Junior World Championships

Berge earns silver at U20 World Championships

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Incoming South Dakota State wrestler Bennett Berge earned a silver medal in the 86-kilogram weight class Wednesday at the 2022 U20 World Championships.

A native of Mantorville, Minnesota, and a member of the Pinnacle Wrestling Club, Berge posted a 4-1 record over two days of competition. He won his first three matches all by technical fall Tuesday, outscoring his opponents by a 32-2 margin. In Tuesday night’s semifinals, Berge recorded a come-from-behind, 9-7 victory over Ismail Kucuksolak of Turkey.

In Wednesday’s championship bout against Rakhim Magamadov of France, Berge lost a 10-5 decision.

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Volk Wins U20 World Title

Sofia, Bulgaria — Cowboy Wrestling True Freshman Jore Volk will be bringing some hardware back to the United States after a great performance at 57kg at the U20 Freestyle World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Volk will head back to Laramie as the U20 Freestyle Champion posting a perfect 4-0 on his way to capturing the world title.

“Every match I wrestled I went out there and believed I was the better wrestler no matter who my opponent was. I trusted my skills and training and believed in myself to get the job done,” Volk said “Coming home as a world champion is a dream come true. It still doesn’t even seem real.”

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Men’s freestyle ends U20 Worlds with four medals and second-place team finish

Kasson-Mantorville’s Bennett Berge earns a World Silver Medal

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Team USA wrapped up its men’s freestyle competition at the U20 World Championships with four medals and a second-place team finish on Wednesday in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Medalists for the Red, White and Blue were champions Jore Volk (57 kg) and Ben Kueter (97 kg) and silver medalists Mitchell Mesenbrink (70 kg) and Bennett Berge (86 kg).

The U.S. scored 132 team points behind team champions Iran with 159 points. India finished third with 112 points.

Tonight, Team USA fell in all three of its medal matches today.

In an impressive international debut, Bennett Berge earned a silver medal at 86 kg, falling to 2021 U20 World silver medalist Rakhim Magamadov from France. The American led 4-1 at the break, but Magamadov put together a strong comeback bid, which included a four-point takedown near the edge for an eventual 10-5 win over Berge. Continue reading at teamusa.org →

Kueter pins, Volk impresses for U20 World gold in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria – The USA earned three medals on Tuesday at the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, including golds from Jore Volk and Ben Kueter and silver from Mitchell Mesenbrink.

Jore Volk completed an impressive run at the U20 World Championships with 3-2 win over 2022 U20 Asian champion Merey Bazarbayev of Kazakhstan in the 57 kg finals. Volk scored all his points in the first period, collecting a step out and a takedown for a 3-0 lead at the break. Bazarbayev was awarded a point on the passivity clock and a singlet pull, but it wasn’t enough and Volk secured the belt to give the U.S. a great start to the night. Continue reading at teamusa.org →

Berge rallies from five-point deficit to earn spot in U20 World Finals

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Bennett Berge put together a big comeback win in the semifinals of the 2022 U20 World Championships and will wrestle for gold on Wednesday in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Tomorrow’s medal matches begin at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. U.S. ET) live on FloWrestling. Continue reading at teamusa.org →

Volk, Mesenbrink and Kueter to wrestle for U20 World Gold

Lakeville North’s Jore Volk will face Bazarbayev of Kazakhstan for gold

SOFIA, Bulgaria – The USA sent three athletes to the men’s freestyle finals of the 2022 U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Jore Volk, Mitchell Mesenbrink, and Ben Kueter will compete for gold medals on Tuesday at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. U.S. ET) live on FloWrestling. Continue reading at teamusa.org →

Volk Set to Compete at U20 Freestyle World Championships

Laramie, Wyo. – Cowboy Wrestling True Freshman Jore Volk is set to go international next week as he travels to Sofia, Bulgaria to compete in the 57kg weight class at the U20 Freestyle World Championships. Volk will be in action Monday, Aug. 15 – Tuesday, Aug. 16 competing for a U20 world title amongst a field of 22 international competitors.

The Lakeville, Minnesota native punched his ticket to the U20 World Championships with a gold medal performance at the U20 World Team Trials. Volk sprung upsets over the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the 57kg bracket en route to making the World Team Trials finals. Volk then cemented his World Team Member status in an electric best-of-three series against Troy Spratley. In the decisive third match of the series, Volk scored a push-out point with just two seconds left on the clock to clinch the match and the series punching his ticket to Sofia.

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Berge heads off to U20 World Championships

Incoming South Dakota State wrestler Bennett Berge will compete next week in the 2022 U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

A native of Mantorville, Minnesota, Berge is entered in the 86-kilogram weight class of the men’s freestyle division. The competition gets underway Tuesday morning (Aug. 16) with qualification rounds, followed by semifinal matches later that afternoon. The championship bout is set for the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 17.

Video coverage of the U20 World Championships is available through FloWrestling.org (subscription required).

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