid people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lil Nicky Scarfo

Psalm 1 guy

All-American
Nov 3, 2019
1,366
5,310
113
I wrote about Yoshida's underhook prior to the match along with his conditioning. Unfortunately, both came back to bite Jayden. I am confused, though, that in that last sequence Jayden let go of his grip on Yoshida's leg to go to the chest wrap. It looked like keeping his grip was the better option at that time.
In reviewing the sequence in slow motion, you can see Jayden distract himself by looking toward the clock right as he releases his grip from Yoshida's legs, but doesn't go immediately into a chest wrap. About a second and a half later, Jayden looks at the clock again while his left arm hangs loose. In that split second before Jayden went to the chest lock, Yoshida made his move, catching Jayden without a solid grip on his chest wrap. The difference between winning and losing can be that minute!

I give a lot of credit to Yoshida. Overall, he outwrestled Jayden. His constant pressure put Jayden on the defensive, especially in the second period. Also, it just goes to show how critical conditioning is. If Yoshida is just slightly less conditioned, I am not sure he would have had the energy to get that last TD.

There are a lot of things Jayden can take away from that match. I have no doubt that loss will do more for him in the long run than eking out a win and potentially not taking away the needed lessons on what areas he needs to improve. I'm still super excited to watch Jayden's career unfold.
1787535365887.png
 
Last edited:
BWI

Latest

  1. 01 BWI Penn State preseason camp news: Here's how to join Blue-White Illustrated for just $29.99!
  2. 02 BWI Top performers from Penn State's Saturday scrimmage at Beaver Stadium
  3. 03 BWI Penn State welcomes two European roster additions
  4. 04 BWI Penn State RBs make own depth chart as preseason continues
  5. 05 BWI Penn State wrestler Jayden James finishes second at U20s; Ono wins U.S. debut at RAF